Dragon Quest games have vast worlds, charismatic characters, and attractive monster designs. It is one of the most beloved and influential series of all time, and our Dragon Quest Tier List will guide you about the distinctive and quirky elements of every game in the series.
The original Dragon Quest trilogy was a pretty big deal in the history of gaming, with each release featuring new ideas and features that eventually found their way into video games even outside the RPG genre. They all also follow a pretty charming formula: players form a team of heroes from amongst a bunch of strangers, get stronger by battling together, and then go on to defeat a great evil. It’s all pretty classic stuff.
Key Points
- There are a total of 11 entries in the article.
- Our article will rank all the mainline games according to their unique characters, narratives, and questlines.
- In the highest tiers, you will find entries like Dragon Quest V, Dragon Quest XI, and Dragon Quest VIII.
- Dragon Quest X, Dragon Quest VII, and Dragon Quest II are among the lowest ranks.
Summary
The table below will rank each game for a quick overview.
| S Rank | A Rank | B Rank | C Rank | D Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Quest V | Dragon Quest III | Dragon Quest IV | Dragon Quest I | Dragon Quest II |
| Dragon Quest VII | Dragon Quest IX | Dragon Quest VI | Dragon Quest VII | Dragon Quest Xi |
| Dragon Quest XI |
You can learn more about each entry by reading on.
S Tier
S Tier.The most potent and exceptional games are in the S-Tier. Choosing those at the top of the list will guarantee a positive outcome. S-Tier contains the following games.
Dragon Quest V
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is the best game in the series due to its great characters, unique narrative, and excellent music tracks. Town theme and overworld theme are the best music tracks in Dragon Quest V. Moreover, it has fantastic gameplay and enough amount of playtime. Players can gain experience points through combats and upgrade their weapons and armor. Furthermore, the player can tame monsters in this game. The player can use these tamed monsters in battle and increase his level. Hero, Pankraz Gotha, Sancho, Bianca Whitaker, Nera Briscoletti, Debora Briscoletti, and Prince Harry are the unique characters of Dragon Quest V.
Players collect many special items during the fight, and these items are called knick-knacks. These are usually placed in museums, and coins are received in place of these items. Flying carpet, Sky Castle, and Zenith Dragon are the unique vehicles of Dragon Quest V. Sky Castle can only land on grass and not go on the high mountains and Great Temple. Zenith Dragon can also take off from grassy places but can go on the high mountains and Great Temple. The flying carpet has a very high speed and can land and take off from water, shoals, and grass.
| Release Date | September 27, 1992 |
| Game Length | 30½ Hours |
Dragon Quest VIII
Delving further into the Dragon Quest 11 Tier List, Journey of the Cursed King has incredible characters and excellent soundtracks. The player can go to any area and enjoy combat with opponents and other fabulous creatures. In the game, the three-dimensional view provides an excellent look at characters, world maps, battlefields, and items in the surroundings. Moreover, players can experience points and gold by defeating opponents during combat. These experience points and gold help buy game items and weapons. A player can also upgrade the character according to their will using these experience points and gold. A unique automap feature provides the best view of buildings, towns, and characters with their weapons.
Players can increase the strength of their attack with the developed tension system. Monsters create resistance for players on the battlefield, but that resistance can be decreased by using the tension system and increasing the power of spells. Ship, sabrecat, and wagon are the vehicles in Dragon Quest VIII. These vehicles help the players to move faster than opponents during combat. Ship connects the player with land by using a bridge.
Dragon Quest XI
Echoes of an Elusive Age has the best explorable worlds in the series and a solid storyline. Furthermore, it has tremendous and memorable music tracks. The player can change the character’s appearance using specific equipment. However, there is a deficiency of actual characters in the game due to a lack of the character’s developing skills. The best thing for you is that you can buy it at a meager price and enjoy the fantastic gameplay. In Dragon Quest XI, players can explore monsters, worlds, combat, and high areas.
