Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 971 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 822 out of 971
  2. Mixed: 70 out of 971
  3. Negative: 79 out of 971
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  1. DimaFidel
    Jan 23, 2019
    7
    Долго ждали и дождались. Радует что серия не отошла от канонов за которые ее любят, но по сравнению с 8й частью с точки зрения сюжета, эта послабее. В плане прохождения проще той же 8й.
  2. DrFriendless
    Mar 2, 2019
    7
    Goodness me, what a long game! It just keeps going and going and going.

    By the end, I was quite sick of it. I turned the music off after about a hundred hours because it was annoying me and everyone else in the house. I would like to say that the story was gripping, but it became less so as the weeks wore on. In the end I was just glad it was over. I almost liked the turn-based    Goodness me, what a long game! It just keeps going and going and going.

    By the end, I was quite sick of it. I turned the music off after about a hundred hours because it was annoying me and everyone else in the house. I would like to say that the story was gripping, but it became less so as the weeks wore on. In the end I was just glad it was over.

    I almost liked the turn-based combat - it was a change from button-mashing - but Child of Light did a far superior job. The graphics in DQXI were magnificent, but so much of the animation was just cut scenes, and cut scenes can look as pretty as the designer chooses.

    I finished the game due to sheer stubbornness, but I may avoid coming back for more. The music wore me down, so many features of the game were underdone (e.g. the Forge), and so much of the play felt like downtime. Pretty good, but not great.    … Expand
  3. HotCheeto
    Jul 10, 2019
    6
    I love RPG’s like Persona and Final Fantasy, bur this game isn’t quite up there with those. It’s fine, but that’s it, just fine. It’s annoying that it’s the same battle song throughout the game and your “limit” moves are whatever. I’d only get this game if you are all about RPG games and looking for something new.
  4. AsaZimbabwe
    Apr 24, 2019
    5
    No disrespect for the nostalgic DQ, and fans of traditional JRPGs. But in 2019 this game is hard to enjoy. It is about as linear as an RPG can get while still qualifying as an RPG. With cumbersome menus that fight you every step of the way for basic tasks; painful inventory management; archaic systems that do not hold up well; seemingly endless, childish cut scenes that cannot be skippedNo disrespect for the nostalgic DQ, and fans of traditional JRPGs. But in 2019 this game is hard to enjoy. It is about as linear as an RPG can get while still qualifying as an RPG. With cumbersome menus that fight you every step of the way for basic tasks; painful inventory management; archaic systems that do not hold up well; seemingly endless, childish cut scenes that cannot be skipped (the first time around); 'random' battles that can be easily avoided, but which are actually necessary grinding to level up for generic level-gated story progression; battles which you generally don't actually have much control over; tricky-to-access settings which include auto-move the camera or not, which doesn't seem to really work, and either way has no real impact; an awkward jump button, but you can't actually jump over anything including myriad invisible fences in the world, except for ridiculously obvious crates stacked next to a roof, which you can jump on to find a treasure chest for 5 gold???; or in the stealth missions where you are lead to believe you should walk around the boxes, but actually you have to jump them, surprise! it does include a run button, but which is oddly too fast and clumsy for its own good; half your inventory can't be sold; supposedly great voice acting which is often quite annoying (in the first half hour pseudo British accents are all over the place, some words are mispronounced, punctuation seems misplaced); the art style is occasionally gorgeous but often awkward and dated; "stealth" missions where your NPC teammate actually misleads you when he shows you how to accomplish it, if you follow his lead you'll be instantly caught (is that intentional or a mistake? either way, not fun); loads of backtracking... It's even missing many features that earlier DQ games had on more primitive consoles; the map is virtually useless, as is the HUD mini-map, since practically nothing is labelled on either, including quest markers, and you can't zoom in enough to see good detail even on huge 4k tvs.... I just don't get all the rave reviews, even considering nostalgia. The original 8-bit Final Fantasy 1 on any platform is more intuitive, customizable, and fun to play that this on many levels; the same could be said for many earlier iterations of Dragon Quest too. I'm not opposed to fan service, and throwback games by any means, but this is really baffling, the rave reviews? the game is quite simply boring and annoying.… Expand
  5. gqmasters3
    Jun 5, 2019
    7
    I have beaten every single DQ game released in America i.e DQ 1-9 (and yes DQ1-4 as "Dragon Warrior" on the original NES) and I'd say this game is "solid". It, unfortunately, is mind-numbingly easy, but still fun. I would say DQ7 & DQ8 are superior titles, but that doesn't mean this one is bad.
    My biggest knock on this game is that it is, in essence, the series follow up to DQ8 (as DQ9    I have beaten every single DQ game released in America i.e DQ 1-9 (and yes DQ1-4 as "Dragon Warrior" on the original NES) and I'd say this game is "solid". It, unfortunately, is mind-numbingly easy, but still fun. I would say DQ7 & DQ8 are superior titles, but that doesn't mean this one is bad.
    My biggest knock on this game is that it is, in essence, the series follow up to DQ8 (as DQ9 was a totally different type of game) and it adds almost nothing new from its predecessor; yes there's an ability tree, but thats pretty much the same deal as the weapon proficiencies in DQ8 and after 10+ years I would have liked to have seen a lot more.    … Expand
  6. SudFlameWord
    Mar 5, 2020
    6
    A decent 2010s game until you realize it's a 90s game. It almost feels like, instead of designing a 3D game with a 2D, they designed a 2D game and realized it wouldn't survive in today's game ecosystem. Even then the characters were never updated to 3D, including the quirky gay-coded stereotype that was a tired trope in 2006 when Enchanted Arms discovered the series finale of Will & Grace.A decent 2010s game until you realize it's a 90s game. It almost feels like, instead of designing a 3D game with a 2D, they designed a 2D game and realized it wouldn't survive in today's game ecosystem. Even then the characters were never updated to 3D, including the quirky gay-coded stereotype that was a tired trope in 2006 when Enchanted Arms discovered the series finale of Will & Grace.

