How are those Dragon Quest games?

[Kumo]

I was wondering about the quality of the DQ series on PS2 and DS, and I was hoping that I could get some recommendations on what games to start with considering I've never played any of them before. Let me know about gameplay, story, fun factor, etc.

[Madame Adequate]

I hate them. I find them unbelievably dull and uninventive. However, I have not played VIII, which did look like it might have done things in a way I much prefer.

[Flying Mullet]

I love them, but then again I grew up with them so I've enjoyed watching them evolve and mature. I just picked up DQ IV for the DS and plan to enjoy playing it through over the holiday. I enjoyed the original on the NES so I have high hopes for this game. As for DQ VIII, I greatly enjoyed that one as well. The series places a lot of emphasis on open exploration and finding key items as opposed to speaking with NPCs to fire events, which I've always found fun.

[Bolivar]

You should start with VIII on the PS2, no question. It's the most accessible one, you don't need to go into menus to do everything, plus you get to actually see your characters on the battle screen. This may all sound confusing if you haven't played the others, but just trust me, it's tighter.

Just overall VIII is a great starting point because it's accessible and it gets you familiar with the art style. Like a spoon full of sugar, it makes the medicine go down. After that, the game is just beautiful both graphically and artistically, they really brought Akira Toriyama's artwork to life. Even if you're not a Dragon Ball fan it's great.

After that you might want to try the DS remakes. IV is incredible and shows you that Dragon Quest was maybe a bit more innovative than it gets credit for.

So yeah, DQ is great, this thread probably belongs in general square enix, and you owe it to yourself to play the originator of the "J"RPG genre.

[Shoeberto]

I haven't played many, but what I have played were super bad about requiring you to level grind just for forever. If you don't mind stuff like that you'll probably dig them.

[Rase]

I have only really played VIII, and that one is definitely worth a try. While certainly in the older mindset of "you're gonna need to grind a few levels to stand a chance", it's beautiful graphics, quick and fun gameplay, and just general feeling of fantasy make it a joy to play.

[Bastian]

I'd never played DQ, but when VIII came out I thought it looked fun. But then I totally forgot about it.

But six months ago while shopping for a different used game and not finding it, I saw viii and bought it.

I loved it. It was more challenging than FF (definitely requires level grinding) but enjoyable. Yet, I stopped playing it when ff:cc:eot came out . . . and haven't gone back since . . .

[JKTrix]

I actually prefer DQ to FF. DQ5 is one of my favourite games period. Can't wait for 6.

I might even recommend getting into 4 and 5 for DS before 8. 8 is a little different, more long-winded than they are. It's also right in the middle of the current 'trilogy'. Go with the classics!

[NeoCracker]

DQ V on the DS is easily the best, albeit the final boss was a big letdown, the rest of the game being quite hard, and then him being beat by me half assing the last fight.

VIII is awesome as well, though I hated IV.

[McLovin']

Only played 7 and 8 and loved both.

[Rostum]

I've only played VIII, and I wasn't a huge fan, even though I love to grind in MMO's. Though I loved the art direction of it.

I can only recommend that you at least try it out and see for yourself.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

DQIV employs a rather unique structure in that the first fifteen hours of the game are broken up into chapters focusing on just one or two heroes in their own isolated parts of the world, with significantly different tones, settings, and play styles. They only overlap in minor ways until the final chapter, when the main hero comes into play and gathers them all together to oppose the unifying force that's been antagonizing them all along.

DQV simply hosts an incredibly effective narrative, following the hero from his boyhood in the care of his father, then through numerous horrifying hardships, and finally finding love and building a family of his own. It's elegantly minimal (the hero himself never talks, after all), but it remains one of the best-told stories in any RPG.

[Kumo]

Well I was thinking of getting a few more games on the DS, so I'll definitely look into those, and with PS2 games getting harder to find, I'll try to pick up 8 as well. THanks for the tips!

[crazybayman]

Yep, as most people here said, DQ VIII on PS2 and DQ IV.

And instead of just buying DQ IV for the DS right away, you could download an NES emulator and the Dragon Warrior IV ROM to give it a try (it was Dragon Warrior here in North America before falling in line with Japan and being called Dragon Quest).

Anyways, DW IV was probably my favorite game on the NES. It was WAY ahead of its time. I loved how they broke it all into chapters, then united all the characters with The Hero in the final chapter.

Little stuff like, if someone in your party dies in battle, and you have the cart, then the next character in line in the cart jumps in to take over. Awesome.

