Final FantasyandDragon Questare both are pillars of the JRPG genre that put the players in charge of a party of adventurers in a fantasy world. They’re known for their beautiful environments, sweeping orchestral scores, and driving a divide between gamers around the world.
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One was a hail-Mary attempt to save a studio, the other was a love letter to western fantasy featuring the art of Akira Toriyama, and yet both seem to be in a neverending battle of fanbases. Both games are essential to the JRPG genre, but which one truly comes out on top and why?
10Final Fantasy: High Fantasy Elements
From the very beginning,Final Fantasyhas always featured high fantasy and complex worlds that play with the genre freely and unabashedly. One game might take place in a traditional kingdom with wizards and warriors, another might feature steampunk robots, and another might pit the adventurers against an evil corporation. But no matter what, the swords, spells, and summons are still there.
9Dragon Quest: Traditional Fantasy Elements
Dragon Questhas always relied on the traditional fantasy setting in almost the entirety of the series. No matter the game or order the series is played, it all feels condensed in the same universe.
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The game is known for taking inspiration from western fantasy staples like Tolkein’s Middle-Earth andDungeons and Dragons,and the love for it truly shows. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
8Final Fantasy: The Job System
Where many RPG games, likeDragon Quest,give their characters/party members specific classes that they stick with but the player can upgrade, some games in theFinal Fantasyseries allow the characters tochange jobs as new ones become available. This would be featured inDragon Questeventually, but nowhere is it done better than in theBravely Defaultseries.
7Dragon Quest: Evolution of Simple Classes
WhereFinal Fantasyis a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to jobs, the classes inDragon Questare the traditional fighter, rogue, mage, and so on archetypes. That being said, the classes are certainly more fluid than in most JRPGs.
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The player has the choice of how their party works. Want the wizard to have a proficiency in whips, the thief to have a deadly poison skill, or the fighter to be a slayer of the undead? Just use the skill points and make it happen.
6Final Fantasy: Mature and Heavy Storylines
If there’s one thing theFinal Fantasyseries will always be known for, it’s mature and lore-heavy storylines that seem to get bigger with each new installation. The series has gone from a traditional fantasy game a laDungeons and Dragonsto a gigantic epic with massive machines, environmental activists, Moogles, and occasional crossovers with the wonderful world of Disney. There’s no telling where the series might go next.
5Dragon Quest: Epic Fairytales
On the other hand, the realms ofDragon Questfeel like something pulled straight from a storybook. Essentially checking all the boxes for what one would expect from the fantasy genre.
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Giant dragons, magic spells, fair maidens, and knights in shining armor are all present, but that’s not necessarily a bad deal. The games are like a warm hug wrapped in a wizard’s robe, proving your world doesn’t have to be extreme to be enchanting.
4Final Fantasy: Summonable Monsters
One gamechanger the series brought to the table was the ability tosummon powerful monsters and creaturesto lay the hammer down on enemies during combat. Odin, Shiva, and Dark Bahamut and more are all earned to be used at the player’s discretion, resulting in health-bar-shattering sequences that can make or break a combat sequence. Epic would be just one word used to describe this power.
3Dragon Quest: Adorable Monsters and Minions
Final Fantasyhas Chocobos,Dragon Questhas the slimes. Nearly all of the monsters and bosses encountered in the various realms ofDragon Questcould easily be made into stuffed animals and sold at the nearest comic convention.
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There’s always been an unashamed brand of anime cuteness in the series’s design, likely thanks to the artwork by Akira Toriyama, but it’s practically the game’s identity.
2Final Fantasy: Constantly Evolving
The main thing that keepsFinal Fantasyfrom becoming the standard-issueJRPGis that the series is always been moving forward with its gameplay, development, characters, graphics, and so on. The series has gone from an enchanted kingdom to a fantasy-realism setting with sportscars and gunblades. It’s nothing like the original, but it’s progressed into one of the biggest game series of all time.
1Dragon Quest: Knows It’s Audience
Final Fantasyhas had several hits and misses in its time, butDragon Questpractically gets a Japanese holiday with each new release. Why? Because the studio knows what works and why the fans keep coming back. Though there have been a few spinoffs, the main series has remained generally consistent since the third game. It’s simple but effective and still manages to keep a tried-and-true RPG formula fresh even after eleven games. That’s pretty impressive, to say the least.
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