TOP 5 BEST DRAGON QUEST GAMES for Newcomers and Longtime Fans - sackchief 

Be sure to join our new Discord community! Great if you're a DQ fan and great if you aren't one too! We do movie watch parties and have a good time overall. >>> discord.gg/paZstqqkBu

Wish there was an honorable mention of DQ9 for the DS. That game was goddamn massive storywise along with the sheer amount of content packed in. It really pushed the DS to its limits on what a game could be on that system. Strangely enough, I really think it can be considered a hidden gem because I NEVER hear people talking about it. Long amazing story, huge post game, crafting, many side quests, a lot of different classes, expensive world like 8 with on field monsters, and you create your own party from scratch (which some people don’t like but I find the complete customization for whatever team you want to be awesome awesome). Definitely the game I put the most hours into for the DS.

"it's a real tearjerker at times" *Shows Serena and Veronica*

I love how your character avatar went from a pathetic droopy eyed avatar to a main protagonist of a dragon quest game

DQ IX is one of the best DQ games I've played, and one of my favorites with VIII and XI. I think that is refreshing to create all your party members, including the main character, and to see how they look like with their equipment, etc. The story is also pretty nice. I'm expecting for a Switch remake of DQ IX, I think it deserves it

its funny how most people got into the series through dq9.

Dragon quest 8 was something else 👌 I'd love it they remastered it with dq11 graphics.

12:08 Uhh Chief? What are you.... 12:10 CHIEF NO STO-

I think 11s is by far the best starting point. Great way to ease into the series. It had so many quality of life improvements over previous entries

I remember the first time I learn about Dragon Quest was your “Why Erdrick should be in Smash” video, then after the Hero reveal and the fighter came out. I did the demo back around Summer 2019. A year later, I take a break on Zelda and Persona, so I got the full game of DQXI and now I liked it.

My first Dragon Quest was V on the DS, it was amazing.

Damn sack, you’re getting good at editing these. This is really well-made.

Saw Dragon Quest III is getting an HD-2D remake from the people behind Octopath, reminded me of this video and it being one of your picks. Hope you enjoy playing and keep up the quality content creation bud

Predicted these choices as soon as you said you were picking 5. I absolutely love DQ and love your channel. Keep up the great DQ coverage!!!

"The Gameboy Color version of Dragon Quest III is the best version." Not anymore...

When i was like 4 my dad bought me a Disk on my PS2 with like 90 demo games on it . One was DQ8 my fav to this day . Now i play this game on my 3DS i am on the final battle. Love your videos sackchief . Can t wait for DQ12!

Lemme guess the titles before I dive in. Dragon Quest III: Seeds of Salvation Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age I hope I got these right.

DQ8 is definitely the first one i’ve ever played, by far my favorite in the series! I wish they would remaster this bad boy or just i don’t know this game was just stunning.

I started with VIII on the 3DS at the beginning of this year, I'm still finishing it as it's quite long and I don't get easily addicted to jrpgs, but man what a ride, I'm just 40 hours in and I always get excited when I think of all the adventures from the story, it just has a sense of awe and discovery that I don't remember feeling to such an extent in this genre.

Alright, I’ll go buy Dragon Quest V on eBay right now..... HOLY CRAP

I think my top 5 is quite similar, haven't played VI and X yet so can't judge those but I would place them in the following order: 1. Dragon Quest XI (Easily the best game in the series) 2. Dragon Quest VII (Great story, I feel that it probably has the strongest story of any game in the series) 3. Dragon Quest VIII (Close to VII for me, while I feel objectively speaking it's the better game, I prefer VII for it's story) 4. Dragon Quest V (This is an experience, really unlike any other game in the series. In terms of character development the best game, although I feel some aspects are slightly dated now a days). 5. Dragon Quest IV (Way ahead of it's time, I feel IX and III could also take this spot, however IV has the better story and more cohesion throughout).

