Dragon Quest (2004) — Release Date, Cheats, Price & Requirements

Dragon Quest

The player takes the role of a namable Hero. The Hero's name has an effect on his statistical growth over the course of the game. Battles are fought in a turn-based format and experience points and gold are…

1 March 2004

What Dragon Quest is

Dragon Quest is an adventure game developed by Matrix Software and released in 2004. It was published by Square Enix. It is available on Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Android, iOS and Legacy Mobile Device.

The premise, in the publisher's words

Once upon a time, the Balls of Light illuminated the kingdom of Alefgard, keeping its winters short and sustaining its peace. However, a man who could tame dragons and hence known as a Dragonlord, became corrupted by his magical studies. He attacked the Tantegel Castle and stole the Balls of Light, causing monsters to roam the land. A valiant hero named Erdrick, who had obtained the Balls of Light for the kingdom in the first place, attempted to defeat the Dragonlord and disappeared without trace. Many years later, during the reign of King Lorik XVI, the Dragonlord abducted Princess Gwaelin, carrying her to Castle Charlock. One day, a knight appears in front of the king, claiming to the be…

Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

It is played from a bird view / isometric perspective. Its themes are fantasy, historical, open world and sandbox. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component.

Where it sits in the Dragon Quest series

Dragon Quest is the 29th of 122 entries we hold in the Dragon Quest series. The next entry was Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome in 2004.

See all 122 Dragon Quest games in release order →

How long it takes, and what that costs

The main story runs about 8 hrs. Completing everything takes closer to 12 hrs, roughly 1.5 times the length of the critical path.

What it launched against

Dragon Quest launched on 1 March 2004, within three weeks of Metroid: Zero Mission, Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor's Choice Edition, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Katamari Damacy. It was a PlayStation 4 launch-window title.

Released around the same time: Metroid: Zero Mission, Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor's Choice Edition, Unreal Tournament 2004, Katamari Damacy.

Dragon Quest — frequently asked questions