    Overall DQ XI coasts by on accrued sentiment for the brand, largely unconscious of itself, without doing anything fundamentally interesting in its own right. The instances where the cousin of risk is taken near the end of the game are too few and too late to make it anything. Just another DQ installment and the kind of game you play through numbly not because you hate or like it, but because it gives you the vague comfort of predictability.    … Expand
  7. OwtDaft
    Apr 12, 2019
    7
    + Story in places is really really good.
    + Default difficulty is good, if you don't do or like doing any grinding.
    + The game has a world map. + I liked the characters Veronica, Rab and Jade. - I hate silent protagonists. - Lots of locations in the game look very simlar. - Typical DQ game, many short stories as you reach new places with a slower paced main story. - I got fed up of    + Story in places is really really good.
    + Default difficulty is good, if you don't do or like doing any grinding.
    + The game has a world map.
    + I liked the characters Veronica, Rab and Jade.
    - I hate silent protagonists.
    - Lots of locations in the game look very simlar.
    - Typical DQ game, many short stories as you reach new places with a slower paced main story.
    - I got fed up of looking around for items for smelting.
    - You may like that DQ games look and sound simlar. For me it's starting to feel uninspired.
    - The rest of the characters were a bit dull or super annoying (Sylvando).    … Expand
  8. dr0nzer
    Sep 22, 2018
    7
    clocked 65 hrs on the game and I'm not sure if this lives up to the hype, it is a very traditional jrpg, turn based combat, but feels very.. unrefined.. almost like ps1 era gameplay on the ps4, story and pacing is pretty slow, combat also falls into this category and at times i found it uninteresting... the voice acting is pretty good (if UK accents is your thing) I didn't find it cheap atclocked 65 hrs on the game and I'm not sure if this lives up to the hype, it is a very traditional jrpg, turn based combat, but feels very.. unrefined.. almost like ps1 era gameplay on the ps4, story and pacing is pretty slow, combat also falls into this category and at times i found it uninteresting... the voice acting is pretty good (if UK accents is your thing) I didn't find it cheap at all and enjoyed it, this is what really kept me coming back to the game., progression is zoned off, not open world as i expected but thats okay, combat is not random and can be avoided.. makes exploring easy and you can choose when to battle.
    The worse part I found about the game is the music... mainly the high pitched tones straight to low pitch that cycle when you're travelling the world, I found it very annoying and had to turn the music volume to 1!
    The way they implemented the post game (or newgame+?) is smart and interesting.
    overall it's a decent title.    … Expand
  9. SZJX
    Jan 11, 2019
    5
    (Minor spoilers, if this simple plotline could ever be "spoiled" at all)

    I really expected a lot more from the plot after seeing the Engadget review calling the post-game "a huge surprise", and seeing the beginning CG. After meeting the king it was obvious that the king was abnormal, but I had always hoped that the protagonist could turn out to be a complicated character instead of a    (Minor spoilers, if this simple plotline could ever be "spoiled" at all)

    I really expected a lot more from the plot after seeing the Engadget review calling the post-game "a huge surprise", and seeing the beginning CG. After meeting the king it was obvious that the king was abnormal, but I had always hoped that the protagonist could turn out to be a complicated character instead of a bland hero as well (I thought some "seed of evil" was planted in him at the beginning), and maybe after the end-game he'll actually become the demon king.

    Nope. Absolutely none of it happened, the hero was simply persecuted and wronged by a man just "possessed" by a great evil out of nowhere (one of the worst and most unconvincing cliches IMO), and he went on being "the greatest of all", as usual, guided and protected by some unassailable divine force. Guess I just had too high a hope for a RPG series known for its conservative plot after having read some really deep and innovative Japanese VNs which throw punches left and right and take no cliched stances at all. DQ just as Zelda is certainly not a place to look for narrative creativeness. I've got that.

