Which is the best of these three games: Dragon Quest 1, Final Fantasy 1, Phantasy Star 1

Hey. I've actually played all three! On original hardware!

DQ1 shouldn't even be in the running. That game is as basic as basic gets. Just one character and a LOT of grinding. Incredibly short and basic.

FF1 is crazy frustrating with enemies that can just straight up turn your entire party to stone. Still have nightmares about cockatrice caves. Also, nothing that interesting was going on in the game.

PS1 has a lot grinding itself, especially early on, but I love its trope subversions (girl saving the big muscly dude) and the fact you FLY TO OTHER PLANETS. Game blew my expectations out of the water.

So yeah. Easily giving this to Phantasy Star.

I played all three of these games for the first time within the past decade.

Caz said:

FWIW the Ultimate Genesis Collection is incredibly cheap, easy to find a copy of it and includes all the Master/Genesis Phantasy Star games.

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Yeah, I have a PS3 and a 360 but I think I would want something like that on the newer consoles or PC.

Dragon Quest is quite possibly one of the most important games ever made, so that's my vote.

Phantasy Star. One of my all time favorites to be honest. As a Nintendo kid Phantasy Star (and time soldiers to be completely honest) was the reason I even convinced my mother I needed a master system.

And as someone else mentioned it was an unlockable in the ultimate genesis collection for PS3/360 and I have played through it again, last time being about two years ago and I had a really good time with it, suprising how open it is and how well it holds up.

Het_Nkik said:

Hey. I've actually played all three! On original hardware!

DQ1 shouldn't even be in the running. That game is as basic as basic gets. Just one character and a LOT of grinding. Incredibly short and basic.

FF1 is crazy frustrating with enemies that can just straight up turn your entire party to stone. Still have nightmares about cockatrice caves. Also, nothing that interesting was going on in the game.

PS1 has a lot grinding itself, especially early on, but I love its trope subversions (girl saving the big muscly dude) and the fact you FLY TO OTHER PLANETS. Game blew my expectations out of the water.

So yeah. Easily giving this to Phantasy Star.

I played all three of these games for the first time within the past decade.

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That's not true about DQ. There is a secret side quest that you don't have to do. Also, I just played through the Android version on my tablet and it's a lot less grindy and easier.

I just want to say that it's really cool you can play all 3 on a GBA.

Phantasy Star and pretty easily

And i love the first FF and so far of all DQ ive played the first is still the one i enjoyed most

Phantasy Star is just a complete package. I'm also slightly biased because it had an excellent localization for us in brazil so i played it way, WAY more than DQ (maybe i played FF in the same amount though)

Out of all these the only one I've played is the GBA version of FF1, but basically what I'm seeing asked here is: What's the best late 80's console RPG, or maybe just late 80's RPG in general.

So maybe the list should be:

DQ3
FF1
PS1
Ys1
Ultima V
Wizardry IV
Might and Magic II
Megami Tensei 1

RockyMin said:

Is that the Master System or the Genesis version?

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Master system, what a difference with nes bleeps and bloops from that era right

RedSwirl said:

Out of all these the only one I've played is the GBA version of FF1, but basically what I'm seeing asked here is: What's the best late 80's console RPG, or maybe just late 80's RPG in general.

So maybe the list should be:

DQ3
FF1
PS1
Ys1
Ultima V
Wizardry IV
Might and Magic II
Megami Tensei 1

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I think that Ultima, Wizardry and Might and Magic are best played on PC. That is what they were developed for and ported to consoles. Most, if not all the games in those series are up on GOG or Steam.

Ys 1 but if I have to choose its Phantasy Star. Its aged the best. DQ1 was pretty boring when I played through it as a kid on an emulator.

I'd probably choose Phantasy Star 1 even though it's the hardest one to pick to play.

If only Mother 1 was there in the poll, I prefer it over them.

RockyMin said:

That's not true about DQ. There is a secret side quest that you don't have to do. Also, I just played through the Android version on my tablet and it's a lot less grindy and easier.

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I figured we were talking about the original releases and not the re-releases.

Dragon quest is probably the most important.

Final fantasy is my favorite.

But honestly? Phantasy Star is the best.

Played them all. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I'd lean slightly to PS. But all three were great games back then.

I can't believe Dragon Quest is ahead of Final Fantasy. Phantasy Star at least is where it belongs, although I don't think it's a shoo-in compared to FF.

FF1 has my heart. DQ1 never really clicked with me, as it felt rudimentary when I played it (I'd already become obsessed with FF1 by then, and DQ1 just didn't compare in my mind). I love the series later on (starting with 3, and especially 4).

I've never actually played PS1. I stared with 2.

Played and loved all three but Phantasy star 1 is the better game imo

I've tried several times to try to play Phantasy Star 1 over the years, and I just absolutely can't do it. Dragon Quest 1 is pretty archaic (even by DQ standards), so that leaves Final Fantasy 1 as the default winner for me.

