Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
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| ♥ | This article is dedicated to Akira Toriyama (April 5, 1955-March 1, 2024), the original artist for the series, also well-known for Dragon Ball, Dr.Slump, etc. This is also the last mainline Dragon Quest game released prior to his death. |
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 Awaken your power and protect the land!
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Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age[1] is a role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix on the Nintendo 3DS, Playstation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Stadia. It is the eleventh main instalment in the Dragon Quest series.
Plot
Long ago, the kingdom of Dundrasil was destroyed by monsters born from the dark. The only survivor was a young boy whose mother sacrificed herself to bring him to safety. This boy, the prince of Dundrasil, was adopted by Amber, an innkeeper in the village of Cobblestone. On his 16th birthday, a mysterious mark appears on his hand, revealing his true identity as the Luminary, the reincarnation of a hero who saved the world in the past. Amber tells the Luminary to speak to the king of the nearby city of Heliodor to discover more about his true identity and his duties as a hero. Upon arriving in town, however, the King believes him to be a Darkspawn, and orders his bodyguard Sir Hendrick to lock him into a prison. In the prison, the Luminary meets a thief named Erik, who helps him return to Cobblestone, which was razed by the Heliodorian army as a reprisal for housing the Darkspawn. The two set out in search of answers about all these mysteries, such as the Luminary's past, the nature of the Darkspawn and the contrast between the two.
Why This Game Goes Forth with a Determination
- The battle system here uses the traditional turn-based system Dragon Quest is known for. It adds a free-form camera option that can allow players to move around the battlefield. There are also some new additions to the battle system.
- Players can attack a monster on the overworld by sneaking up on them thus causing some damage.
- The text showing the monster's name will change color depending on the HP.
- Experience points are awarded to all characters who are alive during battle.
- When leveling up, your HP and MP are restored.
- The main character will be revived with on HP after battle if he perishes
- During combat, players can get pepped up which increases their stats. When more than one party member is pepped up, they can work together to unleash a collaborative attack called pep powers. For instance, Blight of the Living Dead requires both Eleven and Serena
- You can switch between 2D and 3D art styles on the 3DS version and the Switch version. The 3D style is basically the typical 3D that you would find in this game (simple right) while the 2D style is more closer to the sprite-based design found in older Dragon Quest games like the SNES version of Dragon Quest 3.
- The story is incredible in that it can be comparable to that of a book or novel. It knows when to be serious and when to be lighthearted at given times. Do expect some beautiful moments and heart seen in the story.
- The graphics in this game (especially the home console versions) are very beautiful and impressive to look at. The game's visuals can be compared to that of an animated film like somewhere around Pixar levels. The cutscenes are a good example of this. Just think how great it is to move around in the world of Erdrea!
- A cast of interesting characters. Why don't we introduced them like this? Though let's just mention some (if not all) of the characters you will meet.
- Eleven aka The Luminary - This is the main character of the game who happens to be a young man from Cobblestone. He's more of a traditional silent protagonist.
- Erik - He's a thief that while his appearance may say otherwise, his personality is loyal enough to be a good friend. He even abandons his life of crime. Also, he's got a good motto in the form of "tomorrow is another day".
- Veronica - A mage prodigy who while she may be abrasive to the point of clashing with others, at least does have a kind heart and does care about Serena. Also, she will stand up to anyone!
- Serena - This young woman is a kind and compassionate lady who has good use of healing magic and the lyre. She believes that she should "always keep the sun in your heart". Also has keen sense.
- Sylvando - A traveling performer who is flamboyant. He dreams of building a theater of his own to make people all around the world smile. Surprisingly enough, he knows quite a bit about knighthood and chivalry. Didn't we forget to mention that he's an entertaining character!
- Jade - A beautiful and attractive martial artist who is dedicated enough to protecting Eleven no matter what. Also soft-spoken towards others and would quickly become friendly with the party.
- Rab - An elderly former king of Dundrasil who is a jolly old man that keeps a positive attitude despite his tragedies. He rarely loses his temper with anyone and is a grandfather figure to the party members. He's just determined enough to save the world from the forces of evil as the rest of his companions.
- Hendrik - This general used to antagonize Eleven and his traveling companions early, but eventually has a change of heart thus joining the party.
- Cities and kingdoms that are based on real-world European nations make a grand return to this game since Dragon Quest III. For instance, Heliodor is the classic British European area while Gondolia resembles Italy.
- Fun-size forge is a new feature that is just an overhaul of the alchemy system from Dragon Quest VII: Journey of the Cursed King. Rather than just recycling older items, weapons, and armor to make new gear, forging allows the players to refine existing armaments and items in order to make more potent versions that have greater stats and effects.
- Camping is completely new in this game. This serves as a rest stop for your party members. Players use this camp to speak to their allies, use the Fun-size forge, reallocate skill points, and merchants.
- Lots of side quests in the game. While optional, the side quests will give you a task for a client. Once you complete the side quest, you will get rewards like the sleeping hibiscus for instance.
- Character building is implemented in this game. Players can use skill points to teach their party members new abilities and improve their attributes. Should you unlock a particular panel, the ones surrounding it will become available as an expansion for further options. Each character has different skills they can follow.
