/vr/ - Retro Games

DQ:
BoF IV was viewed as playing too closely to the rpg standard to stand out in the market: Fou Lu was amazing but for the general public that never played the game he looke like a Sephiroth knock off, dragons were generally summons, and for fuck's sake there's a town with a giant cannon. With the transition to PS2, difficulty and pressure became the advertising factor, which Capcom as a company was known for, so it made sense.

http://www.rpgfan.com/features/creatorstalk/index3.html

The entry as a whole has to be understood from where Capcom was coming from - they couldn't compete in the jrpg market. It paid off in its own way: a lot of the features were refined and ended up on Monster Hunter.

+ Balls to the Wall: Bullshit if you believe you have to replay the game to beat it, you're doing it wrong. Lure enemies with the PETs system, get that first hit initiation in from a distance to toy with your prey, and be smart about your med kits and your saves.
+ A Customizably particular set of skills: Every attack in this game is no longer just a straightforward 'attack;' every character has a unique set of offensive skills that can be used singly or combo into each other for that huge boost in damage. Skills you found useless can also be swapped out anytime out of battle. Don't be fooled by the small party size: if you play to Nina's traps ridiculous offensive talent, Lin's ability to outrange and push and pull, and Ryu's tank and go-for-the-kill roles, the quality of each character truly shines.
+ Money-Making Faerie Village: For all the flack the Dragon Quarter gets for limited money and space, the Faerie village (or ant colony) makes up for it. Low on cash? Get a bank, play with the foreign currency system, buy low, sell high. Need to make room in your inventory? Sell crap in the village. While all the faerie villages are comparably the same in their function, no other iteration of BoF makes you feel the benefits of having a portable town in your pocket like DQ.