Dragon Quest (series)

Dragon Quest
Publisher(s)	Enix (1986-2003) Square Enix (2003-present)
First Game	Dragon Quest (1986)
Latest Game	Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (2024)
Genre	Role-playing game

The Dragon Quest series was Enix's most successful RPG series before the company merged with their former competitor, Square. It is best known for its traditional RPG gameplay, not utilizing different ideas as the Final Fantasy series tends to do.

History

Since its initial release on the Famicom in 1986, the series has been most loved by Japanese gamers. The PS2 video game Dragon Quest VIII alone is the best selling

Line for Dragon Quest III in Japan.

PS2 video game in Japan, selling over 3 million copies in its first week on sale. Outside of Japan, however, the series doesn’t fare nearly as well. Only two of the series’ multiple titles have been released in Europe, and as one could expect neither did favorably well over there. It is notably more successful in America than in Europe, though Japanese sales will most likely continue to be higher than everyone else’s combined.

All eleven video games in the main series have been released on a Nintendo platform, including the first six in the series and the ninth, which is also the first in the primary titles to be released on a handheld format (that one being Nintendo DS). The seventh and eighth titles were not released on Nintendo platforms originally, but instead remade later on with the Nintendo 3DS. It should be noted that remakes of some the original titles were, however, released on the Game Boy Color, though were not new titles.

List of video games

Please note that only releases on Nintendo consoles are listed here:

Main series

• Dragon Quest - NES (1989), Game Boy Color (1999), Nintendo Switch (2019)
• Dragon Quest II - NES (1990), Game Boy Color (1999), Nintendo Switch (2019)
• Dragon Quest III - NES (1992), Game Boy Color (2000), Nintendo Switch (2019)
• Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen - NES (1990), Nintendo DS (2007)
• Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - Super Famicom (1992), Nintendo DS (2008)
• Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation - Super Famicom (1995), Nintendo DS (2010)
• Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past - Nintendo 3DS (2013)
• Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - Nintendo 3DS (2015)
• Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - Nintendo DS (2009)
• Dragon Quest X: The Five Awakening Races Online - Wii, 2012, Wii U (2013), Nintendo 3DS (2014), Nintendo Switch (2017)
• Dragon Quest X Offline - Nintendo Switch (2022)
• Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Nintendo 3DS (2016), Nintendo Switch (2019)
• Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
• Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate

Monsters series

A spin-off that turned into an actual series, the Dragon Quest Monsters series:

• Dragon Quest Monsters - Game Boy (1998), Nintendo Switch (2019)
• Dragon Quest Monsters 2 - Game Boy Color (2001)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart - Game Boy Advance (2003)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker - Nintendo DS (2006)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 - Nintendo DS (2010)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Pro - Nintendo DS (2011)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D - Nintendo 3DS (2012, remake of the first game)
• Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru and Luca's Marvelous Mysterious Key  - Nintendo 3DS (2014, remake of the second)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 - Nintendo 3DS (2016)
• Dragon Quest Treasures - Nintendo Switch (2022)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince - Nintendo Switch (2023)

Other spin-offs

• Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime - Nintendo DS (2005)
• Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors - Wii (2007)
• Dragon Quest Wars - DSiWare (2009)
• Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest - Nintendo 3DS (2011)
• Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime 3 - Nintendo 3DS (2011)
• Fortune Street - Wii (2011)
• Theatrhythm Dragon Quest - Nintendo 3DS (2015)
• Dragon Quest Heroes I + II - Nintendo Switch (2017)
• Dragon Quest Rivals - Nintendo Switch (2017)
• Dragon Quest Builders - Nintendo Switch (2018)
• Dragon Quest Builders 2 - Nintendo Switch (2018)
• Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai (2023)

Other media

The Hero appeared Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2019) via the Fighters Pass Vol. 1. They are represented by XI, III, IV and VIII. Other elements from the series are also featured, such as Slimes and a stage based on Yggdrasil's Altar from Dragon Quest XI.

There are three major television series that were adapted from the games. Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel was produced by Studio Comet and aired from December 2, 1989, to April 5, 1991, 43 episodes were broadcast before the series ended. It was supervised by Horii, with a story loosely based on Dragon Quest III. The first 13 episodes of the series were translated into English by Saban Entertainment under the title Dragon Warrior. Due to its early time slot, and a lawsuit filed by Toriyama for not being credited for his work on character designs, it was not renewed. The series was released on DVD in Japan in October 2006, with its nine volumes selling about 90,000 units by February 2007.

A second anime series, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, based on the manga of the same name, was produced by Toei Animation. It ran for 46 episodes from October 17, 1991, to September 24, 1992. A second anime adaptation of the same manga aired from October 3, 2020 to October 22, 2022.

On April 20, 1996, a film titled Dragon Quest Saga – The Crest of Roto was released.

A 3DCG movie based on Dragon Quest V, Dragon Quest: Your Story, was released in Japan in August 2019.