Top 20 Best RPG Series of All Time

#13. – Dragon Quest Monsters

# of Good Games in the Franchise: 5

Active: No

Dragon Quest Monsters was a spin-off to the most popular JRPG series, but this is a sort of copycat of Pokemon. You capture and battle with monsters from the titular franchise. It started out on the original Game Boy with two installments (the second had two versions). From here one GBA edition was released in Japan only. Then we had three games for the Nintendo DS (the final one exclusive to Japan), and one for the 3DS and a remake in Japan only. This side series is mostly popular in just the land of the rising sun but saw some success around the world.

I’ve always been a fan of Dragon Quest. I absolutely love Pokemon too. When you combine the two you get a downright delectable combination. The original Dragon Quest Monsters is one of my favorite games for Nintendo’s original handheld. Dragon Quest Monsters II is even better, and the third iteration was never released in English (except via fan translations). The Nintendo DS iterations moved the series to 3D and pushed the hardware harder than just about every other game for the platform. These are seriously beautiful games, and I love them. Since then we haven’t had a localized iteration which is sad.

The Best Way To Play:

Unfortunately these aren’t games Square-Enix have chosen to re-release. The original Dragon Quest Monsters games are locked on the Game Boy hardware. I’m not counting the remake for 3DS because it was never released in in North America. The GBA iteration is only available via fan translation. The DS versions are expensive but well worth seeking out because you won’t find them anywhere else. These games are absolutely worth seeking out.