fuurinrin
262 Reviews liked by fuurinrin
Maneater
2020
I hate the ocean. I also love the ocean. Mostly because of sharks. I love and hate those too. So a game where I can play as the shark safely from my "own home" was very nice. Maneater is a game with repetitive collectibles, repetitive objectives and very repetitive combat but somehow even with all of that it still just works. Its goddamn fun to be a shark and eat things.
The game starts off a bit frustrating. Everything is aggressive, you have barely any health or upgrades. Its a mess. I was having a pretty bad time the first one or two hours I played this. But the game has a good sense of progression as you evolve and get new abilities, it becomes a lot easier. Maybe a bit too easy, but you're a fuckin shark everything should be easy for you. You really start feeling like the apex predator of the sea. When the game opens up a little to deeper waters in the Sapphire Bay area, especially if you're swimming at night the sense of atmosphere is impeccable. Like you are the monster in horror b-movie. I love it.
The game is setup like you're in a nature documentary tv show, and I bet a lot of people probably didnt like this angle but I think it adds a lot of character to the game. The narrator is great and hes usually pretty funny. He also has a lot of lines, so he won't really be repeating stuff as much as you'd assume - unless you're getting the cache collectibles which there are like a hundred of - thats the only time he bothered me. Definitely helps the game a lot and adds to the not quite so serious tone you can see from the numerous easter eggs and visual gags under the waters surface.
The story is just a tale of revenge from two sides. You want to eat Scaly Pete because he killed your mother and he wants to kill you because you bit off his arm. Its obviously not riveting but it fits the game well and gives you something to work towards. Most of the objectives just have you going around either eating groups of humans or specific fish, or hunting targets and other apex predators of their specific locations, slowly getting stronger until you finish the missions in an area and move on to the next or unlock the next story event. You definitely are gonna want to seek out the collectibles as they give you nutrients and such needed to upgrades as well as unlock the upgrades themselves. Theres three main evolution lines you can follow, and you can mix and match the different parts yourself to create the ultimate maneater of your desires. Its not super in depth but as it changes the visuals of your shark as well as bonuses its a good mechanic.
I only really have two complaints with this game. Sure its a bit repetitive but that never bothered me as it was still always fun to collect and eat everything. I just feel like more mission types would of benefited a lot. Stuff like races even would've gone a long way. I am not sure what the DLC adds but I am definitely gonna get it in the future, but I also wish there was just more in general. The Gulf and Sapphire Bay areas are the largest and just swimming in the open water was so cool. I really wish there were more areas like that to explore. The ocean has so many cool creatures and even biomes in of itself that I would just love to swim around in. This game does have good variety - things from orcas to sperm whales to hammerheads to alligators, but I still feel like theres just so much more out there that could be featured in a game like this as well. A deep trenches location would be like the coolest shit ever. Like I said at the start of this review. I hate the ocean. It scares the shit out of me. But thats also why Im so fascinated by it. Thats why I hope this game gets a sequel that gives us even more to explore. Id pre order the fuck out of that.
In the end, Maneater may not be a game that lived up to its full potential, but I took the bait and it got me hooked. With this and things even like Stray, I am very hopeful for more animal games lol. I honestly can see myself even replaying this on the side with the ps5 version because its just that fundamentally awesome to be a shark.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #217)
Time Played: 11 hours 51 minutes
Nancymeter - 79/100
Game Completion #119 of 2022
September Completion #9
The game starts off a bit frustrating. Everything is aggressive, you have barely any health or upgrades. Its a mess. I was having a pretty bad time the first one or two hours I played this. But the game has a good sense of progression as you evolve and get new abilities, it becomes a lot easier. Maybe a bit too easy, but you're a fuckin shark everything should be easy for you. You really start feeling like the apex predator of the sea. When the game opens up a little to deeper waters in the Sapphire Bay area, especially if you're swimming at night the sense of atmosphere is impeccable. Like you are the monster in horror b-movie. I love it.
The game is setup like you're in a nature documentary tv show, and I bet a lot of people probably didnt like this angle but I think it adds a lot of character to the game. The narrator is great and hes usually pretty funny. He also has a lot of lines, so he won't really be repeating stuff as much as you'd assume - unless you're getting the cache collectibles which there are like a hundred of - thats the only time he bothered me. Definitely helps the game a lot and adds to the not quite so serious tone you can see from the numerous easter eggs and visual gags under the waters surface.
The story is just a tale of revenge from two sides. You want to eat Scaly Pete because he killed your mother and he wants to kill you because you bit off his arm. Its obviously not riveting but it fits the game well and gives you something to work towards. Most of the objectives just have you going around either eating groups of humans or specific fish, or hunting targets and other apex predators of their specific locations, slowly getting stronger until you finish the missions in an area and move on to the next or unlock the next story event. You definitely are gonna want to seek out the collectibles as they give you nutrients and such needed to upgrades as well as unlock the upgrades themselves. Theres three main evolution lines you can follow, and you can mix and match the different parts yourself to create the ultimate maneater of your desires. Its not super in depth but as it changes the visuals of your shark as well as bonuses its a good mechanic.
I only really have two complaints with this game. Sure its a bit repetitive but that never bothered me as it was still always fun to collect and eat everything. I just feel like more mission types would of benefited a lot. Stuff like races even would've gone a long way. I am not sure what the DLC adds but I am definitely gonna get it in the future, but I also wish there was just more in general. The Gulf and Sapphire Bay areas are the largest and just swimming in the open water was so cool. I really wish there were more areas like that to explore. The ocean has so many cool creatures and even biomes in of itself that I would just love to swim around in. This game does have good variety - things from orcas to sperm whales to hammerheads to alligators, but I still feel like theres just so much more out there that could be featured in a game like this as well. A deep trenches location would be like the coolest shit ever. Like I said at the start of this review. I hate the ocean. It scares the shit out of me. But thats also why Im so fascinated by it. Thats why I hope this game gets a sequel that gives us even more to explore. Id pre order the fuck out of that.
In the end, Maneater may not be a game that lived up to its full potential, but I took the bait and it got me hooked. With this and things even like Stray, I am very hopeful for more animal games lol. I honestly can see myself even replaying this on the side with the ps5 version because its just that fundamentally awesome to be a shark.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #217)
Time Played: 11 hours 51 minutes
Nancymeter - 79/100
Game Completion #119 of 2022
September Completion #9
Street Fighter V
2016
I'm not generally big into fighting games but I got to admit the hype around Street Fighter 6 got to me and if the news about the more casual friendly experience and focus on making a compelling story mode is true, i'd say its among my top ten most anticipated games for next year. Street Fighter is a very popular franchise so of course I've had opportunities to play it a little in the past but I wanted to be a bit more familiar with the series before potentially trying to get into it next year.
Street Fighter V did not really help with that at all lmao. Thankfully the next entry just looks that damn good but this game honestly didn't do a whole lot to impress. It was useful for familiarizing me with some characters but just so much of this game feels kinda generic and a bit uninspired. The story mode was okay, not being knowledgeable on the series definitely hurt my enjoyment of it but there is also a bit of convoluted anime bullshit thrown in for good measure. Most of the battles are pretty easy however there's a few that randomly spike in difficulty. You can actually skip any of the fights you want though, I'm not ashamed to say I skipped 2 or 3 of the more annoying ones. I dont have much to say about the combat itself, Im not good at remembering combos so to me its just like any other fighting game. It didn't feel sluggish so that makes it good in my book.
If one thing did stand out about this game for me, it was the characters. Despite some truly awful ones like F.A.N.G and Birdie, the flashy roster of characters kept me interested. Cammy and Guile and Chun Li and Rashid and Vega and Juri and Nash and idk, there's just a lot of very interesting characters and especially during the side stories (mini arcade mode with some story basically) I really enjoyed my time with a lot of the cast. Since fighting games usually dont put much work into their story (if they even have any) and I am not a multiplayer fan at all, the characters are usually a big selling point for me which I think makes this stand out over other games ive played, like Tekken 7, where the only memorable characters are the outlandish ones.
In the end, thats kinda all there is to say about Street Fighter V. I wish i had more to add but if you've ever played a fighting game before you've probably already experienced everything this one has to offer. I'm glad to of been introduced to some characters returning for the sequel, but this isn't gonna be one I'll look back on on its own.
Nancymeter - 64/100
Game Completion #138 of 2022
November Completion #4
Street Fighter V did not really help with that at all lmao. Thankfully the next entry just looks that damn good but this game honestly didn't do a whole lot to impress. It was useful for familiarizing me with some characters but just so much of this game feels kinda generic and a bit uninspired. The story mode was okay, not being knowledgeable on the series definitely hurt my enjoyment of it but there is also a bit of convoluted anime bullshit thrown in for good measure. Most of the battles are pretty easy however there's a few that randomly spike in difficulty. You can actually skip any of the fights you want though, I'm not ashamed to say I skipped 2 or 3 of the more annoying ones. I dont have much to say about the combat itself, Im not good at remembering combos so to me its just like any other fighting game. It didn't feel sluggish so that makes it good in my book.
