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

[Quantum Nottle]

I played a bit of dq 1 and 2 on the Nes, and finished them on iOS, I think they hold up better than ff1-3. I'm about to start 3.

I really liked dq4 I played it on the DS and I enjoy the way the game is structured and the multiple protagonists introduction chapters.

I also played dq5 on the DS, and I know it's the fan favorite but something about it didn't draw me in. People rave about the story, but the characters just didn't hook me and I didn't like building my party by recruiting monsters, I rather have a established party of people.

 

[werezompire]

I also played dq5 on the DS, and I know it's the fan favorite but something about it didn't draw me in. People rave about the story, but the characters just didn't hook me and I didn't like building my party by recruiting monsters, I rather have a established party of people.

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I feel like DQ5 is one of the less balanced games in the series - you get all these monsters you can recruit (of very variable power levels) but at the same time, you also get multiple hero-class human characters so later in the game, you can ignore the monster recruiting aspect entirely. And in the original version, you were limited to a 3 person party whereas almost every other game in the series (including 5's remakes) gives you a 4 person party.

 

[Thrill_house]

VII is the best 2D game in the series. Can't reccomend it enough. V would be my second favorite. I would go for 7 or 5 then decide if you want to continue from there

 

[Emerald Hawk]

The early entries can definitely drag at times. There is a solution that no one has mentioned yet, because it's against the rules: frameskip. If you play DQ1 on an emulator and turn frameskip / fast forward all the way up when you want to grind, you can beat the entire game in an hour or two. This fixes the pacing issues and makes the game way more fun in my opinion. Please buy a copy of the game before you do this.

And once you beat DQ1, you will understand the backstory and get all the references in Dragon Quest Builders 1. The Builders games are excellent, though obviously a different genre.

 

[Derachi]

III, IV, V and VI are all great. VII is great but also only play it if you have 99999 hours to spare.

 

[Redcrayon]

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

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Are they? I remember DQIV and V on DS both still taking me 30 hours or so to go through. Although I guess that's 'short' compared to VII and XI. Felt just right to me though.

 

[DanteMenethil]

Are they? I remember DQIV and V on DS both still taking me 30 hours or so to go through. Although I guess that's 'short' compared to VII and XI. Felt just right to me though.

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Yeah I consider 30hours short compared to the newers DQs which are all much longer. All the games past 6 are like between 60 to 100hours and more if you try to 100%.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

I played III in December and I was blown away by how well it actually holds up. It's by far the oldest JRPG that I actually enjoy playing

 

[the magical kitsune]

Dragon Quest 4, 5, 6 and 7 are really good but using the same graphical style for the DS remakes of 4-5-6 kinda hurt each one's individual identity (especially 6's). I'd recommend patching the japanese PS2 version for 5, and the original super famicom version for 6.

The first trilogy is good but you'd have to go in with the knowledge that these date back to an older era of rpgs, much moreso than 4-5-6. Not much of a story going on, mostly left on your own devices etc. 1 is so short that it doesn't really matter though, and 3 has a great job system that makes it very replayable (and started a lot of series staples).

 

[Derkon]

Play 5 if you play just one. 4 and 7 are pretty good too.

 

[Chakoo]

Play 7 on the 3DS, just make sure you have 80-100h free to complete it. =/

 

[Josh5890]

I've only played two of them.

IV- A lot of fun. Episodic and not too long compared to most of the series (going by howlongtobeat.com)
V- I really enjoyed it but I remember having to level grind a bit at some points. I think it took me 35-40 hours but it has been a while.

 

[thezboson]

I recently finished DQ1-3 and I genuinely regret that I didn't play them before all the other DQ games. 1 and 2 are a bit simple, but well worth playing. DQ3 was worth every second, what a wonderful piece of game history.

I can add that while I grew up playing the NES I really cannot stand retro games. I have tried other older JRPGs such as FF1 and Breath of fire and I can't enjoy those. But the early DQ games are amazing.

Can't wait to start 4, 5 and 6.

