First off Dragonquest VIII was one of, if not, the best game out of the entire series. I will be making references to Dragonquest IV in this thread. There were things that could make it better, so square enix folks listen up.

Warning ~ Long Read and is a version with the NPC's joining and higher difficulty.


1. COSTUME CHANGES

Jessica and the Hero got costume changes. Jessica got the most special treatment obviously because of her gender. The hero got one obscure costume change at the end which I liked but I had to wait all the way until the end of the game to get it. Yangus and Angelo were neglected totally on that front which I didn't like. They could have at least given Yangus and Angelo one costume change; however, I like that they had weapon changes which gave that some redemption.

~ Anyone interested in doing Avi art of Angelo, Yangus or the NPCs please PM me, I'm looking to pay for the art.


2. NPCs as characters


DQ IV has many of these, Healie, Hardie, Laurel, etc... why could VIII not have had any?
I think this is how it should have gone(My opinion). Of course I will say that NPC's should have the ability to level up unlike DQIV's way but just not had but maybe one special move if any at all. Of course with extra help for the player should also translate into more monsters in numbers and difficulty. Each character I list I have posted the starting stats and can be leveled up.

First NPC ~ When Yangus and the hero enter Farebury they go on their first quest to help the Great Kalderasha get his crystal ball back. After being requested by his daughter, Valentina volunteers to take the party to the waterfall cave. She joins hero and Yangus @ level 3 with 35 HP and one spell which would be Frizz. No particular special moves. As you level her up she does also learn heal and couple other useful spells. After the battle with the mer monster Valentina apologizes to the creature for her father's uncaring attitude and she takes the crystal ball. Upon arriving back at Farebury, the town is once again in a panic and this time there really is trouble. Master Rylus' old house has a demonic thorn plant that Dhoulmagus kindly left as a seed that had germinated as a departing gift and now is continuously growing. When they arrive on the scene the see Kalderasha and a town guardsmen battling with the beast swearing to defend Valentina with his life. They are successful at defeating one of the pods but are soon overwhelmed by two new more. "Come on guv, it's our turn now!" Yangus yells. The hero nods in agreement. "Stay back Valentina!" Kalderasha hollers. "I'm here father! I can fight too!" The hero, Yangus, and Valentina take on the last two pods . At this point in the game, each charcter should be at level 10, and Valentina will know heal, and buff(if she is at level 10.)

Demon Thorn Plant Monster Fight HP 675 Experience would be worth 1,200 points.
Attacks
Bite ~ 10 - 20 HP damge
Lash all 10 - 30 HP damage.
Wrap around ~ same as when thorn dragons wrap around and capture their victims.

"Valentina, are you hurt?" Kalderasha asked with concern. "No father, thanks to my new friends!" she smiles. "Thank you, let us go Valentina..." Kalderasha says absently leading Valentina back home. "Thank you guys so much, that was a tough one!" one of the town guardsmen says. "Aint' nothin the guv and I can't handle!" Yangus smiles. The hero points towards Valentina's home. "Oh yea, and help from Valentina!" he continues with his egotistical laugh. Valentina leaves the party at that point and the story continues like the original game once you return to Valentina's house.


Valentina ~ Level 3
HP ~ 30 - 40
MP ~ 20 - 25
Spells ~ Frizz
No special moves.
Armour
Silk Robe and Hair band
Weapon ~ Cypress Stick

Second NPC ~ The Hero and Yangus eventually make their way to Alexander town and encounter Bangerz and Mash (nice reference to the dish lol...) After proving to Bangerz that Jessica is not in her room he volunteers to go with Yangus and the hero to search for Jessica. He carries a copper sword on his back, wtf? He needs to use it. At this point Bangerz fears for Jessica and joins the party equipped to fight for Jessica if needed. After finding Jessica, Jessica of course attacks with her spell then Bangerz comes running from behind the group since he has a hard time keeping up with the party and appears after Jessica prepares her spell and that's when Allister appears so the story doesn't change much. After returning to Alexander Bangerz leaves the party to join Mash in guarding Jessica's room.

Story ~ "I will come with you but I will leave the monsters to you guys!" Bangerz says with a bit of fear. "Then why are you carrying a sword you little buggar? You claim to be guarding the town and your afraid of a monster?" Yangus says accusingly. "Uh..uh..uh.." Bangerz sweats. "Now come on, the guv and I won't let anything happen to ya, and in fact we will teach ya a thing or too! A tough lad such as yourself needs to go through uh.." The hero whispers into Yangus' ear. "Oh yea that's right, an initiation to prove yourself!" Yangus says with encouragement. "I aint' got anything to prove to anyone!" Bangerz says defiantly. "But Bangerz what about all that you told me about being a guardsmen?" Mash asks incredulously. "What about to Ms. Jessica?" Mash continues Bangerz changes his demeanor, "Guess your right.." Bangerz smiles and draws his sword. "I aint afraid of any monster, let's go!"

