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. sawduck
    May 8, 2023
    8
    A very enjoyable game but my god is it long, i might try some of the older games next
  2. Edenscott
    May 8, 2023
    9
    One of the best modern JRPGs, very chill, but entertaining to play with traditional JRPG combat.
  3. TianLong1
    Mar 31, 2023
    9
    Never have I ever experienced such an engaging adventure, with such endearing characters and greatly structured story, one of the longest also. The soundtrack is amazing. The gameplay is really simple and turn-based but provides you with enough evolution and variety to keep you going for 100 hours of gameplay, since there are so many enemies and ways to defeat them. The only aspect I didntNever have I ever experienced such an engaging adventure, with such endearing characters and greatly structured story, one of the longest also. The soundtrack is amazing. The gameplay is really simple and turn-based but provides you with enough evolution and variety to keep you going for 100 hours of gameplay, since there are so many enemies and ways to defeat them. The only aspect I didnt like was the fact that your protagonist doesnt talk at all, no voice acting to give him some semblance of personality. When a NPC would talk to him with great voice acting, your protagonist would simply nod while smiling like an idiot. And also, I wish the game was not so "grindy" in the end in order to defeat the final boss.… Expand
  4. 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.
  5. Ginger_Avenger
    Nov 19, 2022
    8
    It's the same JRPG comfort food you come to crave after while, just as with the previous installments. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's a well put together world and cast that makes it way thru the typical RPG plot. All the usual creatures and gear is there, but with the current gen upgrade, everything has a colorful charm to it. It'd be hard to hate something like this, but you won't haveIt's the same JRPG comfort food you come to crave after while, just as with the previous installments. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's a well put together world and cast that makes it way thru the typical RPG plot. All the usual creatures and gear is there, but with the current gen upgrade, everything has a colorful charm to it. It'd be hard to hate something like this, but you won't have your mind blown either. It's still the same RPG experience from twenty years ago. I give the western PS4 release a downgraded score since we apparently only got the lower grade music, not the orchestral version.… Expand
  6. Haannss
    Nov 17, 2022
    3
    Absurdly boring and long game that repeats enemies and scenearies once and again just to add hours and hours of never ending torture, just when it seems to end, when you are already thinking of choosing a better game for the next few weeks, it goes on and on. And not in an enjoyable way. The story is ridiculously childish and the game mechanics are just dumb. At some point of theAbsurdly boring and long game that repeats enemies and scenearies once and again just to add hours and hours of never ending torture, just when it seems to end, when you are already thinking of choosing a better game for the next few weeks, it goes on and on. And not in an enjoyable way. The story is ridiculously childish and the game mechanics are just dumb. At some point of the development, somebody decided that introducing NON DEFENDABLE altered status would be a good idea to artificially make the game harder, and nobody stopped him/her. The only good thing are the designs of Akira Toriyama, a gift for those longing for Dragon Ball. That alone, and nothing else. Very few games were less enjoyable to me in all the PS4 catalogue. Can't even figure out why it has a so ridiculously high score. RUN AWAY FROM IT.… Expand
  7. hector_bcn98
    Nov 16, 2022
    9
    Agradezco tanto a Square Enix que me diese una experiencia JRPG clásica de toda la vida, con turnos y todo, que ahora solo pido que traigan el X Offline y saber algo más de XII.
  8. Sensou
    Aug 29, 2022
    9
    I kind of understand why people can say this game is the best JRPG besides Persona 5 or even Fire Emblem Three Houses (which a bit different in genre).

    Dragon Quest XI has a massive world (probably the biggest out there), not like Persona which you only play on the deck of your house and Fire Emblem that only play around in the monastery. So you can explore the world and find lot of    I kind of understand why people can say this game is the best JRPG besides Persona 5 or even Fire Emblem Three Houses (which a bit different in genre).

    Dragon Quest XI has a massive world (probably the biggest out there), not like Persona which you only play on the deck of your house and Fire Emblem that only play around in the monastery. So you can explore the world and find lot of things which some of them are jaw-dropping due to the beauty of it. The Academy and Octagonia are my favorite place in DQ XI.

    The music, OST or BGM (whatever you call it) is heavenly. It's the truth, I play the game mostly only to dive into the world of DQ XI with the majestic yet soothing music. Japanese musicians truly never fails to set the tone for a game.

    Besides that, DQ XI is truly the default of JRPG. When we talk about JRPG, DQ XI is the closest game that can completely reflect what JRPG is which a good thing IMO but at the same time, they are lacking some unique selling point from big hit JRPG like Persona 5 and Fire Emblem Three Houses as well as the 1st Ni No Kuni.

    Besides that, the characters is DQ XI is perfect. I love Sylvando, Veronica and Rab due to their quirkiness. On top of that, you can play as your party member because all the party member will get separated in some point in the game which becomes my favorite part of the game because they tried to explore and do things their own after getting separated.

    The craziest thing is the post-content which act more like DLC for me rather than post-content and it's a big chunk of post content which basically it's equal to 1/2 of the main game. Completely loving the post-content.

    Overall I do enjoy the game as a die hard JRPG fans and I can say that DQ XI offer the best and the most beautiful scenery out of all JRPG game out there with another one of the best heavenly music to complement that.    … Expand
  9. Charlybs
    Jul 24, 2022
    9
    Un jrpg muy divertido y largo. Aventura es la palabra que mejor lo define. Desprende alegría, gusto, buen rollo a lo largo de toda la aventura. Lo recomiendo muchísimo incluso si nunca has jugado a rol por turnos.
  10. chrisdan23
    Jun 9, 2022
    8
    Dragon Quest ist so ein Sache für sich. Ein Spielkonzept, dass sich einfach sträubt zu altern. Im Kern spielen sich Dragon Quest Games heute immer noch so, wie vor zwanzig Jahren, auch wenn der neue Ableger der Serie in schickem 3D Look daher kommt. Das Kampfsystem ist rundenbasiert und klassisch im besten Sinne. Die Story ist der typische Heldentruppen Epos, der durch zwei, dreiDragon Quest ist so ein Sache für sich. Ein Spielkonzept, dass sich einfach sträubt zu altern. Im Kern spielen sich Dragon Quest Games heute immer noch so, wie vor zwanzig Jahren, auch wenn der neue Ableger der Serie in schickem 3D Look daher kommt. Das Kampfsystem ist rundenbasiert und klassisch im besten Sinne. Die Story ist der typische Heldentruppen Epos, der durch zwei, drei geschickte Wendungen im Laufe der Geschichte immer mal wieder reanimiert wird. Das klingt alles nicht sehr spannend? Die besondere Stärke von Dragon Quest waren seit jeher die charmanten Charaktere. Auch hier hat man wieder mit dem Autor des Dragon Ball Universums zusammen gearbeitet. Das ists was dem Spiel das gewisse extra gibt und heraus holt aus dem Einerlei der klassischen JRPGs. Daher nicht nur zu empfehlen für Fans des Genres. Die werden den Titel sowieso suchten.… Expand
  11. bonsai
    May 23, 2022
    9
    To me, this game goes directly in my top 3 JRPGs of all time, together with Chrono Trigger and Tales of Synphonia, I loved this game to death and did the platinum trophy, looking for everything to do until there wasn't anything left, 160 hours of pure fun.
  12. Eddyy
    Mar 27, 2022
    10
    graphic and story are beautiful
    music is perfect
    story and citys 12/10