If one thing did stand out about this game for me, it was the characters. Despite some truly awful ones like F.A.N.G and Birdie, the flashy roster of characters kept me interested. Cammy and Guile and Chun Li and Rashid and Vega and Juri and Nash and idk, there's just a lot of very interesting characters and especially during the side stories (mini arcade mode with some story basically) I really enjoyed my time with a lot of the cast. Since fighting games usually dont put much work into their story (if they even have any) and I am not a multiplayer fan at all, the characters are usually a big selling point for me which I think makes this stand out over other games ive played, like Tekken 7, where the only memorable characters are the outlandish ones.
In the end, thats kinda all there is to say about Street Fighter V. I wish i had more to add but if you've ever played a fighting game before you've probably already experienced everything this one has to offer. I'm glad to of been introduced to some characters returning for the sequel, but this isn't gonna be one I'll look back on on its own.
Nancymeter - 64/100
Game Completion #138 of 2022
November Completion #4
Severed Steel
2021
Fast paced first person shooters are some of the most fun types of games out there and Severed Steel even with its low budget capitalizes on all the fun very well. Genuinely every game with destructible environments and parkour is cooler for it. If this game went for the trifecta and added a grappling hook I believe It would of made me go into cardiac arrest. The weapons themselves are mostly forgettable (the shotguns and flamethrower being the most fun) and the levels while actually having some good and more than expected variance in their look do feel a bit repetitive (especially considering the objectives) but for such a short gameplay experience and with such a fun mishmash of random stuff + just that little bit of indie jank to hold everything together this game is great and a big recommend. There is some semblance of a story but not really and who cares anyways. But the fact you are playing as a girl does automatically elevate it. Sorry, I make the rules. I think a higher budget sequel with a voiced protag, a little more story and perhaps a bit more level variation while obviously not needed is like, an award winning please inject it directly into my tits kinda formula. I just want more destructible fps games there is no reason F.E.A.R. shouldn't of been more influential. But that's just me daydreaming. Don't go into this wishing what it could be and just let it take you on the ride of what it is. You won't regret it. Unless you're really lame.
This has been a Nancyfly mini review, thanks for reading <3
Up Next: Call of Juarez Gunslinger, and after that - Bayonetta
Nancymeter - 77/100
Game Completion #140 of 2022
November Completion #6
This has been a Nancyfly mini review, thanks for reading <3
Up Next: Call of Juarez Gunslinger, and after that - Bayonetta
Nancymeter - 77/100
Game Completion #140 of 2022
November Completion #6
Grid Legends
2022
To preface this review: I'm not really an avid racing game player nor have I ever even heard of this series beyond mindlessly scrolling past it on the storefront. This is from the perspective of a complete noob. When I play racing games I usually go for the more arcade-y stuff like Burnout or Split/Second and the Need for Speed Games. Basically the less focused it is on being a simulator the more fun I have. Driving around is always my favorite part in open world games and so nothing bores me more than a dozen mechanics and driving around some sterile track. That seems to be a lot of racing games these days though and so I usually avoid them. Much like fighting games they're a genre I don't particularly like but every now and then I just randomly decide to play one and get hooked on it and too addicted to play anything else until I get tired of it. I was starting to crave that for a racing game and then as I was scrolling through all the games that came out this year I saw this! Something that came and went this year seemingly without much buzz or recognition and didn't get many good reviews, but had a short story mode. It was perfect.
I do need to confess to a terrible thing I had to do to play this though. I wasn't just gonna pay its full price for a game I knew very little about so I had to make a deal with the devil. Don't condemn me, I feel bad about it enough. But I bought a month of EA Play. A terrible, horrible thing. I tried to justify it saying "ill use it to get a discount on the Dead Space remake or Need for Speed Unbound" but the truth is I just really fucking wanted to try this random ass racing game because it would make me feel better about not beating enough 2022 games this year. And what I got was well, pretty surprising.
This game actually has a very interesting mix between the two different types of racing games. On one hand its a very forgiving game not muddled with a bunch of different mechanics, but still gives you a bit of a challenge in the way you control your vehicle and that classic organized racing kind of vibe. It's not particularly what I like but if you're someone who loves the feeling of being in big (mostly) formal races without a whole lot of technical junk thrown at you you might get a good kick out of this one. I did find the lack of explanations for a lot of its mechanics to be a little frustrating but as mentioned the game is still pretty forgiving. A sort of easy to learn hard to master kinda deal.
The story, for a racing game, was enjoyable. Obviously things are really limited when its a game you are entirely restricted to your car in but what it does is nice. It uses live action scenes (much more effectively than a certain other series, thank god for the rebranding with Unbound) in a documentary like way. A tv crew is filming the characters. It's pretty nice actually. The acting is solid for the most part and some of the characters are pretty enjoyable, particularly Valentin. The actual story itself is basically nothing and the
"villains" are weaksauce however they do succeed at being extremely unlikeable. Legends does actually have a certain bit of charm to it however and Id say I liked it. Where the story fails however is that it has a really huge disconnect from the gameplay itself. Let me explain.
Difficulty balancing in racing games has always been a bit of an issue for me. Rubberbanding when used right can make every race feel tight and like a close one but more often than not it just makes the game feel cheap and unfair. Conversely if the game is too easy it becomes far more boring at a really rapid pace, which is a huge issue for this game. Most of the difficulty comes from navigating the tracks themselves and getting used to the different type of vehicles you drive. The AI is total garbage and you'll likely pass each and every one of them with relative ease. This means a lot of the game didn't feel like a racing game at all and more just a driving game where you try to turn tight corners all sad and alone. This is amplified even more when some races decide they want to be an agonizing 4 to 6 laps long and sometimes upwards of 10 minute levels that just feel like they're stretching the campaign length as much as they can. Where this comes into the story is that even for a shitty driver who bumps into everything like I, I basically never once lost a race. But the story doesnt change at all with that. So there were multiple cutscenes where despite the player character absolutely crushing everyone in every single match, you have a teammate bragging about being the number one of your crew or the villain characters saying they've been slam dick dunkin' all year and aren't worried about any competition. You could count this as arrogance but even in some scenes the sportscasters announce all the villains win yet again or how your character apparently had a crash inbetween levels. Its basically the racing game equivalent of whittling the boss down to 1HP like a pro and then the cutscene after showing your whole party crying half dead on the floor. I'm not gonna pretend to know jack fuck about game development but considering all the cutscenes are on the same small handful of steps surely it would be worth filming at the bare minimum slightly alternate scenes to reflect how well you're actually doing in the story mode. As is I really wanted to enjoy the story for what it was but stuff like that made it very hard to take seriously or get invested in.
Overall, I'd feel bad for giving GRID Legends a harsh score. While its true that its underwhelming and too easy to be exciting, It was the perfect little distraction to hold me over for a few hours and I really appreciate the attempt at making a hybrid of the two big racing game subgenres. Maybe next time guys. If you like this type of game, it's worth your time. Just get it at a steep discount and definitely not from EA Play lol. Thanks for reading <3
Trophy Completion - played on alt account huehue
Nancymeter - 55/100
Game Completion #134 of 2022
October Completion #11
I do need to confess to a terrible thing I had to do to play this though. I wasn't just gonna pay its full price for a game I knew very little about so I had to make a deal with the devil. Don't condemn me, I feel bad about it enough. But I bought a month of EA Play. A terrible, horrible thing. I tried to justify it saying "ill use it to get a discount on the Dead Space remake or Need for Speed Unbound" but the truth is I just really fucking wanted to try this random ass racing game because it would make me feel better about not beating enough 2022 games this year. And what I got was well, pretty surprising.
This game actually has a very interesting mix between the two different types of racing games. On one hand its a very forgiving game not muddled with a bunch of different mechanics, but still gives you a bit of a challenge in the way you control your vehicle and that classic organized racing kind of vibe. It's not particularly what I like but if you're someone who loves the feeling of being in big (mostly) formal races without a whole lot of technical junk thrown at you you might get a good kick out of this one. I did find the lack of explanations for a lot of its mechanics to be a little frustrating but as mentioned the game is still pretty forgiving. A sort of easy to learn hard to master kinda deal.
The story, for a racing game, was enjoyable. Obviously things are really limited when its a game you are entirely restricted to your car in but what it does is nice. It uses live action scenes (much more effectively than a certain other series, thank god for the rebranding with Unbound) in a documentary like way. A tv crew is filming the characters. It's pretty nice actually. The acting is solid for the most part and some of the characters are pretty enjoyable, particularly Valentin. The actual story itself is basically nothing and the
"villains" are weaksauce however they do succeed at being extremely unlikeable. Legends does actually have a certain bit of charm to it however and Id say I liked it. Where the story fails however is that it has a really huge disconnect from the gameplay itself. Let me explain.
