Dragon Quest IV #03

EDIT: Now with shiny new YouTube video!

Hi! Welcome back! Ragnar and I were just heading out, so as my good friend Charles Martinet says, "Let's-a go!"

Right out of the gate, I use the Flying Shoes and soar away to the top floor of the tower which was seen earlier. There's a nice little visual effect on the PS version here, it's nice to see some differences between it and the DS! Some kid is being taken away by some witch or some such, and we follow! On the way down, there is a soldier who wishes he had let Healie join him. Sucker! Lilypas use Upper to great effect, and Ducksbills use Sap, also to great effect. It's almost not worth it to fight them together.

At one point, a Lilypa uses its spell to buff an Ozwarg (called a "baby magician" in Japanese—scary!), which is fine since they can hardly attack, but its defense is raised to the point that each side has trouble hitting the other at all. The battle drags on long enough for me to see the statistically unlikely event of the Ozwarg dodging under its own power, as well as the statistically unlikely event of a critical hit deathblow from Healie. Good going, lil buddy!

If you see a battle made up of a Giant Bantam, a Lilypa, and two Healers, don't even try. If you go for the Healers first, the Lilypa will buff everyone's defense so you can't hurt them, and if you try for either of the others first, the Healers will just keep...healing. So just run if you see this.

So yeah, this tower is hard. core. After the first couple floors I just want to get out and recover my strength, but I'm so close to a weapon upgrade I decide to risk going just a little further. This results in a real nailbiter (although it felt more like a hairpuller) in which I barely squeak out of the tower's front gate with 4 HP. Time to use those Wings I found! The money I earned in battle is put to good use maxing out my armor upgrades, and then it's back to the tower! In future iterations, I make a beeline straight for the Sword, then come back for the other treasures later.

New and improved Ragnar, now with 100% more Sword of Malice, makes mincemeat of the monsters, felling them in one blow now. This will be much easier. No sooner do I type that statement than Healie dies. #($&. Back to town. In my anger, I perpetrate 80 damage upon a Slime. Incidentally, near the Sword is a chest containing a Luck Seed, unless you play the DS, then it's a Seed of Resilience instead.

Third attempt! That four-monster fight I warned you about three paragraphs ago is a straight cinch now, since everything dies before the Healers can react. This is also the attempt in which I realize that there is a healing point in the basement of the tower on the way out, so I actually never had to leave. Nice to know for the other three games! Of course, the extra trips didn't hurt; by the time I reach the bottom Ragnar is at Lv 10 (although poor, confused Healie is forever stuck at Lv ?). A dying soldier there tells me about the Ruler of Evil, who is about to resurrect (I would prefer to hear "to be resurrected," it seems both constructions are valid—O Englishe, thou fickle mistress!), although how he knows this is anyone's guess. Also, there is a prophecy that a Hero is now growing up. How old is this prophecy, I wonder? Did it say he was growing up this whole time?! But anyway, the monsters are after children because they don't want the Hero to mature: "Ragnar, save all children...." Tears fall, everyone dies.

In the basement, there is a monster atop a pedestal who says I wish to be smashed to bits. But I never said that, how did he know!? And so Ragnar joins Saro's Shadow and the Giant Eyeball in battle! He opens with three Firebals, and I can now confirm that no, the Iron Shield resists neither fire nor ice on the NES. The Eyeball's expression changes and it charges twice just before I kill it. Everyone dies.

Fourth time is the charm, right?! Reaching the basement is no problem; the problem is when the Eyeball kills Healie in one hit right when things were supposed to go well. Now I'm missing nine Heal spells and I have to use my one Herb right away. $#(%. And I die again.

Fifth attempt. I was so close last time, it has to work! On the way I try an experiment and find that the Sword of Malice acts as a "spellflinger" in battle, attacking an entire enemy group. Unfortunately that won't help me in the boss fight, and the only enemy group I see regularly is Healers which are rather resistant to magic. Oh well. Ragnar achieves Lv 11 one step before the stairs to the lowest level. Nice! Oh, wow, things are swimmingly this time, the Eyeball died before it could glare at me! Two critical hits per round from that thing takes a lot out of you. Things are looking up, but then the Shadow casts Firebal before Healie can Heal himself, and I once again lose almost all my party's MP. This time I still have fight left in me, though, and I manage to defeat Saro's Shadow, who says he'll see me "in the Evil World.... Gasp!" I guess he shocked himself to death by euphemism. The cell door automagically opens and two children join the party! Oh, and Healie's okay, I guess it was just a scratch. Ragnar was healed too. Yay!

In the Japanese NES version, Ragnar gets a lucky critical hit on the Eyeball to start off the battle, killing it outright. After that it was too easy; the guy never even tried the Firebal spell. I had to retreat once previously when Healie died, so this makes victory at Lv 10 on only the second attempt! Not counting one voluntary return to town for armor; it wasn't a defeat, since I was strong enough to return to the tower without even healing first. The DS and PS remakes are even easier, never being defeated once.

Upon arrival in Izmit, the kids take to their mother's bosoms with vigor. Not really. But they are glad to see them! Triumphant Ragnar and partner Healie trek back to bonnie Burland, where a soldier asks if he can take credit for the rescue. No matter your answer, he calls you naïve. Sound logic. On the upside, he's much less rude about it on the DS, it's more like a slap on the back kind of joke. The King greets us with praise and a gift of—anything! So Ragnar says "..............." but the King understands that he wants only to journey to protect the Hero. Make it so! But he doesn't leave it at that and awards him 3,000 Exp, more than doubling his total and bringing him to Lv 13! Unless you're playing a remake, then you rate 10,000 Exp. Whoa. "Thus, Ragnar left on a journey in search of the Hero...." See you next time, with the start of Chapter 2!

Name Changes
NES (U)	NES (J)	NDS (U)	PS (J)
* denotes an entry which was not significantly changed from the previous version in the same language. Blank entries either have not appeared yet or were not named in that version.
Who's Who
Ruler of Evil	じごくの　ていおう [jigoku no teiō]	Lord of the Underworld	地獄の帝王
Armory
Sword of Malice	はじゃのつるぎ [haja no tsurugi]	Cautery Sword	*
Boss Rush
Saro's Shadow	ピサロのてさき [pisaro no tesaki]	Psaro's Pawn	*
Spellbook
IceBolt	ヒャド [hyado]	Crack	*
SpeedUp	ピオリム [piorimu]	Acceleratle	*
Upper	スカラ [sukara]	Buff	*
Sap	ルカニ [rukani]	*	*
Firebal	ギラ [gira]	Sizz	*