Which of Dragon Quest I-VII are worth playing and hold up well?

[Richardbro]

I have always been a huge Final Fantasy guy and have played and enjoyed mostly all of them. I have only played Dragon Quest Swords, 8, 9, and 11 and definitely enjoyed all of them.

I was wondering which of the dragon quests from 1-7 hold up today?

I would not recommend FF 1-3 to anyone since they do not hold up as well.

 

[Berordn]

the benefit of every game being basically the same is that outside of production values, they still play just like the most recent entries in the series. the only ones that are particularly long in the tooth are 2 and maybe 7.

but if you're looking for recommendations on what to play, 3 and 5 are the cream of the crop.

 

[Foot]

Play V, mate.

 

[Duane]

All of them. And I think DQ 1-4 are much more playable today than FF 1-3.

Edit: to be clear though, I'm not advocating playing the NES versions at this point or anything. See this thread:https://www.resetera.com/threads/a-guide-for-getting-into-dragon-quest.64979/

 

[Deleted member 9584]

In my opinion they all hold up very well today. I'd suggest playing them all in order. 1-3 on switch if you have it and 4-6 on DS if possible. The mobile ports are acceptable if you can't play them on switch/3ds. DQVII remake on 3DS is great as well.

 

[werezompire]

Everything from DQ3 to DQ6 is some of the best the series has ever had. The rest are still decent.

 

[purseowner]

All of them.

V and VII are must-plays.

 

[bmfrosty]

I think that the single player ones are all worth playing. That said, 1-3 are a bit rough and need a refresh - even if it's just spiffing up the disappointing Switch versions. Still playable, but they seem to house multiple art styles within the same game. 4+ on ds and 3ds hold up really well.

 

[Lord Vatek]

III and V are two of the best in the franchise.

 

[KtotheRoc]

Dragon Quest really doesn't change much gameplay wise. II is probably the weakest one, and recent rereleases have addressed some of the problems.

 

[DanteMenethil]

They all still play well today if you play remakes. NES DQ2 is brutal. DQ1-5 are pretty short too.

 

[MayorSquirtle]

1-3 were the first ones I played, just a couple years ago and they held up very well. I've also played the PS2 version of 5 and it was good too. Dragon Quest's design in general is pretty timeless.

 

[hyouko]

Honestly I think most of them hold up, particularly if you play the more recent releases that have various QoL features. 5 is a stone cold classic IMO.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

IV-V-VI on the DS or Android are great, same for VII on the 3DS! V is my favourite so definitely go for this one

And then i really recommend playing III, the Snes remake

all of them hold up well, but 1-2 are the quite grindy, but also quite short

 

[SkyOdin]

I through V are all still good games. I haven't yet played VI, so I can't comment on it. VII is also fun, but only play it if you are ready for the long haul. The game is huge.

 

[Raza]

I dunno, it might just be old man Raza speaking but I think all are still worth your time, even the first few. DQ1 is very playable and not a very long game. DQ5 is probably the best out the set, though DQ4 is great too. DQ7 is an insanely long game so make sure you budget a good chunk of time for it.

 

[Dealer A]

I replayed DQ 1 recently and it still holds up really well. It's primitive by todays standards, but still better a lot of the RPGs from that time. III and IV are also great fun. Just be sure to play the original NES/Famicom versions and not the mobile re-releases.

 

[EggmaniMN]

All of them.

lmao at the games being "basically the same" though

 

[Mugman]

I haven't played as much of the series as I'd like, but I can absolutely vouch for V. Played the mobile version a few years ago and had an absolute blast

 

[Astro Cat]

IV through VII are all amazing, with V being a high point and probably my favorite of the series.

 

[Shibi]

DQ1 holds up for its simplicity, can be finished in a single afternoon
DQ2 doesn't hold up particularly well and adds little to the franchise except extra party members/enemies in battle
DQ3 holds up very well, is a landmark title with tons of improvements from character customizations, better storyline, monster arena and other things
DQ4 Introduces a chapter system and is the first game in the series to focus on developing party members as characters
DQ5 is a multi-generational saga and oft-considered the best or among the best games In the franchise
DQ6 is one of the weaker entries in the franchise, but still lots of fun
DQ7 is Long, perhaps the longest JRPG ever made at the time of release, lots of fun exploration, but like 6 does not bring much new to the franchise.

 

[Leo]

4 and 5 are incredible games and are among the best in the franchise, definitely play them.

3 SNES is also great.

1-2 are interesting games if you like retro stuff and is curious about the origins of the JRPG genre. 1 is short and stuff, 2 can be a bit clunky. If you're going to play them, play the GBC version.

6 is kind of meh, it's not bad because it's Dragon Quest, but is as generic and bland as the series can get and it somehow it still manages to be very confusing both with its systems and plot. Save it for when you have no other DQ games to play.

I haven't played 7 yet, some people love it, some people hate it, just keep in mind that it's very very long.

 

[Dezzy]

It's frustrating that there is no way to get the best version of each game on a single console.(or PC)
I really want to play DQ 4-6 on my TV.

I played the Switch version of DQ3, and while that port has issues.(frame pacing) I had a good time with it.

 

[Arkeband]

so much blasphemy being spoken about 6, the FF9 of DQ.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

6 was made right after Chrono Trigger, you can tell Yuji Horii was a bit tired and out of creative juice coming out of the latter

 

[Mozendo]

What don't you like about the first three Final Fantasy games?

Personally I think all the DQ games hold up except for 2 which is considered the weakest entry in the mainline franchise but 2 apparently has it's hardcore fans some who never even played the game lol.