    realy good game
  13. 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
  14. NoLameGames
    Feb 28, 2022
    9
    What a grand adventure this game was! A total gem, I'd never played a Dragon Quest game before, I'd heard it was good, but was always skeptical about that. I was in for a wonderful surprise this game was a breath of fresh air in the JRPG scene. It's very tried and true, but it had just enough QOL features to show what a JRPG should be striving for in this day and age.
  15. MoniWhite
    Feb 7, 2022
    8
    Not one of the better Dragon Quest games but it's still Dragon Quest so I love the traditional turn based battling
  16. DigitalCaffeine
    Dec 2, 2021
    3
    Oof, I was really looking forward to this game after seeing so many critics say it was one of the best JRPGs they've ever played, but after dozens of hours into it, I'm not sure we were playing the same thing. This is my first time playing a Dragon Quest game, and I doubt I'll return for another unless it was made by a different team. I have played other RPGs and JRPGs through the years,Oof, I was really looking forward to this game after seeing so many critics say it was one of the best JRPGs they've ever played, but after dozens of hours into it, I'm not sure we were playing the same thing. This is my first time playing a Dragon Quest game, and I doubt I'll return for another unless it was made by a different team. I have played other RPGs and JRPGs through the years, but even older ones tower over what is being offered here. The pacing is incredibly slow, mostly due to drawn-out conversations and cutscenes with the production value of something from the early 2000s. In fact, if you handed me this game and told me it was from 2005 I would have believed you.

    I didn't know exactly how many songs there are in the game, but you'll mostly hear the same 2 or 3 for the entire time you play. This includes the thousands of battles you'll get into. How did nobody see this as a problem?

    The monsters are cute, but it feels like that's where 90% of the art budget went. The towns look all have unique themes, but once you leave them it's the most generic open spaces with few interesting things to look at over and over. Seriously, it feels like there was a lack of inspiration in the overall art vision for this game. Everything is generic in the worst way possible. I finally called it quits about 30 hours in and can't in good faith recommend this for anyone to play.    … Expand
  17. manusax
    Nov 13, 2021
    10
    A masterpiece. Story a little bit for children, but the game is a 10.

    More than a hundred hours. This was my game during pandemic.
  18. 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
  19. Tiziown
    May 22, 2021
    10
    Best japanese role playing game of the generation, without any possible doubt.
  20. 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.
  21. FlyingPiloswine
    May 13, 2021
    0
    This game is really well designed. Each part of the gameplay is rewarding and exciting. The only downside is that the game overstays its welcome. I am about 60 - 70 hours into the campaign and am well into "Act 2" of the game, and its starting to feel like a slog. A lot of overworld content is reused, but it fails to strike the same sense of awe and change that Ocarina of Time achieved.This game is really well designed. Each part of the gameplay is rewarding and exciting. The only downside is that the game overstays its welcome. I am about 60 - 70 hours into the campaign and am well into "Act 2" of the game, and its starting to feel like a slog. A lot of overworld content is reused, but it fails to strike the same sense of awe and change that Ocarina of Time achieved. You do revisit an area or two that changed drastically, but the vast majority of areas are exactly the same your second time around. The game kept me heartily entertained for about 70 hours, though, so Id recommend it. Unfortunately, I dont think I will see the story to its thrilling conclusion.… Expand
  22. Marsbarista
    May 6, 2021
    10
    DQ XI is an ridiculously cute, happy, uplifting, fairy-tale like game. The world is so charming and the art is amazing. Sylvando was my favourite character. But yeah, what a fantastic story and the old school rpg roots are pretty fun as well. Highly recommend this game.
  23. Empyrea
    Apr 24, 2021
    9
    I've finished the first part of the game so here comes my impressions. Graphics are awesome. If in Dragon Quest VIII you felt like living in an anime serie now it just got better. At first I didn't like the soundtrack because I think it was made with a synthesizer but then I got used to it. I guess that make a game so long with real instruments (like in the opening) would have been tooI've finished the first part of the game so here comes my impressions. Graphics are awesome. If in Dragon Quest VIII you felt like living in an anime serie now it just got better. At first I didn't like the soundtrack because I think it was made with a synthesizer but then I got used to it. I guess that make a game so long with real instruments (like in the opening) would have been too expensive. As I said, graphics are great, soundtrack is good as well, about gameplay it's turn-based so you can think everything. My main complaints would be: there's no autosave or a place to save when you are going to fight a boss after having been in a temple and this is a very big problem because bosses are very very strong compared with the normal enemies. I died twice: once at the begining of the game and another time in like a golden temple so I recommend you that when you find a chest with normally 4 PM potions teleport to a place to save the game and then go to fight the boss. I got so so mad when I died in that temple that l stopped playing that game that day because I spent two hours in that temple leveling up my team for nothing. Another complaint is that there are too many spells. I mean, is it realy necessary? I don't think so. About the gameplay you can use the auto mode in the battles against normal enemies but with bosses, unless your team level is very high I recommend you to take control of your team although to be honest I was so upset with the golden temple thing that before the final battle of the first part of the game I grinded my team exploring new places so I end up beating the final boss with the auto mode because the machine knows more than me about what to do (although from time to time they use some attacks that I wouldn't have done) because if I take control I'd lose turns casting spells for nothing. My team with this final boss was: The main character (level 56) and H, R, and S (I don't want to spoil) and I only took control of some characters at the end of the battle to use PM potions. My recommendations: spend all the money and potions that you want (damn I have so many that I didn't use!). Although keep at least 200.000-300.000 to buy some stuff for the second part of the game. Also, use the forge and improve your items. And one last thing: when you find a place where you can save the game and heal and the enemies give you a good deal of experience take your time to rise a couple of levels. The first part of the game took me 82 hours.

