You would be hard pressed to say that there is a better RPG for the NES than Dragon Warrior IV. The depth, the improvement in story, and the overall quality of the game make it one of the best on the system regardless of genre. Even now this is one of the most expensive NES cartridges to find.

Dragon Warrior 4 has a brilliant chapter system that introduces you to the characters and gives you background on their particular stories. After the fourth chapter, you'll start the Hero's chapter. The hero goes around and acquires the previous characters in hopes of defeating Necrosaro.

The characters include Ragnar the soldier, Alena the princess fighter, Cristo the Chancellor healer, Brey the ice-based magician, Taloon the Arms Merchant, Nara the fortune teller (healer also) and Mara the fire-based magician. Oh, and the Zenithian Hero that is a name of your choice.

While the first four chapters are a fun introduction, the real fun begins in the fifth chapter when you can truly customize your party. When you acquire all of the characters you can fight with four of them (and even use the backup members in the wagon, a feature the final fantasy series didnt have until FFX came around).

It's the best game on the NES not named destiny of an emperor, play it.

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