Difficulty balancing in racing games has always been a bit of an issue for me. Rubberbanding when used right can make every race feel tight and like a close one but more often than not it just makes the game feel cheap and unfair. Conversely if the game is too easy it becomes far more boring at a really rapid pace, which is a huge issue for this game. Most of the difficulty comes from navigating the tracks themselves and getting used to the different type of vehicles you drive. The AI is total garbage and you'll likely pass each and every one of them with relative ease. This means a lot of the game didn't feel like a racing game at all and more just a driving game where you try to turn tight corners all sad and alone. This is amplified even more when some races decide they want to be an agonizing 4 to 6 laps long and sometimes upwards of 10 minute levels that just feel like they're stretching the campaign length as much as they can. Where this comes into the story is that even for a shitty driver who bumps into everything like I, I basically never once lost a race. But the story doesnt change at all with that. So there were multiple cutscenes where despite the player character absolutely crushing everyone in every single match, you have a teammate bragging about being the number one of your crew or the villain characters saying they've been slam dick dunkin' all year and aren't worried about any competition. You could count this as arrogance but even in some scenes the sportscasters announce all the villains win yet again or how your character apparently had a crash inbetween levels. Its basically the racing game equivalent of whittling the boss down to 1HP like a pro and then the cutscene after showing your whole party crying half dead on the floor. I'm not gonna pretend to know jack fuck about game development but considering all the cutscenes are on the same small handful of steps surely it would be worth filming at the bare minimum slightly alternate scenes to reflect how well you're actually doing in the story mode. As is I really wanted to enjoy the story for what it was but stuff like that made it very hard to take seriously or get invested in.
Overall, I'd feel bad for giving GRID Legends a harsh score. While its true that its underwhelming and too easy to be exciting, It was the perfect little distraction to hold me over for a few hours and I really appreciate the attempt at making a hybrid of the two big racing game subgenres. Maybe next time guys. If you like this type of game, it's worth your time. Just get it at a steep discount and definitely not from EA Play lol. Thanks for reading <3
Trophy Completion - played on alt account huehue
Nancymeter - 55/100
Game Completion #134 of 2022
October Completion #11
Astro's Playroom
2020
After working my ass off, getting lucky and buying that unloved and unwanted Horizon Forbidden West bundle even though I already owned the game digital - the coveted Playstation 5 is finally mine. Nearly 600 dollars tax and shipping included, but it was mine. I bought a few games to go with it like Ratchet & Clank or Demons Souls, but the game I was actually the most excited for was Astros Playroom. I had heard many great things about the dualsense and its capabilities and that this game was a surprisingly baller tech demo. Well, thats pretty true.
The PS5 as a console kinda sucks, If im being honest. The silence compared to the PS4 is worth praying over, but it just seems to be missing a lot of features already on PS4 and I've already had my fair share of annoyances with it. But of course I bought it for the games and those have been great so far. The one thing that has not been disappointing in anyway tho is the new controller. The dualsense is dope. The haptic feedback vibrations are not game changing but they are a nice addition but the adaptive triggers are cool as shit and I love them. Astros Playroom was made specifically to show off what the controller is capable of and it does that in strides. It may very well be the greatest tech demo of all time for probably the greatest new console gimmick of all time.
The game is more than just that though. Sure its short, but in that few hour runtime there is so much creativity and joy put into it and I felt it at every moment. It is a love letter to Playstation as a whole. By far my favorite part of the game was finding all the easter eggs and references to past exclusives and IPs. All the artifact collectibles are old consoles and accessories that you can interact with. Even the trophy list is filled with references, and Its probably one of the most fun platinums i've ever got. The game also shows off how great the trophy hint feature can be and made getting all the collectibles really enjoyable. Plus there are a large number of miscellaneous trophies and I loved just doing something thinking "I wonder if Id get a trophy for this" and it actually being the case.
I don't really have a reason for not giving this a full five stars. I want it to be longer but not because its not long enough, just because I enjoyed it so much. There is even a bonus time trials thing thats thankfully mini challenge levels instead of just repeating the main missions on a timer. You can compete on the leaderboards so thats pretty fun, and of course you can just interact with all the things youve collected on the way in the hub and vibe with the game. I think I'm just worried that this is game will take the haptics as far as they go. First party developers are gonna be implementing this a lot which is great, but I just hope plenty of third party developers are able to push the dualsense to its full potential too.
I don't think I'll uninstall this game, its just too joyful.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #220)
Time Played: 7 hours 23 minutes
Nancymeter - 93/100
Game Completion #121 of 2022
September Completion #11
The PS5 as a console kinda sucks, If im being honest. The silence compared to the PS4 is worth praying over, but it just seems to be missing a lot of features already on PS4 and I've already had my fair share of annoyances with it. But of course I bought it for the games and those have been great so far. The one thing that has not been disappointing in anyway tho is the new controller. The dualsense is dope. The haptic feedback vibrations are not game changing but they are a nice addition but the adaptive triggers are cool as shit and I love them. Astros Playroom was made specifically to show off what the controller is capable of and it does that in strides. It may very well be the greatest tech demo of all time for probably the greatest new console gimmick of all time.
The game is more than just that though. Sure its short, but in that few hour runtime there is so much creativity and joy put into it and I felt it at every moment. It is a love letter to Playstation as a whole. By far my favorite part of the game was finding all the easter eggs and references to past exclusives and IPs. All the artifact collectibles are old consoles and accessories that you can interact with. Even the trophy list is filled with references, and Its probably one of the most fun platinums i've ever got. The game also shows off how great the trophy hint feature can be and made getting all the collectibles really enjoyable. Plus there are a large number of miscellaneous trophies and I loved just doing something thinking "I wonder if Id get a trophy for this" and it actually being the case.
I don't really have a reason for not giving this a full five stars. I want it to be longer but not because its not long enough, just because I enjoyed it so much. There is even a bonus time trials thing thats thankfully mini challenge levels instead of just repeating the main missions on a timer. You can compete on the leaderboards so thats pretty fun, and of course you can just interact with all the things youve collected on the way in the hub and vibe with the game. I think I'm just worried that this is game will take the haptics as far as they go. First party developers are gonna be implementing this a lot which is great, but I just hope plenty of third party developers are able to push the dualsense to its full potential too.
I don't think I'll uninstall this game, its just too joyful.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #220)
Time Played: 7 hours 23 minutes
Nancymeter - 93/100
Game Completion #121 of 2022
September Completion #11
Dragon Quest XI is a phenomenal game. It stands firm as one of the greatest JRPGs I’ve personally ever experienced, and I expect is among the greatest titles within the genre of all time.
I have a lot to say about this title so for those of you who may not want to read 158 hours’ worth of thoughts, I’ll summarise it briefly here: The gameplay, polish and presentation of Dragon Quest XI is off the charts. Everything works and looks exactly as it should, there are basically no instances where you’ll find yourself against impossible odds or hit a wall of “bullshit”, it just works. It’s also incredibly accessible to players of all preferences and skill-levels, this game was made to be enjoyed by anyone and in my honest opinion, it succeeds. So, let’s get into it a little deeper.
It's worth mentioning that I will not be discussing major spoilers in this review, however if you’re familiar with JRPG or anime tropes/cliches there will be allusions to those which may reveal some minor or incredibly “standard”/expected beats.
Starting off with the first and perhaps most important thing the DQ XI experience offers:
ACCESSIBILTY.
Dragon Quest XI does not come with traditional difficulty options, much like the majority of more classic JRPGs. What it does do, however, is give players several ways to make it easier or harder to fit their own preference. The biggest of these are the “Draconian Quest” options presented upon starting a new game, a list of settings that you can decide before playing if you’d prefer to enable or disable. These include certain challenge modes like No Shopping or No Armour, Reduced Experience, Shypox – a randomly triggered status ailment that embarrasses you/your allies -, and my personal favourite: “Party Wiped Out if Protagonist Perishes”
That’s right. You can disable one of the most frustrating and often merciless features of classic JRPGs. Thank the Gods.
The caveat with these modifiers is that if you disable all of them then you can’t adjust them once you’re in the game, however I believe that anything you enable can be later disabled via a save point without consequence.
This isn’t the only way that DQ XI makes itself more accessible to suit your play style though, oh no. One of the most impressive features of this title is one that honestly didn’t really hit me fully until I’d tried it myself: 2D Mode. The entire game, start to finish, can be played in either a modern 3D style, complete with interactive combat where you can move around the battlefield and watch gorgeous attack animations, or a classic 2D mode, returning to the use of flashing sprites and screen shakes instead. Both modes have redesigned locations to accommodate the dimensions available in each, and my favourite difference between the two: random encounters - or more importantly – lack thereof.