 

[Hieroph]

Dragon Quest 1 is still a great game. DQ2 not so much, but I guess you'll want to do it first if you're moving on to DQ3, which is totally worth playing.

The Zenithian or "DS Trilogy" because they all got DS remakes (DQ4, 5, 6) are all really great and absolutely worth playing.

DQ7 3DS remake is the definite edition of the game and really worth playing.

 

[zashga]

DQ5 is the best one. DQ2 is the hardest to get through, but I still like it.

 

[Het_Nkik]

1 Is pretty rough and barebones, but pretty short. 2 is okay. 3 is cool. 4 and 5 are my favorites. 6 is cool. 7 was a slog and ended my series playthrough (Dragon Warrior 1 through 4 NES, Dragon Quest 4 through 6 DS, Dragon Warrior 7 PS1).

It's worth noting 1 through 3 are all related to each other. So are 4 through 6 but much more loosely.

 

[Nerokis]

DQ1, at least on iOS, is absolutely worth playing. short and sweet, basic but on-point RPG mechanics, refreshingly simple all in all. it scratched an itch I didn't really know I had, with its straightforward and satisfying JRPGness, and definitely rises above mere historical curiosity

and then jumping all the way to DQVII...I played the 3DS version, and absolutely loved it. long, pacing is mixed at best, but there is a lot to enjoy with the progression system, it's filled to the brim with lovely vignettes, and the overarching story has some of my favorite moments in the series

in other words...DQ in general is pretty great. preferences aside, I'd say almost all the games hold up well and are worth playing. the one that comes closest to being a straight up miss is probably DQ2

 

[Keyouta]

I'm playing through a fan patched version of DQ5 on a PS2 emulator and it's amazing. Highly recommend it. I'll have to play through 3 on the Switch afterwards.

I've beaten 7 on the 3DS and it's a really great game. It's not super long like Persona 5 either (P5 took me 125 hours. DQ7 took me about 65).

 

[styl_oh]

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.

That said, what I've seen of the 16-bit version is absolutely gorgeous and looks more atmospheric than the remake on the VII engine or whatever it is.

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I'll ask you what I asked someone else, just to get a doctor's second opinion. Do you prefer the SFC version? Do you miss the party chat introduced in the remakes? That's a big selling point for a lot of DQ fans, but I hear less of it when it comes to 6, for whatever reason. Actually, I have absolutely no idea what the story or characters in 6 are like.

But I've seen the 16-bit version and it is absolutely gorgeous and looks much more atmospheric than the remake on the VII engine or whatever it is. Seems understandable that someone would prefer that over... four different DQ games/remakes on the same engine? (In terms of the DS etc.)

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

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Last month, I went through the entire first trilogy on Switch and I found 3 incredible, and yes, it's based on the mobile version, which is based on the SNES version, except with various features removed for no discernible reason* and others added (names/localization line up with all the latest remakes).

Some people hate the graphics, as I'm sure you're aware, but they're much, much better than the bizzare, not-quite-FF6-on-Steam-bad-but-still-pretty-bad 1+2 ports... the characters have somewhat less Godzilla-esque proportions on the world map, it doesn't have scrolling judder, etc. Frankly I thought it looked pretty great.

*monster animations, a minigame called Treasure's 'n Trapdoors (all rewards from said games have been scattered throughout the world and/or turned into Mini Medals)

Possibly theory: Dragon Quest 3 is fuckin killer no matter how you play. (Also, I can't miss things I never knew. A single tear rolls down my face.) it quickly became one of my favourite games after putting like 60 hours into it and I can easily see myself replaying it and messing with all the customization and class options.

Apologies if you already knew the details and literally just wanted a yes/no as to whether it's based on the mobile.

 

[ghostcrew]

Last month, I went through the entire first trilogy on Switch and I found 3 incredible, and yes, it's based on the mobile version, which is based on the SNES version, except with various features removed for no discernible reason* and others added (names/localization line up with all the latest remakes).

