Developer Square Enix has announced that Dragon Quest XI : Echoes of an Elusive Age will be making its way to the world of western gamers on September 4th 2018. The long-awaited eleventh entry to the series from series creator Yuji Horii, character designer Akira Toriyama and composer Koichi Sugiyama was originally released in Japan in June 2017.
Dragon Quest XI follows the perilous journey of a hunted hero who must uncover the mystery of his fate with the aid of a charismatic cast of supporting characters. They embark on a quest taking them across continents and over vast oceans as they learn of an ominous threat facing the world. Bringing to life a massive and gorgeous world in a style that seamlessly blends stylistic cel-shading with photo-realistic detail. You’ll engage in a turn-based battle system that eases players into combat with an accessible experience, featuring mechanics simple enough for novices but with enough depth to also satisfy long-time fans.
The game will be released on PlayStation 4 and Steam with the planned Nintendo Switch version following at a later date which is still TBA. This is the first time a Dragon Quest game has been released on PC in the west and hopefully it will open up the series to a whole new group of gamers to enjoy!
Featuring tons of side-quests and mini-games that provide enough content to keep you playing for well over 100 hours, the Western release of Dragon Quest XI will also feature several upgrades and enhancements that were not in the Japanese version of the game, including:
- English Voiceover – to bring the charismatic cast of characters to life
- Draconian Quest – a hard mode that offers additional challenges for more experienced players
- Overhauled Menus & UI – with graphical enhancements and more intuitive navigation
- Camera Mode – allowing players to take in views of the beautiful landscape, character renders and ferocious monsters in detail
- A new dash function as well as many other system enhancements such as improved character and camera movement
Dragon Quest has certainly come a long way since its humble beginnings evolving and branching out along its journey to include spin offs such as Dragon Quest Heroes and Dragon Quest Builders. However one thing is clear and that is this plucky little JRPG is only growing in popularity around the world and wont be going anywhere any time soon. For more information on Dragon Quest XI you can head over to the website or to check back in with us here at Checkpoint Gaming for the latest in gaming news.
About the Author
Rachel Humphreys
Rachel (Trance) is a long time gamer full time nerd without a plan... When she's not playing on some manner of console or handheld device she can be found enjoying popculture life to its fullest.