[Momiji]

The first game in the series (released in the US as 'Dragon Warrior') is one of my all-time favorite games. :D

I have DQIV for DS (as well as II and III on an emulator), but I haven't played those much yet, aside from DQIV, which I'm in the 3rd chapter of.

[Kumo]

Ended up buying DQ VIII for $10 and DQIV DS for $15 at Gamestop today, both used but in good condition. I was pretty psyched to find them so cheap, but I'll do what everybody says and play DQ VIII first.

[Flying Mullet]

I'm about eight hours into DQ IV and towards the end of Chapter 4, almost ready to jump into the meat of the game and all I have to say is, "Wow". It really is impressive how they've overhauled the game. The general feel and difficulty remains, but they've added so much visual flavor that only adds to the experience.

[FFIX Choco Boy]

I got DQVIII for Christmax, and I can barely stop playing it. I love the game.

[Bastian]

New DQIVs are 9.99 at Game Crazy today, Imma buy it and let y'all know if I like it better than VIII.

[Wolf Kanno]

I have a love/hate relationship with the series. I generally dislike most of its game design and predictability but it doesn't stop me from playing them religiously.

I love DQI, III, and VII. I hope to play IV and V when I get the chance but right now I have VIII on the backburner. I had fun playing with it but it feels like a huge step back from DQVII from a design perspective and most of VIII's improvements are simply cosmetic. The more I play VIII the more I want to play VII instead.

Still, its a great series but its very "old school" so your mileage may vary depending on what you expect from a RPG.

[RedPouch]

I have a love/hate relationship with DQ games as well. They are good and enjoyable [especially I-IV, which were my favourites], but at the same time the art style really drives me insane. I feel that it's not really a very serious art style at all [to say the least, I actually think the style is terrible] and it makes it seem like too much of a joke-cartoon more than anything else, which makes it hard for me to take the game seriously. Truth be told, I actually enjoyed them more on the NES than anything else. I'll never be an Akira Toriyama fan, but the games are still good.

As far as storyline and game journey goes, sometimes simple can be a good thing. I feel that something simple and predictable lets your guard down and allows you just enjoy it for what it is [this is why I truly loved Fable]. Complex, amazing and compelling can be good in different ways, but they're risky. If the designers don't achieve "complex, amazing, and compelling" properly, then it backfires and ruins the game or at least makes it seem lame or ridiculous. I'm still pondering if Dragon Age did this well or not.

[Mirage]

I've only played DQ8, which I found pretty boring in terms of gameplay, and I think good gameplay is very important in any game. I'm not a big fan of akira toriyama's character designs either, so it might not come as a big shock that I put the game away after not too many hours.

[RedPouch]

I'm not a big fan of akira toriyama's character designs either, so it might not come as a big shock that I put the game away after not too many hours.
I know what you mean. I hate to be petty and be discouraged by one thing which in actuality is minor and irrelevant to key gaming elements, but I can't help it if I'm constantly irritated by what I'm looking at while playing a game. Still, I try to be fair and impartial as much as I can and at least give it a chance. But in all honesty, I really disliked VIII for several reasons, not just the fact that it has Akira Toriyama's slobber all over it.
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[Mirage]

I could ignore the character design if I thought it was fun to play, I do things like that in lots of games already.

[leader of mortals]

Well, I've only ever played the original Dragon Warrior for the NES, and VIII for the PS2(Along with Joker and Rocket Slime, but those are different), and for VIII the only time I ever grinded levels was because I wanted to, not because the enemies were too strong.

[destinyislands]

I personally have only played the NES game for a bit and some of the GB games, and those retro-classics were amazing. Other than that, can't say the newer generation are good

[Flying Mullet]

I had fun playing with it but it feels like a huge step back from DQVII from a design perspective and most of VIII's improvements are simply cosmetic. The more I play VIII the more I want to play VII instead.
My biggest complaint with DQ VII is that you reach Dharma well over a quarter of the way through the game. I would have enjoyed the game more if I could have reached Dharma and started playing with the various classes roughly 5 hours into the game.

[Wolf Kanno]

True, but VII is such a time consuming game to begin with. Yeah your a good 20 to 30 hours in but seeing as how the game is like 100+ hours long using a guide I don't see the harm especially since the Job system is really awesome in this game if a bit on the broken side. Shepherds kick ass :cool:

VIII's has an amusing system but it lacks the depth of the Job system and well... I'm bias here.

Not to mention its only possible to actually max out two of the categories in VIII and that's only if you get max levels which is an act of god in a DQ game.

