Dragon Quest vs Final Fantasy: Series vs Series

[fox | 1,667]

 

[Sumez | 2,952]

DQ had a two-game head start, so the direct comparison is kinda unfair. But then again, I'll still take DQ1 over FF1, and by FF5 that series had already caught up, so it probably doesn't make a difference  And by DQ11 and FF11, those games are 15 years apart which is actually crazy.

Love that artwork btw!

My complete list:

DQ1
DQ2
DQ3
FF4
FF5
FF6 (I really loved DQ6 tho)
FF7
DQ8
FF9
(didn't play DQ10)
DQ11

Edited January 4 by Sumez

[RH | 4,904]

How is anyone putting FF 8 above DQ 8?!  I've not played all of the DQ games but of the few I've tried, it's by far the best in the series, while FF 8 is often panned as the worst, at least of the 3D Final Fantasy's.

To me this is a hotter take than "Super Mario Bros 2 (USA) isn't a real Mario game"!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

(haven't played FF)
(haven't played either)
(haven't played DQ3)
FF4
FF5
FF6
FF7
DQ8
FF9
(haven't played DQ10)
DQ11

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

People have actually played DQ10?

[Tanooki | 4,934]

FF1, FF2, DQ3, FF4, FF5, FF6, DQ7, DQ8, FF9, FF10(by default, other is a MMO), and DQ11

I'm sure I was against the grain on some of those, but dragon quest time to get great and FF for the time started out nicer even the wonky way FF2 went as it was.  DQ3 was magic as is 4 but sorry not as epic as FF4 by any means, as can be said for the SFC era of DQ, but then it really took its stride in the 7 and since era.

 

FF went into the weeds of largely garbage fires and DQ stayed true.

[NostalgicMachine | 235]

Damn, I had to think for a few of these!

[Sumez | 2,952]

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

(haven't played either)
(haven't played DQ3)

Dam son, missing two of the best DQs! 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

23 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Dam son, missing two of the best DQs! 

Hey, I feel like 17/22 is way ahead of the curve.  Some day though 

[Webhead123 | 675]

I know I'm not qualified to vote here because...well, the only games I've played more than 5 minutes of are:

DQ1 (as Dragon Warrior), FF1, FF4, FF6 and FF7

While I have much more direct experience and nostalgia with DQ1 than FF1 (I didn't play FF1 until sometime in the mid-90's), I suppose FF1 is the better game due to the class and party systems, etc. My nostalgia is much stronger for DQ1, as it was my first RPG and I got super immersed in it at the time but if I try to set those feelings aside, I think FF1 has more to offer.

That's the extent of my ability to compare the series. As for the other FF games I've played:

FF4 - Great. 7/10
FF6 - Amazing. 9/10
FF7 - High side of average. 6/10

[rdrunner | 422]

I've only played DQ1-4 and a handful of Final Fantasy (1, 4, 6, 7).  Voting would be a bit silly for me, so just looking for recommendations.

I have DQ8 and FF9 on my bucket list already.

 

Edited January 5 by rdrunner

[CMR | 520]

My answers are all over the place, but I've always been more partial to FF over DQ.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

Amazing artwork! I'm in the boat where I don't get to pick many due to not having played much of DQ, but I imagine many of these winning on reputation. DQ 8>FF8 for example, though I've played neither. Someday though!

[T-Pac | 7,548]

On 1/3/2024 at 8:53 PM, fox said:

 

Whoa - these are gorgeous!

Did you draw these, @fox? Or can you tell me how to find more from this artist?

(And sorry I have nothing to contribute to this thread haha - I've never finished a game from either series).

[T-Pac]

[fox | 1,667]

5 hours ago, T-Pac said:

Whoa - these are gorgeous!

Did you draw these, @fox? Or can you tell me how to find more from this artist?

(And sorry I have nothing to contribute to this thread haha - I've never finished a game from either series).

[T-Pac]

@T-Pacfanart by bykillt

[T-Pac | 7,548]

19 hours ago, fox said:

@T-Pacfanart by bykillt

That's insane - must be the most prolific DQ / FF fan-artist out there.

I love how the characters look so on-model, but he still manages to get his own style in there on every piece.

[T-Pac]

[koifish | 556]

Why compare these games? While they occupy American minds as key long-running JRPG series, they don't have much in common beyond genre. DQ is known for consistency while FF is known for changing core systems. Moreover, some of these games aren't even a similar genre; How can you compare FF10, a linear JRPG, to DQ10, an MMORPG? Or FF11, an MMORPG, to the "open-world" (and not online) DQ11? I feel like I might as well be comparing Mario and Sonic games simply because they were rival mascot series.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

1 hour ago, koifish said:

Why compare these games[...]? I feel like I might as well be comparing Mario and Sonic games simply because they were rival mascot series.

Where's our Mario vs Sonic thread @fox?!

[Sumez | 2,952]

1 hour ago, koifish said:

they don't have much in common beyond genre

This is a stretch. At least up until FF9 they were pretty damn similar. 

[Hammerfestus | 3,846]

These kind of get uneven after 7 don’t they?  Different release schedules.  Comparing DQ8 a ps2 game vs FF8 a PSX game seems a bit weird.  Dragon Quest XI should be compared to that piece of shit Final Fantasy XV to get accurate comparisons

[fox | 1,667]

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Where's our Mario vs Sonic thread @fox?!

Crash Bandicoot vs Sonic?  I got ya

[MagusSmurf | 577]

3 and 8 were the only ones I voted Dragon Quest on.

Haven't played DQX, DQXI, or FFXI. Quite sure I'd be voting FFX and DQXI for those if I had played both choices though, I'm not an MMO guy.

[Sumez | 2,952]

Actually curious about the people who played both FF2 and DQ2, and still picked FF2. 

I do think FF2's reputation is a little undeserved, but still

[MagusSmurf | 577]

On 1/28/2024 at 1:30 AM, Sumez said:

Actually curious about the people who played both FF2 and DQ2, and still picked FF2. 

I do think FF2's reputation is a little undeserved, but still

For me, there's an element of "which one do I dislike less?" there. I think they're both sorta bad. (I dislike Dragon Quest I too!)

-Dragon Quest II is a lot more polished but still fundamentally has NES-era menus and the typical Dragon Quest lack of one-button-press interaction with the world so that doesn't take it as far as it could...but is still very worth noting when its opponent here is freaking FFII.

-Dragon Quest II feels less special at this point. There are lots of old JRPGs with exploration and a boat. FFII feels like it has, if not necessarily uniqueness, then at least much more of a niche to fill with its weird stuff.

-Dragon Quest II more than any other game in its franchise I've played likes to throw particularly aggravating random encounters at you.

-The Cave to Rhone is grueling but can be figured out through trial and error and notekeeping and once you know exactly what to do you should have a reasonable chance at getting through it each attempt. The hours of grinding in Rhone afterward are a massive bore for me, though.

I remember the worst parts of FFII not even being the stat-raising/lowering system everyone complains about. It's all the glitches and how unpolished everything is in ways I remember feeling much more consequential than they were in FFI.

[Sumez | 2,952]

Damn, Dragon Quest II is one of my absolute favourite games in the series.
I honestly can't think of any other JRPGs with exploration like that game outside of, well, DQ3. I'd love to hear what those "lots of" games are actually