Hi everyone. I'm about to get started on listening to all my Dragon Quest soundtracks I've stockpiled. This will be my first time listening through them. I have over 50 albums on my computer. Yeah, that's a lot!
I've noticed a lot of the songs are just the same just slightly different renditions but not too different.

Has anyone actually listened to all/most of the Dragon Quest soundtracks?

Any advice for going through them?

Any advice for which renditions of certain songs on a certain album are better?

I really don't want to listen to 50 versions of overture lol. It's a waste of time. I actually skimmed through them all and was like, "yup, they're all the same." But I noticed there were several other songs that seemed the same too such as "Chateau" or some other ones but with different names.

Caveat: I've listened to DQ 8 and 9 ost before though.

Thanks for any advice :)

Stick to the symphonic albums. The symphonic overture for DQ 1 is different, as is the one for 3, and 9.

Some of those fifty albums must be duplicates or reprints because I don't think there are that many.

Just a list of what I have. These are mostly all symphonic albums. Dragon Quest III has 2 symphonic albums with like the same title but both with a different tracklist. Sigh it's overwhelming and confusing. lol
But definitely the top two here are very good. Can't go wrong with them.

00 2003 Dragon Quest Symphonic Suite Complete CD-BOX 7 Discs
00 Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Scene Separated I~IX Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra
01 1994 Dragon Quest I Remix Symphonic Suite + Super Famicom Version [SRCL-2733]
01 Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II [320kbps]
02 1994 Dragon Quest II Remix Symphonic Suite + Super Famicom Original Sound Version [SRCL-2734]
02 2005 Dragon Quest II - Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest [SVWC-7246]
02 SUITE DRAGON QUEST II Gods of the Evil Spirits [320kbps]
03 1988 Dragon Quest III Symphonic Suite And Into the Legend
03 1997 Dragon Quest III And Into the Legend [SRCL-3564]
03 2005 Dragon Quest III - Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsue... [SVWC-7247]
03 Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest III Into the Legend [320kbps]
04 1990 Dragon Quest in Brass II ~ Dragon Quest IV [APCG-4007]
04 1990 Dragon Quest IV on Electone [APCG-4008]
04 1990 Dragon Quest IV Symphonic Suite Guiding People [320kbps]
04 1991 Dragon Quest IV - Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest IV [PCCG-00118]
04 2000 Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest IV Guided People Remastered [320kbps]
04 2001 Dragon Quest IV - Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest IV & Official Playstation Soundtrack [SVWC-7112]
04 2002 Dragon Quest IV Symphonic Suite Concert Live in 2002
05 1993 Dragon Quest V ~Heaven's Bride~ in Brass [APCG-4029]
05 1993 Dragon Quest V ~Heaven's Bride~ Marriage Waltz by Loula [PSDR-4002]
05 1993 Dragon Quest V ~Heaven's Bride~ on Electone [APCG-4036]
05 1993 Dragon Quest V ~Heaven's Bride~ on Piano [APCG-4033]
05 2000 Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest V Heaven's Bride Remastered [320kbps]
05 Dragon Quest V on Piano [320kbps]
06 1996 Dragon Quest VI ~Phantom World~ in Brass [SRCL-3562]
06 1996 Dragon Quest VI ~Phantom World~ on Electone [SRCL-3561]
06 1996 Dragon Quest VI ~Phantom World~ on Piano [SRCL-2740]
06 2000 DRAGON QUEST VI Remastered [320kbps]
07 2000 Dragon Quest VII [320kbps]
07 2006 Dragon Quest VII Eden no Senshitachi Symphonic Suite
07 Dragon Quest VII ~Warriors of Eden~ on Piano [SVWC-7070]
08 2004 Dragon Quest VIII Original Soundtrack
08 Dragon Quest VIII - Piano Suite [320kbps]
09 2009 Dragon Quest IX Hoshizora no Mamoribito Synthesizer & OST [320kbps]
09 2010 Koichi Sugiyama Dragon Quest IX Symphonic Suite
09 Dragon Quest IX - Piano Album [320kbps]
10 Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest X Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku (listened)
1986 Dragon Quest Symphonic Suite
1987 Dragon Quest in Concert ~ Family Classic Concert [BY30-5173]
1988 Dragon Quest in Brass [BY30-5201]
1990 Dragon Quest on Piano Vol. I [APCG-4004]
1990 Dragon Quest on Piano Vol. II [APCG-4005]
1991 Dragon Quest ~Jipangu World~ [APCG-4011]
1993 Dragon Quest Best Songs Selection ~ Loula [PSCR-5009]
1993 Dragon Quest Toruneko's Great Adventure Symphonic Suite [SRCL-2731]
1993 Music from Dragon Quest (Brass Quintet) [PHCT-211]
1994 DRAGON QUEST LIVE BEST [320kbps]
1996 Dragon Quest Legend [POCX-1056~7][320kbps]
1998 Dragon Quest Monsters I Synthesizer Suite [SRCL4391]
2000 Dragon Quest Toruneko's Great Adventure 2 ~Dungeon of Mystery~ Original Soundtrack [SVWC-7051]
2001 Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection VOL.1 (NES QUALITY)
2001 Dragon Quest Monsters II Synthesizer Suite + Original Soundtrack [SVWC-7075]
2002 Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection VOL.2 (NES QUALITY)
2002 Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection VOL.3 (NES QUALITY)
2002 Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest The Best 2 (disc 2 song 6 got lost-file name was too long)
2005 String Quartet ''Dragon Quest''
2006 Brass Quintet Dragon Quest [SVWC-7338]
2007 Brass Quintet Dragon Quest Part II [320kbps]
2007 Dragon Quest Swords ~The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors~ Original Soundtrack
2010 Brass Quintet Dragon Quest Part III [320kbps]
2010 Wind Ensemble ''Dragon Quest'' Part.I (listened)(good)
Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix [320kbps]
Wii U Version Dragon Quest X Original Soundtrack (listened)

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:09 PM ----------

If you go on vgmdb it's absolutely ridiculous how many albums there are. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of reprints though. Final Fantasy is also notorious for lots of "repackaged" albums. "cough" Theaterythm "cough". But it seems the Final Fantasy music library is more extensive.

.

Dragon Quest Best Dance Mix... maybe it's just me but I truly dislike that album. :D I am a fan of DQ, and I think it's a lot more charming series than FF but that's just my opinion... anyways my favourite is DQ VI - Maboroshi no Daichi. Music-wise, I would say IV, Michibikareshimono-tachi, or Chapters of the Chosen.

Dream Theater, was there a reason you took those links down? Or did the moderators take them down? I didn't get a chance to check if I had that album or not. Judging by the name though, I either have it, or I have something very similar to it. I have a bunch of "best of albums", which I'm very content with. I'm kind of busy with school now, but not too busy. I just didn't get around to it yet. Thank you for your interest though.

---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 PM ----------

Lefance, thank you for your reply. I have not listened to that album yet but I sampled some of the songs very briefly. It did not look promising lol.

---------- Post added at 01:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 PM ----------

Just an update, I've listened to all the symphonic albums so far