Ever since I first played Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2, I’ve wanted to get more into
the series.
Here was this long-running JRPG that was so mythical that rumors abounded of Japanese
society essentially shutting down just to play a new game on release day.
And yet, despite owning every game in the series, I’ve only had the time to beat the
original on NES and IX on the DS.
But the moment I saw Dragon Quest XI, I could sense that it was something special.
It felt like an event, a statement that the series deserved the attention of Western audiences.
And it’s my hope that the release of the game on Switch as Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive
Edition finally makes that happen.
Make no mistake, XI S is the version that you should play as it takes time to add fun
extras, new story content, and quality of life improvements that significantly cut down
on any hassle the original release might have had.
Dragon Quest XI S is a story that thrives on the player’s familiarity with classic
tropes.
You are a young man with a great destiny, the reincarnated Luminary, who is said to
be humanity’s hope against the rise of the dark lord.
And yet not all is as it seems as the nearby kingdom of Heliodor has instead labeled you
as the Darkspawn, the one who signals the return of the dark lord.
Without you, evil would never rise up so all the better to get rid of this so-called hero
before that could happen.
Now, instead of being greeted as a savior, you and a rag-tag group who still believe
in the Luminary must stay one step ahead of Heliodor while searching for some way to stop
the coming of the dark lord.
It purposefully comes across as a simple story if only to play with those expectations.
There are so many twists and turns that left me sitting in stunned silence with my mouth
agape.
Dragon Quest XI S is beautifully told but that story wouldn’t hit me nearly as hard
if it wasn’t for the characters, and this could be one of the best casts I’ve ever
experienced.
Their personalities shine through every scene and raise up an already great tale.
As I played, I wanted to know more about each of them.
And then I wanted to see how they would react to every new situation.
Eventually, I just wanted to see them happy.
The connection I felt while playing is something I rarely see in RPGs outside of the known
classics.
And this doesn’t just apply to the characters in your party, but many of the side characters
as well.
Dragon Quest XI S had me tearing up over a character that I had only known for maybe
five minutes.
It got me emotional again over a side story that had little to do with the main plot.
But it pulled me in each and every time.
I
can hardly think of a character I didn’t like, and the way the game goes after your
heartstrings is devastating at times.
What’s all the more impressive is that there’s a sense of grand adventure, fun, and humor
that permeates the game.
It put me at ease every time I played which made the darker elements hit all the more.
And there are some truly brutal events that take place.
I could recommend Dragon Quest XI S on the story alone, but how does it play?
Well, in a word, it’s classic.
There’s no grand alteration to a formula to make it feel fresh.
And that’s not a knock against it.
It’s a turn-based RPG where each character performs an action while standing in line.
It is possible to move around during combat, but this is only for show.
Characters can be given basic tactics to make the action more streamlined or the player
can take full control themselves and select every order.
Combat can be sped up in the options as well if you want to get moving.
As your party fights, they’ll gain levels, grow stronger, and gain new abilities and
magic.
In the grand scheme, combat is kept simple and straightforward, at least compared to
the more complicated systems on display in other modern RPGs.
However, that doesn’t mean Dragon Quest XI S lacks complexity or is boring.
Far from it.
Each character brings something new to the table whether it’s Erik’s traps and status
effects, Sylvando’s charming abilities, or Jade’s martial arts.
Every party member feels unique and useful making it so that no matter how they’re
combined, a viable strategy is possible.
And the party can even be switched out at any time during battle with the sacrifice
of a turn if you feel a certain character’s abilities would be more apt for the situation.
Or perhaps someone got knocked out and rather than attempting to revive them, you simply
switch out their body.
Even if your entire party is wiped out, the back-up members will step in for a possible
comeback which did help me tremendously on one occasion.
The fact that the back-up members earn experience when not in active battle means that every
character is viable at all times, as long as you keep them well-equipped.
Supporting this idea is the Character Builder.
With each level gained, Skill Points are earned and can be spent for new Abilities, Spells,
and even stat boosts.
What makes this more satisfying is how the Builder is laid out.
Each character has several things they excel at and it’s up to the player to decide what
style works best for them.
Do you want Erik using Swords or Boomerangs instead of Knives?
