I bought this a little after release just to see what dragon quest was really about. Went in with little expectations and those little expectations were met, and that's about all I can say. Toriyama coming in with banger designs, but everything is super shallow. Not that that's bad, there's just not a lot of depth to the story or characters. Just a straight "heroes good, villains bad" type of story. Pair that with the super classic JRPG turn-based gameplay and you get a pretty good game that takes a long ass time to finish. It's fun, but I don't think I would recommend this to anyone unless I KNEW they liked JRPGs.
Dragon Quest is, perhaps, pound for pound and looking only at the mainline entries, the best series of games, fullstop. At the very least, if Dragon Quest isn't the best series, it is the closest to perfection in a meaningful sense. On that same tack, Dragon Quest XI is also the entry in the series which, again, if it is not the best or one's most favourite entry, is the one closest to perfection in a meaningful sense.
To put it another way: if you don't like or love Dragon Quest, that's fine. It is certainly a series that is intensely focused on delivering itself and nothing further (there's a longer point to be made here about how that is something modern games chronically fail to do, but to summarize it, a symptom of this problem is a mandatory stealth section in a game not oriented towards stealth (...Dragon Quest XI has one now that I think about it but never mind that)). So, if there is no bone in your body that can appreciate anything about JRPGs, then Dragon Quest won't change your mind.
But, just maybe, if there is something about JRPGs that would compel you, and you haven't found it yet, Dragon Quest XI probably has it. You might need to approach it with patience and curiousity... but you'll probably find it eventually.
Dragon Quest XI is everything good about JRPGs--not in a way that is concentrated or over-the-top and spectacular, but in a compellingly sublime balance. Yes, as you've heard, Dragon Quest is a series that, mechanically and aesthetically, has moved at a glacial pace. But it is not a series out of a time, either. It's not an exaggeration to say that the germ of every good idea in Dragon Quest XI can be found as far back as Dragon Quest III, if not II, or even I. But for XI, this is presented in a manner which is exquisitely palatable to modern players, aesthetically, mechanically, and narratively. At least in 2017, the graphics were sumptuous (and I think they hold up great now), the familiar sound effects all fit like a glove, the interface is smooth and intelligently laid out, the characters are deeply lovable (don't even get me started), and the narrative is rich and uniquely generous in scale. The one dark mark against the game aesthetically is that it does go well out of its way to recognize the contributions of a right wing kook and war crime denier as the composer of the first game's score, even though he probably didn't even contribute much to this entry (take it from me, composition is an art form quite obsessed with the idea of not killing its icons, even if their creative output slows to a trickle after they've achieved enough notoriety). And, well, even I have to admit the rotten old bastard knew what he was doing, he was a master of compositional pastiche and even if like me you despise the things he stood for, those tunes get stuck in your head for days and days. Although, again not to just rag on the war crime denier once more, but sometimes it feels like the reverence towards the series' original composer means that some music tracks end up being overused. It's a game that takes dozens of hours to fully complete, yet it doesn't have enough music to keep things fresh for all of those dozens of hours, if you know what I mean (although perhaps the bar on this has been raised enormously since the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy has raised my standards for this beyond all prior expectations).
The beautiful core of the mechanics of Dragon Quest, another one of those things that was germinated in the series in the 80s yet also mirror-shine polished and expanded upon for the modern player, is the legibility of its mathematics, strategy, and sense of progression. This is what I really mean when I say everything is in a sublime balance. It simply makes sense that a Slime enemy has 7 HP, has average attack for this low level, average defense for this low level, low agility, confers 2 experience, drops 2 gold, has a decent chance of dropping one medicinal herb, and has a small chance to drop a Slimedrop (a crafting material, if I remember correctly). Every bit of balance and sense of progression and combat strategy proceeds incrementally from that basic starting point. And, as more dedicated critics (with the initials T.R.) than I have pointed out, the difficulty is always ready to be tweaked with to your desire. If things get too difficulty, chill a while wherever you can win a handful of battles without too much difficulty, build up a few levels, and you'll be fine. If things get too easy, skip as many non-mandatory encounters as you can (which is super easy to do), and things will get exciting again in no time. As someone who has played every fully singleplayer, mainline entry in the series to completion (which excludes only Dragon Quest IX, the 3DS multiplayer-ish entry that I don't know if you can even still play as intended even if I had a 3DS ready to play it, and Dragon Quest X, which is an MMORPG with no western localization or servers), I feel the game shines most brilliantly when the odds are stacked enormously against the player. The combat can become a frantically strategic balancing act, where the full depths of the combat design reveals itself. But, you should do whatever is most fun for you, and with that simple push and pull enabled by the game's exquisitely sloped difficulty curve, whatever is most fun for you is never more than a simple and short adjustment to how you're playing away.
