Dragon Quest, where to start?

[MrPopo]

DQ1 & 2 are very minimalist in story. 1 especially. DQ3 is when the story starts gaining traction. But the FFIV of DQ is definitely DQ4. As mentioned, snag the trilogy on the DS. DQ7 is a huge PS1 game that, instead of having a huge overarching story, has lots of little side stories. There is a single plot thread connecting everything together, but it's more along the lines of Power Rangers; Rita would keep coming up with new plots to ruin the Rangers' day and they'd stop her. DQ8 has the feeling of an epic quest where you're trying to stop this big villian. DQ9's story is a bit more subtle; it's somewhere between DQ7 and DQ8.

The GBC stuff is all properly numbered and are the best versions of their entries that have been released in the US. The only naming confusion in the DQ series is releases before a certain date are Warrior, while after are Quest.

[sabrage]

So, from what I gather -
GBC: Dragon Warrior I+II, III
DS: Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, IX
PS1: Dragon Warrior VII
PS2: Dragon Quest VIII

I like that the whole series is centralized on a couple of consoles. Makes you wonder wtf happened with the Kingdom Hearts series

[brunoafh]

Well I've got my sights set on IV or V. For IV, do you guys suggest the original NES game or the DS remake? If I go with V, I think I'm gonna go for the SFC fan translation.

[ejamer]

Wrote a long-ish post while my browser was open, then found that others had already said everything useful that I was going to post.


My recommendation is to grab the whole IV-V-VI trilogy on DS. They did a nice job updating the games, and it's a nice "set". There is nothing wrong with the original NES release of IV, but the small improvements are worthwhile and having a consistent translation is also nice.

Also strongly recommend playing IX. The game has a huge amount of content, including significant post-game quests that enhance the story. Even better if you have local friends playing the game at the same time, as there are some bonus features only available by interacting with other players.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Can anyone comment on the Gameboy/Color versions? Do they have Final Fantasy-style naming confusion?

Sort of....

The confusion has less to do with the numbering, but the fact that the Dragon Quest games were originally called Dragon Warrior in the US because the name Dragon Quest had already been copyrighted over here (by a tabletop RPG company).

However, that copyright eventually expired so the newer Dragon Quest games and any of the modern remakes are called Dragon Quest in the US and Japan. So for example, in the US Dragon Quest IV on the DS is a remake of Dragon Warrior IV (NES). It's kind of like how the Final Fantasy ports/remakes have the "real" Japanese titles, while the original games don't.

The GBC ports still bear the Dragon Warrior name.

In addition, the original Super Famicom versions of Dragon Quest V and VI were never released in the US, only the DS remakes are available here.

Lastly, the last original game (not remake) to bear the Dragon Warrior name in the US was part VII. So yes, in America, Dragon Quest VIII is the sequel to Dragon Warrior VII.

Hopefully some of that made sense. I tried to explain this to my wife the other day and she looked like her head was about to explode haha.

[BoringSupreez]

I hate when they change the name of a series partway through. For example, the original Ace Combat is called Air Combat. Companies should get the name right the first time, and if they don't like it, they should stick with it anyway just to keep things simple. If I had my way, Ace Combat would be Air Combat, FF7 would be FF4 (they could call the later ports of Japanese games stuff like FF5 Japan), and Dr. Eggman would be Dr. Robotnick.

[Xeogred]

DQV sounds the most interesting to me. I think I've heard it's the favorite of the series creator too?

I really need to check them out myself someday, I've only dabbed into VII and VIII a bit in the past. But IV-V sound the best to me. I'd probably go with a fan translation of the SFC release myself...

The SNES remakes of the first few games look and sound awful though, haha. Can anyone confirm that? I remember looking them up on youtube and the music, or something just looked and sounded terrible. Worse than what I saw of the NES versions.

[Nemoide]

Honestly, any part of the series after the second one is a safe bet.

DQIII is my personal favorite; I played the GBC version with a Gameboy Player for Gamecube and loved every moment of it. DQV probably has the most overall appeal though, the marriage/children element adds a very nice touch.

The thing about Dragon Quest that might turn off fans of games like Final Fantasy is that they're more about fun, solid gameplay than having sweeping epic storylines. The story is generally on the minimalistic side of things, but manages to very effectively make the experience of exploring the world and going through dungeons incredibly compelling.

The only ones to be wary of are the first two, especially DQII. The original game in the series is very bare bones; the party is always just one hero character, there's a maximum level, and the continent is not to large; beating it isn't too big a deal. However, I think the GBC version is still fun enough to justify killing a few mindless hours to beat.
DQII however added just enough to make the game feel tedious but not enough to make it more rewarding. While it's not really a *BAD* game, it hasn't aged very well. I'd only recommend it if you're a completionist.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I second that. Don't start with II. It's probably the worst game in the series, tedious and hard for all the wrong reasons. Still more fun than most modern RPGs though.

I also wouldn't recommend starting with VII simply because it's so damn long.

[MrPopo]

I second that. Don't start with II. It's probably the worst game in the series, tedious and hard for all the wrong reasons. Still more fun than most modern RPGs though.

I also wouldn't recommend starting with VII simply because it's so damn long.

You mean you don't like randomly having Defeat cast on you by parties of 5 monsters who can all cast it?