- The main game takes roughly around 50 hours to complete so that's a long time. Complete all the side activities? Well, that be around 100.
- Voice acting is top-notch in both the English and Japanese versions. The English version uses voice actors from the United Kingdom like Rasmus Hardiker, Gunnar Cauthery, Lauren Coe, Jessica Clark, Shai Matheson, Alex Norton, Laura Aikman, John Hopkins, etc.
- Soundtrack is great to listen to during gameplay. This is expected from Dragon Quest. It will get better when you have the soundtrack in orchestra mode instead of MIDI mode. The OST can range from pleasing to being epic.
- There is an optional feature called Draconian Quest. 8 are in this game which can allow players to add restrictions to the core gameplay if they wanted the game to be harder. The challenges here consists of not being able to flee from battle, not getting armor, reduced experience from easy fights, super-strong enemies, shopping being non-existent, the party members doing things out of the player's control (Shypox/super shypox), NPCs telling lies, and the party being wiped out if the main character perishes.
- You can still remove them during gameplay. It won't be added back but it depends on how you feel about this challenge.
- Since the game is the 30th-anniversary title of the franchise, it has a lot of callbacks to the previous games. For example, the Six Orbs from Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation play a role in the game's story. Here are some other examples:
- Robbin' 'Ood and his henchmen reappear as a side boss.
- Time travel (which was significant in V, VII, and X) returns in the story.
- After the credits, the game shows a scene where a mother is going to the room of her child from her bed as a nod to Dragon Quest III.
- The Abominable Showman makes a return to the game as an opponent in a martial arts competition. The only difference is that it's a pro wrestler instead of a yeti.
- On the Switch and 3DS versions of the game, Echo Chamber is featured in this game where it allows players to travel to the worlds of past games for additional adventures.
- Jade's and Rab's portrayal in the game appear to take inspiration from two other characters. For Jade, she takes a page from Alena from Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen only with a different personality. Rab's portrayal is similar to Pankraz from Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride since both characters are former kings while the hero of their respective worlds is their grandson.
- The main character is given the title of "Erdrick" as an honor for defeating Calasmos. This is a title mentioned in the series.
- In order for the game to get more recognition in the west (as well as the entire Dragon Quest franchise). We did get things like refined camera control, redesigned menus, voiced English dialogue, and 4K resolution.
- The PS4 version of the game has a special version in the form of Edition of Lost Time. One of the items you will get will be bonus in-game items. How cool is that!
- Costume customization for your part members exists, trough some costumes are exclusive to XI S: Definitive Edition.
- A cluster of bosses like Avarith, End of Time, King of Metal King Slimes, Calasmos, Zomaiden, Jarvis, Nimclops, Orgodelotl, Psaroid, Wyrmalroth, Tweedledoom and Tweedledeath, Hunkorvus, and Mordegon
- Definitive Edition later got released for this game. It combines the features found in the 3DS and the original PS4/PC version. Added new features and improvements like photo mode, the addition of cosmetic outfits that are separate from equipment, being able to skip cutscenes, improved lighting, choosing between orchestral and MIDI ost, option to pick between English and Japanese voiceovers, marriage and partner options, additional story content, new mountable monsters, etc.
- It also has a DLC called Champion's Pack which includes five sets of items that will aid and customize your quest. It's free for goodness' sake!
Bad Qualities
- The free-form camera is mostly used for visuals and does not provide benefits for gameplay.
- The 3DS version is only exclusive to Japan, due to a controversy involving both Square Enix and Nintendo.
- Definitive Edition did remove some things like the crossbow minigame from the original (the crossbow itself remains) or the first-person camera feature being removed.
- Framerate is stable, but large numbers of enemies can make it slow down.
- While the soundtrack is good, the non-orchestrated MIDI ost does feel odd with the game's visuals. Though the orchestral soundtrack was later included in Definitive Edition and there is a mod in the Windows version that replaces the MIDI music with existing orchestral recordings.
- While draconian Quest may be available from the start, it's best not to play it during the first playthrough due to the challenges.
- Once you removed a Draconian Quest during gameplay, you can't add it back. In order to get it back, you need to start a new file.
- The 2D version did had drastic changes that might throw off those who are used to the 3D version like not being able to run over enemies on your horse, treasures and other items being at different locations, Zoom/Chimarea wings only being used outdoors, not being able to use Zoom to dungeons or campsites, etc.
- The original version of the game did lack some things Definitive Edition had.
Reception
The game was well received by critics due to the story, characters, narrative, combat, visuals, and localization. The PS4 and PC versions got generally favorable reviews with the Definitive Edition version of the games gotten "universal acclaim". USgamer gave the game a full 5 stars while Game Informer gave the game an 8.25/10. It was nominated for numerous awards like Fan Favorite Role Playing Game at the Gamers' Choice Awards, the Role-Playing Game of the Year at the D.I.C.E. Awards, and Best Role-Playing Game at the Game Awards 2018.
Trivia
- There was going to be a fully open-world game, but it was scrapped because it would lead to issues with the story.
Videos
References
- ↑ Known as Dragon Quest XI: In Search of a Passing Time (ドラゴンクエストXI 過ぎ去りし時を求めて, Doragon Kuesuto Irebun Sugisarishi Toki o Motomete) in Japan.
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