How I wish they could port DQ8’s 3DS version to PC steam and they could up the graphics like the ps2 and orchestrated music.... Anyway great video Chief! Missed your adventure of Dai reviews :) cheers to more vids!

Neat to see you finally updated your list on the best DQ games! So far XI S is still one of my all time favorite RPGs and I’m so glad I got introduced to it thanks to Smash (and your videos) but when I have the time I’ll give some of the other games a go ;)

9:08 Actually, Pokémon's main inspiration for it's catch system is based on Ultra Man, but yeah, DQV probably did influence it a bit (also SMT did it before both of them)

Dq5 had such a good story, the best story I have ever experienced in my life, the music is so good, and although the monster mechanic is primitive by today's standards, recruiting an orc with full heal and multiheal was pretty useful in the final boss and the postgame boss, the game is still so good and worth the 20 to 30 hours of time, dq iv is my third favourite because the interesting story and the best pace in the series imo, overall I think that dragon quest is the best rpg and I feel at home when I play most of the time

What I love about this list is the fact that 4 out of the 5 Dragon Quest protagonists listed here ended up in Smash Bros. Sakurai agrees that these are good jumping-on points.

I predicted this video would be XI, IX, V, VIII, and either IV or III. Guess I was pretty close. Super surprised to see no IX though, I think that even though it is an outlier, it is by far one of the best introductions to the series

Your content is some of the best on youtube, i wish we had more dq youtubers (dqtubers?) Your videos helped me play the dq games i didnt initially enjoy, mostly being dq 2 and 6. Love your content.

Haven't played a DQ but got the 3ds versions and for sure will jump into them as soon as possible. Great vid.

9:50, I probably spent half my playtime reading those party chats, lol. It adds so much to the characters it's insane, and it's much much more convenient than newer iterations of the party chat. You press 1 button and you quickly get the dialogue, no screen change needed.

I never played a dq game until I found your videos about 2 months ago. I've now got dq figures on my shelf so yeah I'm hooked

Finally got to watching this and I love that the 5 you recommend are the 5 I have told people to play. DW4 was my first RPG (alongside FF1 NES, cannot remember which was truly first) with my dad. DQ5 has been my favorite since playing it on emulator about 18 years ago.

Another great video and agree to the most part! I played Torneko's Mystery Dungeon first and then dived into the main series which is rather unusual but also not a bad way since Torneko's system is more difficult and if you like the franchise and want to play something easier, you'll definitely fall in love with the main series.

I’m brand new to the series! Just started watching a let’s play of 8. This gives me a good insight.

This video was really well made! Sack's videos has tremendously improved with every single video growing!

I've only played 1 through 4, and loved each of those immensely. Great video, and I will have to check out some of the later games in the series now.

Dragon Quest III started it for me. Me and my childhood best friend were so bored that day and started playing random games. We happen to find Dragon Warrior III put on PC format and started playing it on his computer. We got so invested on it, we play it everyday, solving everything. We're only in elementary school that time. Unfortunately, his pc broke and so we moved on. But I can't forget it, maybe because we haven't finished it yet (we're missing just one more orb that time!). I happen to see it again when I was in college and since then, I got obsessed over it. I have played all DQs now except DQ10 and DQ11.

Ty man, I started with DQ8 and years later I played 11. I’m in love with this franchise and I’m going 100% to try DQV

I've been playing DQ on and off by chronological order and it was all thanks to you. I'm in DQ5 right now. And I have to say, so far, my favorite one is the third one followed by DQ1. Both GBC versions. Still playing through the fifth one but not that far into it so, dont have anything to say about it.