    If you really think about the plot there are really too many holes to count and everything is just dramatic and childish as hell for the sake of narrating a cliched drama. Just don't think too deep about it and enjoy the scenery and the battles that's it, if those are your thing.    … Expand
  10. bersi84
    Sep 15, 2018
    7
    Short up: Too much praise for a decent back-to-the-roots JRPG without being outstanding at anything but still amongst the best of its genre. Read on for more details.

    [UPDATE AFTER 50hrs OF GAMEPLAY] After ~50hrs, a lot of questing and being nearly to the end I want to change or specify some of my original thoughts. The story gets a lot better after a while. A while which is a whole    Short up: Too much praise for a decent back-to-the-roots JRPG without being outstanding at anything but still amongst the best of its genre. Read on for more details.

    [UPDATE AFTER 50hrs OF GAMEPLAY]
    After ~50hrs, a lot of questing and being nearly to the end I want to change or specify some of my original thoughts. The story gets a lot better after a while. A while which is a whole gametime for other games. The story becoming better still has the downside to me that the game as whole feels slow and repetitive. There is a ton of backtracking. Sometimes you run up to the same place like 7 times to finish one quest. Also there is quite an intense change to the game mid ways which makes you re-visit nearly every single place. I found this a bad design choice. Also I didnt remember where a lot places where and you dont see the names on the map or can zoom anymore. That was really frustrating to me. I still recommend this game. Still keepig a rate of 7-8.

    [ORIGINAL REVIEW]
    I love RPGs in general and I dont care whether it is more dungeon crawli
    [ng, rpg based or JRPG styled approach. After all I was pretty hyped for this latest episode of Dragon Quest. I havent played one of the series spin-offs before but got in touch with the franchise when playing Dragon Quest Builders which hooked me up instantly.

    The story: 5/10
    I found the story to be somewhat interesting but to be totally honest it is the simple standard approach mixed with a bit of drama and fantasy. Nothing that makes this game unique, appealing or outstanding at all. After all I found the presentation good but the story pretty boring. Everyone who ever played RPGs before wont be shocked or surprised by the developments.

    The sound: 3/10
    The sound and atmosphere the game generates is to me one of the weaker points in DQ11 especially in comparison to other games that are released nowadays. I know that the sounds and effects used are re-used throughout the series but I still find them lackluster. Other genre candidates took a more appealing approach that forces the music to generate the adequate atmosphere in scenes no matter whether it is drama, sadness or being pumped up. I found it weak but I think fans of the series will appreciate to get handed over what they are used to.

    The graphics: 9.0/10
    Gfx displayed in DQ11 are really good. They might not be topnotch in comparison to the console kings but it has a remarkably high state and runs perfectly smooth on the PS 4 Pro I ve been using. There is no single clunkiness, no drops and my PS4 overall keeps pretty cool. I have to admit they did great work on that one.

    The gameplay 8/10:
    Gameplay is pretty much JRPG oldschool standard. It is turnbased fighting while navigating on a big world map entering battles or cities on the go. Others might disagree but I like the turnbased approach over real fighting. The complexity of fighting and characters are okay. You have a nice set of weapons and skills. Some might be a little bit overwhelmed on what works well and also I feel that picking the sword is never a wrong one. It feels well rounded after all and the powerup concept is kind of entertaining but a little bit too RNG based to my liking (when it comes to triggering the right combinations). You can even smithy your own weapons and armors with a really cool approach. I liked that a lot although it is something you can do but not have to besides of 1-2 quests.

    Questing and other stuff: 6/10
    The quests are mediocre. There are not that many quests in comparison to other games. You might have 2-3 in each town and thats it. More disappointingly most of these quests arent even much elaborate. They are lack luster and backtracking is always a thing. For the small number of quests the game delivers they could ve been polished a bit more. Also there are quests where you have to combine powers of certain characters that are triggered RNG based and to make it worse you have to KILL certain enemies with its final blow. That makes certain quests really grindy, frustrating and unappealing (to me).

    The skill system is okay. Can be confusing, but the DEVs implemented a fair reset system. Thumbs up on that end! The controls after all are good, the world design is okay and mounting enemies can be fun at times but is mostly underused and optional.