It’s completely possible.
And the more you focus on just one, the stronger those Abilities can be, with some of the later
examples being absolutely devastating.
But even within those tracks, there are decisions to be made as hidden skills need to be surrounded
on four sides to reveal what’s beneath.
It all leads to a level of customization that feels entirely your own.
Your style will shine through and make each fight feel that much more satisfying.
And if you ever end up unsatisfied, you can redistribute your points at any time for a
small fee at any save point.
I truly love this system as I could look ahead, decide what skills I wanted, and work toward
that goal.
Each level felt like more than just getting better stats.
It was progress toward my ideal version of my party.
These abilities also tie into the Pep system.
As your party takes damage, they can potentially enter a state known as being Pepped Up, making
them glow blue.
This increases their stats in several areas unique to that character.
So while Erik will see an increase in deftness to make stealing easier, Veronica will get
a boost in Magic Might to make her spells more powerful.
This status lasts several turns and even across fights.
But it also ties into a choice as the characters have Pep Powers, which are extremely potent
abilities that range from increasing characters’ stats, putting ailments on enemy monsters,
or just a more powerful attack.
Some can be used alone while others need 2 or more party members to also be in a Pep
state.
While Pep can’t be relied on for every battle, it does change up the tactics when they do
become available.
Each character has a certain Pep Power with the others leading me to consider my party
make-up if I wanted to use my favorites.
In addition, new Pep Powers could become available by unlocking certain skills in the Character
Builder, which are also labeled.
I enjoyed having to consider keeping the stat boost over immediately going for a Pep Power.
Or having one character Pepped Up and agonizingly hoping more would join so I could use a Power.
It’s a dynamic that’s not overbearing but kept me invested throughout my playtime.
And the animations are just plain fun.
When it comes to battle, that’s really about it.
And that’s all it needs to be.
While few fights rarely present much of a challenge, I still enjoyed each one.
Part of that likely comes down to the monster design.
Each creature is filled with personality whether old or new and seeing them all became a source
of joy for me.
It’s made all the better with the lack of random battles which allowed me to challenge
the new monsters and safely avoid the rest.
In fact, I rarely, if ever, needed to grind which allowed me to focus more on exploration.
The world of Erdrea is vast and beautiful with so many different locations to discover.
And you are encouraged to explore as there’s hidden chests to find and materials to collect
which tie into a major mini-game, the Fun-Size Forge.
Here players can use gathered materials to craft better weapons, armor, and accessories,
as long as you have the right recipe.
So you better explore to find those recipes because a lot of the equipment that can be
built is better than what can be found in the shops.
But it’s not as simple as popping in the materials and getting a new item.
You have to actually use the Forge.
This entails striking squares in order to fill a bar to a specific point.
Get it within range and the item will be ready.
But you only have so much focus and each strike costs this focus meaning that the squares
have to be filled within a limit.
As you progress in the game, more focus is provided along with specialized flourishes
that cost extra focus but could help fill multiple bars or do a double-strength hit.
It’s surprisingly satisfying especially since doing well will provide even better
versions of that item.
So you could buy a new copper sword or you could forge one and do well enough that it’s
a plus 2 sword, making it even more powerful.
And most items can be reworked with the forge and special perfectionist pearls in another
attempt to improve them further, even with items you’ve bought in a store.
While the Fun-Size Forge was incredibly useful and fun in the original release, Dragon Quest
XI S improves upon it immensely thanks to two new features.
The first is that the forge can be used anywhere, not just at campsites.
This cuts down on back-tracking immensely and allows you to try newly found recipes
immediately.
It is a massive time saver and so is the other new feature, buying the materials you don’t
own.
No longer do you have to trek to a town and buy the materials there.
Now, as long as a shop containing them is available, the necessary materials can be
purchased directly at the Forge.
The feature was fun before, but these improvements made it so I barely ever considered just buying
a new weapon.
This of course brings up the other changes made for Dragon Quest XI S. There are cosmetic
elements such party members following behind you in the overworld as well as the new Photo
Mode that can be activated at any time, allowing you to pose the characters in your party however
you want.
There’s also new story elements that help flesh out certain moments and make them stronger
for it.
But the biggest inclusion has to be the new 2D Mode.
