Was Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition Worth It?

Today we’re looking at the most recent entry in one of the original trailblazers of the JRPG genre: Dragon Quest. Was Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition worth it? Get ready for a plethora of puns as we recruit a party and smash some slimes on our way to defeat the final boss!

Background

The Dragon Quest series is quite venerable at this point, with the first entry coming out in 1986. The series really helped cement a lot of JRPG conventions that we still see to this day. It’s had some troubles coming overseas, and it’s a shame that many of the titles have been relatively inaccessible to Western audiences. I myself have been negatively affected by this, because I was a huge fan of the monster-taming spinoffs.

Where was Dragon Quest 10?

You may recall that for a while, MMORPGs were the big thing, and every game company wanted to have the next World of Warcraft or Everquest. Dragon Quest X was an MMORPG released exclusively in Japan, but they did eventually relax the international restrictions on the game. There’s an offline version of Dragon Quest X coming soon, but no telling as to whether it’ll come stateside.

What does it do well?

I have to commend the game for the monster design. While many of the models do get recycled, there’s still so much personality with the enemies that I just enjoyed watching the animations play out during battle.

I also especially liked the skill system. You are able to buy most of each character’s skills without excessive grinding, and picking up new skills feels meaningful. Being able to respec for a little bit of gold is great, especially when trying new builds, such as when you get new weapons. There’s also a ton of stuff to do, so if you enjoy the gameplay loop then you’re in good hands.

There are no random encounters (monsters are visible on the map and can be avoided or run over). However, if you ignore the mobs, you’re going to end up underleveled and that’s not going to be fun when you run into some bosses. Keep that in mind.

What could it do better?

There’s a point where the plot just falls apart. I’ve seen the essays that DQ Stans have written to defend it, but I’m not on Square-Enix’s payroll, so I’ll call it out for what it is: padding. There’s a point where the game could have ended, but they drag it on for quite a bit longer.

I would also highly suggest that you use the Japanese dub option. The English voice acting made me envy the deaf.

Is it fun?

I put a bit over a hundred hours into this game and was pretty close to 100% completion when I eventually put it down. The game doesn’t ask very much of you, and it’s very easy to play while doing anything else; it’s the RPG equivalent of background noise.

Value?

You’ll definitely get your time in with this one. The game keeps you on a steady drip feed of things to do and it’s easy to gradually progress. As I said earlier, it’s easy to play this game while essentially being on autopilot. What will probably eventually happen is, like me, you’ll suddenly look at your playtime and be like “wow, do I really want to keep going?”

Was Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition Worth It?

It’s not a bad game by any stretch. It has an acceptable level of polish and is somewhat enjoyable. However, this is also one of the most by-the-numbers games I’ve seen. It almost feels as if they had a list of genre conventions and they had to check every box. Here’s the upshot: this game has been out for a while. You can currently get it for around $32 for the PS4 or Xbox One. The Switch version costs a bit more, but that’s the Switch Tax for you. There’s no DLC, so the cost is all up front. There is a very robust demo that is worth checking out if you’re on the fence.

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