    Ok. After almost 120 hours I've beaten the second part of the game. After reaching the first ending I recommend you to take a guide so you don't miss anything because there are many optional things that you can easily miss and also to not waste time visiting places. Before the final battle and having done almost all the optional things I had the hero at level 70 and then I decided to rise the hero a couple of levels (although I ended up leveling him to 75 in a place easy to farm) and I beat the final boss the first time only taking control to fill PM and doing somethings. The rest I left it to the autoplay. To sum up it's a good long game with great graphics although I must say that I was eager to finish everything of the second part of the game and finish it. I hope the next one be shorter.    … Expand
  24. 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
  25. Vitalick
    Dec 19, 2020
    8
    Great jrpg game , maybe not best graphics and sometimes music to repetitive but ig you like the jrpgs this is a must play game
  26. Ermaster
    Dec 13, 2020
    9
    One of the best JRPG of all times.

    Graphics: 9/10 - Beautiful, always nice to see Toriyama´s monster and character designs.
    Story:9/10 - Long story, good characters, twists, nice cut scenes. What an adventure must be.
    Music: 8/10 - Even if the music is really good, it can get repetitive at times.
    Gameplay: 9/10 - Classical Turn-based JRPG with touch of modernity. Tons of things to do.
  27. 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
  28. squall13
    Nov 25, 2020
    10
    no conocia nada de dragon quest xi, pero este juego es hermoso, entretenido, visualmente bien cuidado, si extrañas los viejos JRPGs, especialmente los viejos FF, esta es una de las mejores opciones a dia de hoy, vale la pena
  29. setuis
    Nov 12, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A great fantastic RPG that ruins its best mechanic in getting peppered up (using super flashy animations) by making the cost stupidly high to get pip pop or pip up items (one of them requires you to waste time gambling in a casino for hours on end as do other items in game) That or you need to steal 18 shields to do a farming combo once. Late game your forced to waste 10 to 20 minutes defending to get prepared up to use flashy attacks etc by the late game every character should have an ability to enter this state immediately like the main character does. (5% bonus to pep state?) also there is no set indication how long it will take to enter the state. Peppered up is basically a worse trance at least with trance in FF9 you could see how much gauge etc is needed to pepper up and makes it consistent and fair. Then to top it off they release the game on switch with more content then make a release for ps4 with the switch content instead of just releasing DLC. This is fine with certain companies who have always done it but it not welcome when new companies do it. Most encounters award low exp , low items and low amounts of money. Casino made me ill kept going past by 1 number for over 2 hours , stopped me getting 1 million casino tokens for 7[-8 items I need? . Basing the games economy by hard to find enemy that drops an expensive shield and casino gambling is crap. A great RPG with many quests and emotional moments ruined by not being allowed to enter pep pip state more. Finally trials and bosses that require you to beat them in a certain move limit and or with certain moves is super annoying too as most often they require "the pep juice garbage". --- Game should not really include stuff like f poker , roullete and slot machines in its game or at least it should warn players about it in advance as some people have problems in real life with such gambling machines. The game is realistically a 10 but the gambling mechanics and being sore about not enough pip boosts and not having the full experience drops this to an 8 and I don't feel bad about putting it there due to how annoying the roullete game is the game designers did not think to ask the player if they would like to save there bet as a template and it forces you to put down tokens on 36 squares over and over again requiring about 200 inputs each try only to fail for 2 hours without paying out jackpot. When you have already played the game 110 hours and just want a few pip pops to finish its just stupid and annoying. -- in the end it would have been faster to sell equipment. I didn't need to get to 99 oh well. The game had a good ending with partner of ancestor doing something , books where displayed indicating 2 volumes in the tale, and they showed off a first person mode for possibly dq 12 or the mothers perspective in dq 12 and introducing a character named coole??. Wheels of Harma easier than expected, overwhelming pride was the real difficult boss and the true last boss, The Big bad Aka " true last boss" was blasted to death with multiple shots from dark mage and spamming effin exlixers to win fast , after using sword of light to make it even easier. I mostly used a pure mage team (Oldman, Young girl, twin, Main hero) - as most of them have healing magic.

    Whale/ narwhal smashing barrier to final was cool , game has a lot of great moments in the end I skipped (The quest to make legeate sword +3) , The hotto quest for specific monster, I didn't bother to free phan from endless dancing from the old welsh man in the painting , I didn't face dragon in snefield for second time and finally I didn't bother doing kings quest in barrow's to upgrade 8th (hero) and The circus man) and stlll had 120 hours played in game I just wanted it done and finished. So I skipped the optional remaining stuff (like 20 more mini medals for max medals, horse races and those quest/mini bosses).    … Expand
  30. Elite_Soldier
    Nov 12, 2020
    9
    Spent around 100+ hours on DQ11, never played a DQ game before but was thoroughly impressed. Part 1 of the game didn't have anything new to offer to the turn-based JRPJ landscape but was great at telling its story with a lovable cast of characters, it set up a strong foundation of the themes and setting of the world, meeting new monsters to encounter was a treat. Part 2 and 3 take a darkerSpent around 100+ hours on DQ11, never played a DQ game before but was thoroughly impressed. Part 1 of the game didn't have anything new to offer to the turn-based JRPJ landscape but was great at telling its story with a lovable cast of characters, it set up a strong foundation of the themes and setting of the world, meeting new monsters to encounter was a treat. Part 2 and 3 take a darker tone and it is a little hard to get used to at the start but is worth it in the end. If you are a fan of turn based combat then you don't want to miss DQ11.… Expand
  31. superpyro296
    Nov 5, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is certainly way better than the average. Basically, this is a traditional JRPG made in 2018 by Square Enix. On almost all aspects, this game shines. We quickly see, as we start the game, that this is a high quality polished product. The story is good, the graphics are great and we have a game that will last around 100 hours (I spent 90 hours on my playthrough)

    I give 8,5/10 for this game. I don't have a lot of experience for JRPG in this category but last year, i have played Persona 5. I think those games are really different and I would definitely recommend both. Dragon Quest XI seems more targeted for a younger audience though...