    Resume:
    DQ11 is a very well made JRPG that will draw in fans of that genre or series. I dont think its a milestone and think it becomes too much of praise for the sore standards it delivers. Many hours are lost through to pointless backtracking which I dont find to be something I want to have in 2018. The graphics are AMAZING and the style is unique. I can still only rate it 7-8. Grabbing it for release price is still worth it but I d say if you are not hardcore into it you might want to look out for a small drop in price then its absolutely worth the adventure. I d ve wished for more uniqueness and innovation, at core it is still a very good ga    … Expand
  11. Topfpflanze
    Jan 14, 2020
    7
    Hey fans, first: This game is really fun. The cons are, it is an exact copy of DQ8 with mutated story elements. Many features are newly introduced, but if you know DQ8, the structures, arts, jokes and events appear very familiar. Even the music has been recycled. Instead of a 4 people group, you have now 8 which doesn't fit on the screen. Things leaving you speechless the first time areHey fans, first: This game is really fun. The cons are, it is an exact copy of DQ8 with mutated story elements. Many features are newly introduced, but if you know DQ8, the structures, arts, jokes and events appear very familiar. Even the music has been recycled. Instead of a 4 people group, you have now 8 which doesn't fit on the screen. Things leaving you speechless the first time are just boring 13 years later. DQ11 is much easier and more tolerating. You should make it without even being interested. It's smooth and fun, and it's no more that turn based as it was before, but still quite old-school. Combat AI of your group is more intelligent than you, most of the time, and there is no reason and few possibility to do differently. After all, you could say this game is rather a visual novel, because in about 2/3 of the game it's near impossible to lose a fight, and the game takes you by the hand and doesn't leave you much choice, if at all. If you encounter a puzzle, there will be big flashing arrows telling you what to do in order to solve it. If it isn't marked on the map, everybody you ask will send you there. What became worse that in DQ8 is the alchemy pot which creates less useful or interesting things and the missing arena (which is replaced with a usual fighting event). The combo actions in DQ11 are superfluous. The better graphics of DQ11 do not outweigh the better and multiply twisted story of DQ8.… Expand
  12. BTScorpion
    Nov 6, 2019
    6
    This is my first JRPG. It will probably be my last going on my experience with this game. There are some serious failings, mainly with game design.

    I cannot remember, in 30+ years of playing computer games, not finishing a game due to boredom. It truely is that bad. I found myself reading my phone during the combats! So just for clarification I played for probably 10+ hours. I was at    This is my first JRPG. It will probably be my last going on my experience with this game. There are some serious failings, mainly with game design.

    I cannot remember, in 30+ years of playing computer games, not finishing a game due to boredom. It truely is that bad. I found myself reading my phone during the combats! So just for clarification I played for probably 10+ hours. I was at levels 14. I only had 3 companions and was looking to get the 4th in the next part - I believe.

    Good points.
    it looks great. The scenery is great. The monsters definately are cute and names are quite funny. The style takes a bit of getting used to - every character is cross-eyed? The companions are ok. Interesting enough I guess. Voice acting comes across great. An interesting crafting mini-game let down by a tiresome collection system.

    Okay thats what gets it to a 6 in my rating. Not the bad news.

    Interface design is appalling. Now I know inventory management can be difficult on console but effort has to be made. Perhaps it is easier with a keyboard and mouse but I'm not going to try this game again on any other platform. Its just terrible. The amount of clicks to get anything done. Some many better ways that could have been done.

    Also, I wonder if anyone from the design team has ever played this game on the console. The button set up is just awful. Perhaps there is a way to customise controls but again I'm not playing it again. Its not worth it. Who puts auto-run on the options button! Jump stops pretty much any forward momentum and you jump up, possible a step forward, even when dashing.

    Combat, now I am new to this "each side has a go in turn" type combat. it seems interesting at first with various options and looked like it was going somewhere but once you set it to fight for itself you realise its all fairly pointless as the tactics are so irrelevant. The reason why is you can flee almost any point, you can avoid most monsters so can return to a save point to rest and recuperate. Monsters spawn back in almost instantly. several times I fought and defeated some critters, turned around, looked at the map, turned back and there they were again. Pointless. purely for grinding xp...not good game design. why bother with a lovely map if you could literally just be in a square box, fighting again and again and again.

    Mapping, is terrible. The mini-map is virtually worthless. You can see a fraction more than you can actually see but possible the worst part is the lack of any markers for ANYTHING on the map...you have to then delve into the map proper for see collectables that you then have to scroll though. Sheesh. It was just so cumbersome. If you leave and area and come back all the resources are reset. Ok this makes it 'easy' to collect things but really it just makes it grindy again.

    Quest management, now I only did a few quests so perhaps they got better but they were just collect/make/come back stuff. Just for the sake of collect/make/come back. Zero reasons behind the quests.

    Silent protagonist. now I've played the old GTA 3. I did the whole game not speaking but the character did not speak! In this game every one speaks, the kids in the street, the cats, even the cows gave a weather report. Why does not the 'hero' talk. The interactions say he is saying stuff. Say stuff. This was just frustrating.

    Unskippable cut-scenes. Long ones. ones where for a good few seconds you think the game may have actually frozen because nothing is happening. Oh dear.