Chairman Yang said:

Final Fantasy 1 is better than DQ1 in every way. It has actual strategy in combat, rather than just grinding. It has party control rather than just one very limited character. It has multiple builds, not just one. It has a cool (by the standards of time) plot twist, rather than a whole lot of nothing.

I can understand thinking DQ1 is more influential. But better?

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It's all opinion. Some people prefer the solo character RPG to those that have a party. Having a party does not make one objectively better.

PrimeBeef said:

It's all opinion. Some people prefer the solo character RPG to those that have a party. Having a party does not make one objectively better.

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You can play Final Fantasy as a solo RPG. Different character arrangements are part of the game's lasting appeal.

Natsuko said:

Despite Dragon Quest 1 being one of the giants of the JRPG genre, I think it's fair to say Final Fantasy 1 and Phantasy Star 1 are in a different league. Having said that, I got to give it to FF. Despite Phantasy Star looking the slickest, I think Final Fantasy's game world is more interesting, with more variety in dungeons and quests. Phantasy Star's 3D dungeons look great but in the end all that sets a dungeon apart from the rest is the color of the walls. Also, I remember a large part of Phantasy Star was just collecting the game's ultimate equipment for the final battle. It wasn't always clear what you had to do (even in the Japanse version) and there was some dumb stuff like the dungeon cakeshop. If it wasn't for Final Fantasy, I think it deserved the title of best JRPG of 1987, though.

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There is a reason for that. With the memory limits on 8 bit systems Yuji Naka was going insane thinking of a way to fit the 3d dungeons in, he locked himself up in a conference room for a week where he worked on a solution. He made a cube of different coloured legos so assentially the game in order to fit has just one dungeon. The colours seperate what part of the cube you are in.

'3y Kingdom said:

I can't believe Dragon Quest is ahead of Final Fantasy. Phantasy Star at least is where it belongs.

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I can. FF1 is more interesting in some ways, but DQ1's simplicity plays and holds up very well.

Damn. Tie between the original DQ and Original PS.

Just played DQ1 a few weeks ago on my phone.

Still holds up.

Definitely Phantasy Star.

All games are good and still holds up pretty well, but Phantasy Star is easily the best early jRPG.

Phantasy star by far. Like leaps and bounds better than the others.

Nerokis said:

I can. FF1 is more interesting in some ways, but DQ1's simplicity plays and holds up very well.

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I can understand voting for DQ's rerealeses over those of FF, but when it comes to the original games FF is much more tolerable to actually play. Of course, since the OP didn't really specify whether we're discussing the original games or the remakes, I suppose it's fair game, but the various releases are really quite different. It's hard to settle the matter when the question is so non-specific.

'3y Kingdom said:

You can play Final Fantasy as a solo RPG. Different character arrangements are part of the game's lasting appeal.

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Sure, but that still does not mean it is better. It may have more appeal to some. Thise are still subjective opinions.

I tried dozens of the FF1 class combinations, it didn't make the game any better for me. I still prefer DQ1 over it.

'3y Kingdom said:

I can understand voting for DQ's rerealeses over those of FF, but when it comes to the original games FF is much more tolerable to actually play. Of course, since the OP didn't really specify whether we're discussing the original games or the remakes, I suppose it's fair game, but the various releases are really quite different.

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I'm not sure how tolerable FF1 is for the average newbie. Listening to the guys on the No One Can Know About This podcast play through it was absolutely hilarious, but it practically killed them. It has its share of bad bugs and unintuitive design decisions.

Not that the average newbie is necessarily the metric for how fun they are to play. If you find FF1 more replayable as someone familiar with the games already, that's a legitimate perspective, as well.

DharmaBum said:

I sort of agree, but I think it's fair to mention that FF1 is essentially a D&D game. At least half of FF's enemies are right out of the old Monster Manual. That may be why the world felt so cohesive and interesting. Anyway, between FF1 and PS1 it's a hard, hard call. For me, it's FF1 (but I love D&D).

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To clarify what I mean, I think the locations in Final Fantasy are more memorable than Phantasy Star because, despite being a Famicom game, the developers of Final Fantasy seemed to have succedeed more distinguishing each dungeon through visuals and music. Note how in case of Phantasy Star all the dungeon look the same and there are only 3 dungeon themes, if I remember correctly. So I don't think it's related to the fact that FF happens to draw a lot of its ideas from D&D.

Phantasy Star had some really cleaver methods for speeding up the pace of battle like showing enemy and party member HP being subtracted instead of having to write out damage messages and showing characters' status boxes as they act or are attacked instead of having to write out who was acting. Also, the main characters are atypical even after decades of decades of console RPGs, and they deserve props for having a groundbreaking character like Alis and not only having a respectful design (especially by 80's standards) but also letting her have a motive of straight up vengeance.

Within the past year I've played Dragon Quest and Phantasy Star, and have played Final Fantasy numerous times.

Phantasy Star's dungeons are no fun and there's very little guidance in the game (and an awful translation). Dragon Quest doesn't have much in the way of guidance either but there's a little more at least, and in general the dungeons are easier to navigate.

