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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

DQ3 line NP

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[]

Monsters series[]

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

Other spin-offs[]

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.

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