Dragon Quest 4: Chapters of the Chosen

I got this game in late Dec 2008, after returning from Mpls. I'd reserved it at Play and Trade to see if I was going to buy this or Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger wasn't there to try, and I was sad for a little bit after I bought this, thinking I should have got CT instead. However I did love this also in the end and actually finished it! (And was able to trade it to a friend and also get Chrono Trigger...woohoo!)
This game joins the ranks of the few that I've actually finished - to see the long final credits of a Square Enix game, quite an accomplishment. I did not play the bonus Chapter 6 which is on this DS version, I got maybe halfway through that bonus dungeon before trading the cartridge with Alexei to get Chrono Trigger.

What I love about this game:
* the variety of the characters as the story moves forward. The game is split into 4 chapters, where you control a different character or group in each. Then in the 5th chapter, you are the Hero, and go around meeting/collecting all the people - "the chosen" - that you, the player, met in the previous 4 chapters.
People online have said the early chapters are too easy but I really enjoyed them being short and fun in what they were.
In one chapter, you are Torneko the merchant, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that he actually sells weapons behind a counter to other chars to make money.
I hadn't read ahead in the walkthrough for this game so this was some fun variety.
* the monster variety is also fun and familiar from playing Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker - which I started but haven't yet finished.
* the ending sequence was fun to tie everything up and see the stories of the characters to an end - since it visited each character's homeland.

What I liked less:
* I tend to fall asleep playing dragon quest games a little more than others. I think my favorite turn based option is active battle like FFIV and Chrono Trigger, or just straight action (non turn-based). If I played this before bed I found myself getting sleepy a little too often.

Overall though I did love this game and looking forward to playing Dragon Quest V, which focuses on the life of 1 hero, through marriage, child-raising, and the career of the child also. But Chrono Trigger will come first.