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[SantaC]

Which series do you prefer?

Dragon Quest has always been the solid traditional type of RPG while Final Fantasy has been the experimental one.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Dragon Quest for me. DQ 8 & 11 over every FF game I've ever played.

 

[Alexios]

Neither, goes by game per game basis, can like some FF and hate others and the same for DQ and other JRPG series.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

FF slightly. Both are phenomenal though.

 

[Punished Miku]

Really just depends.

Final fantasy is great when you want to take a chance on a AAA jrpg. Might be good, might be flawed. But you know it'll have a large budget and try to push boundaries.

Dragon Quest is great as well when you're having trouble sleeping and need that extra boost.

Both series can coexist.

 

[Captain Toad]

Used to be Final Fantasy, but then Final Fantasy stopped being a traditional JRPG.

If FFXV is the future of Final Fantasy, then my previous favorite franchise will be dead to me.

 

[TintoConCasera]

The only FF I've really enjoyed is V, while I've liked many DQ titles, so DQ for me.

 

[SantaC]

I used to like Final Fantasy more. However last few years I find more joy with dragon quest because the gameplay is always solid.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I hope 16 can make me like FF again.

 

[KiteGr]

Dragon Quest's charm is in its simplicity.
Final Fantasy's charm is in its complexity.

Final Fantasy is plagued by releasing incomplete games since the beginning of the ps2 era, and in each game is becoming more obvious.
Dragon quest is plagued by stagnation, following very simple and/or childish stories and identical combat, being differentiated mostly by whatever jump in graphics.

 

[Fuz]

FF up to X > DQ
FF from X onwards < DQ

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Ceadeus]

DQ!

I like how the art design, sound effect and bestiary have stayed the same over all these years. It's trully a testament of quality and kind of comforting to boot a DQ game to hear the menu soundtrack and the ''blip'' when you press a button. It's classic.

 

[mekes]

Final Fantasy for me. I have limited experience with DQ but did play the latest game for 20 or so hours. It wasn't for me. It had charm but also felt very formulaic in design in terms of progressing through the game. It was that which ultimately saw me stop playing.

 

[Synless]

I do love both but FF is still my top RPG series. Dragon Quest V, VIII and XI are the only standouts for me in the series.

Final Fantasy however, I love all of them with exception of II and III.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

I tried really, really, really hard to like them, but Dragon Quest games are just so boring. Dialog is infantile, story has no weight and is also infantile, same music and enemies and combat every damn game, Honestly the series should get as much shit as Madden does because they change about the same amount between games.

Final Fantasy games can have some serious flaws (the entire FF13 period is an abortion, or I should say I wish it was aborted), but I don't think the series gets enough credit for just how much changes between games. It still blows my mind that they brought RPGs to the mainstream with a fairly straightforward game system in FF7, and then with FF8 they threw the fucking junction system and enemy level scaling at players. Could you imagine if FF7 is your first RPG and then you play FF8 as your second, and trying to figure that shit out? My high school self, who played a lot of RPGs before that point, still had trouble with the concept of your character actually being more powerful the lower level they are. I grinded to 99 before beating the game, which is actually the opposite or what you want to do because it makes it significantly harder.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

Impossible to answer as formulated, since Final Fantasy isn't actually one series but two (or two and a half). Dragon Quest is a cohesive series under the same creative director (Horii) from the start, whereas Final Fantasy was only truly Hironobu Sakaguchi's project until IX, with his influence lingering a bit for X and XII but totally vanished for XIII and XV.

The best Dragon Quest games are V and VIII. When the series is at its best it's poignant, funny, and has a sort of fairytale depth to it (the true meaning of the narrative isn't immediately apparent). When the series is at its worst it's longwinded, boring, and shallow (VI and VII are good examples of this). In terms of gameplay, Dragon Quest settled on more or less the right formula early on and has stuck to it with minimal changes. Dragon Quest is good for nostalgia and for an overall solid and competent presentation, but Horii seems to have reached the limits of his narrative powers and more recent installments are narratively uninteresting (though not outright offensively bad like recent FFs or Xenoblade 2).

The best Sakaguchi Final Fantasy games are VI, VII, and IX. At their best, the games he oversaw were innovative, mature, and gripping. At their worst they could be melodramatic, adolescent, and mechanically unsound (VIII is the perfect example of this). Unlike Horii, Sakaguchi took risks with FF - some of those risks paid off and some didn't, but he was overall moving the medium forward from a narrative point of view. In the end, though, the suits in the c-suite destroyed his entire project and the series with it, driving out his protégés in the process.