~ As Yangus, Bangerz, and the Hero are exiting the tower they are confronted by a spawn that Dhoulmagus leaves behind that Jessica luckily missed on her way out the tower.

~Story~ "I can't believe how many monsters are around these days!" Bangerz says as they are walking to the exit of the tower. "You got to be tougher than that lad, these monsters were nothing" Yangus says grimly. The hero stops and makes a puzzled stare ahead. A statue, half bird, demonic humanoid with horns stands by the exit. "Wait! I don't remember this statue being here!!" Bangerz panics. "Cor Blimey! What the Hell!?" Yangus exclaims. The statue begins to rattle and it comes to life and flies into the air and dives at the party and attacks.


Demon Bird ~ Half horned demon humanoid upper body and bird lower body.
HP ~ 1,100 MP ~ 60 Experience ~ 4,500
Attacks
Dive Bomb attack, Claw
Spells ~ Woosh, Fire breath, and mid heal.

After defeating it, Bangerz is humbled by having a near death experience. "Wow! We did it! We slayed that demon!" Bangerz cheers amazing himself. "Of course we did, that Dhoulmagus is a despicable one no doubt! Good job Bangerz!" Bangerz smiles as the hero smiles and nods in approval. "That's right!" Bangerz pauses and turns back around. "I promise Mr. Allistir that I will become a knight like you and protect Ms. Jessica and your mother any way I can!" "Well spoken lad, now let's get back" Yangus smiles. Upon arriving back in Alexander, Bangerz is anxious to share with Mash his tale of heroism and he leaves the party. "Thank you guys for sharing this task with me, I'll never forget your bravery!" Bangerz pledges. "Nor will we forget yours, keep up the good work there boy!" King Troad nods.

Bangerz ~ Level ~ 5
HP ~ 27
MP ~ 17
Weapons ~ Copper Sword
Armour ~ Wayfarer clothes
Special Moves ~ Dash Attack costs 3 MP allows Bangerz to quickly blitz with his weapon for 1.5 times normal damage he does with an increased 10% chance to land a critical hit.

Third NPC ~ The second time when the group encounters Ishamari the moon elf, he decides to help the team find the moonshadow harp. This is the first time a fifth slot is available for an NPC. After defeating the mole king Ishmari heals the party with this fairly easy battle, but the real challenge happens once the hero and his friends arrive at the mysterious ship in the desert. A spectural vision of Dhoulmagus appears, "Hehehhehehehe, before you take to the seas to try to follow me, I thought it would be appropriate to make all of you earn your right! Hhhahahha..." After Dhoulmagus spectural appearance disappears a huge pile of sand gathers and forms a huge sand monster that blocks the boat and attacks the hero and his four companions.(Even with 5 characters this battle will prove to be difficult.)

Sand Monster
HP ~ 2,800 MP ~ 0 Experience ~ 7,200
Attacks ~ Fist Smash attack 30-60 damage, Foot Smash attack 50-80 damage, Sand storm(like swoosh but just a bit more powerful) Throwing sand in the entire parties eyes.
Summon muddy hand.
The sand monster appears accompanied with 4 muddy hands, two on each side.



~Story~ "What a dreadful evil, I'm glad I could be of help!" Ismari says stoically. "If Dhoulmagus has all of these pawns at his disposal I wonder what else he will throw at us?" Angelo comments. "I don't care what that bastard throws at us, we will defeat it every time until it's his turn!" Jessica growls. "Well spoken Jessica, Medea and I feel the same way. Oh thank you so much Ishmari, we already owe you so much!" King Troad says with gratitude. "Yea what he says! Your moon magic works something fierce!" Yangus says with amazement. "Anything for those on such a long journey such as yours, I'm glad that I could play a little part. Now let us concentrate on the memories long gone by of when the ocean used to flow through this land. Ishmari and the group concentrates. Then the story continues as in the original.

Ishmari The Moon Elf ~ Level 25
HP ~ 180
MP ~ 150
Weapon ~ (Special) Harp which sends musical energy attacking monster.
Armour ~ Cloak of Evasion, ruby of protection, scholarly cap.
Spells ~ , Buff, Kabuff, insulate, Heal, Mid-Heal, Full Heal, Multi-heal
Special Moves ~ Sing (5 MP) Cause

Fourth NPC ~ After finding Marek he joins the party temporarily. Once you reach the outside Rapthorne as Leopold of course attacks the group with a pack of vicious wolves. Rapthorne with the scepter knows Marek is not the heir and decides to continue the search but before he leaves he creates a giant monstrous Dire wolf to finish the party and Marek off. When Marek joins the party he is stronger than he appears.

Dire Wolf
HP ~ 3,600 MP ~ 100 Experience ~ 9,500
Attacks ~ Summon wolf, bite, tackle, Crackle.