Once again, I must repeat; Dragon Quest XI might not be your favourite Dragon Quest, but even if it isn't, it still might be the one objectively closest to perfection in a meaningful sense. It is clearly the product of designers and developers and artists who, as Bruce Lee might say, have practiced one kick 10,000 times, and it certainly shows. It's a series that, at least until time of writing, one can expect to only get better with every subsequent entry. While I feel we have every reason to expect Dragon Quest XII to do the same, with the passing of Toriyama Akira, and the other bastard, for better or worse two of the main figures that shaped the series from the very first entry, the future of Dragon Quest seems somewhat uncertain. Whatever happens, Dragon Quest XI remains an unimpeachable contribution to videogames in its own way, as both an ongoing tribute to its own past, with at least an eye towards its own future.
A final note on the things which were added to the game in the so-called S Edition on Switch, and then, I believe, later, to the PS4 and XBone versions, and perhaps a short note on the differences between the Switch and the other console versions and the PC version. There is no real reason to seek out the earlier versions of the game, in my opinion. I'm not aware of any reasons to discredit the idea that the Definitive edition is anything but definitive. There's a handful of minor QoL additions that feel very nice, even if their absence probably wouldn't bother too many people. The Draconian Quest options are not for one's first Dragon Quest game, but if you're experienced or want to spice up a second playthrough they are fabulous and can ratchet up the difficulty enormously, especially if you stack the most devilish ones. The English voice acting is about as good as English voice acting for JRPGs get, no doubt aided by the way the cutscenes, not originally having any voice acting, which means the voice actors were able to deliver a natural spoken performance for each line. The characterization this adds to the game's characters, especially of the main cast, ranges from decent to an essential added layer to their appeal and emotionality. The orchestral soundtrack is great--they had fantastic, clearly well trained orchestrators. The whole 2D thing feels quite gimmick-y, switching between the two is too awkward, and the lack of fully animated battles and fully animated voice acted cutscenes feel like they leave too large of a void to ignore. Not to mention, in the 2D version of the game, there is no at-will combat encounters, it replaces running into the enemies in the field at will with old-school random encounters, it simplifies finding hidden items on the overworld, and it reverts to the old school Dragon Quest style of entering your party's commands at the front of a round of combat instead of allowing you to make individual commands to characters dynamically as a round of combat progresses as you can do in the 3D version, so some fairly impactful aspects of the game's balance and feel are clunkified in comparison to the 3D version. That being said, if you approach the 2D version as a non-essential curiosity, it really only becomes more impressive that it was even included at all. I mean, how many other games come with their own relatively fully featured demakes included?
Finally, as for the gap in visual fidelity and performance between the Switch version, and the other consoles, well, it's the same story as usual. Dragon Quest as a game is a great experience in the kind of short bursts that can be enabled by the Switch's portability, so, if you know that you'll have the time and environment to play it in a portable format, the Switch version is, let's say, a serviceable version of the game. But, you know how these things go... if you do care about frame rate and visual fidelity, and you know you'd take the time to sit down and play it on a TV with a console or PC... the Switch version would be something you would be settling for at least to some degree, especially now that the Definitive edition's features are available on the other versions.
