Dragon Quest’s 7 Rarest Games And What They’re Worth Today

Dragon Quest had many chances to grow a lot in the West. Sadly it never ended up happening. That's not to say these games do not sell the eighth and eleventh main titles have done particularly well but on average they are a fraction of the cash spent on the series in Japan.

As a result, many Dragon Quest games have been released in limited print editions. As a result, prices for second-hand items have skyrocketed leaving fans with a hole in their pockets if we want to put our money down. Our research shows these are the most expensive entries. Let us know if you have seen anything worse.

1. Dragon Quest 4 (NES)

Omg look The fourth game appears on this list two times. As we have already established the NES quartet of Dragon Quest games saw sales decline with each entry. This led to Dragon Quest IV selling only (that is only) 80,000 copies in North America. Dragon Warrior IV was never released on the NES in Europe. Its mix of positive reviews and limited copies sold has made the price of the original Nintendo version rise sharply.

It is highly unlikely to ever get a facelift, so we won't bother researching any average price point. Instead we'll cite the figures we have seen for a pre-owned copy and they're pretty shocking: $200.

2. Dragon Quest 5: Hand Of The Heavenly Bride (DS)

Dragon Quest V is great. This multi-generational saga has been discussed in the West for years in hushed tones by those rare few who played it in Japanese. When it finally arrived via its Nintendo DS remake well, it is no surprise it didn't fly out of stores fast. But it really should have.

We could praise DQV for that paragraph at the end, but that's not really the topic of this article, so we'll move on. Because of its stellar reputation. if you want Hand of the Heavenly Bride on the DS rather than a mobile device, you're going to have to shell out a pretty penny. Keep an eye out for rare bargains, because more often than not you'll be shelling out about $150 for the game.

3. Dragon Quest 3 (NES)

In many of our game titles, the word Quest was changed to Warrior when released in the West. This was common until the mid-2000s because Warrior sounded more appealing to North American and European distributors than Quest for some reason.

The first four Dragon Warrior games came out on the NES. The first game didn’t sell well in the U.S. so it was given away for free with Nintendo Power magazine to boost subscriptions. Still parts II through IV were released anyway. but that didn't stop II through IV from making the international trip  although production numbers declined with each subsequent entry.

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Still, Dragon Quest III's Western release availability was slightly higher than IV, slightly lower than II, and it enjoys the status of being the first absolute classic chapter in the franchise. The game has been released on several systems including a recent HD-2D remake. It sold well in Japan but not as much in other countries.

If you want the original version of DQIII in English. it will cost you about $130.

4. Dragon Quest 4: Chapters Of The Chosen (DS)

If you don’t mind playing games on a smartphone it is better to get the Final Fantasy VI remake and the port of Final Fantasy IV and VIII on iOS or Android. These are significantly cheaper and IV on mobile restores the missing party chat feature that was missing on the DS.

A lot of this game's charm comes from the party chat, where you'll find more than half of its dialogue (!) and most valuable information. But if Nintendo is your Dragon Quest alternative or you don't have a phone you can play it on you'll be paying a measly $120.

5. Dragon Quest 8: Journey Of The Cursed King (3DS)

On the other hand, Dragon Quest VIII is highly respected in the West, and is one of the bestsellers internationally. Because of its background the 3DS version of the game might have more copies made. But either way it is in high demand just like the original PS2 version was known for overseas.

Dragon Quest VIII isn’t as long as VII, but it still takes around 70 hours to finish. It does not have the job system like some other games in the series. so the battles feel more classic. The overworld music is amazing, but sadly the handheld version had to use a more synthetic version instead of the full orchestra.

If you want this version So it will cost you about $110.

6. Dragon Quest 7: Fragments Of The Forgotten Past (3DS)

One thing to know is that many games on this list are for handheld consoles and mostly remakes for the Nintendo DS or 3DS.

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past was especially popular in the West. It remade a PlayStation game that was never big here, which led to it being an exclusively limited run. The game itself is great, albeit quite packed, and is the biggest single-player adventure in the series. The 3DS version has been toned down a bit, but it's still quite exceptional.

New English copies of Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past now cost about $90.

7. Dragon Quest VI: Realms Of Revelation (DS)

The fourth, fifth and sixth Dragon Quest games take place at different times, but in the same world called Zenithia. It is a repeat of the same exercise from the first through third installments. And It is a fun continuation, and it helps that all three games are really good.

Or rather the fourth and fifth are excellent; the sixth is just good. Dragon Quest VI did not receive much praise because its mechanics are strangevthe story isn't very good and it is soundtrack has very few memorable songs. Don't get us wrong. it is worth a play. It is just not on the same level.

The Realm of Revelation (called the Realm of Reverie in Europe and Australia) is not as popular. but it is still not cheap. If you want a new DS version expect to pay around $80.