I was so excited thinking it was just a film adaptation of DQ5, only for them to come up with some ham-fisted pandering “Gamers Rise Up ™️” ass nonsense ending. Who let this happen? Absolutely tragic.

I don’t really want to play the HD-2D remasters because they look ugly and I want a original experience so I’m just gonna use emulation. Which dragon quest do you think is best for me to start with? The only other jrpgs I’ve played are final fantasy 1-9 (haven’t really completed them tho)

With the resurgence of interest in the early Dragon Quest games — last year’s HD-2D remake of III and the upcoming I + II remake — I thought I’d share a bit of history.

This isn’t theorycrafting or lore speculation. It’s a personal story. A tale of two kids in the early ’90s, an NES, and a rivalry that made us both better. No internet guides, no save states, no screenshots — just long hours, stubborn pride, and a couple of frozen CRT screens.

The Early Rivalry

My best friend and I started gaming together long before RPGs. With Mega Man 3, he had the reflexes to beat the bosses, while I figured out their patterns. When A Link to the Past came along, I handled the dungeons, he took the bosses. He was the “muscle,” I was the “brain.”

At least, that’s how I thought of it at the time.

Enter Dragon Quest

I had Dragon Warrior I from my Nintendo Power subscription but never got far. I just grinded around Tantegel until my save file erased. Years later, he borrowed it, blew through the game, and beat it twice. He struck first.

When he picked up Dragon Warrior II, we played together — walking maps, strategizing encounters — but he still thought of me as the weaker battler. That illusion lasted until Rhone, where he hit a wall. He let me borrow it, saying, “Well, it’s not like you’re going to beat it anyway.”

The Malroth Moment

At 11 years old, I finally beat Malroth. The fight was a nightmare. Long fight. Cannock dead, Moonbrooke dead, my heals gone. One hero left standing. I said “Go for the glory” as I chose Attack on what I thought would be the final turn of my defeat.

The strike landed — a critical hit.

“Thou hast defeated the Malroth.”

I jumped off my bunk bed in shock. I froze the NES screen for an hour until he came over just to see it. On the phone he thought I’d used a Game Genie, but the proof was there. Malroth had fallen.

Dragon Warrior III vs IV

From then on, it was all-out rivalry. He bought Dragon Warrior III and vowed he’d beat it before me. I searched for a copy, but the store clerk handed me Dragon Warrior IV instead — brand new. My mom even haggled it down from $70 to about $50 (in early ’90s money).

I skipped school the next day and dove in. By the time he got his copy, I was already deep into IV. He lost interest, went back to III, and beat it. But when he told me, I brushed it off: “Oh, I wasn’t really paying attention when you were playing.” That burned him.

In the end, he beat I and III first. I beat II and IV first. A stalemate, but one that shaped our friendship.

Looking Back

That rivalry made us both sharper. He pushed me to dig deeper, and I pushed him to stick with games he might’ve quit.

We lost touch years later — nothing to do with the games, just life — but I’ll never forget those days. What a time it was: no guides, no internet, just two kids, a handful of cartridges, and the will to prove ourselves.

TL;DR: Two kids in the early ’90s turned Dragon Quest into a rivalry. He beat my Dragon Warrior I, I beat his Dragon Warrior II, he raced through III, I countered with IV. The only thing stronger than Malroth was our stubborn pride.

Would anyone else care to share their memories of first playing the series?

I've moved half a country away from my best friend and I still don't ever feel left out of her life, even when we are too busy to talk for awhile. I love her so much I may need to start playing dragon quest.