Justice has triumphed, and more than a year after the appearance Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch owners PS4, PC, and with them and Xbox onefinally get a finalized release of the eleventh part Dragon quest… The flagship series of the genre has delighted us for over thirty years, constantly bringing something fresh to the established recipe, like Mario from the world of Japanese RPGs. Dragon quest xi became a real revelation, and now all gamers can enjoy it with all the innovations to their fullest.
It so happened that this is the third review of Dragon Quest XI on our website. In 2018 we reviewed the original western version for PS4 and PCfollowed by extended edition on Switch with orchestral soundtrack and additional content, and now the Switch version has moved to all platforms. Therefore, within the framework of this material, we will not again talk in detail about the combat system and many other aspects – in past reviews, enough has been written, see the links above.
In short, we have a complete edition of one of the best JRPGs of the generation, which includes all the bonus content and numerous improvements to almost all elements of the original game.
In the S-version, the exciting story about the reincarnation of the legendary hero played with fresh colors thanks to new quests that reveal in more detail the background of the party members. In these missions, you literally control them, both solo and in a team with exclusive guest characters. New episodes take approximately ten hours to complete, which is significant for today’s DLCs, which often take 3-5 hours to complete.
It is impossible to get tired of telling how the 11th part of the series breaks the established stereotypes, even in terms of narrative. The authors managed to tell the traditional storyline so fascinatingly that it is impossible to break away during the entire more than 50-hour adventure. This magic is achieved due to the fact that the structure of the game is structured like a book with clearly defined chapters. They have both global and local tasks. It looks like this: solving problems in one settlement, we move one step along the general outline of the story. At the same time, we will learn details about both the locations visited and the events and characters associated with them. Everything is interconnected with each other, which immerses you in the atmosphere instantly and clings with strong paws to the rapid pace of the story. You have passed a small piece, but so full of adventures that you feel progress on yourself and rejoice at the success of the heroes.
Lore is closely intertwined with everything that is mentioned in the game, the elaboration of details here is at the highest level. The heroes are constantly discussing what is happening, joking and deciding on desperate actions, which gives liveliness to what is happening. Their role and actions are constantly reflected in the adventures, so the developers tried to make the game as vivid as possible, and not indulge in thoughts behind the scenes.
Moving along the storyline and completing sidequests, you involuntarily catch yourself thinking about how Yuji Hori will surprise you this time, because all events are unique, the motto of DQ XI is quality over quantity. Old-timers may feel that the world map in the previous parts was larger, but this is not so, the game is still the same long, only the structure of the narrative has changed. And what is immensely pleasing is the final arch – a real work of art, where the ambiguous ending is especially striking.
