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Cool idea. I'll jump on this too while I can. I'd love talk about the games in a more critical light.

High Tier: Dragon Quest VIII, Dragon Warrior III, Dragon Quest V

Mid Tier: Dragon Quest IX, Dragon Warrior IV

Special Tier: Dragon Quest V

Honor Tier: Dragon Warrior The First

Butt Tier: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker

Indifference Tier: Dragon Quest Swords

Haven't played the rest Tier: The rest

VIII: A feast for the eyes, ears, and soul. This game cemented my fandom of the series. Aside from some very minor acting missteps and some difficulty spikes, I feel that this game really does nothing wrong. It is enchanting, fun, silly, and serious. It has variety and simple charm. It's well.... It's one of my favorite games of all time. I'm a trained musician too, Hassan. So I know what you mean about the soundtracks. This is the stuff Sugiyama was trained to do. His talents are on full show in VIII (The American release, anyway. In japan, they played his compositions in yucky synth because they rushed it out.).

III: My first foray into the series. My love for it grows every time I play it, since now that I am older, I can see some little tidbits that I had missed in the past. It is such an immense game, truly ahead of its time. The class system was fun to fool around with, and both the story and battle system were able to cram the most gain into the smallest possible area without suffering from early (S)NES RPG syndrome. It's just a fun game with plenty to explore and enjoy.

IX: As Hassan said, there is always something to do! It has many charming stories and visuals, and the number of class and equipment options open Iup diverse battle strategies and ways to fight. It gets mid tier because, for what it had, it wasn't as hard-hitting as the high tier games. Although it is still a fantastic game and a favorite of mine, not to mention, probably the best gameplay in the series.

IV: This game's structure is tons of fun, and I loved the layout of the chapters. I did, however, think that the final chapter seemed a bit aimless in places. The pacing just seemed a bit wonky. Like, sometimes the story will advance, and sometimes nothing will happen for a while. Psaro added a lot to the final chapter, and I think he is one of the series' better villains (My favorite part of the final chapter is probably sneaking into the castle with the change staff to hear his plans). But for all of the color the game had, it just didn't seem very consistent. Like it was throwing too much at me. It was a wonderful game with some real creativity at work, but its hit and miss nature kicks it down a notch in my eyes.

V: I love this game. It is my second favorite, next to VIII. Although I can see why Hassan is not as bit a fan of it as I am. I am not a fan of the monsters either, which is why it felt all the better when I had my entire family on my team. The marriage aspect fell very flat, and again, relying on randomly caught monsters is dicey business. But The main character and his story is absolutely phenomenal. It is paced wonderfully, and it is full of twists and turns that hit harder then any other game in the series. He is the absolute best silent protagonist I have ever seen, with plenty of subtle cues that make the player feel for him. To me, that makes up for its flaws. The DS version's party chat feature adds a lot to it too.

The first: It does not have much to it, yes. However, I find it impossible to dislike. There is a purity to it that no talky knockoffs or bondage belts of doom can stifle. Not that I was trying to dislike it, of course. It is a perfect length to match it's content, so it doesn't overstay it's welcome. As Hassan said, it's still a solid, enjoyable game.

If we are only doing numbered games, I won't elaborate on the other ones. I have never hated a DQ game, but I found Joker disappointing and I found myself unable to care about swords. If you want a more concise Tier list, here it is.

High: VIII, III, V
Mid: IX, IV, The First.
Low: Those less then stellar side games.