Moreover, Rab has special martial arts skills, Serena has recovery magic, Jade is a skilled fighter due to her excellent kicks, Erick is a traveler and bosom friend, Veronica is mature and has strong offensive spells, and Sylvando has the remarkable ability to use weapons. All these characters help the player win the battle against his opponent by using the abovementioned abilities. The hero cannot change classes as no one can become a hero, and the class learns a few unique abilities inaccessible by any other magic-wielding type. Most of that stuff does not matter until well into the game.
Dragon Quest XI features an incredibly early use of a day-night cycle which utilizes the passage of time to present different opportunities to the player. For instance, the townsfolk will be more active during the day, and shops will be open at night. Some villagers will even have dialogue, clearly hinting that the player will revisit the town at night to find differences. This tells the player that some NPCs or opportunities will only be present during either day or night.
| Release Date | July 29, 2017 |
| Game Length | 56½ Hours |
A Tier
A Tier.The A tier of our Dragon Quest Tier List may not be as good as the S rank, but it still has phenomenal games. These games are the next best thing a player can play after the S-Tiered games.
Dragon Quest III
The Seeds of Salvation has various valid characters and fantastic gameplay. However, sailing and flying is not good in the game because the player does not land on specific spots. Moreover, there are no islands for the player to go to and enjoy the fight. In Dragon Quest III, players can recruit companions and equip new weapons. The player can get experience points by defeating their enemy and can use these points to buy new weapons. Magical seeds can change the abilities of the character.
You can add or drop the character according to your own will. The Hero, Ortega, Galen, Himiko, Simon, Olivia Lara I, Garin, and Rubiss are the Allies in Dragon Quest III. Zoma, Baramos, Robin, Orochi, and King Hydra are the Villains in Dragon Quest III. Distant Memories, Into the Legend, and Fighting Spirits are the well-known soundtracks in The Seeds of Salvation. The player’s party can seem daunting to anyone playing a straight RPG like any other and can be avoided for more straightforward gameplay.
On the other hand, the service offers a much more exciting and honestly more accessible way of completing the game for anyone who feels they genuinely understand how the game’s systems work at this point and are willing to spend a little more time and effort to reap the benefits.
| Release Date | February 10, 1988 |
| Game Length | 30 Hours |
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Dragon Quest IX
Sentinels of the Starry Skies is famous for its excellent music tracks, explorable worlds, solid storyline, and great job system. A player can change the appearance of his character by using specific equipment. There is no character development due to the deficiency of the actual characters in the game. Hero, Stella, King Godwyn, Captain Max Medding, Celestria, Apus Major, Sellma, Erinn, Zenus, Barbarus, Serena, Corvus, Patty, Sterling, Aquila, and Greygnarl are the minor characters in Dragon Quest III. It is a multiplayer game with beautiful towns and spells. Omen of Towering Death, A temple with no Master, and The Time of the Decisive Battle are the widely known music tracks in the Sentinels of the Starry Skies.
The Dragon Quest series scored a breakthrough in the west with the release of Dragon Quest IX, and Square Enix shows no sign of slowing down with the latest entry. Blending 2D and 3D visuals are risky, but Dragon Quest IX puts its contemporaries on notice. The environments are chock full of detail, and the sprite animation is some of the best seen on the platform. Dragon Quest IX is still seen as one of the greatest and highest-selling RPGs in Japanese gaming history. In Dragon Quest IX, you are often told where your next objective is by a king or some other notable person living in a point of interest. You can often gather additional information about the order of events too.
| Release Date |
July 11, 2009
|
| Game Length | 48½ Hours |
B Tier
B Tier.We have now reached the middle of our list that contains absolutely average games.
Dragon Quest IV
Chapter of the Chosen has specific characters for specific tasks. Each character performs his duty and helps the hero fight against his opponents. Thief, Ultimate, and Magic are the keys that help unlock the travel doors. You can go anywhere in a short time through these doors. In Dragon Quest IV, Hero has intense healing and attack spells.
The Hero, Ragnar McRyan, Borya, Kiryl, Torneko Taloon, Meena, and Maya, are the major playable characters in the game, and all these characters help to enhance the attributes of the player. The Chapter of the Chosen is famous for its music tracks The Unknown Castle, Wagon’s Wheel March, and Battle for the Glory. The player can now select the classes of their companions through your first character is still considered the hero of the story with unique attributes and a wide variety of skills. Alongside the hero, there are seven possible other classes.
