Dragon Quest Vs. Final Fantasy: Head to Head!

So these two series have been rivals for years and though a thread like this will give an obvious answer if we stack the whole of each franchise against each other seeing how this is an FF forum, but I'm going to make this interesting by pairing entries against each based on their original release so we can view this from a Japanese perspective a bit. I am going to ignore spin-offs and DQX though.

So with that said, which did you feel was better in the following match-ups:

Final Fantasy vs. Dragon Quest II
Final Fantasy II vs. Dragon Quest III
Final Fantasy III vs. Dragon Quest IV
Final Fantasy V vs. Dragon Quest V
Final Fantasy VI vs. Dragon Quest VI (one year off, FF predates)
Final Fantasy IX vs. Dragon Quest VII
Final Fantasy XII vs. Dragon Quest VIII (two years off, DQ predates)
Final Fantasy XIII vs. Dragon Quest IX

Let's see if we can get five posts since many members here haven't played DQ. :colbert:

The only match-ups here where I've played both entries are FFV vs. DQV and FFVI vs. DQVI. For the first one, I'm not sure I can choose, as both of them are fantastic games. If forced at gunpoint I might give the nod to DQV. The second one, FFVI obviously wins. DQVI is a good game and all, but FFVI is one of the best on the SNES.

Makes me think I should go back an try some of the DQ games that I haven't already given up on.

Final Fantasy vs. Dragon Quest II - DQII by a bit


Final Fantasy II vs. Dragon Quest III - FFII by a good amount


Final Fantasy III vs. Dragon Quest IV - DQIV by a lot


Final Fantasy V vs. Dragon Quest V - DQV by a huge amount


Final Fantasy VI vs. Dragon Quest VI - FFVI by a landslide


Final Fantasy IX vs. Dragon Quest VII - FFIX by a landslide


Final Fantasy XII vs. Dragon Quest VIII - DQVIII by a landslide

Final Fantasy XIII vs. Dragon Quest IX - DQIX by a landslide


Dragon Quest wins. The series as a whole never hits the lows of XIII or the VII compilation either. :)

Man I'm surprised by how much I have to give it to DQ here, I never wanted to be one of those posters who moves beyond the series but there it is.

FFIII vs. DQIV is interesting because of how they both integrated gameplay into the story but FFIII just can't measure up to how far DQIV innovated on this front (and others).

FFV is just an all around solid game with amazing music but DQV is one of the pinnacle achievements of the JRPG genre.

FFVI is all over the place with its story and relies too much on cheap thrills. DQVI's story is far more cohesive. If I played them as an impressionable youngster, FFVI would've blown me away but, alas, I played both as a young adult, changing my priorities for what I look for in a story. The gameplay is not even a contest. While FFVI has incredible dungeon design and character customization, it's a game that is broken on its own accord from the start. Conversely, Dragon Quest has always prided itself on perfect game balance along with novel dungeon design and puzzles.

FFXII is the only one I'm willing to maybe give the nod to but it's close given just how good DQVIII is. Both are incredible, open-world JRPGs with capital-E Epic stories. I guess I just give it to XII right now because it cleared a new path forward for the genre rather than perfect what it's already done. Although my mind might change on any given day.

Fun! I love both series!

Final Fantasy vs. Dragon Quest II - I prefer FF, but DQ 2 is very close.
Final Fantasy II vs. Dragon Quest III - DQ 3, one of the best DQ games ever made.
Final Fantasy III vs. Dragon Quest IV - This is close but I like FF 3 better.
Final Fantasy V vs. Dragon Quest V - Ah! My two favorites in each series. FFV gets it though, it is in my top 5 favorite games of all time.
Final Fantasy VI vs. Dragon Quest VI - FF VI
Final Fantasy IX vs. Dragon Quest VII - FF IX
Final Fantasy XII vs. Dragon Quest VIII - DQ 8
Final Fantasy XIII vs. Dragon Quest IX - DQ 9

I can only compare VIII to XII and I'd have to give it to XII because it kept me playing longer.

Final Fantasy vs. Dragon Quest II
Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy II vs. Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest III

Final Fantasy III vs. Dragon Quest IV
Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy V vs. Dragon Quest V
Final Fantasy V

Final Fantasy VI vs. Dragon Quest VI (one year off, FF predates)
Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy IX vs. Dragon Quest VII
Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy XII vs. Dragon Quest VIII (two years off, DQ predates)
Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy XIII vs. Dragon Quest IX
Dragon Quest IX

Final Fantasy
Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest IV
Dragon Quest V
Final Fantasy VI
Tied?
Dragon Quest VIII
Dragon Quest IX

I've only played DQV. I would indeed rate it above FFV

Here are my opinions:

Final Fantasy vs. Dragon Quest II
Dragon Quest II
Final Fantasy II vs. Dragon Quest III
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III vs. Dragon Quest IV
Dragon Quest IV
Final Fantasy V vs. Dragon Quest V
Dragon Quest V
Final Fantasy VI vs. Dragon Quest VI
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy IX vs. Dragon Quest VII
Dragon Quest VII
Final Fantasy XII vs. Dragon Quest VIII
Dragon Quest VIII
Final Fantasy XIII vs. Dragon Quest IX
Dragon Quest IX

Forgot to do my own...

