Dragon Quest is, to many, the impetus of JRPGs. What exactly was the first is up for debate, though. Wizardry, Ultima (1981), and Dungeon (1975) predate DQ. D&D was released a decade prior. There were plenty of text based games, which means we have to consider books, as well. The PC-88 has a dozen games with RPG stats on them. But Dragon Quest did something all those games didn't: combine them.
Dragon Quest was the first to have graphics, a top down perspective, multiple choices, stories, and be on a home console readily available. All of those gave it one final category that made it king: success. Reviews, sales, and money made all allow Enix to lay claim that Dragon Quest is the granddaddy of them all. I barely did any research for this claim because this is not a long essay. This is a review. But I kinda really want to do some research now. Soon...
I played the SNES version of Dragon Quest, which was patched by RPGONE (et al.) and patched again by Crackowia. I could have played the NES, but the graphical upgrades and QoL adjustments were just too promising. And I'm so glad I did. Before I get into why, let's be judgy.
Why does Dragon Quest suck?
The story is painfully barebones. There's plot at the start that works as background and sets the path. Then there are some vague directions until the last bit, where the story shows up to conclude itself. That doesn't fly today, but it was (presumably) all gamers needed in the mid 80s. Ultimately, this probably isn't a historical negative.
The same can be said for the playable cast and villain. There's only one of each, and neither have much personality. But, again, my parents were still in high school when this came out. I will give them credit in a moment, though.
The gameplay is the building block of the genre, even if it's very bland. There's not much strategy and only one attack spell (with an advanced version later on). The debuffs never worked, and a basic attack was better overall. But, again, I was six years from being born.
That's a lot of misnomers for the negatives. What does Dragon Quest do that's good.
All of the above! The Hero walked so the Warriors of Light could run, Roddick could fly, and Ness could swim. If you look upon DQ with only modern eyes, you miss the greatness that it is. I know I'm over romanticizing the groundbreaking aspects of the game, but there actually are great things that even a modern audience can enjoy.
The music, for example. I've had Tintagel Castle's theme in my head all weekend, and the Overworld track is perfect. As I said, I played the SNES remaster, which came with SNES enhanced chiptunes, adding to the enjoyment of it. I strongly recommend a listen through.
I was shocked that I had story choices. Saving the Princess is optional, and the ending is slightly different if you don't. Or you can bring her with you to kill Dragonlord. Speaking of whom, you can join him in his world conquest! It gets waved away, but I love the idea of trying anyway.
The world was pretty fun. Each city references others, and they're all equally important somehow.
I was starting to fear that the Dragon Quest franchise actually sucked. V is still the top, but IV and VI kinda sucked. IX was fun enough to keep me from canceling this themed month altogether, but it's not a wow moment. But we cut the fluff and went back to the basics, and it was so much fun.
Plot: 1986. Everyone and everything is as basic as you can get. Don't expect to get wrapped up. 6/10
Gameplay: 1986. Everything is as basic as you can get. Don't expect to get wrapped up. 6/10
Art: 1986. There were only about five monsters, each with four color swaps. This aspect didn't age as well. 4/10
Sound: modern? There are a small number of songs, but they're all great and unique. I absolutely adored what they did with the final dungeon themes. It's ahead of its time. 10/10
Charm: 1986. There's a surprising amount of stuff to do, but I can't say it's worth a replay. 6/10
Dragon Quest I is a terrible place to jump into if you're getting started with RPGs. It's probably a terrible one to play if you're only looking for a hot topic game. But, if you're invested in the franchise or genre, you need to play this. If you're a historian, you've probably already played it. It's quick but rewarding, and I needed this. Dragon Quest I is the best 32/50 game I've ever played.
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