If you prefer the old school 2D sprite-based, synthesised, random-encounter-ridden experience of old JRPGs, you can have that. If you’d rather see the world in beautiful 3D, run around the overworld yourself and be able to actively avoid enemies roaming the lands, you can have that too! The entire. Fecking. Game. Honestly who does that?! Square went above and beyond making the whole game twice just to make sure EVERYONE could enjoy it, it’s absurd and I cannot respect this decision enough.
You can switch between 2D and 3D mode at any time, and if your save file in 3D mode is further along than in 2D, you can select which chapter of the game to pick up from in 2D and just keep going, meaning there is (once again) no consequence for playing around and trying both out. [I’m not certain if the same applies going from 2D to 3D but I would expect so?]
Believe it or not, I’m not done. I mentioned the Draconian Quest difficulty modifiers earlier, and how they can be used to adjust the difficulty of the game from the start/at any time if enabled. But another, more subtle, thing that DQ XI does to ensure no-one gets left behind is giving the player freedom for 99%, if not all, of the game. Let me explain.
I’m sure we’ve all hit walls in games where we get stuck, the boss is simply too hard, our party are under-levelled, poorly equipped, we weren’t prepared to face a challenge and our last save was x amount of time ago. With no other choice, we’re forced to lose progress to train harder and make push any further. This will not happen in Dragon Quest XI, I can guarantee it. You may find a boss you can’t beat, absolutely (although in all honesty this will most likely only be late into Act III when the difficulty is amped up and more things become optional than not,) but you will never be in a position where you can’t just load to right before the fight, go away and prepare to return stronger.
At one point in Act II, there is a part where you need to defend an area from a large-scale attack. “Oh shit.” I thought, “This is where I may well meet my first roadblock. I hope I saved recently just in case I’m too weak for this.” – Arriving at the front line, I saw an NPC with a marker on the mini-map, speaking to him, well it made me laugh honestly. He essentially told me “If the enemies prove too strong, try going into that cave there and honing your skills while we hold them off” … I’m sorry, what? The front lines of this story-locked battle offer a save point and a dungeon specifically to grind in? Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was able to rest/heal and go back to the nearest store as well, I couldn’t believe it.
This game was made so that it can be played by everyone. And it absolutely can. I would confidently say that the only thing less-experienced players might struggle with is the final-final boss (and the optional post-game bosses ofc, but assuming they’re not here for those anyway), but the final boss of the game can be significantly weakened in 1 turn using a trick that the game teaches you, urges you to do and makes it impossible to miss, so even that battle I’d wager you can manage.
Just to finish up, the game also has settings to adjust the battle speed, whether the score is symphonic or synthetic, the DQ VIII OST is available as well and every single thing I’ve mentioned here can be adjusted at any time, without consequence. (Besides enabling the Draconian Quest modifiers if they’re all disabled at the start)
With all that said, let’s talk about the game itself:
WHAT IS DRAGON QUEST XI S: ECHOES OF AN ELUSIVE AGE?
Dragon Quest XI – as I’m sure you know by now – is a grand open world JRPG adventure, following our Hero in his journey from the small town of Cobblestone as he learns of and fulfils his destiny as the Luminary of Legend. It’s a tale as old as time, and the heads up I gave at the start about common tropes is because, at its very core, the A-plot of the game is somewhat… generic. But with a world this rich of diverse locations, captivating characters and a plethora of really good B-plots and mini-arcs, the main story doesn’t need to be anything else. It’s a vessel. It’s what drives us on our way through the game and provides us all the experiences along the way. That’s not to say that the A-plot doesn’t have its own surprises, some of the biggest story beats left me utterly bewildered. But if you were to summarise it to its most basic form; it’s good guy goes to stop bad guy, init.
So what sets it apart from every other JRPG with this cliché, “fabled hero” premise?
THE PACING.
The pacing of this game, particularly in Act I, is superb. Everything that happens does so at a reasonable scale, every new development that sounds like it may drag proves that expectation wrong, I can’t think of a single moment in Act I where a setting or arc overstayed its welcome. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s rushed either. There are absolutely a couple parts where the task at hand feels like it should have taken longer than it does, or where something that’s needed is just conveniently discovered, but honestly in a game that runs most players around 100 hours or more I really struggle to criticise there being a handful of these moments across all 3 Acts. There are times in Act II or III where an arc or dungeon runs on a little longer than it maybe should, but with these the option to run by enemies and get through them more quickly is available to you anyway (in 3D) so again this is more a comment than a complaint.
THE COMBAT.
The combat system in DQ XI, while simple, is one of the most fun systems I’ve played in a standard turn-based RPG to date. It’s hard to put into words why exactly it feels so good, but the things I think that warrant the most attention are the control you have over the party and just how dynamic everything is (again, in 3D. 2D battles lose a lot of this flare and in my opinion are vastly inferior – but for those who long for the days of old, have at it!) The combat in DQ XI see the party and enemies facing off in a battlefield fitting to the location it was initiated, a ring surrounding them on the ground within which the controlled member can move freely or exit the ring to attempt an escape.
The party can be controlled using either by direct commands or via ‘tactics’, anyone familiar with turn-based combat is surely familiar with these, and the behaviour of any member on the team can be set to anything from the list independently – including the Hero. When playing in 3D, the turns are visually demonstrated in real-time, in that if your party attacks 1 thru 4, you will select and perform the action for each member in that order. If the turn order is Hero > Enemy > Party Member 3 > PM 2 > Enemy > PM 4, you will select the action for each party member on their turn, making it possible to react to the battle as it happens.
(In 2D mode, the actions are all selected at the start of the round, and play out as selected using the turn order, which is obviously harder as it removes this reactive option)
Each party member comes with a variety of skills enabling them to perform actions and wield different weapons to suit, and the beauty of this is that all your equipment can be changed mid-battle on that person’s turn without consequence. Went into a tough fight without a shield? Pop that on as soon as it’s your turn and it won’t cost you a damn thing. Accessibility once again, you can adjust your party on the fly in real time – want to equip a greatsword to use a certain ability and then swap back to a shield while you buff – you can do that!
The combat, like everything else in this game, gives you the tools to play the game the way that you want to. And guess what, those skill points you spent to unlock abilities and strengthen certain branches in an ally’s skill tree? Yeah, you can reset those at any time for so cheap you won’t even notice. Spent 20 levels kitting out Hero as a sword & shield guy but just found a super strong greatsword – refund those skills and get the greatsword branch of the tree filled out, son! This was so useful in helping me adjust my playstyle to certain areas or enemies, or even just to mix up my playstyle and try new things. I’m telling you man the game is for everyone, make it yours.
I would be remiss to discuss the combat without touching on the Pep Powers at least a little. I’ve mentioned briefly how dynamic the combat is in 3D, every attack has an appropriate animation, the characters leap toward the enemy before swinging and leap back after if you’re standing further away, this offers no tactical advantage, but it looks good y’know? It’s so much more engaging than the 2D alternative where you see a flash or a flutter of sparkles across the screen and the enemy sprites flicker. Pep Powers take this to another level, basically being super-moves that can be used when a party member becomes “pepped up”, a status effect that buffs their stats and unlocks said skills. This effect is typically unlocked when taking damage and is most easily acquired by just blocking for a few rounds and tanking a couple blows at reduced damage.
The Pep Powers themselves function similarly to things in other games, the Showtime! Events in Persona 5 Royal for example, or All Out Attacks from the same franchise. They use 2, 3 or 4 members of the party to come together and perform something spectacular. There are LOADS of these skills, bespoke to different characters and combinations of such. Some require only the user to be pepped up while others require all participants to be, it’s insane how much variety there is. Some of them utilise unlocked skills to put enemies to sleep before whacking them, others form great shields around the party, turn a member to steel before launching them at the enemy like a cannonball (and most importantly for those of you hoping to grind levels) massively boost the exp gained from a battle and change the enemies into metal slimes, the rarest monster that reward insane exp even without the previous boost. These all look superb and there are so many I doubt I’ve even seen half of them. In short, the combat just feels amazing and even after 158 hours I could happily spend another 100 fighting with this system. That said, fighting isn’t the only thing you’ll be doing, maybe you’d prefer to get lost in the world and spend more of your time exploring, so how’s that?
THE WORLD.
The world of Dragon Quest XI is just that, a World. In layman’s terms: it’s fucking massive. To put it more poetically: it succeeds in broadening your horizons consistently for the first 2 acts without at any point feeling overwhelming. You start out in a small village, what I like to dub Tutorial Town, it has just enough to teach you the ropes and familiarise you with the game/backstory without overstaying it’s welcome. The first stretch of your journey is to venture out to a major city, a huge deal for you and those around you at the time. The fact you receive a horse to journey on is a ‘wow moment’ for young Hero, horses aren’t needed to get around in Tutorial Village, just how big is the rest of the world? A horse is not the only means of transport you will acquire throughout this game. I wasn’t expecting any of what I got, and each time new places opened up to me I felt a similar sense of awe as in those early moments. “I can go where!?” In hindsight my JRPG knowledge should have prepared me for this, but that’s just how immersed I became in my travels. Hero is – unfortunately – a silent protagonist, but the game often makes up for this by succeeding in making you, the player, fill his shoes. More on this later.
