dragon quest xi s echoes of an elusive age ps4 sale

#DRAGON QUEST XI S ECHOES OF AN ELUSIVE AGE PS4 SALE SERIES#

Whether it be a vaguely feminine male circus performer, or a set of twin sisters with polar opposite personalities, each one of your party members has something unique to bring to the table and their personalities are fleshed out to a satisfying degree as you get to know them better through all the small, heartfelt interactions along the way. One would think that such a length would become exhausting after a certain point, but your attention is anchored by an ever-changing pace dictated by all the sub-narratives and the charm offered up by your varied cast of party members. It helps, too, that plot twists are thrown in so liberally, with many seemingly solved conflicts suddenly taking an unexpected left turn that launches the team into another dungeon or boss fight.ĭragon Quest XI features an awfully substantial story, too, with a runtime that can easily run into the triple digits if you want to see everything on offer. Towns are elevated from being simple stops along your journey to meaningful and memorable landmarks that help to make the adventure feel that much grander. Not all of these little sub-narratives are as compelling or emotionally gripping as the next, but we rather enjoyed the diversity of experiences that they offer, particularly in how they deepen your connection to the world of Erdrea. After winning a horse race for him, the king is so pleased by the performance that he asks his son to go out and subdue a horrifying beast that’s been terrorizing the town. For example, in a memorable early instance, your hero is asked to assist a cowardly prince in fulfilling the high expectations put on him by the king. When you arrive in a new town, there’s usually a small conflict or sub-narrative that you get caught up in which immediately demands the next few hours of your attention. In raw terms, this narrative doesn’t prove to be terribly interesting, but what saves it in the end is the fantastic pacing and the interesting cast of characters that you build as the hours roll by.Īlthough there is always the looming threat of your impending battle, Dragon Quest XI is more a collection of self-contained chapters that all ultimately pay into the larger story. Armed with this knowledge, you set out on a sweeping adventure across the land of Erdrea to gather a team and learn more about your past, while also helping out whomever you can along the way. Not soon after partaking in a 'rite of passage' celebration, it’s revealed that you’re the Luminary, a reincarnation of a fabled hero who is destined to do battle with the mysterious Dark One. You-the silent, nameless hero-grow up in the sleepy and pleasant village of Cobblestone, unaware that you’re the lost son of royalty who hid you away there as an infant.

#DRAGON QUEST XI S ECHOES OF AN ELUSIVE AGE PS4 SALE SERIES#

It may not have much in the way of innovative mechanics, but Dragon Quest XI consistently demonstrates an impressive mastery and control in nearly every aspect of its experience, reminding us time and again just how this series has remained such a juggernaut for so many decades.Īs mentioned above, the narrative is just about as straightforward as you can imagine. Viewing it from a purely objective standpoint, it would be easy to dismiss Dragon Quest XI as a relic of bygone times, but to do so would be to miss out on one of the greatest RPGs of this generation. Your party levels up via a linear leveling system, with a minimal amount of customization available to differentiate them. The combat system is based on straight, no-frills turn-based battling. The narrative is set in a high fantasy world, centered around a chosen hero of light who alone has the power to defeat an ancient, dark evil. Especially given the diverse range of other modern RPGs available on the Switch, Dragon Quest is a rather fascinating outlier in how old-school it feels. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age doesn’t do much to reinvent the wheel, then.

As the de facto godfather of the whole genre, Dragon Quest has remained staunchly conservative over the decades in how it adheres to genre conventions, offering up what many could say is the ‘purest’ take on a JRPG.

In many ways, one could say that a JRPG is judged by how well it subverts genre expectations, but one series is seemingly exempt from this push for innovation: Dragon Quest. It’s fascinating to see how much the JRPG genre has changed over the years, as countless new studios and designers have come up with a seemingly bottomless amount of ways to riff on battle systems, narrative styles, and world designs.

Dragon quest xi s echoes of an elusive age ps4 sale