Is Dragon Quest like Zelda?
No, beyond both being seminal roleplaying game franchises, the Dragon Quest and The Legend of Zelda series have diverged across nearly every aspect since their origins over 30 years ago. From combat systems and game structure to storytelling and creative influences, Dragon Quest established the JRPG template while Zelda forged the action-adventure genre.
Series Backgrounds: Pioneering Giants of the RPG World
Dragon Quest – Turn-based JRPG Trailblazer
The brainchild of Yuji Horii, a videogame designer inspired by tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, Dragon Quest debuted in 1986 on the Nintendo Entertainment System, establishing the framework for all console roleplaying experiences going forward.
By blending D&D‘s dice-based gameplay with Ultima and Wizardy‘s first-person dungeon crawling on primitive hardware, Horii pioneered tropes like:
- Turn-based, numbers-driven battles
- Party-based adventuring and class/skill systems
- Top-down perspective worlds teeming with magic, monsters, and medieval theming
Buoyed by Akira Toriyama‘s accessible manga visuals, Dragon Quest became Japan‘s best-selling video game franchise, cementing the JRPG genre‘s conventions for blockbusters like Final Fantasy and Pokemon.
The Legend of Zelda – Godfather of Action-Adventure
That same year in 1986, iconic designer Shigeru Miyamoto sought to evolve his arcade classic Super Mario Bros into a more narratively ambitious experience with The Legend of Zelda, the game that planted the seeds of the action-adventure.
Compared to the numbers-focused battles of Dragon Quest, Zelda deputy director Tekashi Tezuka described their vision as:
"Simply having an objective of defeating enemies and watching the screen as a result made the game feel much more real [with] battles dependent on the player‘s ability to judge and react to each enemy."
Though containing RPG stat building and magic spells, Zelda forged combat, exploration, and puzzle solving in real-time, bestowing TRUE player agency, an open non-linear world encouraging risky experimentation and the wonder of getting lost for the first time in gaming history, establishing every action-adventure template since.
Despite these opposing foundational philosophies, both Dragons Quest and Zelda emerged as NES-era cultural touchstones, ranking with Super Mario as Nintendo‘s holy trinity of pioneering blockbusters, inspiring every roleplaying and action-adventure game since.
Key Differences – It‘s Not Even Apples and Oranges, More Like Turnips and Grapefruits
While sharing medieval fantasy tropes of swords and sorcery, at core Dragon Quest and Zelda diverged across structure, controls, combat, and fundamental appeal.
| Element | Dragon Quest | The Legend of Zelda |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Linear, mountain-peak progression driven by turn-based battles with bosses blocking progress. Explicit scoring systems tracking battles won. | Non-linear open worlds encouraging exploration, puzzle solving and strategy over stats or grinding. |
| Storytelling | Four elemental orbs and an ancient evil to be stopped in typical good vs evil sagas | Intertwining "legend" of Princess Zelda, Link the hero and Ganon over multiple eras |
| Gameplay | Numbers-driven turn based battles levelling parties with tons of spells and skills to manage | Real-time action tests player reflexes, demands mastery of specific items and weapons |
| Perspective & Control | Primarily menu-driven third person camera with some first person dungeons | Mix of top-down and behind-the-back 3D control schemes offer full freedom of movement |
| Influences | Yuji Horii inspired by western PC RPGs like Ultima and tabletop gaming | Miyamoto channeled childhood expeditions into forests and caves discovering Buddha statues |
As the above table illustrates, the core appeals of managing a squad in RPG systems versus controlling Link directly in kinetic gameplay represent almost opposing game philosophies.
And across three decades, with exceptions like Zelda II‘s sidescrolling action or Dragon Quest VIII‘s expanded open worlds, both franchises have only diverged further in their signature flavors.
Influencing Peers & Modern Gaming Giants
Despite wild differences under the hood, Dragon Quest and Zelda‘s impact on all gaming since cannot be overstated.
Every JRPG owes its turn-based DNA to Dragon Quest‘s rules while Zelda‘s lively interactions breathed open world life into action games.
