DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition

Square Enix really knocked it out of the park with this one. I try not to play 80 hour RPGs too often, just because I have so many games in my backlog that get held up by titles like this, but every once in a while I just have to give in. My original plan was to slowly make my way through the whole Dragon Quest series and reach this one eventually, but I heard too many raving testimonies to not play it while it's still relevant. Gameplay-wise, I pretty much knew exactly what to expect, but the breadth of the story and the depth to the characters surprised me.

When it comes to modern RPGs, I typically expect impressive, fleshed out narratives that pick up the slack for their less impressive battle systems. With "pep," a temporary boost to party members' stats that can be sacrificed for powerful group attacks, being the only thing that separated the combat here from the first Final Fantasy, I figured out pretty early that it would be the same here. The story started out a little slow, but the further I progressed, the more I fell in love with the characters and their world. Dragon Quest XI did a fantastic job of connecting me to the hero's party, making their emotions feel real and leaving me feeling genuinely impacted by each of their successes and failures. There were some decisions made about the characters that I didn't quite care for, and I noticed a few continuity errors in the narrative, but nothing too horrendous or unforgivable. I mean, I did play from the starting sequence straight through the post game without taking a break for any other title in between, and I almost never do that, RPG or otherwise.

I would still say that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 stands strong as my favorite RPG thanks to its combination of unique mechanics, delightful characters, gorgeous world, fantastic soundtrack, and engrossing story. While Dragon Quest XI's battle and growth mechanics were far more traditional, and its music left a lot to be desired, I found myself constantly reminded of XC2 by the rest of the game. I think the religious adherence to tradition that this series holds so dear can hold it back in a lot of ways, but DQXI does a commendable job of pushing its way out of that box in order to stand out. One of my favorite aspects of the game is the voice acting, and that's just one example of the game fighting back against its tradition-based restrictions, but it gives me hope that the next entry can do even more to make its mark in the sea of samey RPGs. While Dragon Quest XI didn't completely hit that mark, I absolutely loved the game from the start in humble Cobblestone to the final destruction of the post-game boss, and I would be happy to give it all another go in 2D mode someday.

The game is available for Switch here (as of 12/1/21): https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/dragon-quest-xi-s-echoes-of-an-elusive-age-definitive-edition-switch/
The game is available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S here (as of 12/1/21): https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/dragon-quest-xi-s-echoes-of-an-elusive-age
The game is available for PS4 and PS5 here (as of 12/1/21): https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0082-CUSA18600_00-0000000000000000

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