If Yasumi Matsuno had actually taken over Final Fantasy after Sakaguchi's departure the series would be head and shoulders above both Dragon Quest and Sakaguchi FF. Matsuno is by far the best story writer JRPGs have ever seen. Horii knows his limits as a storywriter and doesn't bite off more than he can chew: Dragon Quest games are lighthearted, simple fairytales, but like fairytales they can exhibit flashes of brilliance. Sakaguchi FF frequently bit off more than it could chew by aiming for a more elevated or sophisticated narrative than it could really deliver on. Matsuno is the lone 90s JRPG storywriter who was actually able to cash the checks he wrote: every one of his games is narratively brilliant from start to finish (except XII because they took him off the project halfway through).

The greatest JRPG of all time, Chrono Trigger, is so great because Horii and Sakaguchi were able to check each other's worst tendencies while bringing out their respective strengths.

 

[Lognor]

I haven't played a FF game since the original FF7, but I gotta go with FF between the two. I did play Dragon Quest XI on Switch and didn't like it. It was way too childish. It's baby's first jrpg. It's stuck in the past two. Felt so antiquated. And a terrible story. Why am I playing a jrpg if the story is terrible?

So yeah, FF all the way. Even though I don't play those games anymore.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[lachesis]

I'm in DQ side. If it was during SNES era, or even PS1 era - I would have gone with FF... but I kinda opened up on DQ more so than FF.

DQ, in all its iterations - feel always consistent. Sometimes it feels like same game over and over - but since it only comes out every few years, it hasn't really bothered me that much.

FF however feels like I would need to re-learn the whole game system again on every single iterations. I felt little overwhelmed in a lot of times, that I gave up playing early on. I guess it's just me getting old.

 

[Batiman]

FF.

Fuck anything after 9 though

 

[kalecsan]

Dragon Quest is for virgins

Final Fantasy is for virgins that say they are not virgins.

 

[Vandole]

My favorite part of jRPGs is exploration. Finding hidden treasures and towns that are off the beaten path always and quests that they might generate always bring me happiness. They were kind of the original open world console games.

So FFX pretty much killed my internet in the series for a very long time since it was completely linear. Though FFXV did spark my interest in it again.

DQ on the other hand has always given me that experience and never let me down. So based on that (and slimes because they're cool), I'll always give DQ the nod over FF.

 

[Danjin44]

To me DQ games have been consistently good, while FF have been all over the place.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

My favorite part of jRPGs is exploration. Finding hidden treasures and towns that are off the beaten path always and quests that they might generate always bring me happiness. They were kind of the original open world console games.

So FFX pretty much killed my internet in the series for a very long time since it was completely linear. Though FFXV did spark my interest in it again.

DQ on the other hand has always given me that experience and never let me down. So based on that (and slimes because they're cool), I'll always give DQ the nod over FF.

Play XII, it's got a huge world

 

[Chickenwing10]

It's honestly a preference, but between the 2 I've never played a more perfect game than Dragon Quest 8.

 

[Yoboman]

Hes right though

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[FStubbs]

Dragon Quest's charm is in its simplicity.
Final Fantasy's charm is in its complexity.

Final Fantasy is plagued by releasing incomplete games since the beginning of the ps2 era, and in each game is becoming more obvious.
Dragon quest is plagued by stagnation, following very simple and/or childish stories and identical combat, being differentiated mostly by whatever jump in graphics.

DQ5 was childish? Please explain how. One of the more "mature" stories I've played in a jRPG.
FF OTOH ... Sabin suplexes a train.

 

[Erdrick]

Dragon Quest for sure. It's rock solid consistency Is a stark contrast to the content evolution of FF over the years. FF is great too, but I prefer the way that I know I'm always going to like whatever new DQ game is out because it's still going to feel and play how I expect.

 

[DGrayson]

I would say that FF has the edge right now but has been losing ground super fast.

 

[Captain Toad]

I tried really, really, really hard to like them, but Dragon Quest games are just so boring. Dialog is infantile, story has no weight and is also infantile, same music and enemies and combat every damn game, Honestly the series should get as much shit as Madden does because they change about the same amount between games.

Final Fantasy games can have some serious flaws (the entire FF13 period is an abortion, or I should say I wish it was aborted), but I don't think the series gets enough credit for just how much changes between games. It still blows my mind that they brought RPGs to the mainstream with a fairly straightforward game system in FF7, and then with FF8 they threw the fucking junction system and enemy level scaling at players. Could you imagine if FF7 is your first RPG and then you play FF8 as your second, and trying to figure that shit out? My high school self, who played a lot of RPGs before that point, still had trouble with the concept of your character actually being more powerful the lower level they are. I grinded to 99 before beating the game, which is actually the opposite or what you want to do because it makes it significantly harder.

You say that all about FF8 like it was a good thing. Enemy scaling, junctions, etc sucked.

FF8 had a cool atmosphere, but the rest of the game, including the ridiculous story made it one of the worst games in the franchise.