Every new location you explore in Dragon Quest XI feels different to the last. Every town or city has a unique design and architecture, inspired by places in our own world and beautifully crafted and populated just enough to feel alive. There are stalls being tended, children playing hide and seek, men standing on piers contemplating their wasted potential. You’re there, man. You’re in Erdrea, it’s hard not to take it all in. Excitedly searching every house for chests, “reading” the books dotted around to unlock new recipes, searching wardrobes for items or mysterious Mini Medals, what are they for and why do they seem to be locked in so many bedrooms? You’ll find out. Dragon Quest does a fantastic job of creating a world in which the story is occurring, as opposed to creating a world to accommodate the story. The locations are all significant and have their own arcs, but they don’t feel as though they are only there so that the plot can happen, rather the plot is happening around/to them. All this talk of plot and arcs brings me nicely to the next important topic.
THE STORY.
I mentioned earlier that the A-plot in this game, when boiled to bare bones, is somewhat generic. And it is. But the story told throughout, and the smaller stories encountered along the way are what really keep this game interesting (besides the characters of course, but we’ll get to that.)
Every location across Erdrea has its own conflict, each acting as an arc that must be completed before it is possible to proceed to the next. While not all stellar, they all do exactly what they need to in terms of introducing new characters or allies and establishing the “vibe” of the new area and its enemies. The majority of them have ties to party members, giving them a more personal feel, and even those that don’t are able to tell deeply personal stories of characters we barely know and that have no relation to the A-plot, resulting in every step of this long journey feeling fresh and worth caring about. I won’t go into too much detail on this for obvious reasons, but some examples include a prince who has been faking his capabilities, a village using a mural to attract tourists that has a dark turn, and an openly (albeit it isn’t explicitly stated) gay man returning to his hometown and facing someone from his childhood, whom he has been avoiding due to his sexuality. Like I said, this world is real, and so are the people in it.
THE CHARACTERS.
You can’t have a great game without great characters. If a game expects you to spend dozens of hours with its cast, then it’s only fair that you expect said cast to be enjoyable to be around. Given that Dragon Quest follows a typical party structure, how exactly does it make that interesting? Well.
The stand-out in the cast by far is Sylvando, who takes the role of Performer. This court jester-esque circus veteran has enough charm and personality for the whole group. He’s flamboyant, he’s talented, strong, emotional, empathetic, funny and his sense of justice is admirable to say the least. DQ XI would not be the same without him and he’s got two – yes, two - of the most interesting arcs within the game, each wildly different from the other. (Also him being gay isn’t played for laughs and he’s well respected. He is not a caricature.)
The rest of the cast are similarly unique with their own personalities shining through in all the right ways. Veronica is my personal favourite, a bratty know-it-all who’s got more sass than 2B has ass and will make sure everyone you meet knows it. The others vary between being a little close to cliché and really interesting, if only for certain arcs, but I won’t get into those because a lot of what makes these people who they are is related to their arcs and stories. There it is again, right? The characters are real, they’re made of their experiences with the world.
And it doesn’t stop there either, every city or town has its named side characters, even side quests can pump a heavy dose of personality and backstory into a random nobody who just wants you to help them find their son or fix their marriage. There is even a whole-ass town where everyone talks in haiku for…some reason. There are inns being run by kids while their parents are sick, why? I don’t know but I remember it don’t I? It’s the little things.
The characters – bar those who serve only to populate the towns of course – are all, people… Except for Hero, sadly. Almost every step this game suffers from the usual “another party member has announced what to do” or has someone look at you and say “Hm? You’re thinking of doing this, aren’t you?” … Hero works as a great self-insert for the exploration elements of this game, but this whole silent protagonist thing is dated. It’s not the end of the world, I wouldn’t say that it ruins anything per se, but it’s the weakest part of the writing by far, and with characters like Sylv and Veronica by his side it sticks out like a sore thumb.
THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE.
Initially, I had planned to structure this review in the same way as the game, getting the main points out of the way first, and then covering each act for what it is separately without giving away why or how they’re so different. But I’ve talked enough, by this point you’re either sold and are willing to give DQ XI a try, or you hate JRPGs and stopped reading 3,000 words ago – I won’t judge.
Instead, I’d like to summarise how I felt about the Acts briefly and give my thoughts on why I think all three hold up:
This will have the most spoiler-y content, but will still be as vague as humanly possible so that at worst the ‘cliché’ story beats may become apparent
ACT I – The first act is very much an adventure; discovering new places, meeting new people, and learning about what exactly the Luminary of Legend is and what you’re going to need to do. Banish a Dark power to maintain or restore light? Got it. Step 1 is getting to Yggdrasil, lesgo. You reach it, stuff happens, that’s Act I.
ACT II – The second act is also an adventure of sorts but is less about finding the world and more about finding the inner strength of the party. Until now they’d all known the legend and wanted to help, but how exactly will they become what is required to complete such a feat? Act II is the training arc, if you will, but it goes deeper than just punching some slimes and telling yourself you can do this. It’s the slowest of the Acts, but it’s necessary.
ACT III – The final act is the one in which you’ll be doing the most free-roaming, optional quests and bosses and ultimately ‘grinding’ for that super boss at the end. In a way, the world is almost different now, so returning to locations rewards you with new mini-arcs to be done, generally related to the ones before it but met in a new light (poetic, right?) Initially I wasn’t the biggest fan of what this Act serves to do, but by the end I am wholly satisfied by the experience all the same.
Of the three, Act I was my favourite in terms of pacing and discovery, Act II was my favourite in terms of story and characters, and Act III was my favourite in terms of freedom and gameplay. The world is yours to play with, go ham!
THE VERDICT.
Dragon Quest XI is a game like no other. When looked at as a complete package, everything together as one, you can both see and feel the ungodly amount of thought and care than went into creating it. It’s polished beyond belief and literally everything it does just works. As intended. As described.
If you’ve read all this and you still aren’t sure if the game is for you – although honestly, how? lmao - the best thing I can suggest is trying it for yourself because guess what? The game has a free demo on Switch and Playstation, and I believe is available on Gamepass. Just go play it!
I put this title off for years because I couldn’t get over how ridiculous Toriyama’s art style looked to me. I was never into DBZ and the fact half the villagers are just blobs with eyes physically put me off. I persevered and would now go so far as to call this game beautiful. The cutscenes especially are gorgeous. Trust me whatever is putting you off just give it a try. It’s free!
I don’t know if I’ll ever get an experience like this again. I don’t speak lightly when I say that this is far and away one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played. No other game has had me excitedly spam “!!!! The game has [this]!!” or “omg you can do [that]!?” so many times to my girlfriend while playing. Every gripe I take with JRPGs is acknowledged and addressed – with the sole exception being the silent protagonist. It’s amazing. The only reason this game only made #4 in my Top Rated is because FF7R is in a league of its own; with characters, writing and a combat system that are unrivalled to me personally. And because Persona has had such an impossible impact on me with its music, charm, characters, and calendar system that I couldn’t rightfully consider DQ XI to be “more significant” to me personally. But as a game? Oh it’s #2 baby, dare I say it could take #1 if we look at it strictly from a mechanical level.
If you’re a fan of JRPGs, just play it, seriously. You read all this you could’ve been out of Tutorial Village by name, socks blown off already!
And with all that said, thank you for reading this. I hope you got something out of it and look forward to being called a Jade simp in the comments 😊
MISC COMMENTS AND HONOURABLE MENTIONS.
That’s right bitches, I have even more to say!
I’ve rambled enough so I’ll make this more of a list:
- Some armour changes your appearance, appearance can be set without equipping the matching armour, pog.
- The music could definitely afford to be better. I’ve seen complaints that it’s “bad” and idk that I’d go that far but it could use some more unique tracks and more than one combat theme
- The voice acting is great, love me some British and Scottish accents as always. There are some scenes with “singing” that aren’t dubbed which is weird but eh, drop in the pond.
- I experienced no glitches or bugs in my 158 hours of playtime.
- The 2D Tickington side quests are mostly short and pretty easy. They’re related to the previous games and while I haven’t played those to recognise places/people I still enjoyed doing them.
- The platinum requirements for this are not nearly as daunting as they appear, and the final costume for Jade can be cheesed using 2D level select instead of beating the ultra mega fuck-you secret post-game boss.
- That boss can suck my dick.
- Jade is hot.