 

[DanteMenethil]

I wish the 6 being bad/weak memes would stop

 

[Hazmat]

3, 4, 5, and 6 hold up really well and their remakes are all great. 1 is very simple, but good, 2 is ok but it's not my favorite. I straight-up don't like 7, the original or the remake. Others love it, and it's crazy long.

 

[Richardbro]

What don't you like about the first three Final Fantasy games?

Click to shrink...

They are great games for their time (I played them in the 1990s), but hard to play today because they are rather slow paced and everything is slow, lack of story, etc.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

All of them probably. 7 is far too long but it's still worth playing.

 

[HotStunt]

I played through DQIV on NES last year and it was fantastic.

 

[Faiyaz]

Dragon Quest 3-7 are top-tier jRPG's up there with the very best (especially 4, 5 and 6).

Dragon Quest 1 is a charming romp.

Dragon Quest 2 hasn't aged particularly well, but if you make it through 1, then I guess you can give it a shot.

I wish the 6 being bad/weak memes would stop

Click to shrink...

It's fucking hilarious at this point.

 

[Mozendo]

They are great games for their time (I played them in the 1990s), but hard to play today because they are rather slow paced and everything is slow, lack of story, etc.

Click to shrink...

You definitely won't like 2 so skip that.
1 you can complete in 8 hours or so but the story is is fairly simple (or non-existent to some I guess)
3 and onwards I don't think you'll have much issues with (at least the remakes), these games feature more story and are much better paced.

I haven't beaten 3 although I did get far but lost my save file. And I haven't even attempted to touch 7. 7 some say drags on for too long but I can't comment on my experience with the pacing.

 

[Razorrin]

All of them is my go-to response as well! But specifically 3 and the Zenithian Trilogy (4-6), with special notice to 5 for being crazy good story wise, 3 for feeling really good and open, and 4 (as I'm finding out currently) as having some of the best character personalities in the series, when played on mobile since it has party chat.

in fact, 3-6 are great on mobile, since if you get used to the Portrait Mode style, they look great and have stuff like Auto-saves after each fight and quick loadtimes, though the DS versions are still great.

1 is not bad, but it is a very chill grinding game, about making incremental progress to success, and 2 is a brutal sequel to that philosophy, expanding it.

7 is good, and actally has a ton of value in it's immense amount of content, but the pacing is very drawn out, so if you aren't taking it like a 200 episode anime you are catching up on, I.E taking your time or making big leaps at once, it's gonna feel weird. Still very much a good game, just don't be afraid to look at a guide if you get stuck somewhere along the way : P

 

[Skittzo]

All but 1 and 2 in my opinion. And even they can hold up in newer versions, but not nearly as much as 3-7.

 

[Zippedpinhead]

DQ Five (any version)
DQVII (but really only the DS version)
And DQIII (primarily the snes version but the recent IOS is ok)

DQV is amazing and literally every version has good and bad things about it. I originally played the snes version, but the DS version is just great. The PS2 version is supposed to be fun as well but I haven't played that specific one yet.

 

[Razorrin]

Also, for those who wonder how bare DQ1 is story wise, minus the last fight, DQ Battle Road Victory literally distilled the entire game into one of it's 30 second finishers, it's amazing.



I kinda wanna check this out for real sometime and feel my way through it with some light translation assistance...

 

[ghibli99]

III, V, and VII are my favorites of those, although everything from III onwards are games I'd recommend. I played III on GBC, IV-VI on DS, and VII on both PS1 and 3DS.

 

[jb1234]

7's length is kinda overstated. At least on the remake, which I finished in 65 hours. So long but not recent Persona long. The original version on the other hand took me 103 hours. It's a monster.

 

[werezompire]

6 is my favorite of the 2D games, but I played the 16-bit version, not the remake. Its visuals were a big step up from previous games (and the next game for that matter, 7 was a pretty ugly game), it had both a job system AND a monster recruiting system, and the dual world system was neat.

 

[ghostcrew]

How's the Switch port of DQ3? It's based on the mobile version, right?

 

[Vault]

3-7 are great and definitely worth playing

 

[Deleted member 1102]

All of them except DQ1.

Specifically; 3, 4 and 5 are amazing games and should be played by any JRPG fan.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

6 is my favorite of the 2D games, but I played the 16-bit version, not the remake. Its visuals were a big step up from previous games (and the next game for that matter, 7 was a pretty ugly game), it had both a job system AND a monster recruiting system, and the dual world system was neat.

Click to shrink...

I always thought Masato Kato took a bit of inspiration from DQVI's dual world system when he made Chrono Cross

 

[Deleted member 8593]

1 and 2 are extremely short for the genre. Not sure about the original versions but I managed to finish the mobile versions in two weekends easy.

After that, III to VII are all worth playing, IV and V probably being the strongest ones. VII is too long for my tastes but its structure works in its favour.

 

[Strings]

DQ3-7 are still fantastic games.

 

[BassForever]

All of them with 2 being the only one you can conceivably skip.

 

[NioA]

Haven't played I-Iii, but the rest is still extremely good and playable today. I haven't played IV and V in years, but the other two are really solid (in the ds and 3ds version at least)

 

[IzzyRX]

Since you're already familiar with the franchise, I def would recommend VII(kind of a long game, but worth it), V and III.

 

[DPB]

7's length is kinda overstated. At least on the remake, which I finished in 65 hours. So long but not recent Persona long. The original version on the other hand took me 103 hours. It's a monster.

Click to shrink...

The actual length isn't so much a problem, it's more that it feels incredibly long too. Those hours don't exactly fly by, there are some bits that really drag on where you're not doing much more than walking back and forth between a few locations, like the mountain above Providence. And it really doesn't help that you can't teleport in the past.