    Okay I am going to stop there as I feel like I am trashiing this a lot and its really not THAT bad. It didn't crash, the graphics were ok, if a little dated. Load times were well hidden but it has an awful lot of downsides that just reaked of lazy development. Considering this is version 11, this should be as smooth as ice. I really do not understand how there are so many 10/10s for this game. I can only assume that other, earlier JRPGs must be truly bad and buggy. I really wanted to like this game buts its design frustrations and gameplay was just boring. Sorry JRPG fans - I know now I am not one.    … Expand
  13. Orthodoxist
    Oct 8, 2019
    7
    This has been easily my disappointment of the year, and the game which made me create a Metacritic account.

    Pros: + A lot of content, from missions to crafting tools, customizable skills, and characters. It's nice to be playing the game how you want to play it + Characters are cute and it feels like a fairy tale, it has a feel-good vibe + Enemies are original and don't have the    This has been easily my disappointment of the year, and the game which made me create a Metacritic account.

    Pros:
    + A lot of content, from missions to crafting tools, customizable skills, and characters. It's nice to be playing the game how you want to play it
    + Characters are cute and it feels like a fairy tale, it has a feel-good vibe
    + Enemies are original and don't have the typical abilities you have seen a thousand times in other games
    + The 2D additions feels nice, it's not an exact replica of the 3D world but it's a good complement. I wouldn't play the entire game on 2D, though.
    + I like the map system and the integration of fast travel and mounts early in the game.

    Cons:
    - MUSIC: it's not about whether it is the MIDI version or instrumental. Music is just repetitive and out of context. There is way too much brass which does not pair well with many of the scenes. Battle theme becomes old very quickly, and you are going to hear it a lot
    - Maps are huge but empty. There is some reward to exploration, but you won't find much. Sometimes you find a really good weapon, but most of the time are crafting materials
    - Fake open world. It gives you a false sense of freedom. It is a pretty linear game (at least the 15h I have played). In addition, there are some invisible walls around cliffs, rivers etc where one feels you should be able to jump or cross, but you simply can't
    - Combat is completely secondary. You can avoid most enemies. For the ones you face, you can put the characters to play automatically at a high speed. It's very difficult to get killed when using the AI. In addition, you receive very little loot from fighting.
    - A lot of cutscenes which do not provide meaningful information. I just played a part where I had to go down after a cutscene, then after some running watch another cutscene, try to go up, run a bit more, watch another cutscene... And the battle is not playable, it is another cutscene. Most of them are skippable.
    - Some side missions are not very original (hey deliver this love letter and then bring back the response), and some side missions are just annoying (kill this monster with this ultimate skill which only happens once in a blue moon)    … Expand
  14. Gfunk839
    Oct 11, 2018
    7
    This is a NES game with 8th gen graphics ...

    I watched several glowing reviews and was sold on the game..
    Sadly this is mechanically a NES game with pretty trimmings ..It's a perfectly fine game but wildly over-rated by review and critic scores, since it plays it so safe and does nothing to further the medium of gaming.
  15. EmilyMonster
    Sep 23, 2018
    5
    I had never played a Dragon Quest game before, but I wanted too. I played 1 and 2 on my phone and it was what I expected a JRPG from the NES would be. Just picked up XI and besides the graphics, THERE ARE NO IMPROVEMENTS AT ALL. Same archaic battle system with nothing interesting to mix it up, still need to go to specific places to do simple things like check your exp (which was annoyingI had never played a Dragon Quest game before, but I wanted too. I played 1 and 2 on my phone and it was what I expected a JRPG from the NES would be. Just picked up XI and besides the graphics, THERE ARE NO IMPROVEMENTS AT ALL. Same archaic battle system with nothing interesting to mix it up, still need to go to specific places to do simple things like check your exp (which was annoying in 1 and 2 already), and the story is basically the same as 1 and 2. Protag is born to rid the world of darkness. Boring. You can play the first 2 games and get THE EXACT SAME STORY.… Expand
  16. Looser
    Sep 8, 2018
    7
    It an okay game. It definitely has its fun factor. I really do not hold Dragon Quest in high regard personally.

    Graphics: 8/10
    Story/Lore: 6/10
    Battle System: 8/10
    Character Development: 5/10
    Music: 4/10
    World: 6/10
    Quests: 6/10
    Voice acting: 6/10

    Overall Score: 7/10
  17. NEDM64
    Sep 14, 2018
    5
    Good game spoiled by the GAMBLING parts, who is the idiot at Square Enix that thought making gambling a part of the game that you need to do in order to complete it was a good idea?
  18. tomvs123
    Jan 5, 2020
    7
    Excellent JRPG, though aimed at kids.