Dragon Quest as the Forefather of All JRPGs
After Dragon Quest every JRPG followed its schema:
- Final Fantasy adopted classes, experience points and elemental orb questing
- Pokemon owes its monster types battle rock paper scissors and collection hooks to DQ
- Modern hits like Persona 5 descend from DQ‘s anime visual novel fusion
Encounter quotas, artifact weapon schemes and Akira Toriyama‘s iconic monster designs permeate the genre decades later. Dragon Quest represents JRPG comfort food, evolving gently without losing rich flavors.
Meanwhile Zelda‘s shadow stretches over:
Zelda as the Godfather of Action-Adventure Games
- Dark Souls brutally swung Z targeting into gripping real-time combat dependence
- Elder Scrolls filled entire hard drives with forests and caves inspired by Miyamoto‘s childhood expeditions
- Tomb Raider‘s explorers raided Zelda‘s tombs before Indiana Jones reached PlayStation
- Batman Arkham Asylum perfected Z targeting fisticuffs
And every wonky physics knee shot across 10 million YouTube clips owes thanks to that E3 2002 Ocarina of Time stage demo that sold the world on lock-on targeting and context sensitive cinematic combat.
Decades later, despite baffling Wii wanderings, the link between players and Link remains unbroken as Breath of the Wild‘s emergent open worlds attract new adventurer apprentices.
Meanwhile Dragon Quest will keep the JRPG fires burning, delivering comfort food for the genre‘s soul.
Specific Game Comparison Showcases Core Philosophies
While comparing franchises spanning over 30 years risks apples vs oranges dysfunction, juxtaposing fan favorite pinnacles showcases fundamental appeals:
Iconic Dragon Quest VIII vs Seminal Zelda: Ocarina of Time
|| Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King | Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
|-|——–|——-|
| Year | 2004 on PS2 | 1998 on N64 |
| Metacritic | 87 on PS2 original
91 on 3DS remake | 99 |
| Gameplay | Turn-based party combat with classic swordsman, priest, mage and fighter class balance | Real-time battles focused on Link‘s increasing arsenal of gadgets like hookshot, bow and bombs |
|Structure | Linear quest structure but first console DQ with open 3D exploring | Players enable time travel across 7 years with actions altering two timelines |
| Story | Hero rises from cursed ruin to gather allies stopping the evil magician Dhoulmagus who carries the scepter of ancient evil Rhapthorne | Classic rescue Princess Zelda tale elevated via bold time travel leading to shadowy true villain Ganon behind scenes |
Notable Features | First fully immersive 3D world brought DQ to life | Lock-on Z-targeting evolved real-time battles, while context actions like peering through holes made interactions feel intuitive |
| Historical Impact |DQ delivers on rich universe hinted at since 1986 | As first 3D action-adventure, Ocarina showcased untapped potential interactivity of gaming |
Here fan favorite franchise pinnacles showcase polished ultimate expressions of their core values three decades deep.
Dragon Quest rewards traditionalists with bigger universes to populate with character builds and magic to juggle via turns calculated like chess moves.
Zelda bounded gaming into unknown frontiers, stretching player imaginations to unleash tools, environments and Merchant Marines worth of puzzle solving freedom rewarding insight, lateral thinking and aiming skill.
And the mascots confirm opposing motivations – Link famously a mute freeform avatar barely characterized outside ages or equipment while Dragon Quest heroes await input entirely dependent on player action.
Conclusion – Together but Apart, Like Yin & Yang Symbols
While sharing fantasy skins, three decades of divergence showcase Dragon Quest as the pureblood pixel prince JRPG genre founder versus Zelda the first action-adventure that opened gaming to player creativity.
With turn-based also rans slain by Grand Theft Auto meet Call of Duty cinematics, Dragon Quest carries the JRPG torch into the 2020s almost unchanged for its loyal subjects.
Meanwhile Zelda continually changing flavors while retaining creative pioneer spirit, remaining masterclass required reading for every burgeoning action-adventure.
And much like eastern philosophy‘s contrary forces interlocking as beautiful complements, Dragon Quest and Zelda‘s opposing inspirations push gaming to greater heights.
Because without honoring the past, how can our princess ever hope to rescue her hero from Ganon‘s grasp to see the bright future?
