Which is better? Dragon Quest II or DQ IV

Dragon Quest II and Dragon Quest IV have quite a few similarities. Both are high fantasy games, have party systems, and are fun in their own way. There were a lot of improvements made between the second and the fourth games.

Dragon Quest II improved on the first game in the series quite a bit. When compared with the fourth game, you can see how the developers have learned about what they can do with the NES hardware. I do like some things in this game, but not as many as I originally did.

The fourth game is a lot of fun! Dragon Quest IV has several unique things about it. It has an interesting story and fun gameplay, and I like how cinematic it is.

Much like the previous comparison I did, this is more of a way to track the changes between these games. I will go over which I think is better and which I’d rather play. This is just an opinion piece, so try not to take it too seriously. Let’s get into both games.

Game Descriptions/Overviews

These are both high fantasy games. While they aren’t set in the same world, they still have quite a few similarities. The plots of these games are similar, which is something you can say about many of the games in the Dragon Quest series.

Dragon Quest II is a high fantasy game where you play as a party of three characters. These three are the descendants of the Legendary Hero from the first game. You go on a quest to assemble your party, gather key items, and eventually fight a big bad guy. This is a grind heavy game, as far as NES RPGs go.

Dragon Quest IV is a high fantasy RPG, which is told across five chapters. This is different depending on the version of the game that you play. Telling the story in this way is pretty fun, but it does mean that you don’t spend too much time with the main characters. It has some interesting gameplay, and ultimately ends with a fight against a big bad guy.

These are just brief overviews of each game. I wasn’t trying to give a plot synopsis of each game. There is more to both of them, and I would encourage people to play each game for themselves. Let’s get into some of the main differences and then go over the core concepts.

Main Differences 

There were a number of changes made to the series between the second and fourth games in the Dragon Quest series. They have different ways of telling stories, there are more playable characters, and the setting is a little different. There are others, but I want to keep this brief.

Dragon Quest II has a pretty basic story. While a lot is going on, it doesn’t take many twists. You know right off the bat how the game is going to end, and nothing is done to deviate from it. Dragon Quest IV is told in several chapters, each one with a different main character. They do come together at the end, but the big bad guy isn’t known by all the characters right away.

Dragon Quest IV has more playable characters. A part of this is because of the way that it tells its story, and the rest has to do with the developers starting a new trilogy. They had to introduce more characters to start the story. Dragon Quest II does have a good story and shows some improvements over the first game. Those characters don’t get as much development as they could have.

The settings are one of the bigger differences. While they’re high fantasy games, the second game uses the same world as the first game. Granted, it is a little bigger, but it still takes place on the same world. Dragon Quest IV takes place in a different world. This has to do with it being the start of a new trilogy of games.

There are a few differences in the gameplay. Dragon Quest II is a grind heavy game, which means you’re going to spend a lot of time trying to get money and gain levels. While there is some of this in Dragon Quest IV, it isn’t as big a part of the game as it is in the second game.

These are the things that stand out to me. I know that there are others, but I wanted to keep this brief. Let’s take a look at the core mechanics and see what has changed between these games.

Comparing Core Mechanics (Combat, Story, Visuals, etc)

There isn’t too much difference between these games when it comes to their core mechanics. What we see are some improvements and a couple of experiments. The developers made minor changes from game to game, and that can be seen with these two. I’ll be going over the combat, story, and visuals.

Combat in these two games isn’t too different. Dragon Quest IV has more character classes, and the party size is bigger. It is still turn based combat, and the magic system isn’t too different. There are just minor changes between these games, which is a reflection of the developers experimenting a bit.

The stories are rather different in the way they’re told. Dragon Quest II is a fairly standard story. You know what you need to do at the beginning of the game, and there is little deviation from this main goal. The fourth game is told across five chapters, and information about what is going on is slowly given to the player. There are several main characters, and each chapter has a short plot.

These games have basically the same graphics. The Dragon Quest games on the NES don’t look too different from each other, but they do get more cinematic with each entry. Dragon Quest IV has more cutscenes and different enemies. The character sprites also look a little better as the developers learned how to get the most out of the NES.

These were the differences and improvements that stood out to me. While there are other differences, these are the things that stood out to me when I looked at the two games. Let’s get into what each game does better than the other.

What Does Dragon Quest IV do Better?

There are quite a few things that Dragon Quest IV does better than the second game in the series. The developers made several changes and improvements to the basic formula of these games. Dragon Quest IV has a better story, more variety in its gameplay, and feels less tedious to play.

I really like the way that this story is told. There aren’t too many games on the home console that use this narrative structure. Being told across a few chapters helps this game to stand out from the other RPGs on the NES.

The game has a little variety in its gameplay from chapter to chapter. Some of this has to do with different character classes, and there are also some different instances where you play differently. I really like the chapter when you play as a merchant. It is so different from what happens in other RPGs that it really stuck with me.

