One of the fewRPG franchisesout there that has managed to hold its own against the juggernaut that is Final Fantasy is none other than Dragon Quest. Originally called Dragon Warrior in the West to make iteven more confusing, this series predates Final Fantasy, although Square Enix now controls both of these historic series. While Dragon Quest doesn’t hold the same level of popularity in the West as it does in its home country of Japan, it does have a growing audience of passionate fans. For those who are interested in giving it a shot, seeing a series with games that go up to 11 at the time of this writing - and that’s not even including thedozen or so spinoffs- can be quite intimidating.
Dragon Quest shares a similar style to Final Fantasy where not all games are canonically linked. In the latter series, sequels are clearly defined, such as X-2 and XIII-2. Dragon Quest, on the other hand, has a few games that are connected but with no clear indication of which ones or where they fall in line chronologically. Playing the games in release order is never a bad idea since that’s how everyone experienced them at the time, but you could get a richer experience playing specific games in the correct timeline order. Get ready to fight a ton of Slimes as we make our way through all the Dragon Quest games in order.
To keep this list manageable, I won’t be including the spinoff games. You can consider those stand-alone series you can play or skip as you wish.
Also, besides the games that have clear connections to one another, you can organize most of these games in any order. I have gone with what I believe makes the most sense and is the easiest to follow.
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1Dragon Quest 11
The end is the beginning
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Yup, the latest game in the series is technically the first in the timeline. Or, it is widely believed to be, anyway. There are some who think the timeline splits at 11 and leads to multiple games, but the one I find most convincing and clear is that 11 leads directly to 3. Without spoiling anything, at the end of the game your main character is the first person to earn the title of Erdrick, which is the same title that will be used in the Erdrick trilogy. There is also a tease of Erdrick’s weapons you can find.
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2Dragon Quest 3
The Erdrick Trilogy begins
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake
After 11 you may now bounce back to 3 for the first of the Erdrick trilogy. There’s another named trilogy coming up, but this one is the only one that has very clear ties between games. The main connective tissue, aside from the hero being known as Erdrick (although not the same specific person) and that they all take place in the kingdom of Alefgard.
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3Dragon Quest
A new hero
Dragon Quest (1986)
Funny to think now that the first Dragon Quest has you playing as the descendant of a great hero and not the first. The entire story is about you following in the previous hero’s footsteps to defeat the evil Dragonlord in the same way Erdrick did in 3. Naturally, good triumphs and this Erdrick marries the princess of Tantegel and found three new kingdoms.
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4Dragon Quest 2
The end of the first trilogy
Dragon Quest 2 (dupe)
One of the three kingdoms founded at the end of Dragon Quest was named Moonbrooke, which is where Dragon Quest 2 begins. After an assault by monsters, the three descendants of the previous Erdrick all team up to face the evil Malorath who is threatening the lands.
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5Dragon Quest 6
The Zenithia trilogy
Dragon Quest 6: Realms of Revelation/Reverie
This next trilogy is so loosely connected that it is almost an Easter egg rather than a linear story you need to follow. Feel free to pick whatever order you want to play these in, but technically 6 does appear to come first. The connective element is the existence of the Zenithian Sky Castle and a dark realm called Nadiria where the final boss of each game resides.
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6Dragon Quest 4
A new chapter
Dragon Quest 4: Chapters Of The Chosen
Set perhaps millions of years apart from 6, Dragon Quest 4 is unique in that it divides the game into five chapters, each with its own protagonist. The first four follow companions that will eventually join the hero, with the last being the hero’s chapter where they all come together to begin the final quest to save the world. The PlayStation and DS added an additional sixth chapter as more of a “what if?” scenario where an alternate ending is presented with the heroes working with the villain, but that’s as far as I’ll go into spoilers.
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7Dragon Quest 5
The complete hero’s journey
Dragon Quest 5
RPGs, especially Dragon Quest games, are always long, but they don’t generally span that much in-game time. Dragon Quest 5 takes you through almost the entire life of your protagonist, from birth to having a family of his own. You begin as a child who’s taken into slavery after his father is killed. You continue on ten years later for a new adventure, followed by another time skip forward eight more years. It’s a complete and touching story of this character’s life that does technically fall somewhere far ahead of Dragon Quest 4, but is about as self-contained as it gets.
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8Dragon Quest 7
Fragments of the Forgotten Past
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
As a stand-alone entry, Dragon Quest 7 follows a new hero and his five companions in the land of Estard. When his father brings home a piece of a map, the party goes out to see if the world is actually larger than the small group of islands they know. Once they start exploring, though, they discover a way to travel into the past to the time when those other continents existed. The goal then becomes to find a way to save these lands from the calamities that would lead to them disappearing in the future.
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9Dragon Quest 8
The fan favorite
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King
There’s always room to debate, but many consider Dragon Quest 8 to be the peak of the series. Since it is also not tied to any other entry, it’s also easy enough to start here if you want to go straight to the top. As always, the story is simple and traditional, but still fun and rewarding. You play a silent hero trying to take down the evil Dhoulmagus who has laid a curse on the kingdom of Trodain.
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10Dragon Quest 10
Dragon Quest 10: Rise Of The Five Tribes
It seems like a rule that every big RPG series has to at least try once to make an MMO. Dragon Quest 10 was an odd case because it was an MMO for the Wii, but also not released outside of Japan until 2019 when it had been ported to multiple platforms. Some say there are minor hints that 10 takes place before 9, but it’s nothing to stress about. You can skip 10 completely, or play the Dragon Quest 10 Offline edition that cuts out the MMO stuff and is more like a traditional RPG.
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