    My only little complaint for this game was the difficulty level. I started with the draconian settings on (Stronger monsters) and I've been able to battle until the Octopus boss on this harder difficulty. For me, that was just too hard. Then, I turned down the diffuculty level to normal and the game became way too easy...After a couple of bosses, the normal difficulty became more balanced and I could benefit from some challenge.

    In term of story, it is generally good despite a slow start and a few holes in the middle. I think the different characters are well developed.

    I recommend this game especially for those who want to try JRPG's and see if it is for them. Don't expect anything really innovative but you will get a strong turn-based JRPG.    … Expand
  32. Kai82
    Oct 3, 2020
    10
    One of the best RPGs in years. They transferred a classic turn based RPG from the nineties in our times keeping all that is / was great while avoiding the parts that would not work well today. It is the kind of RPG what fans wanted for years from Square Enix. While I must admit that they use tropes or staples of the genre they also made twists, challenge your expectations in a good way andOne of the best RPGs in years. They transferred a classic turn based RPG from the nineties in our times keeping all that is / was great while avoiding the parts that would not work well today. It is the kind of RPG what fans wanted for years from Square Enix. While I must admit that they use tropes or staples of the genre they also made twists, challenge your expectations in a good way and have some unique ideas. The story is really good. Your hero / protagonist did survive an attack that destroyed his hometown as infant and was adopted and raised in a small village. He bears the mark of the chosen one and after participating in the coming of age ritual the truth is revealed to him. Like I said it sounds pretty generic but you will soon get the first surprising twist. As the story progresses you get new party members, explore a fascinating world full of good characters and with enjoyable stories. The twists are good and I was always engaged in the story. What impressed me the most is what comes after you thought you finished the story. Be careful this is considered by many as spoilers! “Spoiler starts here”: You get a chance do undo the past. While you won the world suffered heavily. Basically you return to the half-point of the game and experience a new scenario, story and events. It felt like a second game for free. “End of spoilers”. Then there are the team members. One of the best cast in years because I struggled to pick my favorite team. All have their own stories, baggage and goals. Be it Erik the thief with a troubled hearth of gold, the twins Veronica and Serena, Sylvando the all should follow their hearths and everyone should be happy guy, Jade the female martial artist with depth and character and Rab the old man who is more than meets the eye. There is a character that I cant name because of spoilers. Then there is the graphic. As recommended by Dragon Quest standard the artworks are from Akira Toriyama who is most famous for Dragonball. The characters, monsters and world look gorgeous. They go for the anime look and I think it is fitting. The soundtrack however is a mixed back. They did not made an orchestral soundtrack and sometimes the music does not fit. However I will still say it is good but less than expected or what could be. There is a system to develop your characters. As you level up you get skill points that can be used to learn new abilities on an ability grid. You have often multiple approaches per character and you should not mix except for synergies or you have learned everything in your current role. For example Jade can use spears that are really strong weapons or claws that are weaker but have two attacks per action. Both variants have unique abilities and effects. Mostly it depends on preferences but there are of cause abilities that are more useful and if you are lucky you get some bonus skill points for unlocking abilities on the grid. Side note: Some abilities are locked on the grid until you acquired enough skills around them. There are a lot of side quest and some optional mini games. You can participate in horse races, collect medals for the academy, find weather cows, play casino games and more. I like the humor and some quirks for the characters. There is a robust crafting system in the game where you can make new equipment and / or improve your current once. What I felt is a missed opportunity are the pep powers. Your characters power up Super Saiyan style from time to time. However it is too unpredictable to use except you switch them out immediately and stop using them until you need them (Even this is not that usable). There are pep powered team combos with some good effect. I think the most useful is a combo from the protagonist, Jade and Sylvando. You can summon metal slimes for immense amounts of experience points from defeat (Erik has one attack that instant kills one because it has a guaranteed critical hit). Overall this was a surprisingly good game with lots of nostalgia and a world I liked to explored filled with good content / stories. Bonus: The Switch version is even better.… Expand
  33. JGar453
    Sep 10, 2020
    8
    It harkens back to 80s JRPGs and the combat should be familiar but it never really feels like it's holding it back, if anything this is the boldest Dragon Quest game ever. The graphics are very good for its cartoony aesthetic and you'll be drawn into it not for the thrill of battle but for the cute monsters with dumb pun names. The music is okay, it gets repetitive. The combat is easy toIt harkens back to 80s JRPGs and the combat should be familiar but it never really feels like it's holding it back, if anything this is the boldest Dragon Quest game ever. The graphics are very good for its cartoony aesthetic and you'll be drawn into it not for the thrill of battle but for the cute monsters with dumb pun names. The music is okay, it gets repetitive. The combat is easy to understand. On normal mode as long as you face any enemies that look unique to you, you'll be fine, there are no random encounters. I love the versatility of equipment swapping and character swapping in battle. Every character fills just the right niche and you'll use all of them of your own volition probably. It's a bit buff and debuff heavy once you start to understand the game, with dedicated support characters. It doesn't punish being experimental with its skill tree as you can easily reallocate skill points. I guess my biggest criticism of the combat is the turn order being completely random with a dash of it being influenced by the agility stat. The generic set up of the story can be a turn off but you get in a episodic groove once the story really takes off. And then it goes really full gear in what I consider the 2nd act. The character development in that part of the game is great and it really shows how hard the developers tried to make every detail matter. The post-game has a storyline which is interesting lore wise but honestly I do take issue with some of the basic premise of it. But it does offer some more difficult combat trials. I think the main party of characters is great, I initially had negative perceptions of some of them but they all reveal themselves to be far more wholesome and troubled people than you initially believed. How I felt about characters such as Erik and Veronica drastically changed, I honestly thought Veronica was awful at first. It's a light-hearted affair but there are a couple moments that get a tad depressing in the game. One thing I thought was really cool about the North American version was some of the liberties they took with town dialogue. Every city featured some type of caricature like Spain, Italy, Hawaii, etc. but it's all very cute, the VAs are accented and have much more elaborate lines than the JP VAs, and there's this village where everyone speaks in haiku and then sometimes the kids break haiku for effect before stopping themselves. This is the kind of thing that happens when a localization team actually loves the product they're translating.