Some people hate the graphics, as I'm sure you're aware, but they're much, much better than the bizzare, not-quite-FF6-on-Steam-bad-but-still-pretty-bad 1+2 ports... the characters have somewhat less Godzilla-esque proportions on the world map, it doesn't have scrolling judder, etc. Frankly I thought it looked pretty great.

*monster animations, a minigame called Treasure's 'n Trapdoors (all rewards from said games have been scattered throughout the world and/or turned into Mini Medals)

Possibly theory: Dragon Quest 3 is fuckin killer no matter how you play. (Also, I can't miss things I never knew. A single tear rolls down my face.) it quickly became one of my favourite games after putting like 60 hours into it and I can easily see myself replaying it and messing with all the customization and class options.

Apologies if you already knew the details and literally just wanted a yes/no as to whether it's based on the mobile.

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No, that's exactly the review I was looking for! Thanks!

 

[styl_oh]

By the way, the Dragon Quest Wiki is indispensable; one of the most useful I've ever seen for a series. Not the Fandom-hosted one, the other one. (Also, it blows my mind that Final Fantasy only seems to have a Fandom wiki, good as it seems to be.) If you're playing a DQ game it'll have every single localization for every single name of everything ever, and the original Japanese as well, along with information and version differences (because these games, especially the older ones, can get confusing if you try to look something up--like, what's 'water flying clothes'? Oh, it's 'Flowing Dress' now ). A herculean effort, that wiki.

Maybe not as good as the Japanese DQ wiki though--they have a practically novel length page on the concept of, variations of, translations of and appearances of... puff-puff. It is the longest page on the site.

 

[Nairume]

I own all four NES games, and they are all still highly playable (even 2)

5 is a masterpiece

6 is mechanically strong and is aesthetically beautiful, but is probably my least favorite of the older games.

7 is wonderful, though very very very slow paced.

 

[Darkmaigle]

5 is literally one of the best video games ever made

play that one

 

[Dogui]

3DS version of DQVII is easily my fav game in the series. It's also full of qol stuff, i don't think you ever need to grind unless you want specific skills or upgrade classes, and modern DQ without random encounter = Metal Slimes are a lot easier to deal with. Also, it isn't as long as people say and most of the time they're thinking about the PS1 version. I finished the game in like 60 hours. VIII and XI are atleast as long as that.

IV-V-VI on DS are also good stuff. The older ones are too much for me.

 

[styl_oh]

I own all four NES games, and they are all still highly playable (even 2)

5 is a masterpiece

6 is mechanically strong and is aesthetically beautiful, but is probably my least favorite of the older games.

7 is wonderful, though very very very slow paced.

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I cannot imagine going through the original 2, the original cave of Rhone, with the original Prince 'Coffin Boy' Cannock... you have my admiration lol

 

[freikugeln]

Everything from 3 and onwards

4-5-6 on DS/IOS are the best starting point. Extremely easy to pick up as everything moves at a brisk pace and they don't overstay their welcome.

From 7 to 11 the time gap between releases became much larger and so did the games themselves now easily reaching the 100 hours mark. Not the kind of games you whip through to take from your backlog or start back to back. I 'd recommend spacing them out accordingly. Still amazing and must-plays for jrpg fans.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

Last month, I went through the entire first trilogy on Switch and I found 3 incredible, and yes, it's based on the mobile version, which is based on the SNES version, except with various features removed for no discernible reason* and others added (names/localization line up with all the latest remakes).

Some people hate the graphics, as I'm sure you're aware, but they're much, much better than the bizzare, not-quite-FF6-on-Steam-bad-but-still-pretty-bad 1+2 ports... the characters have somewhat less Godzilla-esque proportions on the world map, it doesn't have scrolling judder, etc. Frankly I thought it looked pretty great.

*monster animations, a minigame called Treasure's 'n Trapdoors (all rewards from said games have been scattered throughout the world and/or turned into Mini Medals)

Possibly theory: Dragon Quest 3 is fuckin killer no matter how you play. (Also, I can't miss things I never knew. A single tear rolls down my face.) it quickly became one of my favourite games after putting like 60 hours into it and I can easily see myself replaying it and messing with all the customization and class options.