To put it another way: if you don't like or love Dragon Quest, that's fine. It is certainly a series that is intensely focused on delivering itself and nothing further (there's a longer point to be made here about how that is something modern games chronically fail to do, but to summarize it, a symptom of this problem is a mandatory stealth section in a game not oriented towards stealth (...Dragon Quest XI has one now that I think about it but never mind that)). So, if there is no bone in your body that can appreciate anything about JRPGs, then Dragon Quest won't change your mind.
But, just maybe, if there is something about JRPGs that would compel you, and you haven't found it yet, Dragon Quest XI probably has it. You might need to approach it with patience and curiousity... but you'll probably find it eventually.
Dragon Quest XI is everything good about JRPGs--not in a way that is concentrated or over-the-top and spectacular, but in a compellingly sublime balance. Yes, as you've heard, Dragon Quest is a series that, mechanically and aesthetically, has moved at a glacial pace. But it is not a series out of a time, either. It's not an exaggeration to say that the germ of every good idea in Dragon Quest XI can be found as far back as Dragon Quest III, if not II, or even I. But for XI, this is presented in a manner which is exquisitely palatable to modern players, aesthetically, mechanically, and narratively. At least in 2017, the graphics were sumptuous (and I think they hold up great now), the familiar sound effects all fit like a glove, the interface is smooth and intelligently laid out, the characters are deeply lovable (don't even get me started), and the narrative is rich and uniquely generous in scale. The one dark mark against the game aesthetically is that it does go well out of its way to recognize the contributions of a right wing kook and war crime denier as the composer of the first game's score, even though he probably didn't even contribute much to this entry (take it from me, composition is an art form quite obsessed with the idea of not killing its icons, even if their creative output slows to a trickle after they've achieved enough notoriety). And, well, even I have to admit the rotten old bastard knew what he was doing, he was a master of compositional pastiche and even if like me you despise the things he stood for, those tunes get stuck in your head for days and days. Although, again not to just rag on the war crime denier once more, but sometimes it feels like the reverence towards the series' original composer means that some music tracks end up being overused. It's a game that takes dozens of hours to fully complete, yet it doesn't have enough music to keep things fresh for all of those dozens of hours, if you know what I mean (although perhaps the bar on this has been raised enormously since the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy has raised my standards for this beyond all prior expectations).
The beautiful core of the mechanics of Dragon Quest, another one of those things that was germinated in the series in the 80s yet also mirror-shine polished and expanded upon for the modern player, is the legibility of its mathematics, strategy, and sense of progression. This is what I really mean when I say everything is in a sublime balance. It simply makes sense that a Slime enemy has 7 HP, has average attack for this low level, average defense for this low level, low agility, confers 2 experience, drops 2 gold, has a decent chance of dropping one medicinal herb, and has a small chance to drop a Slimedrop (a crafting material, if I remember correctly). Every bit of balance and sense of progression and combat strategy proceeds incrementally from that basic starting point. And, as more dedicated critics (with the initials T.R.) than I have pointed out, the difficulty is always ready to be tweaked with to your desire. If things get too difficulty, chill a while wherever you can win a handful of battles without too much difficulty, build up a few levels, and you'll be fine. If things get too easy, skip as many non-mandatory encounters as you can (which is super easy to do), and things will get exciting again in no time. As someone who has played every fully singleplayer, mainline entry in the series to completion (which excludes only Dragon Quest IX, the 3DS multiplayer-ish entry that I don't know if you can even still play as intended even if I had a 3DS ready to play it, and Dragon Quest X, which is an MMORPG with no western localization or servers), I feel the game shines most brilliantly when the odds are stacked enormously against the player. The combat can become a frantically strategic balancing act, where the full depths of the combat design reveals itself. But, you should do whatever is most fun for you, and with that simple push and pull enabled by the game's exquisitely sloped difficulty curve, whatever is most fun for you is never more than a simple and short adjustment to how you're playing away.
