[Dragon Quest 11 S](https://youtu.be/h6dsxCfdZlk?feature=shared) was one of if not the very first game ever confirmed for the Nintendo Switch, back then known only by its codename NX. Itās an enhanced port of the PS4 version of Dragon Quest 11, with tons of fan-requested features and even more stuff crammed into it. This port falls in line with Nintendo ports of other mainline Dragon Quest games, such as the Game Boy Color remakes of the first three games and the DS remakes of DQ 4-6.
However in 2019, Nintendo was really pushing this as a major release that year. Of course they would be publishing it over here, but the marketing really peaked at E3 2019, where we not only got two separate trailers for DQ11S at Square Enix and Nintendoās press conferences, but the DQ11 protagonist was being added as a playable character to Smash Ultimate as well! Dude was so ridiculous RNG heavy that folks wanted to ban him in competitive for a bit there. That said, the music selection he brought with him sounded garbage.
The game came out in September 2019, the same month as the Linkās Awakening remake, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Untitled Goose Game along with the Switch Lite console. Iāve personally never played a Dragon Quest game until now, but after the passing of longtime series illustrator Akira Toriyama I felt spurred to finally give it a shot. Iām currently playing the 3DS version of Dragon Quest 8 as my first DQ game alongside the DS version of Chrono Trigger, both to help get my appetite whet for the eventual 100+ hours I can expect from DQ11S. Hereās hoping the music of DQ11 sounds better than the tinny, almost synthetic compositions Iāve been hearing in both Smash Ultimate and in DQ8 3DS.
by Asad_Farooqui
39 Comments
One of my favorite games of all time
Scored a cheap used copy from Gamestop for like $15. I love the feel of it being like a big Saturday morning cartoon. You can tell the voice actors aren’t the usual ones: Dragon Quest apparently voices out of London, and everyone falling back to bad, almost racist caricature accents for the various towns is comedy gold. Oh, this one’s Italy, and this one’s Spain. Then the japanese town is handled respectfully and that’s totally unfair, but it makes sense in the context of its origin.
Beyond it having a modern look and feel of a gorgeous cartoon come to life, everything else about the game is staunchly rooted in the 1980s, because that’s how these things are done, whippersnapper.
There’s a good chance the series finally shifts here. Too many OGs are dead.
I enjoyed it, i feel it struck a good balance when it came to difficulty, super fun world to explore, and decently defined and developed characters.
Not a fan of the soundtrack, I feel this one was pretty weak and uninspired.
It was my first mainline Dragon Quest game and made me give up on the idea of playing the other games.
Itās flat out one of the best games Iāve ever played. It went from a game in a series that I was completely ignoring to an all-time favorite within hours of me playing the eshop demo back in 2019
I’ve played it only on the PC but it’s a great game in general. Everytime I thought the game was about to end they said “nope. You got another 20 hours left brodeo”
Itās my most played game on the Switch by far. Itās absolutely amazing the amount of content and level of polish put into it. Everything run smoothly and gorgeous on the Switch hardware as far as I can tell.
I was not a DQ fan before. Itās a must-have for everyone.
I actually think I’m an odd one out when I say I heavily disliked it. The combat was pretty much just press attack to win and the music I actually really didn’t like. The over world theme especially. But the story didn’t do anything for me, and the gameplay didn’t either. I got past the desert City Arc to past whatever arc comes after and just never played it again.
Perfect 10/10
Masterpiece only held back by it’s awful OST.
I bought it on Switch but ended up selling it and getting it on PC just so I could mod the music with tracks from previous DQs and it made the experience a 100 times better. Excited to hear DQ12 music as the main composer (Koichi Sugiyama) is dead and SE no longer has to deal with his bs.
Amazing game but a bit too hard for me
One of the best games anywhere and on Switch.
One of myšfavorite jrpgs of all time and playing it on my switch and switch lite was magical. I hope 12šstill comes to switch like it’s supposed to
Great game. Bad battle theme.
Great game. 9/10
I actually completed it. These days, that’s an insta 10/10.
It’s a great port. Looks great, offers a ton of value. I need to get back into it and finish.
Very very pretty game but I couldnāt get past the first couple of hoursā¦ just felt a bit generic to me. Never played a DQ game before though so maybe Iāll give it another chance someday
It’s a great game, cute and fun. It’s a perfect starter jrpg because it’s honestly very easy. I don’t care for the protagonist at all, I think he looks really dumb, and hearing Gemmas voice is painful, but everything else is great. I like excruciatingly long jrpg’s but I could see that being a turn off for a lot of people.
Grabbed the demo and really had a hard time getting into it. There was something about the aesthetics that just didnāt connect to me.
And while I know the monsters are iconic back to the OG DQ games, I really thought they were too cartoony for me.
I know itās considered the modern day quintessential JRPG too, so Iām bummed it didnāt click with me.
Iāll try again, Iām sureā¦ maybe one day.
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition.
For me, the game started the trend of ridiculous names. And I loved it because of it.
I had never played a Dragon Quest game and really only knew it as “the JRPG series with the same art style as Dragonball Z”. Nintendo pushed XI pretty hard, so I figured I’d give the demo a try. Long story short, I had a blast and bought the full game. From the characters, to the world exploration, to the presentation, I loved every second of it.
Itās one of the best in the series ever but holy, freaking crap. It needs music.
I prefer DQ9 on the ds but I have just outgrown grindy rpgs and like customising characters, DQ11 is great. The voice acting is a bit cheesy but it suits the style.
I love the game but still disliked ACT 3 of the game it ended perfectly in Act 2 and the start of Act 3 was really nice everyone is full of hopes and rebuilding then the nonsense happened.
It wasn’t my cup of tea. Felt like repeating 5 times in a row the same “get to a city, it has a problem, go to a single lawn easy ass dungeon, defeat a boss, problem is solved”. Had some cool stories and characters but as a game felt linear and had no difficulty or motivation to explore etc. But again story characters and locations were cool.
Still a damn good game. Great story. Loved it
DQ7 & 8 can have the orchestral score readded if you perhaps unlock the capabilities of your system.
Shame that the orchestrated version was only available in Asia.Ā
My first DQ game and it was a thrill to play it.
Thereās so much content.
Grinding exp was even fun !
Canāt wait for the next one !
Good game. Great characters. Lovely art style. Akira Toriyama will be missed in future games.
But the music… orchestrated or not… the music is not the best thing about it. Too repetitive. Not very hummable. It’s kinda meh!
Also, the difficulty level was either too easy or too hard. With no middle ground.
Aside from that: one of the best entries of the series.
I think it’s a top 3 RPG available on switch
It’s a mastahpeece
*Here comes the moneeeeeey*
Second only to knack 2 or SMB2
Whatās with the vague āwhat are your thoughts on X topicā usually accompanied by a randomly related low resolution image lately?
It’s weird and unusual for me but I couldn’t get into it because of the background music soundtrack
One of my all time favorites.
So many people absolutely love this game, I donāt know what Iām not seeing but I found it a tedious slog
Still holds up as one of my favorite games of all time. I played it during the pandemic lockdown and it got me through some rough times. Replayed it a few months ago and loved it as much as I did the first time
I’m more of a DQ monsters sort of person. I only like the series because of the cute and handsome dragons and thus, I only want to play games that allow me to have them in my party rather than me attacking them.
I was enjoying it until I got to the 3rd act and almost immediately dropped it.