Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

In the essence of immediate engagement in entertainment, and art by association, it’s a testament of time. The time a movie lasts, the time an album lasts, the word per minute pace of a book, or, in this case, the number of hours it takes to beat a game. For that period of time, the work becomes your companion, something which manifests in vastly varying ways. JRPGs are extensive novels, their seemingly unending playtimes reaching gargantuan levels even for a genre known for length, that of role playing games. They develop their characters, you personally choose to engage and sink your time into them. Dragon Quest XI does this by way of comforting friendship.

Dragon Quest is traditional, nobody ever needs to say this again. So many tiring points have been made of its dedication to the traditionalist styling of the JRPG genre, its adherence and play of fantasy tropes, its wondrous and deceptively simple turn based battle system, yes, it is part of a dying breed, and everybody knows this, no matter their experience with the series. They take this and create sublimely warm and genuine experience out of it, Dragon Quest has experimented before, but it's in great contrast to Square's opposing series, Final Fantasy; it doesn't reinvent itself in extravagant ways, it doesn't even have the room for the awkwardness that constant need for experimentation can lead to. It develops upon its base, naturally, and naturally lurches itself onto the player.

This attachment happens over hundreds of hours and gameplay, and considering the reputation, I fully expected the game to tire on me, especially as so many JRPGs have in the past. But there's, again, the warmth that it provides. I start up the game and see the tree of Yggradsil, hear the theme, and it feels right. The lush primary palette of each evolving screen the title presents with each story beat, only to go into a jaunt, and a black screen with simply rustic text boxes to find way into the game. And time and again I did, with presence of the party who's battle efficacy I had personally built, as the game subtly and slowly developed them, creating a sincere connection between the characters and a silent protagonist. I didn't find identification with the Hero, but I found a parallel appreciation for these Toriyama designed, intimate portrayals of characters that seemed to manifest into the traditional tropes of fantasy, but blossom into loving character writing that truly cares for who they're portraying.

Through this warmth of character, reflecting the warmth of a shimmering world, painted in all its corners with oak brown, painfully detailed furniture, eggshell porcelain held by extraneous, needlessly beautiful denizens, Dragon Quest is given life. It encroaches you, and that sounds intrusive, and grotesque, but it wraps itself around you as a longstanding and admired friend does, the kind that, after years, the realization of the innumerable hours spent with them seeps into your psychological vision. It comes into clear view, and you gently accept and appreciate them all the more.

This game is comfortable. It is incredibly comfortable. Like it feels cozy and warm. I know it's strange to start a review with that, but it's the main reason I hold this game so highly. This game feels like cozying up to a fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa. Are there problems with this game? Yeah, definitively. Act 3 is a messy and overly grindy part. But like, who cares. Act 1 and 2 are just some of the happiest gaming moments. It fills me with just childlike wonder exploring the world, meeting characters, fighting monsters, its just wonderful. It runs and looks fantastic on Switch too. This game is a must-play in my opinion.

I'm not generally a big JRPG fan, and this is the first Dragon Quest game I've played. As such, a lot of this game is clearly trading heavily in nostalgia I have no context for, but I really liked the first act of this game. It's a light-hearted, rollicking adventure delivered in a fast-paced episodic structure, the characters are charming, the combat system is familiar but fun and quite well-designed. People say this game is a "traditional" JRPG, and that would lead me to expect something very grindy and slow with lots of random battles, but it isn't that. This is a traditional JRPG if most of the mechanical friction was sanded off, and for me that's a good thing - it's just a nice, easy-going, pleasant game. Some quibbles: I found the music hit-and-miss and some of the themes quickly become grating (and this is a long game, so get used to hearing them a lot), the English localization choice of giving everyone over-the-top stereotypical foreign/regional accents is a bit much, and the game's interface is a bit of a mess.

Unfortunately, the game loses steam in its second act. It still has its moments, but you are now mostly retreading places and people you've already seen, to diminishing returns, and it loses a lot of the warmth that characterizes the first part. Issues that would be minor over the course of a 40 hour game start to irritate more and more over the course of a 70 hour game. The crafting system increasingly becomes a tedious chore.

So this point, I'm ready for the game to end, and it does, sorta, but then there's another whole act after the credits, which pretty much ruins everything I liked about the game and eagerly steps into all the game design cowpies that ruin most JRPGs. It's meandering, slow, obscure, has zero respect for your time, again retreads places and even story beats, and requires copious amounts of grinding. Fortunately, it's optional, so unless you're one of those people who loves time-wasting JRPG nonsense, I suggest just pretending the third act doesn't exist. You're not missing out on much and you'll have a better time with this game.

Brain dead easy for 120 hours, then grind for 20 hours to beat the last bosses. Why. At this point I just want it to be over. The childish, cliche plot and fetch quests really aren't enough to make it all worth it.

Easily, easily, easily one of the best Dragon Quest games and a contender for one of the best RPGs of all time.

I don't think this game is incredibly demanding if you have one or two completed RPGs of any time under your belt; the story is as epic and wholesome as it needs to be; exactly none of the characters grate your nerves and the difficulty curve is perfect as long as you take your time to explore the world and literally talk to most NPCs.

Dragon Quest games are supposed to be chill, bedtime novels that you aren't supposed to rush or plod through, but I can understand how equipping items and figure out how to best use your abilities may turn off non-RPG players. This game isn't for people who are new to RPGs, but someone who wants a fair video-game with a decent amount of depth.

If you've been able to finish a Final Fantasy VII [ファイナルファンタジーVII] or a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic type game in your lifetime, I think you'll get a kick of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age [ドラゴンクエストXI 過ぎ去りし時を求めて]; just be willing to take your time and commit to creating a stress-free atmosphere while playing (also, get the new version with the orchestral music in it).