TheDragon Questseries is almost forty and that’s a huge accomplishment for any video game series. It began as a simple RPG on the NES and quickly grew popular in Japan. One of its defining features is the punny names for the monsters who are also cute aesthetically.
That’s easy to figure out. Something fans or newbies may not know is that there are a lot of prequels in the series including mainline entries. With spoilers in mind, let’s go through the best ones and how they tie into other entries. Will the latest entry,Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, make the list? Let’s dive in a find out, again, with spoilers.
7Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart
A Forgotten Prequel From Japan
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heartwas not released outside ofJapan on the GBA. It has been patched by fans though for those curious to experience the prequel toDragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Past. The game stars one of that game’s main party members, Prince Kiefer, who gets sucked into the world ofDragon Quest 2: Luminaries of the Legendary Lineworld called Torland. Together with a new party, he will travel around the world and recruit monsters to fight in his stead. This gameplay style is used in mostDragon Quest Monsterspinoff games.
6Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D
A Remake And A Prequel All In One
Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3Dis another lost game waiting in Japan. It’s a remake of the very firstDragon Quest Monstersgame which debuted on the Game Boy Color. It’s a prequel toDragon Quest 6: Realms of Revelationstarring two characters from that story, Terry and Milly, who are much younger in the 3DS game.
Again, players will go around as Terry collecting monsters and using them in battle akin toaPokemontitle. Fan translation work has not come far for this title and not many 3DS games do but maybe one day Square Enix will re-release it yet again.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Princeis the final monster-catching game worth noting in the prequel roundup. This one is unique because it stars a villain from one of the main games, Psaro. Psaro was an antagonist inDragon Quest 4: Chapters of the Chosen. Unlike the previous two titles, this one has been released in North America and recently too. Fora Switch game, it has quite an open-worldto explore. Also, it does a good job of filling in why Psaro turned out the way he did as a misunderstood villain.
4Dragon Quest: Young Yangus And The Mystery Dungeon
A Thieving Roguelike
Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mystery Dungeonis the final Japan-only release on the list. It’s a prequel toDragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed Kingwhich stars one of the main playable characters, Yangus. Yangus is a thief in the party and this prequel stars him as a child as he’s just starting the trade. It’s part of theMystery Dungeonseries which has touched everything from otherDragon Questcharacters toFinal FantasyChocobotoPokemon. They are roguelikes, so Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mystery Dungeon is a very dungeon-heavy adventure with a lot of risk-reward to the gameplay.
Dragon Quest Treasuresis also about a younger version of a thief from one of the main games. Erik is fromDragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Ageand in that game, he speaks about his sister Mia being cursed. In the prequel, players get to see Mia thrive alongside Erik and players can choose to play as either hero at points. Like theDragon Quest Monsterspinoffs, players can recruit monsters who have traversal abilities along with offensive ones to help them in battle. Unlike those games though, this is an action title and one with a lot of dungeons and treasure to collect.
Dragon Quest 3: The Seeds of Salvationis the first game in the series to be labeled as a prequel. It reset itself back to the earliest point in the timeline from the previous two games. That was a big first step but so was the inclusion of the class system known as Vocations.
Now players can experience this game in all of its glory via the latest version,Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, with plenty of changesto make it more consumer-friendly. Following that Square Enix is going to keep the timeline straight and releaseDragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remakein the same HD-2D style.
Dragon Quest 11is a surprise prequel and it’s only revealed if players get to the true ending. If they do, players get to see a scene of a woman reading her child a story about the Luminaries which is what the hero is labeled as in the game. It then sets things up forDragon Quest 3with a brief teaser insinuating thatDragon Quest 11is now the first game in the timeline. This could also be a case ofa time loopor an alternate timeline starting as time does play heavily into the final set piece of the game. Either way, it was a fun nod for fans to see whether or not they believe it is a true canon prequel or not.
