Welcome to our review of Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition, my GOTY of 2018 lands on Nintendo Switch and once again I adored this game.
Prior to my review, I would like to mention this Nintendo Switch version has additional content compared to the previous release on Playstation 4; I will be mentioning some of those differences in detail. Unintended spoilers ahead, I guess… Now on with the review!
You are the Luminary, the hunted hero who will protect the land from destruction in the latest RPG from the iconic DRAGON QUEST® series.
With a ragtag band of adventurers, you’ll engage in well-balanced, turn-based battles and embark on quests across the kingdom of Erdrea. Forge gear, develop party members’ skills, and alter their outfits without changing gear in this edition of the game! This version also lets you ride and attack with monsters on the field to earn experience points, as well as change between HD or 16-bit visuals, symphonic or synth music, and English or Japanese audio. Complete the tale with new character-focused stories, and travel to past DRAGON QUEST worlds!Across the land, you’ll meet the mysterious Tockles—creatures that allow you to visit 2D, 16-bit versions of areas from popular entries in the series like DRAGON QUEST IV and DRAGON QUEST VIII! It’s fun to see these classic worlds reimagined in retro style, meshing perfectly with the main game’s 2D mode. Like all past DRAGON QUEST games, this one’s character designs are based on the signature style of famed artist Akira Toriyama. Paired with the voiced dialogue, the rich personalities of your most loyal companions and fiercest enemies are brought to life, so you can fully immerse yourself in this quest to discover the Luminary’s true heritage and awaken your power. For a greater challenge, start the game with the Draconian Quest setting, and capture your favorite moments with Photo Mode!
Dragon Quest 11 was my Game of the Year in 2018. That sets the bar very high for a replay just a year later. I would recommend reading up on it too as it mentions my experiences on the storyline and how I experienced this marvellous game.
I still stand by this review till today and I think it was one of the best Role-Playing Games I played to date. Fast forward one year and I had the pleasure and mission to play this game once again. Having finished the game within weeks before, on top of my daily job in retail, it literally gave me near sleepless nights and an incredible high when I finished it. My experience playing it was top-notch and now, I’m able to play it once again and this time in handheld mode.
Having the experience in the lore of Dragon Quest 11, I actually knew whether or not I had to go for side quests and I was barely needed to find clues and I literally was able to find my way around towns and countrysides without much exploring. This feat shaving hours off of my quest. I must say that at times, I really enjoyed knowing what to do this second time around and though I was missing the exploration part, the story really advanced quickly.
Within hours of playing, I was already forming the band back together and visiting places like Zwaardrust and meeting my companions. I did purposely play in 3D and not in the brand new 2D mode. That was for my second save game. But more on that in a few. I do think the game looks a lot better and more crisp on Playstation 4, at least compared to my new Nintendo Switch. Handheld gameplay will be available on our YouTube channel.
I also noticed some differences, without giving too many obvious spoilers, you will be forced to switch into 2D mode for parts of the story, the first time around the 6 hour mark (as to avoid spoilers of where and what). The entire principle of the game stays exactly the same when you encounter those “pastwords” to travel to the 2D world and while the 3D world is more swiftly presented in the action side, the 2D world provides the most original approach to the RPG genre and it might feel reallllllly classical.
I will admit I am not the biggest fan of this 2D approach, novel in its approach, but yeah. I will also say it did not bother me enough to have it influence the score later on in my conclusion.
As we got the review code for this amazing title, we played the original 1.0.0 version and it did have some mild crashing along the way. I usually ignore this during my reviews but instead, I will use it as a reminder to everyone out there to save often! Those churches in the Dragon Quest 11 world serve their function well.
The one thing I will also say, having played the game before, I knew so many tips and tricks that made it so much smoother to play the game. I knew to use Veronica’s Bang instead of her Sizzle attack and so on. I knew to put my team at following orders instead of letting them do their own thing and so much more.
The game still played as marvelously as it did last year. It still made me miss sleep and I actually ended up taking a day off on purpose to play even more. It is really that captivating. My previous gameplays may have given me an unfair advantage this time around, but heck, I still love every second playing the game.
Now it is time to talk another elephant in the room…
In a 10 day period, we have gotten a Zelda remaster for Links Awakening and Ni no Kuni 1 remaster as well. That gives us 3 massive Role playing masterpieces in a very short period of time. I was lucky and unlucky enough to do both the Ni no Kuni review as well as Dragon Quest 11 and I have to say I honestly hate this luxury.
I really do, such amazing titles without any real-time to finish them, it is unfair and yes, I could just play one and then the other. I actually am playing Dragon Quest 11 in full disclosure. I am keeping Ni no Kuni for after I finish DQ11 after which I will most likely finally start Zelda.
And they say there are no great games on Switch…
In conclusion, Dragon Quest 11 is a masterpiece. It was one a year ago and it still is. I often wish I could just experience it for the first time again and this is not a jab at the game in any way. Even this second playthrough and I am sure in a few years my third, fourth and so on… They are still going to be marvelous. I am not changing last year’s perfect score in any way. This game is a masterpiece and deserves to be called one. Only time will tell whether or not there is still a game out there this year that will prevent it from being my GOTY 2 years in a row…