Final Fantasy is tough at the start but once you get past Matoya's Cave it's actually pretty smooth, and once you get the Rat's Tail it's even better.

Final Fantasy running away with this one IMO.

Nerokis said:

I'm not sure how tolerable FF1 is for the average newbie. Listening to the guys on the No One Can Know About This podcast play through it was absolutely hilarious, but it practically killed them. It has its share of bad bugs and unintuitive design decisions.

Not that the average newbie is necessarily the metric for how fun they are to play. If you find FF1 more replayable as someone familiar with the games already, that's a legitimate perspective, as well.

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Oh, FF1 definitely has lots of problems, particularly the glitched spells, which are terribly unfair in a game with limited spell inventory. It's also much less accessible than modern RPGs, but so are the other two (yes, even Phantasy Star, with its endless samey dungeons and lack of direction). My reason for preferring FF over DQ comes entirely down to the fact that Dragon Quest makes the player grind a lot.

I should add that, up to the Dragonlord's castle, I actually rather like Dragon Quest. It has a nice balance of preparation and dungeon/map crawling and offers an unbalanced but still engaging challenge to the player. The very last stretch of the game, however, is nothing more than a grind-fest. Nothing really new to discover, no areas left on the map, just fighting enemy after enemy to reach a high enough level that the RNG isn't likely to kill you before the end of the castle. With the increased experience found in the later ports/remakes, it would be all right, but the original game is tedious. And even those remakes would probably make the early game a relative bore.

Phantasy Star 2 is definitely better then DQ2 and FF2 as well

Vault said:

Phantasy Star 2 is definitely better then DQ2 and FF2 as well

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I haven't played PS2 yet, but I think DQ 2 is underrated (played it on my phone earlier this year). I've only played FF2 on Dawn of Souls for GBA and it didn't leave much impression on me. The leveling system was weird if I remember correctly.

Hmmm hard one

But FF1 for me, because it got the best replay value of them all. I've finish DQ multiple time because it was really short, and PS1 like 2 times... i still think ff1 got everything best other then graphic.

emonk said:

I haven't played PS2 yet, but I think DQ 2 is underrated (played it on my phone earlier this year). I've only played FF2 on Dawn of Souls for GBA and it didn't leave much impression on me. The leveling system was weird if I remember correctly.

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Original DQ2 is awful, the phone version you played is far, far different from the NES original which is abysmal

Go try it out and see if you still maintain your "DQ2 is underrated" opinion. It's so bad its possible that it will make you dislike the phone version as well.

For me it's Phantasy Star, despite being in the same genre, the theme allowed the game to really get branch out IMO.

Vault said:

Phantasy Star 2 is definitely better then DQ2 and FF2 as well

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Can you explain why?
PS2 is the only PS game I had trouble getting into because just found it insanely grindy

Basically all the others options are copies of DQ1.

FF1 being a desperate copy to save a company from bankruptcy.

Mozendo said:

For me it's Phantasy Star, despite being in the same genre, the theme allowed the game to really get branch out IMO.


Can you explain why?
PS2 is the only PS game I had trouble getting into because just found it insanely grindy

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I adored PS2 back in the day but IMO it hasn't aged well, perhaps the worst of the series. The grinding is INTENSE, the visuals bland, and the later-game dungeons brutal without maps (made worse by the high random encounter rate). PSIV, on the other hand, is a friggin' masterpiece.

If I *had* to choose ... most important game =/= best game out of the three. DQ1 for sure is the most pioneering but it's very basic and FF1 feels like a significant expansion of it. So FF1 for me.

Edit: DQ1 is however easier to revisit cause it's such a short game compared to FF1, but upon revisiting it becomes transparent how it's basically a grindfest in preparation for the dragonlord.

Starlatine said:

Original DQ2 is awful, the phone version you played is far, far different from the NES original which is abysmal

Go try it out and see if you still maintain your "DQ2 is underrated" opinion. It's so bad its possible that it will make you dislike the phone version as well.

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The phone version of DQ2 is bad too.

DQ1 is good because it's so simple. There's no bs.

Phantasy star for sure. I played all of them as a child and PS was the best one and feels like it is the model for JRPGs.

Happy to see phantasy star winning because it's the best 8bit rpg

Phantasy Star 1 is the best 8bit RPG and a technical marvel. Still holds up today, incredible achievement of a game

Mozendo said:

For me it's Phantasy Star, despite being in the same genre, the theme allowed the game to really get branch out IMO.


Can you explain why?
PS2 is the only PS game I had trouble getting into because just found it insanely grindy

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DQ2 is even more grindy and FF2 is straight up broken.

none of them have aged well but PS2 is the least offensive, living in Europe as well its the only one i have nostalgia for.

I haven't played Dragon Quest, but Phantasy Star is definitely better than Final Fantasy in... well, pretty much everything.

Soul Skater said:

Phantasy Star 1 is the best 8bit RPG and a technical marvel. Still holds up today, incredible achievement of a game

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Eh, Sweet Home can give Phantasy Star a run for its money but it is the best of the three.