Dragon Quest IV introduced the idea of a job system that would go down in the history of JRPGs. Aregame is a popular method of cross-blending classes and character abilities to reward players who have invested their time and energy to reach late-game bonuses. Upon finding a specific location in the game, the shrine of Dama players will be able to change their character’s professions, which allows them to keep the spells they learned as one class but can switch to another type to gain that ability for the next chapter of the player’s journey.
| Release Date |
February 11, 1990
|
| Game Length | 27 Hours |
Dragon Quest VI
Realms of Revelation is famous for its excellent job system. Despite the job system, there is no proper guidance for a player about where to go. In this entry of our Dragon Quest game Tier List, the characters are not so good, and the story is also uninteresting. Tania, Buddy, King Somnus, Apnea, Rusty, Franco, Keating, Madame Luca, Rubiss, and Zenith are the game’s central characters.
Dragon VI (Realms of Revelation) is an enhanced remake of the 1995 Super Famicom game that never saw release in North America; utilizing updated visuals, tweaked mechanics, and brand-new content is one of the last must-own RPGs for the Nintendo DS. Realms of Revelation is a tale of two worlds, and the story opens with four warriors failing to stop an evil fiend hell-bent on conquering the world. You are transported to a different realm, a dream world high above the real one.
If the player chooses to change a character’s profession, their stat values are cut in half, so some of their progress is maintained, but the character’s level is set back to one, and they now gain the stat bonuses and spells of the new class. It creates a greater sense of progress as they have discovered something new in a new land. Dragon Quest IX may not look that different from its predecessors, but it does feel different.
| Release Date | December 9, 1995 |
| Game Length | 40½ Hours |
C Tier
C Tier.Games in the C-Tier are not always the best option, so if you have options from the upper tiers, try to avoid playing games from this tier. C-Tier is the second lowest tier in our guide.
Dragon Quest I
It was the first game of the series. Dragon Quest I is short, gritty, sweet, and enjoyable. It was the first game, so it lacked many important characters and elements. There are exciting and beautiful caves that make the game awesome. You can expect many side quests and roadside attractions that reward you for your meanderings. There is generally a heavy emphasis on exploration, whether on foot or atop a flying bed, when collecting loads of loot. The high random encounter rate potentially turns you off, but it’s a necessary evil.
By the time you reach a boss, the sheer amount of experience you have acquired ensures you will have a sporting chance which sure beats X post facto grinding for hours on end, but what exception is when you approach the endgame where odds are you will be significantly below the minimum level to put up a fight unless you have logged serious hours into all of the side objectives. Initially, Dragon Quest I feels narrow-focused and linear, but it eventually cuts you loose. Dragon Quest I is very forgiving in the face of defeat. You will return to a previous checkpoint with all your progress intact should you fall through, you will incur a financial penalty. Additionally, the cost of reviving individual party members increases with their level, so the experience is not lost. Falling in battle late in the game is a costly proposition.
| Release Date | May 27, 1986 |
| Game Length | 4-6 Hours |
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Dragon Quest VII
In Fragments of the Forgotten Past, the story is in the form of episodes, and an island represents the story arc. These exciting story arcs, excellent job systems, and fantastic characters make the game perfect for beginners. In the game, a player can talk to his companions inside and outside the battle. Sailing a boat, keystone, flying a magic carpet, and walking are the ways of locomotion in Dragon Quest VII.
Party members in the Fragments of the Forgotten Past include Maribel, Kiefer, and Aishe. The Almighty, King of the Sea, and Shark Eye are the central characters in Dragon Quest VII. In addition to these characters, King Donald, Pearl, and Princess Lisette are the inhabitants of Estard in the Fragments of the Forgotten Past. Orgodemir, Cardinal Sin, and Cumulus vex are the enemies in Dragon Quest VII. From a technical aspect, Dragon Quest also introduced plenty of quality-of-life improvements to this seventh title that would move players closer to the conveniences we find in games today.
| Release Date |
August 26, 2000
|
| Game Length | 78 Hours |
D Tier
D Tier.At last, we have reached the end of our Dragon Quest Tier List with some appalling games and bad attributes. The final rank contains all the worst worthless games, with bumpy stats, lousy calibration, shambolic gameplay, and poor model designs.
