Review for Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a Lost Age. Game for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 29/07/2017 The version for PC came out on 04/09/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 31/12/2019
Despite being the most successful JRPGistica series in the homeland, Dragon Quest has gone through ups and downs in the West. After the relaunch with Dragon Quest VIII (recently re-edited), all the numbered episodes and some spin-offs (such as the first two Jokers) have been located, which had led fans to trust in the western release of Dragon Quest X. Unfortunately this did not happen, but the series has returned to peep in the West with Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a lost era.
The game debuted in Japan last year on 3DS e PlayStation 4. Only the latter version will arrive in Europe, accompanied by that Steam, and the game will be released in the future on Nintendo Switch.
Dragon Quest has been synonymous with tradition for a very long time, at least until the eighth chapter, which came out in 2004 but which could very well have been six or seven years older, apart from the technical sector. From the ninth episode the music began to change (for example, random encounters were removed) and the tenth was even the first MMORPG of the series.
Dragon Quest XI returns to the very classic JRPG, strictly single player, but eliminates most of the hassle that have accompanied the genre from the beginning with a series of measures that have a positive impact on the smoothness of the experience. First of all, even in this chapter the mobs are visible, and can be hit before starting the battle to weaken them or even take them by surprise. Also this time it is possible to directly command the allies (up to three) of the mute hero or give them orders through tactics. A new alternative to the classic mode of view of the clashes has been added (with the two frontal deployments), which allows you to move freely on the field, although this does not affect the battle, as in Final Fantasy XII. The camera can be operated both with the backbones and with the right stick, both in the dungeons and in the overworld, which is not structured like a world map, but is made up of numerous and rather large connective areas.
Among the various small amenities it is worth mentioning the self-rescue at the beginning of the new areas, which can be useful in the case of unexpected game overs, the animation skip for special moves, the teleportation (completely free) in the overworld, the possibility of using a mount, the signaling on the map of the collection points of the materials (with indication of materials and individual places, moreover) and the presence of camps in the overworld where you can rest, craft equipment, buy objects and do everything you do in the church (save, resurrect, etc.).
For the rest, the names that made the series great are still all there, first of all that of Yuji Horii. They also come back Akira Toriyama for character and monster design - you didn't even need to write it: we're sure you figured it out on the first screenshot - and Koichi Sugiyama for the soundtrack, as in every single chapter, including spin-offs. Overall, the quality and quantity of the songs can only satisfy, but more than someone believes the new tracks do not live up to many classic themes that can also be found in Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a Lost Era, which is maintained traditionalist also in the rest of the audio sector, characterized by the presence of old school effects andabsence of dubbing, in its original version: in the localization, in fact, one (discreet) was made in English.
But this is not the only novelty of the western version, which presents itself as multi-5. To make the experience even smoother, additional features have been added, such as the ability to run even without a mount, improved (but still imperfect) menus, a first-person view and a recalibration of the difficulty, aimed at minimizing the grinding required. to progress. Maybe someone will find the game too easy now, given that even a half hour of training can give an advantage for several hours later. To partially counterbalance this aspect, Draconian Quest has been introduced, a truly hardcore mode similar to Japanese restricted play, in which, however, the monsters are stronger and do not give or give less experience if low profile (in order to discourage the most vulgar grinding).
The plot is once again the exclusive work of Horii, as it hasn't happened for nearly fifteen years. The story is obviously very classic and recalls some themes already developed in the past, such as that of time travel (which for example we find in the legendary Dragon Quest VII). Despite the absence of really disruptive ideas, the frequent twists and the nice supporting actors make our hero's adventure once again enjoyable, even if it could be observed as usual that everything moves a little too slowly: almost sixty hours to complete the plot there are many, so clearly the pace is far from fast. In addition to that, Dragon Quest XI also offers thirty side quests - trivial, but well implemented, so as not to be boring - and a satisfying post game, complete with a second ending.
Before concluding it is right to dwell on the technical sector, whose quality was not to be taken for granted: the game, in fact, was born as an unusual 3DS / PS4 multi-platform, with partially different development teams. The versions for PS4, PC and Switch, made in collaboration with ORCA, use the Unreal Engine 4 very effectively: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a Lost Age will not win the award for best graphics of 2018, but the mix between cel shading for characters and three-dimensional environments works perfectly. The environments are characterized by lush vegetation, with good depth of field and a bright color palette, in line with the tradition of the series.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a Lost Era is a very classic JRPG, but at the same time it is equipped with all the comforts that characterize a modern game, so it knows how to be loved so much by fans of the series, who will find many of the elements that have made iconic Dragon Quest, as much as by newbies, who will finally have the opportunity to approach an old-fashioned JRPG without suffering from it, thanks to features such as teleportation, auto rescue and the absence of random encounters.
► Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a Lost Age is a JRPG type game developed and published by Square Enix for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 29/07/2017 The version for PC came out on 04/09/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 31/12/2019