The entirety of Dragon Quest XI S can be played like an old school SNES game, and it looks
great, really capturing the sprite work of each of the characters and locations.
Pre-rendered cutscenes appear as normal, but every in-game moment is recreated otherwise.
And the battle system is slightly changed to reflect this.
Rather than every character performing their action individually, meaning it’s performed
immediately, the player selects all of their actions from the beginning, and they play
out according to each character’s speed.
This means it’s possible to try and heal a party member only for them to be knocked
out before the healing is performed.
It’s an old-school style to be sure, and better recommended for fans nostalgic for
that era or a second playthrough.
It’s possible to switch between 2D and 3D mode at any time via a save point, but it’s
not an immediate change.
Instead, you’ll begin in the last story section you selected and will have to play
from that point.
Earlier moments can be chosen as well and all of your levels, items, money, and equipment
will carry over.
Only key items that weren’t acquired at point are left behind.
It’s a neat idea and worth trying, but I got my fill of the new 2D Mode during my playthrough
thanks to the addition of Tickington.
At a certain point in the game, players will meet a creature known as a Tockle, where they’ll
be transported to their 2D village of Tickington.
Here players are instructed to repair the timelines of 10 special books, namely the
10 previous Dragon Quest games.
In order to do this, you have to find the Tockles spread around Erdrea who will provide
a pastword, unlocking one of the chapters of the books.
And this feature is simply a treat.
There is so much love in returning to these past areas where I met surprising characters
and had fun with how the monsters were trying to change history.
While sometimes it involved navigating dungeons, there were other quests that required items
from the main game or from other Dragon Quest worlds.
It created more connective tissue than I ever expected and while the 2D gameplay could be
tougher, I delighted in seeing how they played out.
There’s just enough information provided that new players will understand the context,
but longtime fans will appreciate the references way more.
Still, it was one of my favorite aspects of Dragon Quest XI S.
It needs to be said that the game looks gorgeous on the Nintendo Switch.
While it has seen a slight visual downgrade from the PS4 release in terms of sharpness,
the artstyle shines through, and it seems very few corners had to be cut.
Sometimes characters and monsters will phase in, but the vistas are still striking and
the characters pop.
The only major hiccup I noticed were party members getting shifted awkwardly during battle
due to bumping into the monsters running animation.
And that happened maybe twice in my 75+ hours of gameplay.
It feels like black magic that the game can look this good with extra content and still
run perfectly fine.
And then there’s the sound design.
The voice acting is top-notch across the board with Sylvando being an obvious standout.
But the fiery Veronica and lovable Rab hold their own as well.
There’s so much personality and life given to these characters and the performances are
a big reason I got so emotional at key moments.
They added that extra punch to make it all the better.
But it’s the music that received the biggest facelift.
Gone are the midi tracks that left a blemish on previous versions.
Symphonic arrangements have been included and are a massive upgrade to what came before.
The original tracks can be selected in the menu, but I never bothered.
Finally, this fantastic soundtrack can be shown off in its full glory, and there are
so many great themes.
It really does lift up the entire package.
Plus all the previous Dragon Quest areas in Tickington come with their classic music.
It’s an audio treat.
Dragon Quest XI S is everything I hoped it would be and so much more.
The story is phenomenal, the characters are great, the combat is simple yet engaging,
it looks gorgeous and sounds luscious.
There’s a charm to the game that enchanted me from the beginning and carried me through
to the end.
Except it wasn’t the end, not really.
There’s a postgame I’ve barely touched that may as well serve as another act to the
story.
It’s unexpected and exciting because I was truly sad when realized I was nearing the
end.
I just didn’t want it to stop.
Playing Dragon Quest XI S made me actively happier and improved my mood even if I was
having a bad day.
Really.
It was that engaging.
I just couldn’t stop playing.
And I can’t wait to keep playing.
If it’s not obvious by now, I love Dragon Quest XI S. It has become my favorite game
on the Nintendo Switch and is a must play for any RPG fan out there.
This is a modern masterpiece and is sure to be upheld as a classic in its own right in
the future.
It’s more than time for Dragon Quest to receive the love it deserves in the West.
And you will be trying it, right?
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