Once again, I must repeat; Dragon Quest XI might not be your favourite Dragon Quest, but even if it isn't, it still might be the one objectively closest to perfection in a meaningful sense. It is clearly the product of designers and developers and artists who, as Bruce Lee might say, have practiced one kick 10,000 times, and it certainly shows. It's a series that, at least until time of writing, one can expect to only get better with every subsequent entry. While I feel we have every reason to expect Dragon Quest XII to do the same, with the passing of Toriyama Akira, and the other bastard, for better or worse two of the main figures that shaped the series from the very first entry, the future of Dragon Quest seems somewhat uncertain. Whatever happens, Dragon Quest XI remains an unimpeachable contribution to videogames in its own way, as both an ongoing tribute to its own past, with at least an eye towards its own future.
A final note on the things which were added to the game in the so-called S Edition on Switch, and then, I believe, later, to the PS4 and XBone versions, and perhaps a short note on the differences between the Switch and the other console versions and the PC version. There is no real reason to seek out the earlier versions of the game, in my opinion. I'm not aware of any reasons to discredit the idea that the Definitive edition is anything but definitive. There's a handful of minor QoL additions that feel very nice, even if their absence probably wouldn't bother too many people. The Draconian Quest options are not for one's first Dragon Quest game, but if you're experienced or want to spice up a second playthrough they are fabulous and can ratchet up the difficulty enormously, especially if you stack the most devilish ones. The English voice acting is about as good as English voice acting for JRPGs get, no doubt aided by the way the cutscenes, not originally having any voice acting, which means the voice actors were able to deliver a natural spoken performance for each line. The characterization this adds to the game's characters, especially of the main cast, ranges from decent to an essential added layer to their appeal and emotionality. The orchestral soundtrack is great--they had fantastic, clearly well trained orchestrators. The whole 2D thing feels quite gimmick-y, switching between the two is too awkward, and the lack of fully animated battles and fully animated voice acted cutscenes feel like they leave too large of a void to ignore. Not to mention, in the 2D version of the game, there is no at-will combat encounters, it replaces running into the enemies in the field at will with old-school random encounters, it simplifies finding hidden items on the overworld, and it reverts to the old school Dragon Quest style of entering your party's commands at the front of a round of combat instead of allowing you to make individual commands to characters dynamically as a round of combat progresses as you can do in the 3D version, so some fairly impactful aspects of the game's balance and feel are clunkified in comparison to the 3D version. That being said, if you approach the 2D version as a non-essential curiosity, it really only becomes more impressive that it was even included at all. I mean, how many other games come with their own relatively fully featured demakes included?
Finally, as for the gap in visual fidelity and performance between the Switch version, and the other consoles, well, it's the same story as usual. Dragon Quest as a game is a great experience in the kind of short bursts that can be enabled by the Switch's portability, so, if you know that you'll have the time and environment to play it in a portable format, the Switch version is, let's say, a serviceable version of the game. But, you know how these things go... if you do care about frame rate and visual fidelity, and you know you'd take the time to sit down and play it on a TV with a console or PC... the Switch version would be something you would be settling for at least to some degree, especially now that the Definitive edition's features are available on the other versions.
When I was first searching for some JRPGs to play, I was recommended Dragon Quest XI. People told me, “You have to try it, it’s really good!” Booting it up, I was excited. I had never played a Dragon Quest game before, but I knew how many copies it sold in Japan and that it's one of the foundations for modern JRPGs. Many games can trace their lineage to this very series. But oh boy, Dragon Quest XI just didn't hit the mark for me. It felt too simple and dull, making it hard to stay engaged or feel motivated to continue with the story.
The characters were pretty forgettable and seemed to fit every trope possible, with no substance beyond that. The mute protagonist was especially frustrating, which I normally don’t have a problem with. It seemed like he wanted to say something but couldn't, reducing him to a blank slate meant for your self-insert wishes, which didn't work for me.
The plot unfolds in a predictable manner: there's a bad dark lord doing bad things, and you need to stop him. The use of a traditional medieval fantasy setting didn’t help either to differentiate it from other JRPGs, whether modern or old. All in all, the plot felt standard, and whether it is comforting and safe or generic and cliche-ridden is up to the player to decide. What I can say is going to town, finding a problem, going out and fighting a monster, and then rinsing and repeating the process gets stale quite fast.