Final Fantasy vs. Dragon Quest II - I'm giving this to FF1 since it has more replay value and a final boss whose A.I. roulette doesn't make him vary from harmless to nigh unbeatable. The job class system is also just nicer than the generic three party of DQII which was basically a Warrior, Sage, and Red Mage. FF also had a more interesting scenario and memorable music and locations. DQII was just more of the same from DQI but I felt FF offered something a bit fresh to JRPG even if it was mostly stolen from Wizandry. :shifty:


Final Fantasy II vs. Dragon Quest III - DQIII, no question. FFII may have brought plot and characters to FF bit DQIII has a very clever plot a more interesting world and implemented several gameplay mechanics that were far ahead of their time like the baility to choose party gender, a comprehensive job system with stat manipulation, day and night cycles that affect the enemies you encounter, monster arenamatches you can bet on, battery save feature, and the first inkling of the town building system. I would go so far as to say that DQIII is probably the best RPG on the NES.

Final Fantasy III vs. Dragon Quest IV - I'm giving this to FFIII, a better world, better plot, and most important: better gameplay makes FFIII stand out here. DQIV pulls an FFII by creating a game with a large cast but loses its way halfway through and didn't learn from FFs mistake of the limitation of building a narrative piece on an 8-bit system. DQIV's Chapter system is nice but the chapters in question vary in quality with Ragnar and Toriko being the high points and everyone else, including the Hero/Heroine being drawn out and lacking the clever puzzles or quirky gameplay elements. FFIII on the other hand is a solid game with clever use of the job class system and building gameplay around using the classes. It introduced so many staples to the FF series like Summons, Dragoon's Jump ability and frankly its a much more challenging game.

Final Fantasy V vs. Dragon Quest V - This one is probably the hardest of the whole bunch for me. DQV certainly has some surprises and I really enjoyed the monster collecting but FFV has my favorite version of the Job-Class system in FF. From a gameplay standpoint, I feel FFV has more to offer in terms of manageable customization and overall more fun dungeons and bosses. DQV has the better story but I still may give this one to FFV since ExDeath and Gilgamesh are far more fun and interesting villains than whoever the after thought of a villain DQV had.

Final Fantasy VI vs. Dragon Quest VI (one year off, FF predates) - Not doing this one, basically because DQVI is the only entry besides DQX I haven't played.

Final Fantasy IX vs. Dragon Quest VII - This one is tough for different reasons, in terms of individual merits, I feel DQVII is the superior game, even the plot is actually pretty clever in how it is handled but FFIX has the better characters and stronger emotional pull, its also not half bad of a game in its own right. The main reason I will give this to IX is because I'm willing to play through multiple times. DQVII requires a lot of commitment and while it will reward you for it, it is certainly a game that could have done well to have an editor. I hate to say it may actually have too much content. With a quest that can easily span past 100 hours and still not be close to getting everything done, I'm giving this to IX which knew when to fold to the player's patience.

Final Fantasy XII vs. Dragon Quest VIII (two years off, DQ predates) - This is a bit tought because on the one hand DQVIII did the whole seamless world thing first and frankly better than FFXII did, on the other hand Ivalice is visually stunning compared to DQVIII's world. I'm giving this to FFXII for having a better cast, story, world, villain, and more memorable locations. Not that DQVIII was bad but it felt very empty compared to the behemoth of DQVII and I frankly felt that FFXII did more to push the genre forward whereas DQVIII felt like the series finally catching up.

Final Fantasy XIII vs. Dragon Quest IX - Talk about polar opposites, XIII sacrifices gameplay and cuts corners to focus on its cast and story whereas DQIX takes a step back from VIII's strong narrative to build an addicting gameplay. This one was easy for me, smurf XIII and everything it stands for, DQIX may lack a strong narrative or memorable characters but at least it remembers its a game and supplies the player with a pretty fun one at that.

the DQ8 vs FF12 isn't even fair.

DQ8 is the best jrpg on the ps2. Period.

I've always felt that the FF and DQ games were reciprocal. Earlier on the FF games blew DQ games out of the water. As time traveled on though, they sort of switched sides. That's just my opinion though.

Final Fantasy vs. Dragon Quest II

I have to give this one to FF. I can enjoy playing FFI again and again but DQ II always feels more like a chore to play through. It has its few moments but for me personally it doesn't stack up against FF I.

Final Fantasy II vs. Dragon Quest III

Dragon Quest III all the way. Nothing in FFII even compares to DQ III. It's my personal favorite of the NES generation.

Final Fantasy III vs. Dragon Quest IV

DQ IV takes this one. Far better story-telling, more enjoyable characters, and over-all it's just a much more fun game to play.

Final Fantasy V vs. Dragon Quest V

DQ V wins here too. I find that FF V tends to be mostly forgettable. While the class selection ability was neat it's not something I enjoyed much in FF III or FF V.

Final Fantasy VI vs. Dragon Quest VI (one year off, FF predates)

I'm not sure how to vote this one. I don't have a lot of memories of DQ VI but I also never played it all the way though. Every time I've tried the ROM got corrupted :/

Final Fantasy IX vs. Dragon Quest VII

Final Fantasy IX was an amazing game. The only thing I would change about it would be trance being selectable instead of forced upon you. DQ VII always seemed like the awkward step-child of the series to me.

Final Fantasy XII vs. Dragon Quest VIII (two years off, DQ predates)

DQ VIII wins this by a landslide. It was an amazing game, and something exciting during a time when it was harder to find good RPGs.

Final Fantasy XIII vs. Dragon Quest IX

I've never played DQ IX and have no intention of ever owning the system it came out on.