    I played the original Dragon Warrior games on the NES back when they were new. Dragon Quest XI is a near direct evolution of those games, retaining the same overall feel. The series didn't grow up with me though, with its story and themes still best experienced by children and early teens. I've long since gotten tired of gameplay for gameplay's    Excellent JRPG, though aimed at kids.

    I played the original Dragon Warrior games on the NES back when they were new. Dragon Quest XI is a near direct evolution of those games, retaining the same overall feel. The series didn't grow up with me though, with its story and themes still best experienced by children and early teens.

    I've long since gotten tired of gameplay for gameplay's sake in video games and have instead been looking for amazing stories and compelling/mature narratives to keep me playing a game. This game reaches the bare minimum required, having a basic quest to save the world, and not containing major plot holes (when considering the target audience).

    The story consists of bad guys who are bad for no particular reason, and an adventure to get objects and powers to defeat those bad guys. The plot unfolds nicely, but nothing happens that an adult or JRPG veteran will be surprised by. Characters are basic. The ones who join you are understandable and have their own background sections in the game, but they're not amazing, and they don't experience any growth that I'd consider mature. Though the story and characters are great at teaching kids basic morals, honor, and responsibility.

    Combat is basic, but incredibly well-balanced. They've basically used the exact same combat system and difficulty from earlier Dragon Quest games without dumbing it down, like other JRPG series have done. This means that it's hard and will require thought and planning to get though most battles (which is more than I can say for other recent JRPGs). Though when compared to earlier Dragon Quest games, combat is overall easier since you can avoid most enemies and go straight to the bosses of sections. So you no longer need to fight conservatively to make sure you have enough hit points, magic, and items to fight the dungeon boss.

    Leveling doesn't have much affect on character power, so if you do decide to skip most battles, you'll still be able to beat the game as long as you play strategically . Also, it seemed like metal slimes (which give lots of experience) always showed up after I skipped loads of battles, so the game seemed like it was intentionally giving me experience points when it think I needed them.

    As for the other things to do in the game, there are things to collect, things to find, things to craft, sidequests, and even random things that work like sidequests that don't show up in your sidequest list (I love the old-school feel of these where you just have to remember what someone said or write it down). All of these give useful in-game rewards, so there's incentive to do them. Crafting in particular is simple, but fun, and you can go through the whole game only crafting your equipment instead of buying it from stores.

    The typical Zelda fan will like the game due to the exploration and treasure finding possibilities. I long thought that exploration for exploration's sake was no longer entertaining to me, but this game proved me wrong, and I had a bit of fun exploring the world and finding treasure in remote locations.

    If the game were 40 hours, I'd rate it a 5 (average) or 6 (slightly above average) based on its story and mechanics. But I spent 120 hours in the game, with it consistently giving me a goal or things to do, all without DLC. Yes, this is one of those games that truly goes old-school by having no DLC, and instead having costumes and other things unlockable in-game. Because of this, its value proposition cannot be denied. But in the end, this is a game for kids and not necessarily for me. My kids are going to have a blast playing through it.    … Expand
  19. Ryuail
    Feb 1, 2020
    7
    I was hoping to play DQ11 with a nostalgic glint in my eye, but two things held it back.
    The lame midi music, and the go nowhere plot.
    I tried to like this game, I really did. But it's just kinda boring. There are little to no stakes, for instance the main character is on the run from an kingdom can just stroll into said kingdom's township with no consequences? Oh, he put a brown hood    I was hoping to play DQ11 with a nostalgic glint in my eye, but two things held it back.
    The lame midi music, and the go nowhere plot.

    I tried to like this game, I really did. But it's just kinda boring. There are little to no stakes, for instance the main character is on the run from an kingdom can just stroll into said kingdom's township with no consequences? Oh, he put a brown hood on, gotcha.
    The game felt more like it just wanted to introduce party members which completely unrelated problems to the hero, than build a central driving force as to why I should bother to finish.

    The positives are in the fun monsters designs, and the party banter.    … Expand
  20. SplitMind
    Jan 3, 2021
    6
    I don’t know how this game has received such stellar reviews. I can only presume that reviewers are either biased due to nostalgia or have only played the earliest hours for the best impression.

    The graphics in this game can be a mixed bag. Many of the backgrounds and environments are very colourful and vibrant, although nothing really pushes the PS4 to the limit. The game suffers from    I don’t know how this game has received such stellar reviews. I can only presume that reviewers are either biased due to nostalgia or have only played the earliest hours for the best impression.

    The graphics in this game can be a mixed bag. Many of the backgrounds and environments are very colourful and vibrant, although nothing really pushes the PS4 to the limit. The game suffers from a bit of blandness, as enemy sprites become very repetitive and you can see swapping of colour palettes. The game could have benefitted massively from more customisation, including seeing the armour you equip cosmetically change the character’s appearance. Speaking of which, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more bland protagonist devoid of character and personality, making him quite unrelatable.