    It's easy to make a big massive JRPG map and just have it be point A to point B but Dragon Quest doesn't half ass any areas of the map. It has small but noteable flaws but I remember it as an endearing experience and that's what matters.    … Expand
  34. Steignov
    Sep 10, 2020
    3
    Beautiful, but a slog.

    + Really pretty graphics + decent story + interesting characters - that MIDI music holy f*ck! (you, can mod it in the steam version, but I rate the vanilla stuff here) - extremly slow game. Everything is slow. The story, the combat, even fights against low level monsters take forever, due to long a*s animations - dumb menus, almost everthing is hidden under    Beautiful, but a slog.

    + Really pretty graphics
    + decent story
    + interesting characters

    - that MIDI music holy f*ck! (you, can mod it in the steam version, but I rate the vanilla stuff here)
    - extremly slow game. Everything is slow. The story, the combat, even fights against low level monsters take forever, due to long a*s animations
    - dumb menus, almost everthing is hidden under Misc. So click, click, click, click until you get to see what you want
    - You lose all your fast travel points after a certrain event. Sea and land. Biggest joke ever. And you won't regain them, You'll need to revisit them. Serioulsy f*ck that.
    - Played it through and it took about 80 hours. At least 10-20 hours taken by the weak menu and inventory system and revisting all the places I have been before.
    - No idea how this game got such high scores. Besides from a tiny amount of mountable monsters there no new features and improvement compared to the last main games. Everything is the same! Critics are m*rons, cause that means we will get another PS2 game with nice graphics. Thanks for that, I guess!    … Expand
  35. Azziz
    Sep 10, 2020
    10
    This game is one of the best games I have ever played. I am in love with JRPG thanks to DQ 11.
  36. Jmart8
    Sep 7, 2020
    8
    Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the game. It introduced my to the franchise and I was surprised by how much good quality content it has, will be a fan for all next releases.

    Now the low score is because of 2 things; combat system can be improved and Im nore of a action RPG kind of guy AND MAINLY because of the totally broken casino system which doesnt work and it requores you to    Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the game. It introduced my to the franchise and I was surprised by how much good quality content it has, will be a fan for all next releases.

    Now the low score is because of 2 things; combat system can be improved and Im nore of a action RPG kind of guy AND MAINLY because of the totally broken casino system which doesnt work and it requores you to deal with it to complete centain secondary missions (not even cheating exploits helped the 6+ horrible hours I had to struggle with that)    … Expand
  37. ArthurJoelLeo
    Sep 2, 2020
    0
    Awful! Its forcing you to play longer for levels up. The game is like no ending also, mechanics are awful
  38. Garlands
    Sep 1, 2020
    10
    Un excellent jrpg qui vous occupera pendant des dizaines d'heures un must have si on aime les jrpg !!
  39. dogshea
    Aug 24, 2020
    10
    DQ XI is the most beautiful JRPG so far. The only bad thing is the hair style of the main character.
  40. Bader899
    Aug 8, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It’s my first dq game and im love it the story is deep and amazing the characters are funny and reliable… Expand
  41. 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
  42. jeremymclin
    Aug 2, 2020
    10
    Nowadays, while RPG now shifting toward action based, this game redefines and states that turn-based RPG can still be brilliant! What a masterpiece!
  43. Jumpinjackflash
    Jul 31, 2020
    9
    Really great game. Does everything you ask for in a JRPG really well and had a beautiful game world to explore. Definitely worth it!
  44. Kamzz
    Jul 24, 2020
    0
    No free upgrade to XI S, it feels so greedy from SQEX.
    Don't buy this game anymore and wait XI S if you really want it.
  45. JWil
    Jul 23, 2020
    8
    I give it a 8 only because the music wasn’t the best it could be and hampered the experience of a masterpiece. Will Yuji Horii, Koichi Sugiyama, and Akira Toriyama outdo themselves again?! I really hope and pray so! This game shouldn’t be missed! But if possible get the definitive version on the Nintendo Switch!
  46. LucioTT
    Jul 19, 2020
    10
    finally a good turn based rpg, the game is near perfect, the combat is fun and you have a lot of freedom on how you want your party members to fight, the story is really good, the world feels alive with colour, enemies and secrets to find. lot of dungeons and different towns to discover, the game is long really long, when you think is near its end bang not yet. dragon quest usually meansfinally a good turn based rpg, the game is near perfect, the combat is fun and you have a lot of freedom on how you want your party members to fight, the story is really good, the world feels alive with colour, enemies and secrets to find. lot of dungeons and different towns to discover, the game is long really long, when you think is near its end bang not yet. dragon quest usually means quality and this one is the same. a must play for any rpg fan.… Expand
  47. Ruah
    Jul 19, 2020
    10
    La edición de Switch es lo más completo que he visto en una edición de un juego multiplataforma. Va muy bien tanto en modo tv como portátil, el poder jugar en 2d tbn ayuda a la nostalgia y el clásico combate por turnos q Nomura se cargo en final fantasy le queda genial
  48. MiguelLEO
    Jul 10, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Obra maestra el mejor jrpg de PS4, combate, historia, gráficos, secretos, personajes con carisma, MUY LARGO, juegazo… Expand
  49. Mjnhminh
    Jul 8, 2020
    10
    Perfect game ! Everything is the best. Music, animation, charactor building, story
  50. Cerimus
    Jul 6, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dragon Quest 11Review
    The Story: Really good, up to a point. Enter Sylvando, the flamboyant token character! Then the propaganda starts. Fruit Suits & Pride Parades. All kinds of innuendo. This cringe-worthy plot development will offend normal people. It's over-the top. It's agenda driven. WOKE themes are becoming the point of these games, it seems. LAME!!!

    Game Play: All-in-all, it's far too easy!! Players can see & avoid foes altogether! You can preemptively strike before battle which seems unnecessary and superfluous. Dual wield is really awesome, especially with falcon swords. But monsters are easier to defeat, in general, and rare metal monsters are now a joke. The monster catalogue gives item drop info before drops occur. And the crossbow target game was just time consuming and a real nuisance. Often, the crossbow targeted monsters off-screen while attempting other actions. And invisible walls were everywhere. I've never seen it this bad. Why couldn't they just modify the environment to bar passage? Furthermore, the map was too small!! Man, you'd think for a PS 4 game it would be at least as large as DQ8 on PS2, but it isn't. The Casino has improved, but you are still only allowed a choice of slots or poker. Could've added more. The Forge is nice. It makes items & upgrades, but game play is easy anyway. So you can skip bothering with it. The graphics are traditionally DQ design and looks great. And finally the music scores. Classic DQ, but does not change with location. It's the same music from place-to-place, over and over again. It get s very old...Anyway, given the very small map and easy difficulty setting, I would say this game was suitable for novices with low standards and no expectations. this is definitely not DQ8.