Dragon Quest IV is much more fun to play. Because it is told in five chapters, there are different goals. Each chapter feels a little disconnected, but they do come together at the end. It feels less like a slog, and I really appreciate how it brings something new to the table and doesn’t rehash the same formula as the other games.

These are some of the things that I think are better in Dragon Quest IV. I’m sure that there are some things that I’m forgetting. It’s been a little while since I’ve played the game, but I do like much of what is in the game. Let’s get into what Dragon Quest II does better.

What Does Dragon Quest II do Better?

There are a few things that I can think of for this section. Most of what I came up with for this are personal preferences instead of things that were clearly better. I like the main characters a little more, the party system is more well rounded, and I like the quests more.

I do like that you spend more time with the main characters. You go on a quest to assemble your party and learn a little about each of the three characters. It isn’t as deep as other games, but it is something that I like about Dragon Quest II.

Your party is more well rounded in this game. With only three characters, the combat roles are clearly defined. There is something to say about this approach to being a little better, having a group of seemingly random character classes.

Some of the quests are a little more fun. When a game is constantly driving you towards an end goal, then each quest feels a little more important. This isn’t always the case with the fourth game because of the way it tells its story.

These are some of the things that are better in Dragon Quest II. I struggled with this section a bit. It isn’t that this is a bad game; it is simply that I like the changes made to Dragon Quest IV more than what is in this game. Let’s get into which is better and which I would rather play.

Which is Better Overall and Why? 

This wasn’t very close. Dragon Quest IV is the better game out of these two games. It has better gameplay, the story is better, and I like how cinematic the game is. It is also the game that I had the most fun with. This last bit is subjective, and it is a little hard for me to really clarify.

Overall, the gameplay feels less tedious than the second game. The quests are more rewarding for me, and I enjoy how each chapter builds on the others. There are also some hints as to what is going to happen, and this game felt more rewarding.

The story is more fun. It is told in a unique way, and you get to meet more characters. I enjoy some parts of the game more than others, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Dragon Quest IV’s story is much more enjoyable because of the way that it is told and how there are more twists in it.

Having more cinematic moments helps this game’s story out quite a bit. These scenes look very good for the time, and I enjoy how they look. While I would like to see something closer to what is in the Phantasy Star games, the cutscenes in Dragon Quest IV are a big step up from the other games.

These are the reasons why I think Dragon Quest IV is better than the second game. It is the game that I enjoyed more, and it felt like less of a chore. It has more of what I want from a retro RPG. Let’s get into which one I would rather play.   

Which Would I Rather Play?

Dragon Quest IV is the game I would rather play. Not only is it a unique game, but it is also the one I have the most fun with. This game doesn’t feel overly tedious like the second game does. This game moves along at a nice pace, and the changes in gameplay from chapter to chapter are something that I like.

I really enjoy how this game tells its story. Each chapter has a different main character and plot. They come together at the end, which is a fun way to tell this story. The characters are pretty fun, and I like learning about their motivations. There are also some seeds planted for how the story is going to unfold, which is always nice to see in a game like this.

While there is a decent amount of grinding in this game, it doesn’t feel as annoying as it does in the second game. The stories move along quickly, and there is some variety to the gameplay. This helps the game feel more rewarding as opposed to an endless series of fetch quests and grinding for levels.

I’m sure that more things would make me pick this game over the second one. At the end of the day, I have more fun with Dragon Quest IV. Dragon Quest II isn’t a bad game; it simply isn’t as much fun for me to play. Every time I’ve gone back to play it, I’ve felt like I was working a job that I hated, and just had to do things to get to an unsatisfying ending.  

Conclusion 

This wasn’t all that close. As the Dragon Quest games went on, they got better. The graphics never improved much, but with the addition of more cutscenes, they did look a little better. There were just minor improvements from game to game.

The more I play Dragon Quest II, the less I like it. This isn’t a bad game; it is just a tedious experience. There are other RPGs that I would rather play because I have more fun with them. Dragon Quest II has some great things in it, but they get buried under all the things that I find frustrating or annoying.

Dragon Quest IV reminds me of Phantasy Star III. Both games are quite different from the other games in their respective series, especially if you just look at the first four games. It always felt that the Dragon Quest series was following what the Phantasy Star game was doing. I don’t have any evidence to support this, but that is how I felt while playing these games.

I’m looking forward to writing about Dragon Quest III and IV next. I also get to compare some other great games to Phantasy Star IV and Dragon Quest IV. I’m getting a little lost in where I am in this series, so I’ll try to catch up with some of the other comparisons I need to do.  

If you liked this post, please check out the others in this series. Such as Dragon Quest vs Dragon Quest IV or Robotrek vs Dragon Quest II.