I've been a fan of the Dragon Quest series, also known as Dragon Warrior in its early days in the U.S., since I was little and took my first steps into the world of Alefgard way back in 1989. Since that fateful day, I have followed the journey of many heroes in the series, each one building upon the foundations of that first game. While I have to admit to being a little disappointed that many of the games were not originally released in the US until many years later, I was exceedingly pleased to hear that Dragon Quest XI would be returning to consoles in 2018 on the PS4 and 3DS, as well as a new venue, the PC. To say I was excited simply does not remotely approach describing how I felt. And the game did not disappoint.
Jumping into the game, I felt at home. For those who have played the series since its earliest days, the music and artwork feel just like putting on a comfortable glove. It fits perfectly, with give and supple movement in all the places you'd expect. While being updated to take full advantage of modern day graphics, the world of Dragon Quest felt familiar, while leading me through new lands and new adventures. And one of the hallmarks of the series, the designers pay homage to its roots, including small references to the load screen style of previous games in the series, and even bringing sound effects from the first game into this one, such as the screen transition sound when moving between the surface and a dungeon. It's kind of like finding Easter eggs designed just for you as you play, and certainly increases the feeling of nostalgia for long time fans.
But that isn't all. Throughout the game, the humor of the series shines through, keeping the atmosphere light and fun, never taking itself too serious. This sort of humor is something that I always appreciated, and feel it adds another dimension to the game that other RPGs often lack in quite the same manner. The humor in this series seems to complement the slightly exaggerated style of the graphics, resulting in a purely fun atmosphere that can often be lacking in RPGs. And this humor carries through into all aspects of the game, from the minimedal quests that unlock various item rewards to crafting and obtaining the various equipment that alters the appearance of the heroes in the game. While some of this equipment create gallant and courageous appearances for our heroes, some of them can only be described as whimsical and downright ridiculous. And add to that the humor from the unique and hilarious companions the main character has in the game, and you'll find yourself chuckling and smiling on almost every step of the journey (yes, the game does have its own poignant moments of seriousness and emotionally moving scenes).
Getting into the meaty part of the game, the combat system has largely remained in tact from iteration to iteration, while the manner of developing your heroes has often changed. For example, whereas DQ VIII used a system called tension that allowed you to increase your damage and crits, in this version, the system was called pep, and so being pepped up increased your stats and unlocked combo moves that you could only do with a certain combination of other party members who were also pepped up. And the pepped up moves were accessed by unlocking certain skills in your skill tree as you progress through the game. In truth, the character development, while certainly not ground breaking, felt smooth and elegant and allowed you to pursue any path you desires for your character, including which weapon to focus on and whether or not to utilize the unique skill set offered to each hero. Combat is still turn based, which many RPGs seem to have migrated away from today in favor of the more popular real time action based RPGs. This fact, however, is one of the key features of the series and contributes to the tactic oriented approach to each combat, and works particularly well with major boss fights that can clobber you if you don't think through your actions. In short, the combat system works well, is smooth and is what you would expect from a game predicated on being as polished and complete as possible on release day, rather than releasing a long series of DLCs and additional content via patches on future dates.
The story for the game is certainly fun and has many twists and turns, some of which I guessed, but others I simply had no clue were coming. With that being said, I will have to admit that at times the world felt a bit smaller than some of the previous titles, as you often found yourself revisiting spots throughout the storyline even without the need to do so to complete side quests or to gather crafting materials. Its true that this element was present in previous titles, but it felt a bit too much of the story involved that return journey element in this iteration. Still, even with this element, the story is well-crafted, engaging and a joy to experience. For those of you willing to play through the postgame questline (of course I did), all the loose threads are tied up and the concluding credits have some nice surprises that were not completely expected by me.
Aside from the small flaw in revisiting areas of the game a bit too often, I have to say there were a couple features that I felt I did not enjoy as much. These are likely just personal preferences, but be that as it may, I have to admit to not enjoying the horse races and the gambling in the game nearly so much as I would have thought. This isn't so much a flaw in how they were designed, but rather, I simply did not enjoy them as much. The horse racing was more than a little difficult to learn, but more than that, some of the key items for crafting were tied to the races. And in truth, the horse racing was a very small part of the actual plot, so it felt odd to include it as such a key part for crafting without it having a larger role than it actually had in the game. And as for the gambling, I have to say it did not have so much of an enjoyability factor for me as those who actually enjoy poker and gambling might have. If that is your thing, I could see how you might have taken great pleasure in playing the various games to complete side quests and achieve trophies and accolades. But for some one who doesn't enjoy that activity, the games ended up feeling very repetitive and a little dull. Perhaps the gambling in DQ VIII didn't bother me as much as this one because it was a much smaller part of the game, and was required by far fewer side quests. These two features, the gambling and horse racing, remain one of the few negative spots for me for the game.
These few flaws aside, there truly is much to love about the game, from the story, the graphics and atmosphere, to the side quests and combat system and the sense of humor. For those new to the series, there really is nothing to catch up on, as the story stands well on its own and includes all the information you'd need to appreciate what is happening. And for those who are veterans of the series, the nostalgia and references to previous iterations will be greatly appreciated. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys RPGs and great storytelling. While it wasn't quite good enough to unseat DQ VIII as my favorite of all time, it was a pure pleasure to sit down and enjoy this newest adventure in my favorite series of all time.