Apologies if you already knew the details and literally just wanted a yes/no as to whether it's based on the mobile.

Click to shrink...

Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me but I felt like III on the switch had a slightly better art style than 1 or 2

 

[Vic Damone Jr.]

Play V, mate.

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This. This. And this.

Would love a remake or a port to a modern system.

 

[Starseeker]

All of them. Seriously. Especially V.

 

[GamerJM]

All of them except maybe 7. I've tried to get into it like three separate times, across both the PS1 and 3DS versions, and it's a fucking slog at the beginning. It probably gets better but it's just so intimidating.

I've played and enjoyed all of the rest. I think 1&3 are pretty unexceptional games outside of the historical context they came out in but they're still totally fine RPGs and worth playing if you want something fairly standard for the genre (though 1 is at least interesting in that it's a single-party member game). I think 4 and 5 are masterpieces, and 2 and 6 are just really solid.

 

[styl_oh]

Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me but I felt like III on the switch had a slightly better art style than 1 or 2

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I think so too. I think they made the characters smaller, and in terms of the HD monsters, having more of them on screen probably helped the... HD-ness of them not be so apparent. Like, they're the exact same art--Toriyama's key art--but I wish they were pixellated.

DQ1, look at these monstrously-sized sprites stomping around a game world too small for them

DQ3, they look more normal and fit better (if not perfectly)

compare to Super Famicom DQ3 and I think it looks pretty good

 

[SolVanderlyn]

If you only play one, make it V. Everything about that game just clicks.

 

[werezompire]

I'll ask you what I asked someone else, just to get a doctor's second opinion. Do you prefer the SFC version? Do you miss the party chat introduced in the remakes? That's a big selling point for a lot of DQ fans, but I hear less of it when it comes to 6, for whatever reason. Actually, I have absolutely no idea what the story or characters in 6 are like.

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I haven't played the remake of DQ6, but from what I've read plus what I've played of the DQ4-5 remakes, I stuck with the SFC. Besides the art style change, the remake has two big downsides IMO:

1 - The remake is easier. I thought the original game was well balanced & had a solid level of challenge.
2 - There's a lot less monsters you can recruit. In the original, you can recruit a wide variety of monsters by fighting them with a monster taming class in your party & getting lucky. In the remake, there's only a handful of monsters you can get, mostly varieties of slimes.

With that said, I imagine the remake has some improved QoL and is probably fine if you've never played the original.

 

[Voyevoda]

I've only played I, II, III and VII out of those, but I'll say it's crazy how III holds up today.

Play the SNES remake with a fan-translation, it's amazing.

 

[styl_oh]

I've only played I, II, III and VII out of those, but I'll say it's crazy how III holds up today.

Play the SNES remake with a fan-translation, it's amazing.

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It really is nuts. Like, I get that it's a remake, it added stuff, prettied up the graphics, but at its core it's a game from 1988, and in my (limited) experience an RPG from 1988 should not play that well, be so easy to get lost in... it just flew by, became an immediate favourite

 

[NovumVeritas]

Which port for DQ V is the most recommended?

 

[Oreiller]

3,4 and 5 are still great. 5 in particular is still the best game in the series.

 

[halcali]

They're all worth playing, though I haven't played ALL of them.

DQVII is a very good game, but an average DQ game. That said, it's one of my favourites. lol

 

[wrowa]

All of them, honestly.

I'm a big advocate for playing DQ1. People are always afraid of going back to NES era RPGs - and for good reason - but the rereleases of DQ1 hold up really well. It's such a minimalistic experience that it actually feels refreshing to play today and it also contains the aura of mystery that made RPGs so interesting to me in the first place. The way you gain vital pieces of information by exploring the world and talking to random NPCs in towns makes the world actually feel like, well, a world. That's something so many RPGs these days fail at.

It's also really short.

 

[Oreiller]

Which port for DQ V is the most recommended?