I played all the main series, but the first 1. Started in 1991, in famicom (nes 8 bits) My favorite was the 5 too. But the stories of 6 and 7 were great too. All the games were special by that time. This franchise was my main reason to buy new consoles, just to be able to play these wonderfull games. (SuperFamicon, PS1, NDS, PS2, PS4)

If you want to try out one game: *11* If you think you'll play two games: *8, 11* If you think you'll play three games: *5, 8, 11* Four games? *4, 5, 8, 11* Basically the same order in the video. I'm not the biggest fan of 3 tho. I prefer a party of defined characters with personality instead of auto-generated companions

Hey got into dq11 and now I'm in love with it! I'm playing dq8 now

Glad you made this. I’ve been playing XI S for a few weeks now. ~110 hours in and I’ve been itching to play another one.

I beat dq11 a few months ago on series x it was absolutely fantastic! I just got DQ5 on iPhone\iPad and after this I’m going to pick up dq4 as well! Super awesome video buddy!

I am almost done with dq 11, loved 8 back in the day just bought it for ps2 bargain bin for like 7 bucks and ended up falling in love. I’m definitely going to play 5, can’t wait. Not going to watch any further for spoilers. Great video!

You've improved tremendously on your video quality Sack! I couldn't help but feel proud knowing I was one of the very few subscribers when your channel hit 700 subs, awesome video and hope more people get into DQ through it!

The monster recruting system was done before by SMT from there Pokemon took insiparation, Nice video BTW .

dragon quest 11 can be played on the PC through steam. amazing game. loved it . the amount of love the programers put on it shows. it is a shame that it is not more popular in the west.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm already a dragon quest fan thanks to 8 and 11 (Rocket Slime and 7 were actually my first two DQ games. 7 intrigued me and 8 hooked me) but I'm glad I gave this vid a watch! For one, I started 3 and got a little lost but thanks to your description I know I don't need to worry about that! And also now I know I need to put 4 and 5 on top priority for my next RPGs to go through!

9:10 >Shin Megami Tensei would like to know your location

i love your channel, how has it been an year that ive started binge-watching your channel and all things dragon quest during quarantine???

I just finished the dq 5 on ds yesterday, oh boy one of the best game ive ever play had me tears in my eyes

I couldn't agree more. DQ5 was my first and still my fave. I played DeJap's translation years ago. Papa's for life!!! DQ8 is my second fave. 3rd fave... the B2 poster is up on my channel right now. 😁

I am playing yakuza like a dragon and love love love it,the main character in that talks about dragon quest a lot,so it made me curious, I got dq11s on ps4 for free on ps plus,and I am waiting to finish yakuza to gwt into that ,while doing that, decided to try some of the other dq games on mobile at work,so I checked your video, and you listed everything I can actually play ! I was so happy, but I think I will wait to start dq 11 s on ps4 and after I complete that I will do 3 4 5 and 8 on mobile ,

Good video. I love DQ. I'm now playing DQ Heroes, it's not as good but I think it worths too! Greetings from Spain!

Yoo i didnt realize DQ4 was on mobile! Thanks for the recommendation. Looking forward to the pixel remasters on the switch of the first three.

Saw those Dr. Slump volumes bro, great taste. One of my favorite manga.

9:13 to my knowledge megami tensei did it first. also starting dq5 today, i liked dq8, 9 and 11 a lot, and i just found your channel today. looking forward to playing more games in the series, and looking forward to seeing more vids from you :)

I just got Dragon Quest XI for the PS4 as well as the spin off games Dragon Quest Builders and Dragon Quest Builders 2. After I move in May I plan to take some time on my PS5 to immerse myself into the world of Dragon Quest.

I remember what really got me interested in Dragon Quest 3 was an article in Nintendo Power specifically dedicated to the GBC remake. Rather than just writing about the game and how it works, they write an entire journal from the perspective of the main character. It made the game sound incredible.

I've always wanted to try this series since IX, VII 3ds, and VIII 3ds, but I mostly forgotten about them due to a lot of No's for a multitude of reasons, and more. But I finally was reminded and able to use my own money when the XI Hero was added into smash. I tried out 1 2 3 Switch and thought "Yep, this filled the hole of desire for me!" And now I enjoy this series a lot!