I love you all thank you for coming to my TED Talk, stay safe and have fun! I’ll see you at the Dragon Quest XII premiere <3
I have a lot to say about this title so for those of you who may not want to read 158 hours’ worth of thoughts, I’ll summarise it briefly here: The gameplay, polish and presentation of Dragon Quest XI is off the charts. Everything works and looks exactly as it should, there are basically no instances where you’ll find yourself against impossible odds or hit a wall of “bullshit”, it just works. It’s also incredibly accessible to players of all preferences and skill-levels, this game was made to be enjoyed by anyone and in my honest opinion, it succeeds. So, let’s get into it a little deeper.
It's worth mentioning that I will not be discussing major spoilers in this review, however if you’re familiar with JRPG or anime tropes/cliches there will be allusions to those which may reveal some minor or incredibly “standard”/expected beats.
Starting off with the first and perhaps most important thing the DQ XI experience offers:
ACCESSIBILTY.
Dragon Quest XI does not come with traditional difficulty options, much like the majority of more classic JRPGs. What it does do, however, is give players several ways to make it easier or harder to fit their own preference. The biggest of these are the “Draconian Quest” options presented upon starting a new game, a list of settings that you can decide before playing if you’d prefer to enable or disable. These include certain challenge modes like No Shopping or No Armour, Reduced Experience, Shypox – a randomly triggered status ailment that embarrasses you/your allies -, and my personal favourite: “Party Wiped Out if Protagonist Perishes”
That’s right. You can disable one of the most frustrating and often merciless features of classic JRPGs. Thank the Gods.
The caveat with these modifiers is that if you disable all of them then you can’t adjust them once you’re in the game, however I believe that anything you enable can be later disabled via a save point without consequence.
This isn’t the only way that DQ XI makes itself more accessible to suit your play style though, oh no. One of the most impressive features of this title is one that honestly didn’t really hit me fully until I’d tried it myself: 2D Mode. The entire game, start to finish, can be played in either a modern 3D style, complete with interactive combat where you can move around the battlefield and watch gorgeous attack animations, or a classic 2D mode, returning to the use of flashing sprites and screen shakes instead. Both modes have redesigned locations to accommodate the dimensions available in each, and my favourite difference between the two: random encounters - or more importantly – lack thereof.
If you prefer the old school 2D sprite-based, synthesised, random-encounter-ridden experience of old JRPGs, you can have that. If you’d rather see the world in beautiful 3D, run around the overworld yourself and be able to actively avoid enemies roaming the lands, you can have that too! The entire. Fecking. Game. Honestly who does that?! Square went above and beyond making the whole game twice just to make sure EVERYONE could enjoy it, it’s absurd and I cannot respect this decision enough.
You can switch between 2D and 3D mode at any time, and if your save file in 3D mode is further along than in 2D, you can select which chapter of the game to pick up from in 2D and just keep going, meaning there is (once again) no consequence for playing around and trying both out. [I’m not certain if the same applies going from 2D to 3D but I would expect so?]
Believe it or not, I’m not done. I mentioned the Draconian Quest difficulty modifiers earlier, and how they can be used to adjust the difficulty of the game from the start/at any time if enabled. But another, more subtle, thing that DQ XI does to ensure no-one gets left behind is giving the player freedom for 99%, if not all, of the game. Let me explain.
I’m sure we’ve all hit walls in games where we get stuck, the boss is simply too hard, our party are under-levelled, poorly equipped, we weren’t prepared to face a challenge and our last save was x amount of time ago. With no other choice, we’re forced to lose progress to train harder and make push any further. This will not happen in Dragon Quest XI, I can guarantee it. You may find a boss you can’t beat, absolutely (although in all honesty this will most likely only be late into Act III when the difficulty is amped up and more things become optional than not,) but you will never be in a position where you can’t just load to right before the fight, go away and prepare to return stronger.
At one point in Act II, there is a part where you need to defend an area from a large-scale attack. “Oh shit.” I thought, “This is where I may well meet my first roadblock. I hope I saved recently just in case I’m too weak for this.” – Arriving at the front line, I saw an NPC with a marker on the mini-map, speaking to him, well it made me laugh honestly. He essentially told me “If the enemies prove too strong, try going into that cave there and honing your skills while we hold them off” … I’m sorry, what? The front lines of this story-locked battle offer a save point and a dungeon specifically to grind in? Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was able to rest/heal and go back to the nearest store as well, I couldn’t believe it.
This game was made so that it can be played by everyone. And it absolutely can. I would confidently say that the only thing less-experienced players might struggle with is the final-final boss (and the optional post-game bosses ofc, but assuming they’re not here for those anyway), but the final boss of the game can be significantly weakened in 1 turn using a trick that the game teaches you, urges you to do and makes it impossible to miss, so even that battle I’d wager you can manage.
Just to finish up, the game also has settings to adjust the battle speed, whether the score is symphonic or synthetic, the DQ VIII OST is available as well and every single thing I’ve mentioned here can be adjusted at any time, without consequence. (Besides enabling the Draconian Quest modifiers if they’re all disabled at the start)
With all that said, let’s talk about the game itself:
WHAT IS DRAGON QUEST XI S: ECHOES OF AN ELUSIVE AGE?
Dragon Quest XI – as I’m sure you know by now – is a grand open world JRPG adventure, following our Hero in his journey from the small town of Cobblestone as he learns of and fulfils his destiny as the Luminary of Legend. It’s a tale as old as time, and the heads up I gave at the start about common tropes is because, at its very core, the A-plot of the game is somewhat… generic. But with a world this rich of diverse locations, captivating characters and a plethora of really good B-plots and mini-arcs, the main story doesn’t need to be anything else. It’s a vessel. It’s what drives us on our way through the game and provides us all the experiences along the way. That’s not to say that the A-plot doesn’t have its own surprises, some of the biggest story beats left me utterly bewildered. But if you were to summarise it to its most basic form; it’s good guy goes to stop bad guy, init.
So what sets it apart from every other JRPG with this cliché, “fabled hero” premise?
THE PACING.
The pacing of this game, particularly in Act I, is superb. Everything that happens does so at a reasonable scale, every new development that sounds like it may drag proves that expectation wrong, I can’t think of a single moment in Act I where a setting or arc overstayed its welcome. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s rushed either. There are absolutely a couple parts where the task at hand feels like it should have taken longer than it does, or where something that’s needed is just conveniently discovered, but honestly in a game that runs most players around 100 hours or more I really struggle to criticise there being a handful of these moments across all 3 Acts. There are times in Act II or III where an arc or dungeon runs on a little longer than it maybe should, but with these the option to run by enemies and get through them more quickly is available to you anyway (in 3D) so again this is more a comment than a complaint.
THE COMBAT.
The combat system in DQ XI, while simple, is one of the most fun systems I’ve played in a standard turn-based RPG to date. It’s hard to put into words why exactly it feels so good, but the things I think that warrant the most attention are the control you have over the party and just how dynamic everything is (again, in 3D. 2D battles lose a lot of this flare and in my opinion are vastly inferior – but for those who long for the days of old, have at it!) The combat in DQ XI see the party and enemies facing off in a battlefield fitting to the location it was initiated, a ring surrounding them on the ground within which the controlled member can move freely or exit the ring to attempt an escape.
The party can be controlled using either by direct commands or via ‘tactics’, anyone familiar with turn-based combat is surely familiar with these, and the behaviour of any member on the team can be set to anything from the list independently – including the Hero. When playing in 3D, the turns are visually demonstrated in real-time, in that if your party attacks 1 thru 4, you will select and perform the action for each member in that order. If the turn order is Hero > Enemy > Party Member 3 > PM 2 > Enemy > PM 4, you will select the action for each party member on their turn, making it possible to react to the battle as it happens.
(In 2D mode, the actions are all selected at the start of the round, and play out as selected using the turn order, which is obviously harder as it removes this reactive option)
Each party member comes with a variety of skills enabling them to perform actions and wield different weapons to suit, and the beauty of this is that all your equipment can be changed mid-battle on that person’s turn without consequence. Went into a tough fight without a shield? Pop that on as soon as it’s your turn and it won’t cost you a damn thing. Accessibility once again, you can adjust your party on the fly in real time – want to equip a greatsword to use a certain ability and then swap back to a shield while you buff – you can do that!
The combat, like everything else in this game, gives you the tools to play the game the way that you want to. And guess what, those skill points you spent to unlock abilities and strengthen certain branches in an ally’s skill tree? Yeah, you can reset those at any time for so cheap you won’t even notice. Spent 20 levels kitting out Hero as a sword & shield guy but just found a super strong greatsword – refund those skills and get the greatsword branch of the tree filled out, son! This was so useful in helping me adjust my playstyle to certain areas or enemies, or even just to mix up my playstyle and try new things. I’m telling you man the game is for everyone, make it yours.
