Horii replied that he did not perceive the series as rivals, but closely followed Final Fantasy. According to him, the main difference is that "the protagonists in the Final Fantasy games talk a lot," while in Dragon Quest the player controls a silent hero.
Horii emphasized:
For Dragon Quest, the key goal or experience is that the player themselves becomes the protagonist. In Final Fantasy, you kind of watch the main character, but you don't necessarily become them. So I thought that was a really interesting and striking difference between Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, although I didn't consider them competitors back then.
He noted that he respects the Square series and was most impressed by Final Fantasy X:
When I first saw Final Fantasy X, I remember feeling: this is the absolute perfection of Final Fantasy.