>>234303
Every game is self-contained as far as story and characters go, you may occasionally spot a reference or two and concepts are pretty much shared across the greater DQ series (dragon transformations, the Yggdrasil, collecting orbs...) but the only major difference are the gameplay and your amount of control over your party. Modern releases are considerably easier because you can just choose what each party member does, older games rely on the CPU not screwing up (there's also an-injoke with one of the party member, Kyril, insisting on using the 1 in a 1000 insta-death attack even on enemies that are immune to it because of a developer oversight). However, don't go into any of them expecting a gripping story, other than V, VIII and maybe IV the plots are usually pretty much just an excuse for exploring a new world and beating baddies.
If you just want to experience DQ lite, play DQ XI Definitive Edition on PC with the Project Rebuild mod to bring back the graphics on parity with the original DQ XI (long story short Squeenix is greedy as fuck), and if you really liked it go ahead and install more mods that expand on the post-game content.
If you don't mind random encounters and a bit of extra challenge, DQ VIII on PS2, preferably with the HD graphics mod to make the world pop out more. DQ VIII on 3DS is a much more complete experience with two extra characters and actual post-game content that doesn't rely on grinding, but the censorship, gutted graphics and, ironically, the QoL features destroy the feeling of being on an actual journey across the world. Plus modding will only get you so far.
Otherwise just pick whichever has the best looking characters in it, I guess. Mobile ports give you a lot more control over all party members and tend to have "better" graphics and the orchestral version of the OST, but they all have their weird quirks that you need to get adjusted to. SFC and NES versions are plain but they have their charm.
>>234371
>You go to III or IX if you really want to create your own characters
Isn't X also pretty heavy on character creation?
>You shouldn't suggest someone start with some of the most recent games before going back to the start
DQ I and II are objectively the worst place to start playing Dragon Quest, you can only appreciate them if you're a vidcon enthusiast or want to play the series from its original vision as an Ultima ripoff. Playing out of order is completely fine.