My first DQ game was 8 (PS2 original). I remember seeing the trailer for it and they had the website where you could order the free demo disc. After playing the demo I was immediately impressed and wanted to get the full game. The game came with a demo disc for FFXII (I bought that later when it came out). Later on I started looking for some of other games and got 4 and 5, then later got 9. I recently got 11 and the first Heroes (still wish 10 was released worldwide).

Man I loved Dragon Quest 5 on DS back in the day. Def need to check out 11.

My first ones ever were Dragon Warrior Monster 1 + 2 and Dragon Warrior 3, all for the GBC. And those are still some of the best of all time.

I got 11S after trying out the demo because of how much content it had, and was hooked on the story. The game did not disappoint me.

I started with I&II back on the gameboy, by the time I finished those DQIII was about to release and once I got that in my GBC I was hooked on the series for life! :)

I'm seeing the new Thumbnail art, and... Have you been doing Seeds of Strength, sackchief?

My cousin had a copy of dragon warrior monsters for gbc i used to play back in the day and wanted it for myself so i got the dragon warrior 1 and 2 combo game thinking it was the same. Then dragon warrior 3 with toriyama's beautiful cover art caught my eye and fell in love with the series ever since.

You should do a top 5 for spin offs. I played the builders games and loved them. Still wanna try out the warriors, slime rocket, and the monster games.

Awesome, i might try one on retroid pocket 3+

Subbed. I got DQ11S on my ps4 and let me tell you that darn it’s freaking good. I actually started on DQ heroes I think, and it was okay. But DQ11 is DEFINITELY the right way to get into DQ.

Great vid & I was curious if you’ve played the fan translated versions of Joker 3, DQ Monsters Terry’s Wonderland & DQM 2 Cobi & Tarra on the 3DS ? The reason I ask is because I mod 3DS/2DS and I add those games for people to enjoy.

I always knew about the Dragon Quest series, but I haven't played it fully just demos. It plays good. Cool video. ^_^

Got dqXI and it looks good so far! Thanks

9 was my favourite but I'm glad you respect 5 so much because that's a close second for me

My cousin was introduced to the game by DQ8 on the PS2, and then he introduced me into the series with DQ9 on the ds, which we both still own, and then i got 6 and 7 on the ds and 3ds, then (Because i don't havea a switch) last christmas, i was able to get XI on Xbox one, and its my fave of the series from what i've played, but 9 will always have the nostalgia factor.

Your top 5 looks a lot like mine. Dragon Quest 4 was the first game I played in the series, and it’s my top ONE, although I like all DQ games.

I haven't played every DQ yet, but I fully agree with your top! :D

Great video! I wonder how many of the items/weapon names in the original Japanese versions at least through the first 7 stayed consistent???

I subbed to your channel because of this video 😀

love it! thanks! what is the song in the credits?

DQ8 was my intro to the series and still to this day remains one of my favorite games of all time Dq8 is also on mobile thought i'd say since you didnt mention it

Just finished the post game in DQ11 this week on my Draconian Quest run and had a blast. Been getting friends and family to try out the demos for DQ11 and Builders 2 on switch, they are very easy low risk ways for people to experience the series.