Dragon Quest II
In Luminaries of the Legendary Line, there is a great world map, sailing, and companions. The gameplay is excellent and enjoyable in Dragon Quest II. Despite these attributes, the game lacks a proper job system and great characters. Prince Midehall, Samantoria, and Princess Moonbrooke are the main party members, but other supportive characters like Rogue Fastfinger, Don Calico, and Dragonlord’s Grandson exist. The skills your characters gain, as they advance in job ranks are permanently retained, resulting in a level of customization that encourages mixing and matching to suit your preferences.
You can also unlock more advanced classes as you level through your jobs. Plenty of recreational activities are available outside the core combat experience, like the slip and slime mini-game, which players through with an odd twist. Slip and slime are notable in that it’s one of the rare instances where a game like this makes good use of stylus input. You can also lose yourself for hours in the mini-casinos found worldwide, where winning big nets you low gear. For those with a fashion sense, a runway competition is available, and though you no longer collect pet monsters. You can still get your fill of slime-on-slime action in the slime arena.
| Release Date |
January 26, 1987
|
| Game Length | 15-20 Hours |
Dragon Quest X
In our Dragon Quest Tier List, Awakening of the Five Walkers Line is placed at the bottom because players can play the game only in Japan. Mjoll, Nadraga, Kyururu, Linker, Alvin, King Baguio, Kamil, King of Calamity, and Kaito Poikkurin are fictional characters in Dragon Quest X. It is a fair compromise, given that the enemies put up quite a challenge. Battles are manageable in the early goings, but eventually, the monsters crank it up a notch, delivering some stiff competition. Dragon Quest X will keep you occupied for at least 40 hours, and there is tons of stuff to do post-game.
There is no multiplayer option in the vein of Dragon Quest X, but there is a tag mode where players can leave customized messages via local Wi-Fi. Dragon Quest X is packed with turn-based battles demanding your party is simple. You manually issue orders to each member and then watch the action unfold. You can also streamline the process by using canned Al settings, which dictate how specific party members will act in battle; doing so will certainly speed things up but don’t expect it to automate challenging encounters effectively. Initially, each member of your party has a fixed class, but you eventually gain the ability to switch jobs. You can toggle back and forth between them, but you can only do so at a specific location.
Plotline centers on discovering your true identity en route to thwarting the Evil threatening both worlds. It is a fractured narrative that never really finds its footing; instead, each new objective comes with its unique scenario, and it’s in these individual tales you will find the best stories the Dragon Quest X has to offer. That said, they do lack, as a whole, the sort of sweeping drama that the series is known for.
| Release Date | August 2, 2012 |
| Game Length | 30 Hours |
Comparison Table
| Games | Tier | Release Date | Game Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Quest V | S | September 27, 1992 | 30½ Hours |
| Dragon Quest VII | S | November 27, 2004 | 61 Hours |
| Dragon Quest XI | S | July 29, 2017 | 56½ Hours |
| Dragon Quest III | A | February 10, 1988 | 30 Hours |
| Dragon Quest IX | A | July 11, 2009 | 48½ Hours |
| Dragon Quest IV | B | February 11, 1990 | 27 Hours |
| Dragon Quest VI | B | December 9, 1995 | 40½ Hours |
| Dragon Quest I | C | May 27, 1986 | 4-6 Hours |
| Dragon Quest VII | C | August 26, 2000 | 78 Hours |
| Dragon Quest II | D | January 26, 1987 | 15-20 Hours |
| Dragon Quest Xi | D | August 2, 2012 | 30 Hours |
Verdict
The article contains all the information you need to know when selecting a game best suited for you. To summarize, the ranking can help a player choose which games are worth investing time in and which are not.
You may disagree with many of our choices, and that’s fine. If you think a game deserves to be ranked higher, please let us know in the comments below.