After the battle, the game unfolds like it does. He leaves the party once you arrive back to the town. Although Marek does not stay with the party long, he makes the battles more interesting. But just to make the game more interesting once you enter the cave where Marek's mother is You see Rapthorne from Marek's perspective attack, and as Marek alone you get to fight Rapthrone (Leopold) get a chance to try to maximize on his abilities even though he is doomed to loose, then the story continues as in the game.


Marek ~ Level 25
HP ~ 235
MP ~ 70
Weapon ~ Magic Mace
Armour ~ Silver armor, bronze helm, gold bracers, steel shield.
Special Moves ~ Spinning attack ( 6 MP) this attack Marek does a whirlwind spinning attack to a group of monsters.

Fifth NPC ~ When confronting the pirate captain ghost you have the option of healing Red and having her join you in the confrontation. After the fight she reluctantly joins the party temporarily as you guys are leaving the pirates grotto dungeon, but as the party gets half way through an eery laugh can be heard, it's Rapthorne, he sends a demonic slew of golems to attack and kill the hero and his companions and Red is drawn in the battle. "What have you got me into this time Yangus?!" Red screams as the golems blitz them. "It's not my fault, just be glad I'm here to protect you!" Yangus bellows. "Hmph!" Red scowls and then joins the ranks of the heros for this really tough battle.

Demonic Golems (3)
Each have 2,000 HPs. Each worth 3,600 Experience.
Attacks ~ Punch, Stomp, Ground Shake (Like a quake spell which damages the entire party.)

After this battle Red regards the parties fighting skills and secretly respects Yangus more. As they run to return to the ships Red finds out her escorts have cowardly left her behind. "What's this?!" Red shouts. "Easy Red, your gang aint' da fightin' type!" Yangus says. "Just they wait until I get home!" she replies angrily. (This is a chance to keep her in your party for a awhile, explore, and level up. Once you approach the area where she lives the party is yet again assailed by an even more powerful squid that is purple like the one off the port of Alexander.) "What's that out there?!" Angelo points. "Oh no, I thought you guys took care of him!" Jessica scolds the hero and Yangus. "Hey! We did, maybe that's its brother!" Yangus yells back. "How many more monsters are we going to have to fight until I can get some rest?!" Red screams in agitation. "Don't tire out on 'us now eh Red!" Yangus almost laughs, then Jessica with strong conviction eyes the sea beast as they form their ranks for this battle, "Until Dhoulmagus is dead!!" Then the fight begins.

Purple Sea Squid
HP ~ 7,000 Exp ~ 11,000
MP ~ 120
Attacks ~ Tentacle slap, tentacle whip (all members), tentacle squeeze(paralyze), Ink spit(blind). High Tide splash, ( Attacks entire party with surge of water doing 40 - 70 HP damage.

After defeating it, the squid comes to its senses and leaves immediately with hurt ego. After the battle Red wishes the group good luck in defeating Rapthorne after she is caught up on some of the details of the groups perilous journey. She leaves once you take her back to her home after she scolds her escorts for being cowards. They claim it was something evil that scared them.

Red ~ Level 30
HP ~ 280
MP ~ 100
Weapon ~ Falcon Dagger
Armour ~ Shimmering Dress, meteorite bracers, mercury bandana, light shield
Special Moves ~
- Red's bloody sneak ~ (7MP cost) Red disappears for one round and reappears a round later and does 3 times amount damage sneak attack from behind one enemy.
Darting Knife ~ Red will throw any knife in her inventory doing a considerable amount of damage with a 50% chance of landing a critical.


6th and 7th NPC Carry or Cash
Carry Level 25
HP ~175 - 200
MP ~ 100
Weapon ~ Dragon tail whip
Armor ~ Magical Skirt, Thinking Cap, Gold bracer, and prayer ring.
No Special Attacks
Spells ~ Frizzle, Sizzle, Kasizzle, Crackle, Multi-heal, and Kasap.

Cash Level 26

HP ~ 190 - 220
MP ~ 75
Weapon ~Mercury's Rapier
Armor ~ Magical Armor, magical shield, thinking cap, and gold bracer
No special attacks
Spells ~ Frizzle, Swoosh, Dazzle, Kabuff, Midheal, heal, insulate, and Oomph.

These characters don't stay long but are helpful during this increased difficulty dungeon.

Adding these couple of features I think could have made the game much more enjoyable.

Of course, if they were to remake DQ IV for ps2 like DQ VIII then DQ IV would be the best game with the biggest variety of characters and best explorable world ever.

I also think that before the main group goes against Rapthorne the main group could re enlist the seven NPCs as a secondary group which could be sent out on new side quests.


If anyone has any suggestions feel free to PM me, or post what you think in this thread. I have taken some time to write out my ideas and would very much love some more feedback.

Reviving Thread.