My history with the Dragon Quest series extends way, way back to my early childhood...

It goes all the way back on the NES, with the very first title... and this was at the time where it didn't even go by the name "Dragon Quest" yet, being called Dragon Warrior in the States. It was my first JRPG (forget JRPG, it was my first RPG period!)... and for my first experience, I'll bluntly state that I hated it. The menu system was as archaic and abysmal as you can imagine, the game's battles just confused and annoyed me, I hated the way all the dialogue was written - it was probably the one game my uncle owned, that I thought was an absolute piece of trash. Hell, give me Simon's Quest over this any day, at least that game had Bloody Tears! Dragon Warrior's music, on the other hand... shudders

I still have that awful fight theme burned into the early recesses of my memory... here it is if you weren't alive back then, or don't know what I'm referring to. Nobuo Uematsu, it is not...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMga6n9BW7M

All in all, it left such a lasting impression on me, that I was just done with RPGs. RPGs=Bad to my young, naive brain. And that persisted throughout the entire NES and SNES generations; I didn't pick up a single RPG during that time period... it wasn't until Final Fantasy VII on the original PS1 where I fell in love with the genre. But this isn't the review to talk about Final Fantasy, so to continue with my Dragon Quest tale - fast forward a few years and I happened across Dragon Warrior VII on the PS1... at this point, I think I must have felt like an RPG vet, having played many of the early Final Fantasy games, getting caught up on the absolute masterpiece that was Chrono Trigger, and other Squaresoft titles, etc. "Hey! I remember you...," I thought to myself, "maybe I didn't give you a fair shake back in the day... let's see how much you've improved since the first game." So I grabbed DQVII and gave it a go...

Aaaand wow... it was exactly what I remembered from the first damn game. DQVII felt like a damn relic from the past coming back to haunt my ass! It was archaic, old, had terrible graphics for its time, and I don't think I ran across a single battle in over 2 hours of gametime... it was literally the anti-thesis of everything that I loved about my favorite game: Final Fantasy VII. "How are there 7 of these damn things!?" My revisit with the series was a disaster! I recall getting a little further into DQVII, but I just couldn't take it and ended up putting it down for good.

Next up was DQVIII on the PS2... and this is an embarrassing one, but I literally bought the game for the Final Fantasy XII demo disc that came with it (a mistake on my part, I may add)... I remember putting in DQVIII for a short spell, but the moment I saw those menus, it brought back horrible memories, and I put it away. It was as if I had Dragon Quest PTSD.

So now we finally reach present times with the release of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age on the PS4... I honestly couldn't tell ya what made me even consider giving this game a chance... boredom? Money to burn? I like pain? It all maybe goes back to a coworker of mine bringing it to my attention one day at work... but still, I can't put a finger on what compelled me to order this game... but damn... it is almost unbelievable to say after this sad tale, but I'm so glad I did. I guess the 4th try was the charm!

This was the Dragon Quest game for me... and I think I finally, truly get it. I LOVED my experience with DQXI!

It shouldn't even be a serious question after telling my entire life story, but DQXI is by far the greatest title in the series. No questions asked! So, what changed with this one!? It's hard to really put into words, but I'll try my best without delving into any spoilers...

I still don't know what exactly clicked with me - it still has that "old-school", archaic feel to it, but unlike the first game and DQVII that felt "too old" to me, this one feels just right... it is like comparing an 80's JRPG vs a mid-90's one. Trust me; it makes all the difference!

This game still has "old school" leveling, no in-depth, crazy gameplay systems, standard turn-based combat, etc. But maybe with so many JRPGs opting for a more action approach nowadays, I can appreciate sticking with the "tried and true" formula. I can completely understand if people don't like this game, for many of the same reasons I gave for not liking earlier titles, especially since it keeps close to its series' roots. But I can respect that - I'm glad we have franchises out here that don't try to reinvent the wheel every iteration, and stick with what they're good at, and what its fanbase likes. Tip of the cap to 'em on that!

DQXI just felt like a proper adventure to me... one I haven't experienced in a long, long time from a JRPG. And boy oh boy, is it an epic adventure! Lasting me damn near 200 hours before I finally got the platinum... there was something comfy about the whole experience - it immersed me in a way, many RPGs could only hope to accomplish. I enjoyed pretty much everything about it: it's story, characters, world, plot twists, etc. The game felt like pure quality and love! And some of the moments were beyond incredible - there were a couple times I thought the game was going to end, and it just kept going and going... but I welcomed its continuation with open arms. I'm sure if you were a series vet, you'd appreciate it even more than myself!

In summary, if you felt anything like me in the past: you despise archaic 80s RPGs and all their grinding, enjoy the Final Fantasy series more, etc. step out of your comfort zone on this one and give DQXI a chance. It may surprise you; I know it did me!