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I played it on DS and it was great. I think the mobile port is the same as the DS port so you could go with that one too I guess.

 

[styl_oh]

Which port for DQ V is the most recommended?

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Either DS, mobile (same remake, doesn't cost $200), or the JP-only PS2 remake which looks amazing--from what I understand it has a fan translation that's virtually complete, with maybe one non-gamebreaking bug that's pretty avoidable if you know what it is

The DS/mobile version has the most content--PS2 content and more--but I know some hardcore fans who prefer PS2; it looks nice and uses an early version of the DQ8 engine from what I gather

 

[styl_oh]

All of them, honestly.

I'm a big advocate for playing DQ1. People are always afraid of going back to NES era RPGs - and for good reason - but the rereleases of DQ1 hold up really well. It's such a minimalistic experience that it actually feels refreshing to play today and it also contains the aura of mystery that made RPGs so interesting to me in the first place. The way you gain vital pieces of information by exploring the world and talking to random NPCs in towns makes the world actually feel like, well, a world. That's something so many RPGs these days fail at.

It's also really short.

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I agree! There was also something interesting... more solitary, more dangerous, about playing solely as the Hero and fighting 1 on 1 battles. Are there even any other JRPGs where you fight 1v1? I couldn't even pin down why, but I liked that.

It's short, sweet, and only has two (2) 'grind spots' if you play the remakes, and even a few neat easter eggs (not returning the princess, beating the whole game with her slung over your shoulder)

Plus I think it establishes that world rather well--particularly the important towns--which does enrich II and III quite a bit for reasons I shant spoil to newcomers

 

[Exile In Mudville]

The ones I think the most of are 3, 4 and 7 - but that's only because I haven't spent nearly enough time with 5 and 6. 1 and 2 are okay as long as you play any of the updated ports - the NES versions are incredibly slow going, so much so that one of the key highlights of the Super Famicom 1+2 remake was a faster levelling rate and that's been the baseline since.

7 is my all time favorite, but I'd also echo that if you play it in any form it's a severe investment of time. So it's best to go for the 3DS version if you can, if only for all the QoL improvements.

 

[NovumVeritas]

I played it on DS and it was great. I think the mobile port is the same as the DS port so you could go with that one too I guess.

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Nice, I will look for the DS port then :)

Either DS, mobile (same remake, doesn't cost $200), or the JP-only PS2 remake which looks amazing--from what I understand it has a fan translation that's virtually complete, with maybe one non-gamebreaking bug that's pretty avoidable if you know what it is

The DS/mobile version has the most content--PS2 content and more--but I know some hardcore fans who prefer PS2; it looks nice and uses an early version of the DQ8 engine from what I gather

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I will look for the DS version. I heard about the PS2 translation as well. Thanks for the in-depth information :)

 

[Coinspinner]

DQ4 is worth everyone's time. Even the original is still decent.

 

[shounenka]

Play V, mate.

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Really the only right answer. Arguably the most loved and most replayable of the classic DQs. Was the entire basis for the recent DQ animated movie. Symphonic soundtrack is also incredible.

 

[Voyevoda]

It really is nuts. Like, I get that it's a remake, it added stuff, prettied up the graphics, but at its core it's a game from 1988, and in my (limited) experience an RPG from 1988 should not play that well, be so easy to get lost in... it just flew by, became an immediate favourite

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I kept having to remember that, at its core, it was an NES game, while playing it. Crazy (and the only NES game that I can fathom with Super Mario Bros 3).

 

[N E R O]

V is worth playing

 

[ryushe]

DQI is a great little history lesson on gaming's most popular JRPG. Worth a playthrough, especially since it's short.

DQII is an unfun slog of an experience, even with a walkthrough.

DQIII holds up exceptionally well and is honestly better than most JRPG's today.

 

[Flon]

I think Dragon Quest IV holds up very well.

The only one that I'd avoid is Dragon Quest II. It's aged worse than the first game and you'll be spending a lot of time just wandering around hoping to find clues and tile hunting for invisible objects.