I would be remiss to discuss the combat without touching on the Pep Powers at least a little. I’ve mentioned briefly how dynamic the combat is in 3D, every attack has an appropriate animation, the characters leap toward the enemy before swinging and leap back after if you’re standing further away, this offers no tactical advantage, but it looks good y’know? It’s so much more engaging than the 2D alternative where you see a flash or a flutter of sparkles across the screen and the enemy sprites flicker. Pep Powers take this to another level, basically being super-moves that can be used when a party member becomes “pepped up”, a status effect that buffs their stats and unlocks said skills. This effect is typically unlocked when taking damage and is most easily acquired by just blocking for a few rounds and tanking a couple blows at reduced damage.
The Pep Powers themselves function similarly to things in other games, the Showtime! Events in Persona 5 Royal for example, or All Out Attacks from the same franchise. They use 2, 3 or 4 members of the party to come together and perform something spectacular. There are LOADS of these skills, bespoke to different characters and combinations of such. Some require only the user to be pepped up while others require all participants to be, it’s insane how much variety there is. Some of them utilise unlocked skills to put enemies to sleep before whacking them, others form great shields around the party, turn a member to steel before launching them at the enemy like a cannonball (and most importantly for those of you hoping to grind levels) massively boost the exp gained from a battle and change the enemies into metal slimes, the rarest monster that reward insane exp even without the previous boost. These all look superb and there are so many I doubt I’ve even seen half of them. In short, the combat just feels amazing and even after 158 hours I could happily spend another 100 fighting with this system. That said, fighting isn’t the only thing you’ll be doing, maybe you’d prefer to get lost in the world and spend more of your time exploring, so how’s that?
THE WORLD.
The world of Dragon Quest XI is just that, a World. In layman’s terms: it’s fucking massive. To put it more poetically: it succeeds in broadening your horizons consistently for the first 2 acts without at any point feeling overwhelming. You start out in a small village, what I like to dub Tutorial Town, it has just enough to teach you the ropes and familiarise you with the game/backstory without overstaying it’s welcome. The first stretch of your journey is to venture out to a major city, a huge deal for you and those around you at the time. The fact you receive a horse to journey on is a ‘wow moment’ for young Hero, horses aren’t needed to get around in Tutorial Village, just how big is the rest of the world? A horse is not the only means of transport you will acquire throughout this game. I wasn’t expecting any of what I got, and each time new places opened up to me I felt a similar sense of awe as in those early moments. “I can go where!?” In hindsight my JRPG knowledge should have prepared me for this, but that’s just how immersed I became in my travels. Hero is – unfortunately – a silent protagonist, but the game often makes up for this by succeeding in making you, the player, fill his shoes. More on this later.
Every new location you explore in Dragon Quest XI feels different to the last. Every town or city has a unique design and architecture, inspired by places in our own world and beautifully crafted and populated just enough to feel alive. There are stalls being tended, children playing hide and seek, men standing on piers contemplating their wasted potential. You’re there, man. You’re in Erdrea, it’s hard not to take it all in. Excitedly searching every house for chests, “reading” the books dotted around to unlock new recipes, searching wardrobes for items or mysterious Mini Medals, what are they for and why do they seem to be locked in so many bedrooms? You’ll find out. Dragon Quest does a fantastic job of creating a world in which the story is occurring, as opposed to creating a world to accommodate the story. The locations are all significant and have their own arcs, but they don’t feel as though they are only there so that the plot can happen, rather the plot is happening around/to them. All this talk of plot and arcs brings me nicely to the next important topic.
THE STORY.
I mentioned earlier that the A-plot in this game, when boiled to bare bones, is somewhat generic. And it is. But the story told throughout, and the smaller stories encountered along the way are what really keep this game interesting (besides the characters of course, but we’ll get to that.)
Every location across Erdrea has its own conflict, each acting as an arc that must be completed before it is possible to proceed to the next. While not all stellar, they all do exactly what they need to in terms of introducing new characters or allies and establishing the “vibe” of the new area and its enemies. The majority of them have ties to party members, giving them a more personal feel, and even those that don’t are able to tell deeply personal stories of characters we barely know and that have no relation to the A-plot, resulting in every step of this long journey feeling fresh and worth caring about. I won’t go into too much detail on this for obvious reasons, but some examples include a prince who has been faking his capabilities, a village using a mural to attract tourists that has a dark turn, and an openly (albeit it isn’t explicitly stated) gay man returning to his hometown and facing someone from his childhood, whom he has been avoiding due to his sexuality. Like I said, this world is real, and so are the people in it.
THE CHARACTERS.
You can’t have a great game without great characters. If a game expects you to spend dozens of hours with its cast, then it’s only fair that you expect said cast to be enjoyable to be around. Given that Dragon Quest follows a typical party structure, how exactly does it make that interesting? Well.
The stand-out in the cast by far is Sylvando, who takes the role of Performer. This court jester-esque circus veteran has enough charm and personality for the whole group. He’s flamboyant, he’s talented, strong, emotional, empathetic, funny and his sense of justice is admirable to say the least. DQ XI would not be the same without him and he’s got two – yes, two - of the most interesting arcs within the game, each wildly different from the other. (Also him being gay isn’t played for laughs and he’s well respected. He is not a caricature.)
The rest of the cast are similarly unique with their own personalities shining through in all the right ways. Veronica is my personal favourite, a bratty know-it-all who’s got more sass than 2B has ass and will make sure everyone you meet knows it. The others vary between being a little close to cliché and really interesting, if only for certain arcs, but I won’t get into those because a lot of what makes these people who they are is related to their arcs and stories. There it is again, right? The characters are real, they’re made of their experiences with the world.
And it doesn’t stop there either, every city or town has its named side characters, even side quests can pump a heavy dose of personality and backstory into a random nobody who just wants you to help them find their son or fix their marriage. There is even a whole-ass town where everyone talks in haiku for…some reason. There are inns being run by kids while their parents are sick, why? I don’t know but I remember it don’t I? It’s the little things.
The characters – bar those who serve only to populate the towns of course – are all, people… Except for Hero, sadly. Almost every step this game suffers from the usual “another party member has announced what to do” or has someone look at you and say “Hm? You’re thinking of doing this, aren’t you?” … Hero works as a great self-insert for the exploration elements of this game, but this whole silent protagonist thing is dated. It’s not the end of the world, I wouldn’t say that it ruins anything per se, but it’s the weakest part of the writing by far, and with characters like Sylv and Veronica by his side it sticks out like a sore thumb.
THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE.
Initially, I had planned to structure this review in the same way as the game, getting the main points out of the way first, and then covering each act for what it is separately without giving away why or how they’re so different. But I’ve talked enough, by this point you’re either sold and are willing to give DQ XI a try, or you hate JRPGs and stopped reading 3,000 words ago – I won’t judge.
Instead, I’d like to summarise how I felt about the Acts briefly and give my thoughts on why I think all three hold up:
This will have the most spoiler-y content, but will still be as vague as humanly possible so that at worst the ‘cliché’ story beats may become apparent
ACT I – The first act is very much an adventure; discovering new places, meeting new people, and learning about what exactly the Luminary of Legend is and what you’re going to need to do. Banish a Dark power to maintain or restore light? Got it. Step 1 is getting to Yggdrasil, lesgo. You reach it, stuff happens, that’s Act I.
ACT II – The second act is also an adventure of sorts but is less about finding the world and more about finding the inner strength of the party. Until now they’d all known the legend and wanted to help, but how exactly will they become what is required to complete such a feat? Act II is the training arc, if you will, but it goes deeper than just punching some slimes and telling yourself you can do this. It’s the slowest of the Acts, but it’s necessary.
ACT III – The final act is the one in which you’ll be doing the most free-roaming, optional quests and bosses and ultimately ‘grinding’ for that super boss at the end. In a way, the world is almost different now, so returning to locations rewards you with new mini-arcs to be done, generally related to the ones before it but met in a new light (poetic, right?) Initially I wasn’t the biggest fan of what this Act serves to do, but by the end I am wholly satisfied by the experience all the same.
Of the three, Act I was my favourite in terms of pacing and discovery, Act II was my favourite in terms of story and characters, and Act III was my favourite in terms of freedom and gameplay. The world is yours to play with, go ham!
THE VERDICT.
Dragon Quest XI is a game like no other. When looked at as a complete package, everything together as one, you can both see and feel the ungodly amount of thought and care than went into creating it. It’s polished beyond belief and literally everything it does just works. As intended. As described.
If you’ve read all this and you still aren’t sure if the game is for you – although honestly, how? lmao - the best thing I can suggest is trying it for yourself because guess what? The game has a free demo on Switch and Playstation, and I believe is available on Gamepass. Just go play it!
