Dragon Quest,[a] previously published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,[b] is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koichi Sugiyama (Sugiyama Kobo) and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix).

Following the success of a Dragon Quest III light novel, Enix began publishing more volumes starting from the first game in sequential order.

Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel (ドラゴンクエスト ～勇者アベル伝説～, Doragon Kuesuto Yūsha Aberu Densetsu) was produced by Studio Comet and aired from December 2, 1989, to April 5, 1991, 43 episodes were broadcast before the series ended.

[78] The brief story that's loosely based on Dragon Quest III began with players receiving a request from a king to embark on a journey along with their assistant Ohealia, a Healslime and character exclusive to this title only, who acted as a guide and narrator throughout the experience with the main goal for each team (to which multiple can play at the same time in each of their own sessions, all as a team in one session, or a combination of the between)[79] to fight through a series of battles in increasing difficulty before facing the powerful Zoma, a guest character who is also the main antagonist from the same game and was responsible for terrorizing the land.

All players were required to wear a set of personal equipment provided by HTC Vive consisting of the headset with headphones and mics all powered by a MSI gaming laptop backpack, and special controllers specially modeled and fitted to represent each class, a small modeled sword and shield for the warriors, and small wands and gloved controllers for the mage and priest.

[85] Yuji Horii in an interview with UploadVR has expressed the possibility of future titles based on the franchise being released in or with VR support commercially at a later time and date.

[88] When the party encounters monsters the view switches perspective and players are presented with several options on a menu; these turn-based menu-driven battles have become a staple of the series.

In addition to the experience points and gold awarded for successfully defeating monsters, occasionally, items will be dropped as well that are added to the player's inventory.

Series designer Yuji Horii cited the monster as an example of Toriyama's skills, claiming it took "[artistic] power to take something like a pool of slime and use his imagination to make it a great character.

A traveling merchant, Torneko's usual goal is to expand the inventory of his shop by procuring rare items, often by traversing dungeons and fighting monsters on his own or with his family.

[108][109] Horii explained that a trilogy was never the intention: "Each Dragon Quest title represents a fresh start and a new story, so it seems too much of a connection between the games in the series.

In Dragon Quest V Zenithia has fallen into a lake south of Lofty Peak (Elheaven in the original release), until the Golden Orb is returned leaving the castle able to move freely in the sky.

In Dragon Quest VI Zenithia is sealed by Demon Lord Dhuran, and a large hole is left in its place in the "Dream World".

In 1982, Enix sponsored a video game programming contest in Japan which brought much of the Dragon Quest team together, including creator Yuji Horii.

[112] The prize was a trip to the United States and a visit to AppleFest '83 in San Francisco, where Horii discovered the Wizardry video game series.

[1] The contest winners Koichi Nakamura and Yukinobu Chida, together with Horii, released the Enix NES game The Portopia Serial Murder Case.

[9] In May 2008 Square Enix announced localizations of the Nintendo DS remakes of Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI for North America and the PAL region, commonly referred to as the "Zenithia" or "Tenku trilogy".

[88] The typical Dragon Quest plot involves the player controlling a party of heroes to defeat an ultimate evil villain, who usually threatens the world in some way.

[138] Sugiyama stated it took him five minutes to compose the original opening theme, and noted the difficulty in adding a personal touch to the short jingles, but that his past experience with creating music for television commercials helped.

[147] In 2009, Horii received a special award at the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association Developers Conference for his work on the Dragon Quest franchise.

[148] According to Satoru Iwata, former President of Nintendo, Dragon Quest's widespread appeal is that it is "made so that anyone can play it...and anyone can enjoy it depending on their different levels and interests."

Ryutaro Ichimura, producer at Square Enix, who has played the game since he was a child, says the Dragon Quest storylines allow players to experience a moving sense of achievement where they take the role of a hero saving the world.

"[150] Unlike other modern, complex RPGs, Dragon Quest on the DS retains the simple gameplay from the first game that many critics find refreshing and nostalgic.

Because of this added difficulty, the punishment for the party's death was toned down compared to other games by simply going back to where you had last saved, with half of your gold on hand.

"[165] In response to a survey, Gamasutra cites Quinton Klabon of Dartmouth College as stating Dragon Warrior translated the D&D experience to video games and set the genre standards.

[166] Games such as Mother, Grandia, Lunar, Atelier, Shin Megami Tensei, Rune Factory, Story of Seasons, Breath of Fire and Lufia & the Fortress of Doom were inspired by various Dragon Quest titles.

"[120][175] With the Japanese release of Dragon Quest IX in January 2009, a new eatery inspired by the series called Luida's Bar was opened in Roppongi, a well-known nightlife hotspot in Minato, Tokyo.

The venue provides a meeting location for fans of the series: styled in the fashion of a Medieval public house like its virtual counterpart, its food is directly inspired by both items and monsters found in the games.

It was described by a Western journalist as a cross between a Disneyland resort and a maid café[176][177] Dragon Quest also served as the inspiration for a live-action television drama.

It was the first video game series to receive live-action ballet adaptations,[183] and musical concerts and audio CDs were produced based on the Dragon Quest universe.