If you're looking for something with more depth and a bit more mature themes, this one might not be for you, so move along.
The characters were pretty forgettable and seemed to fit every trope possible, with no substance beyond that. The mute protagonist was especially frustrating, which I normally don’t have a problem with. It seemed like he wanted to say something but couldn't, reducing him to a blank slate meant for your self-insert wishes, which didn't work for me.
The plot unfolds in a predictable manner: there's a bad dark lord doing bad things, and you need to stop him. The use of a traditional medieval fantasy setting didn’t help either to differentiate it from other JRPGs, whether modern or old. All in all, the plot felt standard, and whether it is comforting and safe or generic and cliche-ridden is up to the player to decide. What I can say is going to town, finding a problem, going out and fighting a monster, and then rinsing and repeating the process gets stale quite fast.
If you're looking for something with more depth and a bit more mature themes, this one might not be for you, so move along.
i wanted to like this so bad but its just so jrpg
- The gameplay is classic Dragon quest, incredibly fun to actually just grind but understandable if its boring compared to other modern RPGs.
- The Plot is good as its a simple plot and has some memorable elements in it. The characters is where the game truly shines.
- The OST is good for the game but not memorable outside the context of it.
- The Plot is good as its a simple plot and has some memorable elements in it. The characters is where the game truly shines.
- The OST is good for the game but not memorable outside the context of it.
While it starts off rather slow, Dragon Quest 11 shines through with an engaging story, a loveable cast, and a fun combat system to keep you going for the near 60-hours of playtime. Just hope that you don't get tired of hearing the same five music tracks over and over.
It's hard not to be immediately impressed with Dragon Quest 11 merely for its presentation alone. Akira Toriyama's character designs have never been so beautifully realized, placed within a backdrop of vibrant colors and a timeless artstlye. DQ 11 is truly one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen. Reminiscent of Ni-No Kuni and Blue Dragon, far exceeding its graphical limits through sheer artistry.
Dragon Quest 11 is a traditional JRPG through and through, with a bevy of contemporary tweaks and quality of life improvements to temper the tedium of an older gametype. The auto run, sprint, spells for fast travel, etc. go a long way to alleviate annoyances older titles are plagued with, allowing the player to immerse themselves in the adventure and not be bogged down with backtracking or menu managment. This coupled with the charm and wonderful voice acting makes the story a joy to unravel. There's nothing revolutionary about it but it's extremely fitting, exhuding a sense of coziness contrasted with its epic scale of adventure the franchise is known for.
Combat is the tried and true turn based formula of age-old series, nestled in a depth between novice and hardcore difficulty; making it accessible for newcomers yet engaging enough for longtime fans. Towns and cities are standard fare for the genre, but are filled to the gills with NPCs to talk to and in the later half of the game activities in the major areas to occupy your time between dungeons.
While the Illusive Age takes several strides in tackling the grievances often plaguing JRPGs, not every contention has been addressed. Many of the plot lines are predictable and the characters, although likeable, are shallow with the villains hardly being even servicable. The from town to town loop so typical of these ventures can start to get stale, despite the vibrancy and life the areas of respite have to offer.
Dragon Quest 11 is a reminder that traditional turn based combat is traditional for a reason, and is a modern treat to old school fans. With it being such a streamlined, beautiful, and polished experience theres no suprise it'll gain a new fanbase as well.
Dragon Quest 11 is a traditional JRPG through and through, with a bevy of contemporary tweaks and quality of life improvements to temper the tedium of an older gametype. The auto run, sprint, spells for fast travel, etc. go a long way to alleviate annoyances older titles are plagued with, allowing the player to immerse themselves in the adventure and not be bogged down with backtracking or menu managment. This coupled with the charm and wonderful voice acting makes the story a joy to unravel. There's nothing revolutionary about it but it's extremely fitting, exhuding a sense of coziness contrasted with its epic scale of adventure the franchise is known for.
