After done making the latest addition to the Final Fantasy series, SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd is bringing back another moment of nostalgia with the new Dragon Quest 11: Echos of an Elusive Age, or Dragon Quest XI for short. The Dragon Quest series can be defined by two words upon viewing the style of the game: classic and simple.
General Information:
- System : PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, 3DS
- Release Date : September 2018
- Developer/ Publisher : SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd
- Main Series : Dragon Quest
You could watch the video trailer for the game on PS4 below.
Dragon Quest XI, in general, talks about the story of an unnamed main protagonist of the game. After being accused of something that he is not, the hero’s journey suddenly starts as he wishes to search for more answer about who he really is, revenge of the people who are in fact his enemies and several companions to befriend along the way. It is a classic trait for any RPG game, especially for the Dragon Quest series.
Meeting new people and sticking together are essential as a team.
The characters are what makes Dragon Quest different from the rest of the common JRPGs out there. The varying amount of cast based on age, gender, and occupation even are defined through the 7 main characters including the hero of the story. Its classic trope of free-roaming JRPG enables the main protagonist to wander the world and discover its mysteries is certainly nothing new.
Our protagonist trying to find out the mysteries of the Dragon Quest world.
One thing to note about Dragon Quest XI is that the game play is mostly narrative-driven. While, of course, most JRPGs are based on the story of a new world that needs to be explained especially for the newcomers of the series, it will be difficult for the fans of Dragon Quest as well to adapt to the new changes that are happening in the game. Even if the concept is not that different from the previous Dragon Quest games.
Old-school free-roam game play which brings back memories.
There is not a lot to be expected about the game mechanics, as Dragon Quest still make up the basic and unusual free-form turn-based fighting style like the Final Fantasy 7-esque battle. I think that younger generation of gamers nowadays would feel out of place when playing a game with great graphics but having the battle system to still remain old-school.
Speaking about graphics, one of the aspects of the game I have to praise are its animations. The wind moving through the character’s hair and the fluent movement of the characters might be the best thing to be seen at a game yet. Not a lot of RPG games nowadays pay attention to such details. It never gets boring to look for the fantastic artwork and stylized colours throughout the game.
Smooth animations and amazing use of the 3D graphics at its best!
The two aspects I haven’t know about yet are the soundtrack and the voice acting. Looking at the trailer, I can rest easy knowing that the soundtrack is going to have the early 2000s vibe to it as well as nostalgia-induncing, which I love. The localization for the voice track, from what I’ve read, are surprisingly accurate heavy-accented for different characters in the game. That is something to look forward to as I play the game later on.
Explore the world alongside your horse companion.
Overall, from my personal perspective, I can’t say anything promising for the game since I haven’t played it yet. I found all of the informations through extensive research and numerous reviews of the game. The accomplishments SQUARE ENIX have done with Final Fantasy and for the fact that Dragon Quest has reached its eleventh installment, made me want to try and play the game. I am sure that many fanboys of JRPG in general would probably feel nostalgic as well with the everlasting classic concept that is the Dragon Quest XI.
Dragon Quest XI is available now for PC and PlayStation 4.