    My Review: Save yourself some money and skip this one if you don't drink soy milk or loiter around public restrooms late night in Central Park. If you already own it, do as I did. Lament your purchase at GameStop while taking a pair of scissors to it. Wokeness ruined the story and game play is for amateurs with no skills.    … Expand
  51. TomasLacerda
    Jun 28, 2020
    10
    This game is visually stunning, it's really polished on everything! There is a lot of content, the characters are interesting and have unique personalities, the story gets more interesting as you go, it isn't as bland as initially seems. Really good voice acting, the quests types are really varied, it is an amazing RPG. I was skeptic in the beginning but fell in love for it.
  52. venture77
    Jun 23, 2020
    9
    This game is a traditional turn based rpg with modern graphics. This game has a ton of content and I highly recommend it to any classic rpg fans.
  53. Xarman
    Jun 22, 2020
    10
    Just good
    The story is very good the music is beautiful worthy of Square Enix
  54. yamchaf
    Jun 19, 2020
    10
    Possible mine favourite RPG . One of the best games i ever played. Now looking forward DQ XII
  55. Roberoquer
    Jun 19, 2020
    9
    This is a traditional JRPG so if oyu are into the genre you already know what it´s about. That being said, the game is outstanding on almost every level. The gaphics are cartoonish but kind of fit perfectly the tone of the game overall, the turn-based combat system is one of the best and most fun to play I´ve ever seen and the story is not particularly new but it´s very well executed, theThis is a traditional JRPG so if oyu are into the genre you already know what it´s about. That being said, the game is outstanding on almost every level. The gaphics are cartoonish but kind of fit perfectly the tone of the game overall, the turn-based combat system is one of the best and most fun to play I´ve ever seen and the story is not particularly new but it´s very well executed, the plot has some interesting twists here and there that will keep you into the story at all times (and the final part is quite intense and exciting plotwise I must add) and the characters are really deep and fun to spend time with. The only negative thing is that at least for me the second part of the game was hard as hell since the difficulty levek skyrockets a bit and you may have to grind a lot to beat the final bosses, otherwise it´s a great game.… Expand
  56. rjpardor90
    Jun 18, 2020
    10
    Just loved it. Such a beautiful game with amazing characters and a non-stop history.
  57. GreenMenace
    Jun 12, 2020
    9
    This isn’t new per se, but it is the definitive edition of a really good game. Dragon Quest XI tells a fantastic story full of twists and turns with a common theme of how light shines through the darkness.

    Pros Great story led by good characters Definitive Edition Clean Great Cinematics Cons The story takes its time The interface It took me awhile to get into the game    This isn’t new per se, but it is the definitive edition of a really good game. Dragon Quest XI tells a fantastic story full of twists and turns with a common theme of how light shines through the darkness.

    Pros

    Great story led by good characters
    Definitive Edition
    Clean
    Great Cinematics

    Cons

    The story takes its time
    The interface

    It took me awhile to get into the game and to understand its humor. It’s full of puns. I really started to enjoy the game once I unlocked most of the characters. At first, the art design appeared “kiddy” to me, but I gradually warmed up to it. My seven year old nephew enjoyed watching me play the game, and it was clean enough to where I felt comfortable with him watching.

    Even though the characters were simple, they worked well together to contribute to the overall experience. As I progressed, I felt rewarded by both the satisfaction from beating difficult challenges and the unfolding of the next part of the story. This game contains the most enjoyable cinematics I have ever seen in a game.

    This is the best edition available as it’s like there’s a dlc packed into the game that grants additional costumes and a little more story. This was my first experience with Dragon Quest, and it didn’t disappoint. It might be the eleventh title, but it was very friendly to those who were not familiar with the story.
    The only thing not friendly about the game is the interface. It doesn’t feel natural, and it looks ugly. Even though I played the game for dozens of hours, I still had difficulties figuring out which screen to navigate to. Some modes are utterly pointless (I’m looking at you picture mode and party talk mode). After awhile, I got used to it.

    This is a renowned series. If you want to try a new JRPG, I would highly recommend this one. If you aren’t familiar with JRPGs, this one would be a great one to introduce you to the genre (although I would recommend looking up a guide to avoid frustration with the game interface).    … Expand
  58. FlowserGames
    Jun 10, 2020
    8
    This is a game which is simple on the surface and deep when you get into it. The incredible art design from Akira Toriyama mixed with the unique design of each area and the cringe-inducing puns that are in nearly every town really make the game something special. Its a true testament to the Dragon Quest series as a whole and is the best JRPG of 2018:
    Pros
    -Amazing art design    This is a game which is simple on the surface and deep when you get into it. The incredible art design from Akira Toriyama mixed with the unique design of each area and the cringe-inducing puns that are in nearly every town really make the game something special. Its a true testament to the Dragon Quest series as a whole and is the best JRPG of 2018:
    Pros
    -Amazing art design
    -Interesting story
    -Good characters
    -Streamlined combat, but also very experimental
    -Painfully good puns
    Cons:
    -Little quality-of-life features (no skipping cutscenes, no battle speed toggle)
    -Sometimes bad or overexaggerated voice acting and animations
    -Some lacking character development with Jade
    -How Act 3 (spoiler) essentially reverses all character development made throughout the game

    Overall score: 8 or 8.5/10    … Expand
  59. kefka2589
    May 29, 2020
    10
    There was a time when I would've told you FF and DQ were equals. That is not the case anymore. Thanks for keeping it real DQ.
  60. Rockboss
    May 21, 2020
    9
    In the beginning a little slow but it grows and in the end I was just blown away.
  61. Jackets
    Apr 17, 2020
    9
    A true epic of a JRPG, with the story alone lasting well over 100+ hours. Playing the game is more akin to watching an entire movie series or binging several seasons of your favourite TV show. Combat is fun and engaging, with great high-quality animations and a large cast of characters introduces a lot of variety in combat spells/abilities.

