6 Best Dragon Quest Spin-off Games, Ranked

The Dragon Quest series began in 1986 in Japan on the NES followed by a release in North America in 1989 under the new name Dragon Warrior. While the first few games did get localized in English, the series never got as big in the West as its counterpart, Final Fantasy. It was a different story in Japan though as Dragon Quest is easily one of the most recognizable game franchises to this day.

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Dragon Quest: The 10 Biggest Hidden Secrets (Across All Games)

The Dragon Quest franchise is full of secrets. These are some of the most notable scattered throughout the games.

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That’s why it’s not surprising to learn that the Dragon Quest franchise has so many spinoff games from action RPGs to puzzle-based board games. These are the ones that stick out but there are plenty more where this came from both good and bad.

6 Itadaki Street Dragon Quest And Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary

A Party Game For Fans

• Platforms: PS4, PS Vita
• Released: October 19, 2017
• Developer: Tose
• Metacritic Score: N/A

Itadaki Street Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary is as much a Final Fantasy spinoff as it is a Dragon Quest spinoff. It is the latest Itadaki Street game which is like a more RPG-like Mario Party or Monopoly game. The only entry in the series to hit the West was Fortune Street on the Wii which had Mario and Dragon Quest characters collaborating.

Itadaki Street Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary is fairly easy to discern even without knowing the language though. Players can use their favorite heroes from the two franchises like Jessica from Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King or Zidane from Final Fantasy 9. For those curious, there were also crossover entries on the PS2, PSP, and DS that are entertaining.

5 Dragon Quest Treasures

A Prequel To Dragon Quest 11: Echoes Of An Elusive Age

• Metacritic Score: 72

Dragon Quest Treasures is one of the newer spinoffs in the franchise which serves as a prequel to Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age starring one of the party members, Erik. It takes place during his earlier adventuring days before his sister, Mia, met a terrible fate. That said, they do get separated in the game and players have to do their dungeon crawling mostly without the other nearby.

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8 Best Dragon Quest Villains, Ranked

The Dragon Quest franchise is almost 40 years old, and it features some of the most iconic villains in gaming.

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By  Danny Guan

That’s okay as both heroes can summon monsters to their side like in the Dragon Quest Monsters spinoffs like Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. Classic monsters like Slimes or Drackies will fight automatically by their side but they have a dual purpose. They can be mounted which helps with some traversal problems like flying over gaps. It’s the best use of monsters in one of these spinoffs yet and overall it’s just a jolly good time with satisfying action combat.

4 Dragon Quest Heroes 2

Dynasty Warriors Plus Dragon Quest

• Metacritic Score: 76

Dragon Quest Heroes 2 is the second spinoff made by the Dynasty Warriors team over at Omega Force. The first game was a hack and slash RPG with a heavy emphasis on tower defense. While there are still some missions like that, most of the game is more open-ended.

Players can explore a world, take on quests, eventually unlock classes for their character, and so on. Plus a lot of characters make cameos from the series like Torneko from Dragon Quest 4: Chapters of the Chosen. It may be a mindless action game for some, but these Musou-style RPGs do have their merit in the gaming space. As a spinoff of a spinoff, Dragon Quest Heroes 2 ranks up there as one of the best ones Omega Force has touched.

3 Dragon Quest Wars

A Tactical Monster Collector

• Metacritic Score: 83

Dragon Quest Wars is a rather obscure entry because it is locked away on a dead console and an even deader marketplace. It was released as a download-only game for the DSi. Many of those early digital games remain trapped in that marketplace since Nintendo shuttered it.

History aside, Dragon Quest Wars was a classic grid-based tactical RPG. Players could get new monsters and forge their way forward through numerous maps. It was light on story which is fine as it was a spinoff that favored gameplay instead which was as addictive as it was solid. It’s the only tactical RPG in the franchise to hit a dedicated handheld or console but hopefully, it won’t be the last forever.

2 Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

Siding With The Monsters

• Metacritic Score: 83

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is the second game in the Slime Mori Mori spinoff franchise. It’s the only one to leave Japan with the GBA and 3DS games still being exclusive to Japan. They all play relatively the same in that players control a Slime trying to fight against an invading army of Platypunks and other Dragon Quest monsters.

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13 Hardest Dragon Quest Games, Ranked

Not all Dragon Quest games offer an easy experience; here are the hardest and most challenging entries in the series.

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By  Chad Thesen

In Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime specifically, players can go into levels looking for lost NPCs. Once rescued, they can help improve the town that was destroyed by the invading Platypunks. Players can attack enemies by stretching their Slime hero with the DS which was a novel idea for the handheld. The highlight of the game though, besides the excellent sprite work, had to be the tank boss battles which were epic even on the small scale of the DS.

1 Dragon Quest Builders 2

A Better Minecraft RPG

• Metacritic Score: 86

Dragon Quest Builders was a rough draft just like how the first Dragon Quest Heroes game didn’t quite nail its gameplay idea. Dragon Quest Builders was a Minecraft clone with the same world aesthetic albeit with better modeled characters and enemies. Players could explore and build to their heart's content or follow the story to new lands which reset progress. That’s where the first game failed and where the sequel fixed itself.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 was everything players could want from a sequel and more. Better combat, a more engaging story, easier ways to build, a co-op centered island, and so much more. It still feels odd that it borrowed so heavily from Minecraft, but one could say it did the whole Minecraft formula better. That debate is for another day though.