Even with the advancement s of the DS version brought, I still felt DQIV was mostly underwhelming. Of anything I blame it more on my high praise for DQIII than playing the NES version. I mean no customization system, even the spell break down among characters largely left some characters being better than others, Toriko's cool mini-games and ability to get rare drops is completely absent after his chapter and it was probably the best part of the whole game. The hero's plot is pretty bland too since its basically a repeat of the plots of the first three games, and DQIII really did do it the best. I mean the first chapters largely set-up the stage of the world more than creates a plot because when you reach the Hero's chapter the rest of the party becomes mutes so even when you finally avenge the sister's father, or acquire the legendary blade with Toriko, the game just doesn't really register it in a good narrative way. I mean FFII and III are better story driven games than this one was, and they had more to offer as games on top of that. Let's just say I am not as surprised this game didn't do as well as the DQ games it was sandwiched between.

If you are going to play DQIII, I suggest playing the GBC remke, it adds way more content including later elements like Mini-Medals and Pashichi Tracks. It looks a hell of a lot better than the original as well.