Dragon Quest, previously published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing games created by Japanese game designers Armor Project, Bird Studio and Sugiyama Kobo to its publisher Enix, with all of the involved parties co-owning the copyright of the series since then. The games are published by Square Enix since its inception, with localized remakes and ports of later installments for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch being published by Nintendo outside of Japan. With its first game published in 1986, there are eleven main-series games, along with numerous spin-off games. In addition, there have been numerous manga, anime and novels published under the franchise, with nearly every game in the main series having a related adaptation.
Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest series
Akira Toriyama, the character designer
Classically trained composer Koichi Sugiyama scored the majority of Dragon Quest games until his death in 2021.
A role-playing video game, a role-playing game (RPG) or computer role-playing game (CRPG), is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character immersed in some well-defined world, usually involving some form of character development by way of recording statistics. Many role-playing video games have origins in tabletop role-playing games and use much of the same terminology, settings, and game mechanics. Other major similarities with pen-and-paper games include developed story-telling and narrative elements, player character development, complexity, as well as replay value and immersion. The electronic medium removes the necessity for a gamemaster and increases combat resolution speed. RPGs have evolved from simple text-based console-window games into visually rich 3D experiences.
A party of characters approaching a monster in Legend of Grimrock (2012)
A party of adventurers in Tales of Trolls & Treasures (2002)
Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII is often seen as the "quintessential bishounen" in Japanese RPGs.
Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3 booth at the Games Convention 2008