Dragon Warrior Or Final Fantasy?

By Jessica L Parker

Two of the most influential series' are Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest in Japan) and Final Fantasy. Both series' were started on the NES and became two of the most well known RPGs of all time. This article will focus on the American versions of the games as there are quite a few differences between the Japanese version and the American version. Also, America has quite different fads than Japan.

DW doesn't quite have as many games in the overall series as Final Fantasy does. However, games such as DW 3, DW 4, and Dragon Quest 7 will forever remain in the hearts of its obsessed fans. The openness of Dragon Warrior 3 in selecting your party was a revolution for its time. Other games like Ultima had a similar party selecting system, but were so much more difficult that Dragon Warrior was able to simplify the rpg gaming experience. It was so much easier to play Dragon Warrior than other rpgs that required knowledge of the D&D system such as Wizardry.

FF is sometimes considered a copy of DW as DW came out first. However, such themes as the Wind Fiend, Fire Fiend, Water Fiend, and the Air Fiend were brand new concepts. In addition, Final Fantasy brought in the concept of time travel. The spell level system was also something new that Dragon Warrior never really competed with. FF even has better replay value than DW as Final Fantasy can be "soloed" to try and make the game more and more difficult. For instance, you can solo white mage the game by killing off the rest of your party members so that they get 0 experience points throughout the entire game.

Considering that the two games are so much different in story, yet so much similar in game play, it isn't too much of a challenge to compare the two. There will always be DW fans and there will always be FF fans. Try playing the two games and you'll immediately form your own opinion.

Jessica Parker is an experienced gamer. She prefers RPGs and Classic Games. Her fabulous website is http://www.maidofhonorspeecheshelp.com. She really thought this article was cool too - things to do as a bridesmaid.

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For more on Dragon Fantasy, see the Best Dragon Guide site at www.bestdragonguide.com.