I just started the series a couple months ago and I love it! I've played 1, 3, and 4 so far. I loved the mobile port of 1, it felt almost like nes Elden Ring to me and I was surprised when it was over. I played the gbc version of 3 and it was super good but I wish I hadn't just used the stock party the whole time cause it feels like a lot of the more interesting gameplay comes out when you try different combos and such. Still enjoyed it overall but I only barely beat it before moving on to 4. What a game! At least that's how I felt till the back 3rd. Once the party was fully completed it felt to me like all the narrative momentum was leaking out the sides. I really enjoyed the personal stakes of the first 4 chapters and how they all crossed over with each other, had a real TV show vibe and it certainly didn't hurt how instantly iconic a lot of them are (Alena and Torneko are you kidding me!?) Once I got to chapter 5 it was exciting to finally play the hero role and I had a lot of fun gathering up the gang. After that... Idk man. The game starts to feel so aimless and open and the story just becomes "find the 4 things to get to the final area and kill the evil guy" which is fine but I wanted more from the characters in my party and there just isn't much of that once they're all together. Overall I enjoyed it more than 1 and 3 but I just can't bring myself to finish it so I'll be starting 5 very soon. Once I finish 5 I'm probably gonna move on straight to 11. I really wanna play 7-9 but but I don't wanna play 8 on mobile and 7/9 are stuck on 3ds which I have but idk where it's at. 11 looks like the series ultimate banger tho so I'm hyped

I'm nearly done with Dragon Quest XIS on the Switch. I just recruited Rab on Hero's solo part.

The multiclassing in Dragon Quest IX was a lot like in DQ3, though you can't keep spells between classes. ): Multiclassing was absolutely my favorite endgame activity in that one. I'd do good builds like boomerang paladin and bad ones like sword priest... makes me want to go back and play it right now, but I'm dedicated to getting through DQ VII until I unlock the spotpass items.

Dragon warrior monsters was my only dragon quest game until very recently. I can't believe I missed out on so many good games!

DQ3 is the epic end of a trilogy, so I really would recommend playing 1 and 2 first. They're very short by DQ and RPG standards (like 10 hours each) and pretty straight forward. It also a good time to do it because we'll be getting the DQ3 remake some time soon hopefully

Thumbs up on the list. On XI S: I would think that the prior version only has better graphics if you're comparing it to the Switch version of XI S, right? There's a PC version too, and it looks pretty great imho.

P.S. Btw, sack, I had really been enjoying your play-through of DQX1, I just wish you would have had the whole play-through up as i would have loved to had seen your reaction to the later moments in the game. that one (X1) very quickly became a huge favorite of mine.

I´ve never played any Dragon Quest game but I after watching your video I will really like to try the eleven! It feels like a complete and very interesting game

Dragon Quest V is up there with the likes of the best Persona and Final Fantasy titles! Truly deserves its place as one of the best JRPGs of all time

I've played Dragon Quest games since 6 released on the DS and DQ9 was new; I was a small child playing these games and even then I enjoyed the hell out of them. I've played 11 and didn't understand how things worked when I was younger which got me ripped off as I asked my parents to buy 10 for me and we bought an empty box for like 30 dollars lmao. Now that I'm a bit older and have more money, I kinda wanna play most or all of these games because yeah... it's a big part of my childhood, and I want it to be a part of my history as a fan of video games in general. 9 is my favorite because I like making up backstories for all the characters, including my own, and as a whole this series has been very fun for me. Got a soft spot for 6 but yeah the others are better lmao, even I can admit that.

I'm playing DQ series for the very first time and I started with the first one and oh boy what a game, is incredible, I decided to play all of them in numerical order and I'm currently with the second one, I can't wait for the next one and that 11 tho looks beautiful, I have a long way so I'm enjoying this.

as always the best helpful tips for newcomers that want to get in to the series thank you as always

I love DQ8 and DQ11. They're so good!

Slime Knight is always a beast until late game for me in Dragon Quest V, but he still has a place as a backup healer. I, however, love having Golem in my party. Give him the Meteorite Bracer, the best armor he can wear, and the Falcon Blade and he will be an absolute monster. I agree with the whole list, though, great series, even its less than stellar entries are still really good and that's more than I can say for Final Fantasy.

I have just today, gotten into the dragon quest games. Bought 1-3 for a very cheap price for the switch.i now want them all. I was playing shining force but the map on there was frustrating so I gave up. I love dragon quest!

I honestly got into the series with Dragon Quest 11 S and would really like to explore some more of the franchise sometime