How would you rank the mainline games you've played? - eviltoast

Basically, as the title says. I’ve got the itch to play another dragon quest game and would like to know how well regarded the ones are I didn’t play yet compared to the ones I’ve played. Although I’ll probably play IV in preparation for the upcoming DQM game, as I love those, maybe I’ve got time for two. Anyways, here’s my list:

  1. DQ V (DS version)
  • It’s got the overall best story thus far and includes monster taming, which I really liked. Overall just one of my favorite games.
  1. DQ VII (PS)
  • I’m oddly fond of VII. I’ll acknowledge that it probably is not better than some of the following ones on paper, but it just clicked with me. I really like the beginning part of RPGs and VII got several of those with how disconnected it is at times.
  1. DQ XI (Switch)
  • I loved every second of XI and would probably rank it higher if the post-game wouldn’t do what it does. While I really liked them later on, the Hero and both twins started off quite bland.
  1. DQ VIII (3DS)
  • The game itself is still really good, but it never grasped me with its story as the ones above did at times.
  1. DQ IX (DS)
  • IX never clicked with me at all. Having only silent no-names in you party already started off bad, but the overall story wasn’t my cup of tea either. I generally like class systems, but this one didn’t do it for me either.