    Dragon Quest 11 also dropped the ball a lot more when it comes to story. It falls on the old cliché of the chosen one who sets out to save the world and bands together a pack of misfits whose narratives become intertwined with predictable tropes such as ‘she’s actually your long-lost cousin’ etc. There are two problems here. Firstly, the story is incredibly generic, much like the game in general. Secondly, the story and game are simply far too bloody long. Coming up to 30 hours I didn’t even seem to be at the midpoint of the game and found it hard to justify going any further as the game had been quite generic thus far. Being a long game isn't a problem when it's compelling, but Dragon Quest would have held my interest knowing I had a shorter time left.

    One thing of note is the severe banality of the side-quests. Most resort to tired mechanics such as delivering or fetching, which is quite sad to see in a game released post-2016. If the previous 10 instalments are like this then I’m glad I missed them.

    The gameplay is potentially the best aspect of Dragon Quest, however this brings with it some questionable design choices. I loved the choices for combat to proceed automatically, however this also highlights the heavy grinding necessary. There is a mechanic where you can gallop into weaker enemies on your horse, defeating them immediately. This would have been better served by accumulating experience points for this to save on grinding.

    The game unfortunately repeats the same basic cycles found in JRPGs of old; go to a place, get sucked into a mini-story, conclude it, forget it and move on. Each town is hard to distinguish from the last. Despite boasting a wide open map, the game is essentially a series of small sandboxes and the sailing aspect is as irritating as it is liberating.

    The skill tree is an interesting concept but the execution is limited, gating off too many skills behind obsolete skills. Contemporaneously this is also a rather basic skill tree, superseded by games like FF12, which was released in 2006. Throughout the game, this theme of being outdated becomes more prominent.

    What is quite bewildering about this game is that there are at least ten games that came before it, yet Dragon Quest 11 feels more like the first JRPG a company makes. Everything is basic, generic and cliched. We have the Yakuza series, Zelda, Nier Automata and Trails of Cold Steel that have all shown evolution into modern expeditions, while Dragon Quest 11 feels like I’m playing a remaster of an old game or a trip down memory lane. It is a difficult game to recommend amongst the aforementioned company.    … Expand
  21. Xsenigma
    Sep 14, 2018
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A frustratingly beautiful game. If you were a fan of previous Dragon Quest titles the newest entry should do wonders to scratch your decade old itch. However, the newest entry same as the previous has failed to deliver any changes that might draw out sales from a historically uninterested western market. Everything here will feel familiar to the seasoned dragon quest adventurer with the addition of minor quality of life changes that should be appreciated by even the most diehard of fans. The glaring issue with this newest title is the gameplay impact the story constantly has on your hero and his merry band of misfit adventurers. Expect to spend no more than 25% of your adventure with all of your companions at your disposal. A huge turn off to completionist gamers who would prefer not to be punished for doing too much content while an ally is absent from the party temporairily. True to dragon quest roots members join at set levels and rejoin at the level they left making the impact the story has on ones willingness to go off the beaten path a large one. Overall the good outweighs the bad, fans should feel right home here while strangers to the series might want to hold off on picking this one up.… Expand
  22. DerekWayne
    Jan 20, 2020
    5
    I can’t get past the main character being so silent and deadpan. He doesn’t talk, and when he’s in danger he has zero reaction. He’s basically a hollow shell. A lifeless avatar. The cutscenes feel awkward and I find myself wishing he’d just do or say something other than just stand there!!! I don’t particularly like the battle style either it feels very boring. I can’t speak for the storyI can’t get past the main character being so silent and deadpan. He doesn’t talk, and when he’s in danger he has zero reaction. He’s basically a hollow shell. A lifeless avatar. The cutscenes feel awkward and I find myself wishing he’d just do or say something other than just stand there!!! I don’t particularly like the battle style either it feels very boring. I can’t speak for the story because I can’t bear to keep watching the MC behave so lifelessly. Really disappointing. I regret buying this game. Also the music is terrible, grates on the ears. Idk what Square Enix was thinking...… Expand
  23. Szntax
    May 22, 2021
    7
    This game ist great, I cant wait to see how a sequel in this huge franchise would turn out. I must admit that I stopped playing after a fair amount of time. I wonder what they could have done differently to keep me playing until the end.
  24. onslaught1584
    Aug 6, 2020
    6
    This is one of those games that I loved the first 40 hours of, but by about 100 hours in, when the story and gameplay started becoming tedious and repetitive, after I had fought the same re skinned enemies for the 8th or 9th time, all of its flaws became overwhelming. The game employees a lot of unnecessary padding, and takes the idea of grinding in a JRPG and cranks it up to 11. TheThis is one of those games that I loved the first 40 hours of, but by about 100 hours in, when the story and gameplay started becoming tedious and repetitive, after I had fought the same re skinned enemies for the 8th or 9th time, all of its flaws became overwhelming. The game employees a lot of unnecessary padding, and takes the idea of grinding in a JRPG and cranks it up to 11. The characters are shallow and boring and their voice acting is what I would expect from a 4kids anime dub in the early to mid 90s. The music is also repetative and becomes obnoxious after several hours in. My playthrough of this game was the definition of a sunk cost fallacy. I was just ready for it to be over, but progression is hard locked behind mindless tedious grinding. This game is why so many people actively avoid JRPGs. Every trope is there.… Expand
  25. Montef
    Nov 29, 2020
    7
    The game was good enough for me to go for full platinum playthrough, I liked it, but objectively it's absolutely generic cookie-cutter rpg like houndreds before. Hero saving world, strong woman, pervy old man, delicate healer girl, it's full of cliches and typical jrpg tropes. It's enjoyable for fans of the genre, but if you hate typical stuff from jrpgs stay away. I also think it couldThe game was good enough for me to go for full platinum playthrough, I liked it, but objectively it's absolutely generic cookie-cutter rpg like houndreds before. Hero saving world, strong woman, pervy old man, delicate healer girl, it's full of cliches and typical jrpg tropes. It's enjoyable for fans of the genre, but if you hate typical stuff from jrpgs stay away. I also think it could have been around 15-20 hours shorter, at the end I was pushing myself to finish it… Expand
  26. Mogmog000
    Jan 24, 2023
    6
    The difficulty is normal and the monsters are cute.
    The map is large. Opening skills is tedious.
    Story is too long.
  27. DinoBeam
    Mar 27, 2022
    5
    WARNING! This game is too easy, and the only other option is Very Hard mode, and you can't change difficulty after starting. This is a huge core flaw that really sucks, and is hard to understand the existence of. I don't know why this isn't talked about more, though it is talked about. I'm over half way through the game and I have to stop. While at first the characters were charming andWARNING! This game is too easy, and the only other option is Very Hard mode, and you can't change difficulty after starting. This is a huge core flaw that really sucks, and is hard to understand the existence of. I don't know why this isn't talked about more, though it is talked about. I'm over half way through the game and I have to stop. While at first the characters were charming and the quest fairly interesting, the story is just meandering from reason for it to keep going to reason for it to keep going using anime power up tricks and such. In addition, Akira Toriyama's art design of monsters is extremely hit or miss here, with half or more of the monsters looking like off-brand toys for very young children.