    If you were looking for that one game to sink    A true epic of a JRPG, with the story alone lasting well over 100+ hours. Playing the game is more akin to watching an entire movie series or binging several seasons of your favourite TV show. Combat is fun and engaging, with great high-quality animations and a large cast of characters introduces a lot of variety in combat spells/abilities.

    If you were looking for that one game to sink countless hours into, this is it.    … Expand
  62. iSMeDz
    Apr 13, 2020
    10
    Finally the return Of the King ...a real j-rpg with a timless turn based gameplay
  63. Kimoyu
    Apr 8, 2020
    10
    The game is fun, i like this game.............................................
  64. xGabriel
    Apr 7, 2020
    10
    Great story, excelent gameplay.. This is a truly jrpg. Sublime from the start to the end. Great job.
  65. ThePSButton
    Apr 4, 2020
    8
    Delicioso RPG con sabor clásico. Entre lo mejor de la franquicia y muy accesible para los que empiezan su aventura en los Dragon Quest.
  66. simopoz
    Mar 29, 2020
    9
    Un ottimo jrpg vecchio stile finalmente. Unica pecca la colonna sonora stucchevole, altrimenti meriterebbe il 10
  67. The_BlueRose
    Mar 16, 2020
    8
    Que decir de Dragon Quest, uno de los JRPG´s más clásicos.
    En esta entrega sigue manteniendo esa esencia clásica de diseño, historia de la luz contra la oscuridad y el periplo del héroe. Diseños de Toriyama que aunque muy vistosos pueden pecar de repetitivos y una jugabilidad clásica que podría implementar algunas mejoras un poco más modernas.
    La experiencia en general es muy    Que decir de Dragon Quest, uno de los JRPG´s más clásicos.
    En esta entrega sigue manteniendo esa esencia clásica de diseño, historia de la luz contra la oscuridad y el periplo del héroe. Diseños de Toriyama que aunque muy vistosos pueden pecar de repetitivos y una jugabilidad clásica que podría implementar algunas mejoras un poco más modernas.

    La experiencia en general es muy disfrutable, aunque personalmente el segundo acto flojea bastante por se redundancia con respecto al primero y una dificultad bastante baja, a excepción del post game que te obliga a farmear para tener algún tipo de posibilidad.    … Expand
  68. AndreKobe
    Mar 14, 2020
    9
    Personally the best JRPG of the decade. Great plot devices, great characters and a massive world to explore multiple times. Time flies without noticing when you play Dragon Quest XI, I reached the platinum trophy in something like 130 hours and I didn't even get tired. Technically speaking the game manage to be what it wants to be, a colorful journey with enjoyable graphics although thePersonally the best JRPG of the decade. Great plot devices, great characters and a massive world to explore multiple times. Time flies without noticing when you play Dragon Quest XI, I reached the platinum trophy in something like 130 hours and I didn't even get tired. Technically speaking the game manage to be what it wants to be, a colorful journey with enjoyable graphics although the music is a utter disaster. Not for the soundtrack per se but the sound quality is too bad for a game this good in 2018. The combat system is the classic turn based DQ system and it does a wonderful job in every aspect of its style. The world is huge and divided in macro sections, showing once again that this is the right way to build a full explorable continent. Not too big and shallow as an open world nor too linear and simple as the FFXIII big corridor. There are tons of treasures and side quests in every inch of the map and you can even cross the lands with a fair number of "vehicles" which will help you to find extra secrets. The main story is a lot longer than I expected and it uses really good devices to make you continue playing for hours. It is a great adventure that every RPG fan should experience.… Expand
  69. abYss123
    Mar 13, 2020
    9
    I absolutely love this game. The only thing that gives it down a point is the lack of character in hero. Every other character is very well developed. The turned based gameplay is fluid. Everything in this game is amazing.
  70. 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
  71. SirSoil
    Feb 28, 2020
    0
    Dragon Quest 11 is the worst RPG ever made, with its Grindy gameplay horrible battles boring story and characters. The game does look beautiful so are the enemy’s, but that’s pretty much it for good things. The game is boring they made exploring worlds so meaningless, also the actual battles are super lame. And let’s not forget the main problem of the game, the damn grind. The grind justDragon Quest 11 is the worst RPG ever made, with its Grindy gameplay horrible battles boring story and characters. The game does look beautiful so are the enemy’s, but that’s pretty much it for good things. The game is boring they made exploring worlds so meaningless, also the actual battles are super lame. And let’s not forget the main problem of the game, the damn grind. The grind just destroys this game the most, leveling up is so hard that the only enemy in the game that gives you a lot of experience points is a random metal **** The rest of the enemy’s give u around 1-10 experience points, while the metal slime gives you 1000-3000 experience points wtf. Also all the characters are easily hatable not to forget the terrible boring ass story. Dragon Quest 11 is an embarrassment to the RPG series of games, this game seriously needs to be removed from any site so people can actually play good RPGs. (Terrible 0/5) Belongs In The Trash!… Expand
  72. UserReviewsLUL
    Feb 15, 2020
    10
    I love the atmosphere and the chance to go into old times like that. all the adventures. The decisions you can chose. The temple missions. The game is just outstanding. id give it a 20 if it were possible.
  73. WinterOf86
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    If you’re not a fan of JRPG’s don’t play it. If you already are a fan it’s an amazing representation of the genre.
  74. Awarehippo
    Feb 10, 2020
    9
    Amazing classic JRPG. What you see is what you get. Very relaxing to play with a nice story to go along with it. Loved all the characters
  75. LuisT
    Feb 8, 2020
    10
    This game is amazing. I love everything about it. Great characters and story though I have to say switch version is the best.
  76. GothmogAngband
    Feb 5, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Buen juego de rol estilo clasico combates por turnos ,como su antecesor ,pero con la diferencia que el de playstation 2 la historia es mejor… Expand
  77. 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
  78. ScreamingToad
    Jan 30, 2020
    4
    Huge waste of time for everyone who have played previous Dragon Quest games. Empty world, boring side quests, faceless characters and boring combat if you play on normal difficulty. And guess what? Hours of pointless grind if you play with draconian settings. This game suffers from lack of new ideas and it seems like critics who give this game 10 ratings didn't play more than a couple of hours.
  79. Walt17
    Jan 30, 2020
    10
    Siete orfani da final fantasy x? Volete un gioco che si avvicini a quel Mood? Compratelo e basta
  80. Zandrokaki
    Jan 23, 2020
    10
    My first Dragon Quest game. I just finished the game and, for me, is one of the best JRPG with Persona 5. Congratulations Squareenix and thanks to bring us a masterpiece like that.
  81. 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
  82. 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
  83. 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
  84. Mazhi
    Dec 17, 2019
    9
    Platinado casi sin querer. Es uno de esos juegos que te absorbe hasta que te lo terminas. Un plus que venga subtitulado a castellano, pero que venga con voces exclusivas en inglés me parece una cagada.

