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I've never played a DQ game, but the reviews and talk are enticing me to try Dragon Quest IX.
Should I start with an earlier iteration, or can I start with the new DS title?

*please add a dragon-quest tag

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3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

The story in the Dragon Quest games is not really consistent between iterations. The themes remain constant, and you may miss an inside joke or two, but Dragon Quest IX is definitely designed so that you can jump right into it without ever having played any previous DQ games. If you like old-school style RPGs, and you trust the reviews you've read, I wouldn't hesitate to grab a copy of DQ9.

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The first three and the second three are certainly at least tangentially-related stories. – Shinrai Jun 7 '11 at 17:07
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I'm playing Dragon Quest IX now as my first DQ, and so far it's been a blast. There is no doubt that even if I am missing a couple inside jokes, the game is quite enjoyable on its own.

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up vote 2 down vote

If you're at all familiar with JRPG's, Dragon Quest IX doesn't deviate far from the norm, and requires absolutely no prior knowledge of earlier titles.

Thankfully Dragon Quest IX is the least frustrating game in the series because it eliminates random encounters. You can now see monsters on the field and can simply run around them if you don't want to fight.

For these reasons I cannot recommend starting with an earlier game. If you play DQIX to completion and are craving more, then I would suggest looking into the other Dragon Quest games, but not before.

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Interesting that you find the lack of random encounters to be less frustrating. It's the opposite for me. Seeing them on the screen is a neat change from previous DQ's but when I'm in the menu and back out and all of a sudden I'm in a battle that gets on my nerves. – Josh Einstein Jul 17 '10 at 20:56
Yeah that's true, but i think I'd rather deal with that than unavoidable enemy encounters every 5 - 30 steps. – Christian Jul 29 '10 at 21:30
I think Wild Arms handled it best; random encounters that are skippable. – Shinrai Jun 7 '11 at 17:08

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