Combat is the tried and true turn based formula of age-old series, nestled in a depth between novice and hardcore difficulty; making it accessible for newcomers yet engaging enough for longtime fans. Towns and cities are standard fare for the genre, but are filled to the gills with NPCs to talk to and in the later half of the game activities in the major areas to occupy your time between dungeons.
While the Illusive Age takes several strides in tackling the grievances often plaguing JRPGs, not every contention has been addressed. Many of the plot lines are predictable and the characters, although likeable, are shallow with the villains hardly being even servicable. The from town to town loop so typical of these ventures can start to get stale, despite the vibrancy and life the areas of respite have to offer.
Dragon Quest 11 is a reminder that traditional turn based combat is traditional for a reason, and is a modern treat to old school fans. With it being such a streamlined, beautiful, and polished experience theres no suprise it'll gain a new fanbase as well.
Ver a versão nova me fez lembrar que zerei esse jogo em live e merece uma Review!
Esse jogo mostra que formulas clássicas ainda são extremamente bem vindas! Um RPG de turno raiz (sem ser ATB) com a historia "clichê" do personagem ser um escolhido divino que ira tirar o mundo das trevas, mas... como isso é executado é tão incrível!
Dragon Quest é uma serie que não erra mesmo usando coisas que hoje em dia são consideradas "batidas", fazendo o simples e inovando sempre.
Falando um pouco da historia, as reviravoltas que a historia dá as vezes são tão inesperadas que você até fica sem acreditar que isso aconteceu, por exemplo uma perda grande que gera uma mudança muito grande no clima do jogo e isso é motivo pra uma outra reviravolta no futuro...
O sistema de batalha é o de sempre, mas um pouco mudado: A diferença é que você pode, pra "fingir" um dinamismo, movimentar seu personagem pelo campo de batalha (porém isso é puro estético, não muda nada) porém as habilidades de classe podem mudar muito o rumo! Eu mesmo zerei o jogo com todos os personagens no nível máximo depois de descobrir um método de farm "fácil" (porem chatinho e demorado).
Dragon Quest XI é um MUST HAVE para pessoas que amam RPG, principalmente de turno ou querem experimentar esse mundo.
Esse jogo mostra que formulas clássicas ainda são extremamente bem vindas! Um RPG de turno raiz (sem ser ATB) com a historia "clichê" do personagem ser um escolhido divino que ira tirar o mundo das trevas, mas... como isso é executado é tão incrível!
Dragon Quest é uma serie que não erra mesmo usando coisas que hoje em dia são consideradas "batidas", fazendo o simples e inovando sempre.
Falando um pouco da historia, as reviravoltas que a historia dá as vezes são tão inesperadas que você até fica sem acreditar que isso aconteceu, por exemplo uma perda grande que gera uma mudança muito grande no clima do jogo e isso é motivo pra uma outra reviravolta no futuro...
O sistema de batalha é o de sempre, mas um pouco mudado: A diferença é que você pode, pra "fingir" um dinamismo, movimentar seu personagem pelo campo de batalha (porém isso é puro estético, não muda nada) porém as habilidades de classe podem mudar muito o rumo! Eu mesmo zerei o jogo com todos os personagens no nível máximo depois de descobrir um método de farm "fácil" (porem chatinho e demorado).
Dragon Quest XI é um MUST HAVE para pessoas que amam RPG, principalmente de turno ou querem experimentar esse mundo.
The pinnacle of classic Dragon Quest and a very obvious homage to the series as a whole. If you want a modern version of classic turn-based RPG battling, this is it - it does not innovate on the formula whatsoever, but tunes everything to a fine point. The base mode is a little too easy, but the game does include options to make gameplay harder, so I don't fault it for that. The two things that do hold it back are the length and the OST - first of all, the game is too long, especially if you play all of Act 3, the game really overstays its welcome. I recognize it's partially my fault for wanting to 100% the game, but I eventually reached a point where I was just looking forward to the game being done. As for the OST, there are a lot of good songs that are woefully underused - you'll basically hear the same 3-4 songs everywhere, which get a little tiring. I appreciate that they switch up the world map music in Act 3, which doubles as another homage to earlier games, but you eventually get quite sick of the standard battle music.