I put this title off for years because I couldn’t get over how ridiculous Toriyama’s art style looked to me. I was never into DBZ and the fact half the villagers are just blobs with eyes physically put me off. I persevered and would now go so far as to call this game beautiful. The cutscenes especially are gorgeous. Trust me whatever is putting you off just give it a try. It’s free!
I don’t know if I’ll ever get an experience like this again. I don’t speak lightly when I say that this is far and away one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played. No other game has had me excitedly spam “!!!! The game has [this]!!” or “omg you can do [that]!?” so many times to my girlfriend while playing. Every gripe I take with JRPGs is acknowledged and addressed – with the sole exception being the silent protagonist. It’s amazing. The only reason this game only made #4 in my Top Rated is because FF7R is in a league of its own; with characters, writing and a combat system that are unrivalled to me personally. And because Persona has had such an impossible impact on me with its music, charm, characters, and calendar system that I couldn’t rightfully consider DQ XI to be “more significant” to me personally. But as a game? Oh it’s #2 baby, dare I say it could take #1 if we look at it strictly from a mechanical level.
If you’re a fan of JRPGs, just play it, seriously. You read all this you could’ve been out of Tutorial Village by name, socks blown off already!
And with all that said, thank you for reading this. I hope you got something out of it and look forward to being called a Jade simp in the comments 😊
MISC COMMENTS AND HONOURABLE MENTIONS.
That’s right bitches, I have even more to say!
I’ve rambled enough so I’ll make this more of a list:
- Some armour changes your appearance, appearance can be set without equipping the matching armour, pog.
- The music could definitely afford to be better. I’ve seen complaints that it’s “bad” and idk that I’d go that far but it could use some more unique tracks and more than one combat theme
- The voice acting is great, love me some British and Scottish accents as always. There are some scenes with “singing” that aren’t dubbed which is weird but eh, drop in the pond.
- I experienced no glitches or bugs in my 158 hours of playtime.
- The 2D Tickington side quests are mostly short and pretty easy. They’re related to the previous games and while I haven’t played those to recognise places/people I still enjoyed doing them.
- The platinum requirements for this are not nearly as daunting as they appear, and the final costume for Jade can be cheesed using 2D level select instead of beating the ultra mega fuck-you secret post-game boss.
- That boss can suck my dick.
- Jade is hot.
I love you all thank you for coming to my TED Talk, stay safe and have fun! I’ll see you at the Dragon Quest XII premiere <3
Uncharted 4 is a near perfect end to the series. The three games before it all led to this, and its a very satisfying conclusion. The story is great and it is very fun to play, there's not really much more you could ask from a game.
Firstly I really love the story in this. There are a lot of parallels between Nate, his brother Sam and the antagonist Rafe as well as the story of Libertalia - a long lost pirate utopia - and how obsession and greed can cause you to lose sight of what's really important. Uncharted has never been known for great villains, but I think Rafe is undeniably the most compelling one, even if in the end he's a bit underused. Nadine is also quite the badass, and I look forward to seeing more of her again when I replay Lost Legacy. Sully makes yet another return, and while I wish he was in the games more than he is, he's still one of the most lovable old bastards in gaming. The addition of Sam is great, it does lead to a few inconsistencies from previous games but him and Nate play off of each other very well. But what really sells this game for me is the relationship between Nate and Elena. Its been a budding on again off again thing across the series, but now they're married and attempting to lead a simple life. The interactions between them are fantastic, and the exploration of who they are, through their highs and lows is what makes this game so good for me as well as such a fitting conclusion especially with its wholesome ending. This is all brought together because of the really incredible performances by the entire cast across the board. The attention to detail and facial expressions add so much. The graphics are beautiful and help bring each character to life, while still sticking to the charm of the older games. Naughty dog is always great at writing banter and I think the dialogue in this is their best work yet, even moreso than The Last of Us, but some times when characters don't say a thing at all is when they say the most, which again is just another testament to the quality and care put in by everyone involved. Impressive all around, zero complaints in this department.
The gameplay is a big improvement too. I never had any problems with the shooting in this series but most can agree its a step up from the original trilogy. The melee combat in this compared to what they tried to introduce in 3 is like comparing getting fucked in the ass to getting fucked in the ass with lube. Its a night and day difference, and even if its not always viable it just feels so much better. They also do what every good sequel should do, and add in a grappling hook which adds both to standard traversal and combat. There's also a lot less linearity in this game that the others. There's a lot to explore, and quite a few open ended levels that are a good change of pace. There's also the return of the outright fantastic set-pieces the series is known for, and In my opinion the entirety of Chapter 12 is the absolute best part of the series. It showcases all of Uncharted's strengths and is a joy to play the whole way through, even ending with a fantastic story beat contrasting all the fun you just had. Anyone wants to know what this series is all about, show them that sequence.
Alas, as every game goes, it is not perfect. There are a few things that drag this game down. The climbing is fun for the most part, but there are a few chapters, namely the one taking place in Scotland that just go on way too fucking long. There's always great banter between characters, and the long segments are usually rewarded with a fun action set piece, but there is at least 3 or 4 sections in this game where you do nothing but climbing or puzzling for entirely too long, and instead of helping the pacing like it should it destroys it. I don't know why these sections are so long, it's one of the only things that stops this game from being perfect in my eyes. Adding onto this is just the sheer abundance of collectibles. If you like getting trophies like I do, I implore you to not bother looking at the trophy list until you've finished your first playthrough. This game has a legitimately absurd amount of collectibles that if you go out of your way for will make the slow moments of this feel like an eternity.
Despite a few complaints, I hope this review gives a good idea bout the overall quality of everything about this. No game is without its flaws, but Uncharted 4 more than makes up for that.
Playthrough Time - 12 hours 4 minutes
Nancymeter - 95/100
Game Completion #101 of 2022
August completion #21
Firstly I really love the story in this. There are a lot of parallels between Nate, his brother Sam and the antagonist Rafe as well as the story of Libertalia - a long lost pirate utopia - and how obsession and greed can cause you to lose sight of what's really important. Uncharted has never been known for great villains, but I think Rafe is undeniably the most compelling one, even if in the end he's a bit underused. Nadine is also quite the badass, and I look forward to seeing more of her again when I replay Lost Legacy. Sully makes yet another return, and while I wish he was in the games more than he is, he's still one of the most lovable old bastards in gaming. The addition of Sam is great, it does lead to a few inconsistencies from previous games but him and Nate play off of each other very well. But what really sells this game for me is the relationship between Nate and Elena. Its been a budding on again off again thing across the series, but now they're married and attempting to lead a simple life. The interactions between them are fantastic, and the exploration of who they are, through their highs and lows is what makes this game so good for me as well as such a fitting conclusion especially with its wholesome ending. This is all brought together because of the really incredible performances by the entire cast across the board. The attention to detail and facial expressions add so much. The graphics are beautiful and help bring each character to life, while still sticking to the charm of the older games. Naughty dog is always great at writing banter and I think the dialogue in this is their best work yet, even moreso than The Last of Us, but some times when characters don't say a thing at all is when they say the most, which again is just another testament to the quality and care put in by everyone involved. Impressive all around, zero complaints in this department.
The gameplay is a big improvement too. I never had any problems with the shooting in this series but most can agree its a step up from the original trilogy. The melee combat in this compared to what they tried to introduce in 3 is like comparing getting fucked in the ass to getting fucked in the ass with lube. Its a night and day difference, and even if its not always viable it just feels so much better. They also do what every good sequel should do, and add in a grappling hook which adds both to standard traversal and combat. There's also a lot less linearity in this game that the others. There's a lot to explore, and quite a few open ended levels that are a good change of pace. There's also the return of the outright fantastic set-pieces the series is known for, and In my opinion the entirety of Chapter 12 is the absolute best part of the series. It showcases all of Uncharted's strengths and is a joy to play the whole way through, even ending with a fantastic story beat contrasting all the fun you just had. Anyone wants to know what this series is all about, show them that sequence.
Alas, as every game goes, it is not perfect. There are a few things that drag this game down. The climbing is fun for the most part, but there are a few chapters, namely the one taking place in Scotland that just go on way too fucking long. There's always great banter between characters, and the long segments are usually rewarded with a fun action set piece, but there is at least 3 or 4 sections in this game where you do nothing but climbing or puzzling for entirely too long, and instead of helping the pacing like it should it destroys it. I don't know why these sections are so long, it's one of the only things that stops this game from being perfect in my eyes. Adding onto this is just the sheer abundance of collectibles. If you like getting trophies like I do, I implore you to not bother looking at the trophy list until you've finished your first playthrough. This game has a legitimately absurd amount of collectibles that if you go out of your way for will make the slow moments of this feel like an eternity.
Despite a few complaints, I hope this review gives a good idea bout the overall quality of everything about this. No game is without its flaws, but Uncharted 4 more than makes up for that.
Playthrough Time - 12 hours 4 minutes
Nancymeter - 95/100
Game Completion #101 of 2022
August completion #21