    Tampoco me gusta que el personaje principal sea completamente genérico, incapaz de comunicarse en ningún momento; pero eso ya es marca de la casa.
  85. deletedflame
    Dec 4, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A very good game with a length that is definitely worth the price. While there is a graphical downgrade from the other versions and the crossbow quest was removed, there are tons more quests added, as well as extra chapters where you play as various party members. You can also choose from any of your party members as someone you want to settle down with instead of just Gemma. The switch version also includes the Orchestral Soundtrack and not just Midi sounds… Expand
  86. hard897
    Nov 19, 2019
    0
    A game in 2017/07
    SE sold DQ11S, new version with voice support on Switch for 1+ month since 2019/09/27
    But still no voice update on PS4
    I bought PS4 version for a long time, but do not start to play it yet.
  87. SomaKurusu
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    Uno de los mjores juegos de la generación. Gráficamente es una bendición para los que siempre hemos querido ver los dieños de Toriyama a lo grande. Su diseño artístico es precioso. Su banda sonora es brutal, y su historia e sla más compleja y mejor trabajada de la saga. Jugablemente mantiene su estilo cásico por turnos de toda la vida, con agregados que le sientan muy bien como el árbol deUno de los mjores juegos de la generación. Gráficamente es una bendición para los que siempre hemos querido ver los dieños de Toriyama a lo grande. Su diseño artístico es precioso. Su banda sonora es brutal, y su historia e sla más compleja y mejor trabajada de la saga. Jugablemente mantiene su estilo cásico por turnos de toda la vida, con agregados que le sientan muy bien como el árbol de habilidades. Dragon Quest XI demuestra uqe aunque los tiempos están cambiando, aún existe un espacio paro los que gustan del JRPG verdadero.… Expand
  88. 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
  89. Calandria
    Oct 26, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dragon quest XI has been ,by me, an amazing experience, because the story, the characters, the ancient for turns in a RPG(I miss it a lot),many points that I'm going to try to explain now.

    First the game starts with a cinematic about the castle destruccion and the only survivol is a baby that is the main character, and 20 years after, we discovered that he is the luminary and we rid our house and went out the adventure.
    In our adventure we met with other 7 characters, everybody with a personality amazing, in muy case my favourites are Erik, Veronica, Sylvano and Henry.
    The story is very fluid and a little complex, and i must mark the change the second time, because it wars a good surprise, and almost this story got that i cried in some parts.
    -The graphiqs are very good, but i have to wonder the draw designer is great, bit i'm not surprarsing because in this proyect has worked Akira Toriyama, so Dragón Ball's fans i recommed a lot this game for your.
    Although is a classic RPG, the combat system feels fresh and the most important is a real time, you can move for the scenary as you think the next attack.
    In conclusion is a good game with many interesting elements and very adictive(I was playing more of 100 hours and also i got the platinium)
    But it has two issues that it provides that it doesn't have a 10, it is the soundtrack that it is not bad, but recycling many melodies of dragon quest games(Many of 8), and in this version doesn't exist second stories after to finish the main story.    … Expand
  90. 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
  91. HeirOfErdrick
    Sep 30, 2019
    10
    It is an awesome simple but well done masterpiece of a rpg its characters,world,and story are all great it has so many details
  92. AlfonsoCR
    Sep 27, 2019
    0
    Cuidado!!! Si adquieres está versión altamente recortada, sin un montón de contenido restringido que está reservado en NS y además de comerte más de 100 horas sentado en el mismo lugar eres un completo tarado e insulto a la inteligencia humana.
  93. ProGameReview
    Sep 18, 2019
    10
    Dragon Quest 11 is a blast of fun and excitement from beginning to it's very distant end. While some might say it loses quality as it proceeds, during my playthrough I had nothing but fun. If you are familiar with traditional jrpgs this is a game for you, if you're not though, this game is a great to startgreateplace to start
  94. Usercool
    Sep 18, 2019
    10
    Dragon Quest XI is everything what you'd expect and love about a classic JRPG. And I really have to emphasize 'classic JRPG formula' here. Don't expect innovative gameplay but an enthralling story, solid game mechanics and everything that makes you return over and over to this genre. The voice acting seems to be less well produced than DQ VIII but this is a game that will easily take 100+Dragon Quest XI is everything what you'd expect and love about a classic JRPG. And I really have to emphasize 'classic JRPG formula' here. Don't expect innovative gameplay but an enthralling story, solid game mechanics and everything that makes you return over and over to this genre. The voice acting seems to be less well produced than DQ VIII but this is a game that will easily take 100+ hours of your time to complete and you won't regret it for a second.… Expand
  95. xSelene89
    Sep 15, 2019
    9
    The best JRPG of the last years! Visuals are beautiful and the World feels alive. Its a bit too easy at the start but gets more challenging after the first half of the Story
  96. lapiz
    Sep 13, 2019
    9
    Un muy buen jrpg con un combate por turnos clasico, la historia sin ser una obra maestra esta muy bien y los persanajes cumplen perfectamente, lo peor es el protagonista que es tipico sin personalidad que no habla
  97. dangnamkhanh
    Aug 5, 2019
    10
    Given 10 point maybe a bit overreact, but overall, it's great. Graphic is certainly the most improvement, it gave everything both familiar and stranger to me. The story was rich and gave me all kinds of emotions. Even though gameplay was not much changed, but it's necessary to keep the classic style of the game
  98. Spazilton
    Jul 27, 2019
    10
    Almost perfect in every way. The best Dragon Quest game to date. Every bit the masterpiece 8 was and more. If Turn Based RPGs are your thing, this is the game to get. Absolutely classic JRPG, and one of the top 5 games for the PS4, and the best Dragon Quest to date.
  99. MegaPlayboy
    Jul 16, 2019
    8
    Un gran juego que te hará farmear experiencia hasta sangrar en el post game (Nivel 70 recomendado XD)...
  100. 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.
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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

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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.
    Read full review
  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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