RETROCANON
LIBRARY › SQUARE ENIX › DRAGON QUEST

Dragon Quest

Square Enix

Dragon Quest is the genre's enduring baseline: readable towns, dangerous fields, turn-based battles, and a warm fairy-tale tone. Some games share loose sub-series, especially the Erdrick/Loto trilogy and Zenithian trilogy, but the site treats those as grouping labels rather than a single required chronology. The appeal is continuity of feel more than continuity of plot.

SINCE 1986 · 14 GAMES

▶ WHERE DO I START?
  1. 1980s

    Dragon Quest

    1986 · NES, SNES, Game Boy Color, Switch

    The first Dragon Quest is the compact one-hero RPG seed: towns, caves, keys, a princess, and a Dragonlord.

    Erdrick / Loto trilogy

    6 releases & editions

  3. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation

    1988 · NES, SNES, Game Boy Color, Switch

    A custom-party adventure that turns the Erdrick myth into Dragon Quest's first grand generational payoff.

    Start hereErdrick / Loto trilogy

    6 releases & editions

  4. 1990s

    Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

    1990 · NES, PlayStation, Nintendo DS

    A chapter-structured adventure that introduces its party one story at a time before bringing everyone together.

    Zenithian trilogy

    6 releases & editions

  5. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

    1992 · SNES, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS

    A generational RPG about childhood, marriage, family, and monster allies, often treated as Dragon Quest's emotional high point.

    Start hereZenithian trilogy

    5 releases & editions

  6. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation

    1995 · SNES, Nintendo DS

    Dream and real worlds overlap in a looser, class-heavy Zenithian entry with a huge sense of wandering scale.

    Zenithian trilogy

    4 releases & editions

  7. 2000s

  8. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

    2004 · PlayStation 2, Nintendo 3DS

    The first fully 3D Dragon Quest gives the series sweeping fields, expressive Toriyama characters, and a storybook road-trip feel.

    Start hereStandalone mainline

    6 releases & editions

  9. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker

    2006 · Nintendo DS

    A DS monster-raising branch where scouting, breeding, and team composition move Dragon Quest toward creature collection.

    Monsters

    3 releases & editions

  11. 2010s

    Dragon Quest Builders

    2016 · PlayStation 4, Switch, PC

    A block-building spin-off that imagines a ruined Dragon Quest world rebuilt one room, recipe, and town at a time.

    Builders and spin-offs

    4 releases & editions

  12. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

    2017 · Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 4, PC, Switch, Xbox One

    The modern flagship Dragon Quest: a polished fairy-tale road adventure that feels classic without feeling cramped.

    Start hereStandalone mainline

    8 releases & editions

  13. 2020s

  14. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

    2024 · Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

    The Erdrick classic rebuilt in HD-2D, keeping the party-building spine while modernizing presentation and comfort.

    Start hereRemakeErdrick / Loto trilogyRemakes

    4 releases & editions