Appendix Note
One word of caution: This version of the game has absolute dookie water for music - god awful doesn't even begin to describe it... Like even if it was average, hell, slightly below average, this game would have been given a perfect 5/5, but the music and music alone brings it down to 4.5/5. My suggestion is to bring your own tunes if you can stomach doing such a blasphemous thing when playing an RPG... I can't, so I stuck with the ear grating melodies throughout (the main DQ theme is the one and only banger!). Oh well, I guess DQXII has something to improve on in the next release. :)

Dragon Quest XI nace de una premisa genérica y una intención clara que limita al juego de maneras extremadamentes conformistas. Antes de comenzar lo que espero sea un resumido análisis quiero advertir, a cualquiera que se sienta ofendido al no recomendar este juego bajo ningún concepto, que eso al fin y al cabo es mi opinión.
Acabo de completar el post-game junto a todos los logros y prefiero no extenderme tanto porque luego de semanas en esta aventura ya el solo pensar en Dragon Quest me da dolores de cabeza.
Dragon Quest es sin duda una de las franquicias mas conocidas y queridas de Japón, con 10 entregas principales previas el onceavo titulo se presenta como un homenaje a todo aquello que hizo de esta saga algo tan querido por jugadores alrededor de todo el mundo. Sin embargo decido comenzar mencionando este homenaje porque toda su propuesta se basa en ello, el juego como jrpg no tiene nada nuevo que presentar. En esta aventura nos espera una historia llena de personajes genericos, giros argumentales (algunos mejores que otros, ninguno sorprendente) y un estilo artistico precioso pero que peca de falta de originalidad. Todos conocemos a Akira Toriyama y sabemos que es un conformista de lo peorsito, es gracioso que alguien así trabaje en una franquicia tan continuista que la única diferencia que hay entre entregas son los gráficos. Hablando de los diseños, en el momento en que se llega al final del post-game en la lucha contra Khalasmos este ser es una mezcla de Jiren y Cell en versión gigante de una manera tan descarada que no se puede creer.
Cuando se habla de rpg se sobreentiende que va a haber farmeo, no tengo ningún problema con el farmeo, amo la saga Persona y cualquiera que la conozca lo entenderá. El problema es que el farming de Dragon Quest XI, principalmente durante el post-game, es tan vago y excesivo que me hizo replantear mi vida luego de perder sesiones enteras matando a los mismos bichos para llegar contra un bicho grande que solo pedia el maximo nivel y que, cabe resaltar, es un boss reciclado. Todo es tan absurdamente repetitivo que no se como llegue al punto de "platinarlo" pero acá estoy, habiendo dedicado unas 88 horas a completar 100% el juego para poder decirte a vos, que estas leyendo esto, que no. No juegues Dragon Quest. Su historia no tiene nada nuevo que ofrecer, es el típico elegido en una aventura para derrotar al malvado de turno. Los personajes son cliché como cabria esperar. El post-game es reciclaje puro y contiene meramente fanservice, incluye un viaje en el tiempo que genera tantísimas incoherencias como desgana a la hora de jugarlo. Su diseño artístico es bellisimo, si, pero es algo que se puede apreciar en youtube as como dentro del juego, no habría diferencia. Las misiones secundarias no tienen atractivo alguno y muchas de ellas contienen descripciones tan confusas que obligan a uno a recurrir a una guía. La mecánica de monturas no tiene nada que ofrecer, está todo completamente scripteado que el juego seria el mismo sin estas. El desarrollo de personajes es tan volatil en cuanto timing y está manejado de manera vaga.
Sinceramente tengo muy pocas cosas buenas para decir sobre este juego. No podría recomendarselo a nadie mas que a un loco del farmeo y el completismo, aunque al final del día este se daría cuenta que no sirvió para nada, las recompensas son nulas para todo el tiempo invertido.
Jugué hasta el segundo arco en stream via Twitch, el post-game preferí jugarlo fuera del stream porque era algo tedioso y que, si hasta para mi era insoportable, no quiero pensar lo que seria para el espectador.





El sexismo en este juego es horripilante, los japoneses deberían replantearse su cultura en algún momento.

Great game, marred by a bad final act and a horrendous final boss fight.

edit

Okay now that I've calmed down let's talk about this game a little.

Dragon Quest XI is a really Stellar game most of the way. While the story isn't incredible it tells a solid story with good characters. It's charm and atmosphere is delightful and has some of the best combat I've ever played in a JRPG. Seriously it made grinding fun for me.

Where this games loses the plot is act 3 for me. I don't like the story choices, and the final boss, for my taste, was incredibly difficult and unfair unless you do bunch of grinding to get specific weapons/powers and pep, which, already 60 hours into a game is a gigantic ass (and one too much for me).

It's not enough to spoil my time with this game, I'm considering it finished after act 2. I like the story that told more anyways. Great game.

A great iteration of the turn based RPG in the modern day. Other games have since come out and updated the formula to greater success, but I still believe that this game kept the torch lit for the likes of Octopath Traveler to shine.

The story was genuinely interesting, and chock-full of the charm and wonder that comes with the world of Dragon Quest. The tongue-in-cheek humour wedged between important story beats made sure the game kept serious but also kept light when it was important to (and it does get very important to). The story did wane longer, but as I was going for the Platinum trophy, I imagine more streamlined playthroughs would have more easily struck that balance.

This game will go down as one of the best RPGs of it's console generation, and I definitely think it may be the best of the turn based RPGs available on the PS4.

Um espetáculo de game. A arte é fora de série, os personagens extremamente cativantes. A história, um pastelão que a gente ama. Em sua grande maioria, RPGs de turno não têm conseguido me prender, talvez seja um gênero afetado, em grande parte, pelo fator nostalgia. DQXI, por sua vez, consegue se desvencilhar dessas amarras e modernizar o gênero. Apenas dois aspectos me incomodaram um pouco (mas não ofuscam a experiência): a trilha sonora repetitiva e sexualização excessiva das personagens femininas, principalmente da Jade. Sexualizem também os masculinos, Square, por favor. Ou nenhum gênero.