[Breine]

I only have Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2, but I haven't played it yet. I probably should since it's supposed to be this really great game, plus Level-5 is awesome.

[RedPouch]

True, but VII is such a time consuming game to begin with. Yeah your a good 20 to 30 hours in but seeing as how the game is like 100+ hours long using a guide I don't see the harm especially since the Job system is really awesome in this game if a bit on the broken side. Shepherds kick ass :cool:

VIII's has an amusing system but it lacks the depth of the Job system and well... I'm bias here.

Not to mention its only possible to actually max out two of the categories in VIII and that's only if you get max levels which is an act of god in a DQ game.
I did make the effort to max out the main hero in Dragon Warrior IV for the NES once just to see if he could solo the final boss. Oddly enough, I wasn't able to. I dealt about 150k damage to him but he still didn't die, and I had run out of resources and MP by then, thus unable to keep myself alive anymore. I'm pretty sure he has far less HP than that, so either there was some sort of glitch or there's some invincibility code that gets put on for god knows what reason in case you aren't using party members. Lame.

Oh yeah, and getting him 99 took forever-and-a-half despite wandering through the forest near that last town hunting for King Metals all day.
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[Wolf Kanno]

The real reason is that after level 50 (the highest level needed to beat the game) your characters don't really get many stat upgrades beyond that. My GBC copy of DQIII has a glitch that maxed out my main character after fighting some slimes in the mini-game board and I noticed after level 50 he stopped gaining stats, like every 5 to 8 levels he would actually gain a stat bonus but that still is only about 8 or 10 minor additions. I think VIII is the first game in the series to actually make it worth your while to grind to godhood and even then I don't think its worth it.

[Flying Mullet]

Yes, Dragon Quest III stops giving decent stats by the low 50s, if not the mid-to-high 40s. In the GBC version of DQIII I always hang onto my intelligence seeds until the end of the game, when the hero stats aren't really increasing with levels anymore, then I give him all of the intelligence seeds. This big boost in intelligence means that he gains a lot of magic points at the next level to match the increased intelligence, hopefully earning another use of HealUsAll in battle.

In other news, I just picked up DQV for the DS and I'm hoping to have time to play it within the next couple of weeks.

[Kumo]

I haven't bought DQ V yet, let me know how it is.

[RedPouch]

The real reason is that after level 50 (the highest level needed to beat the game) your characters don't really get many stat upgrades beyond that. My GBC copy of DQIII has a glitch that maxed out my main character after fighting some slimes in the mini-game board and I noticed after level 50 he stopped gaining stats, like every 5 to 8 levels he would actually gain a stat bonus but that still is only about 8 or 10 minor additions. I think VIII is the first game in the series to actually make it worth your while to grind to godhood and even then I don't think its worth it.
That isn't exactly what I meant. Necrosaro was still alive after I had dealt 150k~ish damage to him when his actual HP in final form is only like 3k or something if I recall correctly. I can't speak for Dragon Quest III, since IV was the only one where I maxed a character to 99 [and I maxed out the main hero of Dragon Quest I as well, but the max level in that game was 30].

[Zeromus_X]

I've only played DQ I-III and VIII, I enjoyed them all although I probably couldn't go back and enjoy the earlier ones so easily nowadays.

VIII was really wonderful, it gave a nostalgic sense of exploration that I rarely feel playing current JRPGs. It might be my favorite DQ game.

Really want to play IV-VI and VIII someday (heard VII is REALLY long, one of the longest cRPGs or something?), and looking forward to DQIX.

[Bastian]

IX is WHY I finally got into DQ. I LOVE multiplayer RPGs (my childhood friend and I have been playing them together since we were kids and still do ((playing FFIV:TAY together now)) all these years alter).

So when I heard that DQ IX was a multiplayer, I decided to give VIII a shot. For some reason I'm not 100% into it. I play it for a few days and then don't for a month or two. And then pick it up again for a few days, etc.

I just bought IV for the DS and I think I like it a LOT better than VIII.

[Slothy]

The only one I've played was DQVIII. I did enjoy it for quite a while as the characters, visuals, and music were all enjoyable. There was also some novelty in playing a JRPG that wasn't afraid to be hard at the time, but that wore off about half way through the game.

I've never finished largely because of that actually. I'm not a huge fan of constantly having to level grind and there was a lot of it in this game. To me, a well balanced game would be challenging without level grinding but doable with the right preparation and strategy. Level grinding would only be necessary for those who aren't very good at that aspect of the game then and need to level up to overpower a certain area or boss. This wasn't really the case from what I remember of VIII sadly, and if I had to pick between a game that goes too far into the challenging side of things and requires level grinding or one that goes too far the other way and is too easy, I'd probably go with something that's a little too easy but less tedious to be honest because the level grind absolutely kills the pacing for me.