 

[KiteGr]

DQ5 was childish? Please explain how. One of the more "mature" stories I've played in a jRPG.
FF OTOH ... Sabin suplexes a train.

I said "or".

 

[Captain Toad]

For everyone arguing that Final Fantasy has tanked in quality since the PS2, I wonder how many have played FFXIV.

FFXIV and it's expansions are like four really good RPGs, as the base game and each expansion play like a single full-length JRPG.

 

[Starcheif]

FF 1 through 7 after that it's DQ for me.
FF 3 on Super NES was my favorite I loved the story.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

DQ12 vs FF16 will be an interesting battle.

Both focusing on on action combat and darker / more mature themes.

 

[German Hops]

Both equally good.

Funnily enough, both franchises peaked at #7, lol. These are the G.O.A.T.S.:

 

[Captain Toad]

FF 1 through 7 after that it's DQ for me.
FF 3 was my favorite I loved the story.

The DS FF3?

 

[Captain Toad]

Both equally good.

Funnily enough, both franchises peaked at #7, lol. These are the G.O.A.T.S.:

DQ7 is the worst one.

 

[Starcheif]

The DS FF3?

FF 3 on Super NES

 

[German Hops]

DQ7 is the worst one.

Sounds like you got filtered, pal.

 

[Isa]

Dragon Quest get's my vote. FF used to be among my favorite franchises but its definitely much lower in my regard this past decade+. And I have played FF14 but I don't get the love for its story. The writing didn't catch my attention and the characters didn't either. The gameplay too just didn't do it for my group so we ditched it.

I like that DQ has been so consistent since its inception, at least in regards to quality. Each game is also unique which is impressive. Plus my gf that loves Jrpgs surprised me with a Puff Puff, nuff said.

*Side Comment, just wanted to say that I appreciate Starcheif's avatar. I loved General Chaos with my friends back in the day. Great game with very fond memories.

 

[Lady Bird]

DQ has been the stronger franchise recently, but I love both.

 

[xpresstuning]

I'll go with Dragon Quest. It's high quality consistency throughout its entries is remarkable. It does have its low points (some of which came with age) and high points (DQV is easily one of the greatest games ever made), but overall, all of them are good.

Also, for anyone who has played the SNES/DS version of DQ V or anyone interested in playing it, i highly recommend the Playstation 2 japanese import of Dragon Quest V. It is fully remade in 3D with a gorgeous artstyle and orchestrated music. By far the best version. There is a fully translated english patch available.

 

[AmuroChan]

If I had to pick from one of these two, I would say DQ. Personally though, I much prefer Persona and Trails these days.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I'd go with FF. I feel the best FF games are better than DQ, which for me are FFVI-X and XII. XIV is brilliant as well.

DQ XI was very good, but also very repetitive and overstayed its welcome imo.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

You say that all about FF8 like it was a good thing. Enemy scaling, junctions, etc sucked.

FF8 had a cool atmosphere, but the rest of the game, including the ridiculous story made it one of the worst games in the franchise.

I mean, FF8 had its issues, but I kind of liked how weird it was - and I normally despise level scaling. I think it sort of worked because your power levels were linked to game mechanics that exist entirely outside your character level progression stats, unlike most games where its literally a 1:1 increase of your stats with the monsters, and you never feel like you get powerful. I wouldn't say it was great or anything, but I would take a unique but flawed combat system like FF8 any day over seeing this exact screen for 10 games straight:

 

[Joelenheimer]

I hope 16 can make me like FF again.

Have you played FFXIV? That's gotta be the last real FF Square made since IX, IMO. It obviously is an MMO, though, if you're not into those.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

DQ is horribly formulaic. 8 was very nice ‘cuz it looked amazing and it tried to spice up things a bit with some elements, but come the later parts of the game it too became awfully repetitive. It’s comfort food if you like the formula, and sometimes it can be a great achievement for its time (DQ2’s western intro on the NES was pretty impressive, and I hear DQ3 was truly groundbreaking - 8, as already mentioned, was simply stunning). But it’s almost always too long and too slow for its own good.

FF lost a lot of its charm when it went the way of movies, but FF1 was really something plot-wise for its time, FF4 broke new ground for JRPGs, and the PlayStation trilogy is some of the best stuff Square ever made, not to mention some of the finest stuff of its era on all fronts. I’ve played and enjoyed much more FF than DQ.

 

[Joelenheimer]

Final Fantasy for me. I have limited experience with DQ but did play the latest game for 20 or so hours. It wasn't for me. It had charm but also felt very formulaic in design in terms of progressing through the game. It was that which ultimately saw me stop playing.

DQXI is very much a Sega Dreamcast era type JRPG, as are a lot of other JRPG's, I hope DQXII modernizes the franchise.