    The game also feels very cheap in a number of other ways, for instance you get to a cool new area only to hear the same exact music for every other area, then you go in a cave and hear the exact same music for every other cave and dungeon. This game is doing as little as it can to make a profit, making sure to extend the playtime so people don't complain. This game is very disappointing, and I am appalled at the praise it has received by players and critics alike.

    If you are looking for a good JRPG experience, I recommend these;

    Dragon Quest IV for the Nintendo DS
    Pokemon Blue or the updated Leaf Green version
    Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest 1
    Radiata Stories    … Expand
  28. GoodSelf
    Nov 8, 2021
    7
    While a good game in it's own right, I felt like this was a generic RPG experience. There were certainly those "wow" moments, and a handful of great characters, but for me personally, it was harder to connect with them and their journey.

    The strongest aspect of DQ11 for me was the combat - classic turn based goodness with great decisions to be made in mind battles, especially when    While a good game in it's own right, I felt like this was a generic RPG experience. There were certainly those "wow" moments, and a handful of great characters, but for me personally, it was harder to connect with them and their journey.

    The strongest aspect of DQ11 for me was the combat - classic turn based goodness with great decisions to be made in mind battles, especially when fighting some of the the harder status inflicting bosses. The weakest aspect for me was the music - while there were a few standout tracks, I don't even think the orchestra version can lift some of these songs out of the mud (looking at you, Casino Theme).

    Overall, this is worthwhile game to play, just don't go in expecting the greatest RPG of all time.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best PS4 Game of 2018
19
#19 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
29
#29 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 86 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 80 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 86
  3. Negative: 0 out of 86
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Mar 11, 2019
    85
    Might not be the greatest game of all time, but it probably is the best game in the most quality maintaining JRPG series of all time. Is that even better? Could be! Do not miss this gorgeous yet pretty nostalgic game set in a well known universe of the Dragon Quest franchise.
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  2. CD-Action
    Jan 9, 2019
    85
    Dragon Quest XI clings to tradition, but when you buy a DQ game, you don’t expect a revolution. You expect vibrant characters and thrilling adventures and that’s exactly what you get, amplified by the level of execution unparalleled not only in the series, but in the whole genre. [11/2018, p.66]
  3. GameGrin
    Jan 2, 2019
    100
    Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age is a perfect game, it sticks to with traditional JRPG roots while still bringing in a few new mechanics to freshen it up a bit.
    Read full review
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