[Bastian]

Vivi22 nailed it on the head for me. I wasn't jazzed about all the level grinding. I think that's why I stopped playing it. Which is sad because I really enjoyed the story and aesthetic.

[McLovin']

I've only played DQ I-III and VIII, I enjoyed them all although I probably couldn't go back and enjoy the earlier ones so easily nowadays.

VIII was really wonderful, it gave a nostalgic sense of exploration that I rarely feel playing current JRPGs. It might be my favorite DQ game.

Really want to play IV-VI and VIII someday (heard VII is REALLY long, one of the longest cRPGs or something?), and looking forward to DQIX.

VII is long but it's because you have to save the individual continents in the past (not really a spoiler) so that takes awhile but it just feels awesome to save the place and then return to that place in the present.

And that Sim Town mini game is really fun. Building a town slowly throughout the game is quite nice.

Even though Dharma is far into the game, it really doesn't hinder it much at all.

[Kumo]

So I now have in my possession:

DQ VIII
DQ IV
DQ V


And I have NO idea which to start with. I'm a DQ virgin, and don't want to spoil my experience. Which one should I play first?

[RedPouch]

So I now have in my possession:

DQ VIII
DQ IV
DQ V


And I have NO idea which to start with. I'm a DQ virgin, and don't want to spoil my experience. Which one should I play first?
As far as I understand, it goes in trilogies.

Erdrick Trilogy:
DQ I
DQ II
DQ III

Zenithian/Heavenly Trilogy:
DQ IV
DQ V
DQ VI

I don't really know much about the third trilogy but based on this and the list you gave, my answer to your question would be to start playing with DQ IV, but I'm not sure if you were expecting a different answer. In my personal opinion, your experience might be kinda ruined if you try and start with VIII. I found the game to be rather dry for some reason.

[Kumo]

1-3 Never got rereleased huh?

[Flying Mullet]

They did for Gameboy Color, as Dragon Warrior I & II and Dragon Warrior III. But since the two cartridges are on Gameboy Color, you won't be able to play them on a DS, only a Gameboy Color or Gameboy Advance.

[Rase]

The first four were also released on NES.

[Flying Mullet]

The first four were also released on NES.
Well, yeah, otherwise they wouldn't exist. :p

[Nice]

I bought DQ IV this Christmas and I fell in love with it. I just ordered V two days ago and I can't wait for VI and IX. After I'm done with V I'll pick up VII and VIII. But as far as I can see, I think VI will be my favorite - that game looks sick!

[Rase]

The first four were also released on NES.
Well, yeah, otherwise they wouldn't exist. :p
No, they would have just been on the Famicom only, like V and VI were originally just on the Super Famicom and not the SNES. :p

[Kumo]

Speaking of DQ VI, anybody know of a release date for that in the USA yet?

[Wolf Kanno]

I believe it got released in Japan not too long ago (like last month) and seeing as how Squenix just finally announced a NA release for DQIX (released nearly six months ago) I think it might be awhile for a DQVI announcement, though it is confirmed for a release in NA/EU.

[Kumo]

Boo, probably Xmas . . . well, gives me time to beat DQ IV and V then!

[Flying Mullet]

Yeah, probably a fall release for the 2010 holiday season.

[Kumo]

I need some advice for a portion later on in Dragon Quest IV. Help if you can! I'm trying to recruit Psaro, but in order to do that I have to beat the Chicken and the Egg duo. They are hard as hell right now. I keep dying. My hero is around level 35.

Should I grind my levels up? And if so, where is the best place to do so? Pretty much the whole game is open to me now.

[Flying Mullet]

Nina is your best friend for this battle. I forget the spell, but it minimizes ice and fire attacks. After that, be sure to increase your defense and double your tanks' attack power. Once those are taken care of, just be sure to heal the hard hits. And yes, I think you're severely underleveled. I think I was in the mid-40s when I first faced them and it wasn't easy.

My favorite place to level up is the second floor back into the tower/cave that brought you to the underworld (I can't remember it's name). There are metal babbles (I think they're called something else in the DS version) and king metals to fight. Females with Falcon Earrings are good, along with someone with the Metal Babble Sword. This allows the females to hit the metal monsters twice and the Metal Babble Sword does two damage.

[Kumo]

I'll definitely check that out then! Thanks.