Dragon Quest XI

[misterchainsaw]

The story was shounen level of bad (like going from the plot of FFXII to FFXIII) and while combat was definitely more to my liking it was way, way too easy and mindless to be engaging. I think it was a failure on just about every front even if I wouldn't say it had nothing interesting going for it.

With the orchestral mod being out, I'll probably get DQXI on Steam tonight.

I mean, I already said the story/charm didn't live up to the first one, but in no way do I think it's "terrible". Frankly, I prefer the narrative in NNK2 to the narrative in DQ11. They do not pull off the silent protagonist this time around. At least Oliver had some agency and personality rather than being led by the nose to the next vignette that only superficially has to do with the main plot, waiting patiently for the next deux ex machina. NNK2 may be a sub par story, but it's competently told, and I'll take that over a decent story poorly told any day of the week. (And yes, it's an indictment on modern JRPG's that NNK2 is in the running for this gen's 2nd best offering in the genre. I can name 4 better from the last generation of the top of my head)

And I've never understood the difficulty complaints of NNK2. I struggled with parts of the late game on the default difficulty, and there is a hard mode now.



Anyway, back to DQ, I've had to take a break, which frankly doesn't bode well for me evenrually finishing it. The midpoint offers a bit of a boost as someone mentioned above, but it doesn't last long and the game's narrative and dungeon issues I talked about in a previous post persist without much change. Including a eye-roll inducing plothole in one of the second half vignettes if you did any exploring at all off the beaten path in the first half.

You can just grab DQVIII at any point, will be much cheaper and you can't go wrong with it.

VIII is very clearly the better game in everything except visuals and a slightly quicker battle system, IMO.

 

[RandV]

I dont have a 3DS. I also dont want to play it on a tablet

VII was originally PS2 game, but its also on Steam and maybe GoG I believe? Should be a mobile port too but then that would be on your tablet.

 

[Warden of the North]

VII was originally PS2 game, but its also on Steam and maybe GoG I believe? Should be a mobile port too but then that would be on your tablet.

Not on Steam or GOG. It doesnt appear its been ported to PC.

I do have a Ps2 still, but Im not crazy about how the graphics translate to modern TVs from games of that era.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

DQVII is on PS1 and 3DS
DQVIII is on PS2 and 3DS

 

[Unholy]

Picked this up during the week and enjoying myself. Just need to keep playing it or else I'll stop and not get back to it with the way I've been playing games lately.

Oddly enough I have never played a main DQ game before. I do remember playing Dragon Warrior Monsters as a kid though.

 

[Voodoo Child]

DQVIII is love and DQVIII is life.

Rarely has there been such a perfect union of symphony-orchestrated music, rich landscapes, simple and intuitive but not boring gameplay, interesting characters with elite dialogue, high stakes and a simple but compelling story.

Play it yesterday if you haven't.

***

I haven't popped it into the system yet but I was able to scoop up the English edition in Hong Kong (the F am I going to do with the Chinese and Japanese versions?) and will begin it tomorrow night.

I'm not expecting it to be as good as VIII but I'm stoked - I've been recycling through ps4 games I own (currently on Horizon Zero Dawn...which yeah its awesome but I just beat it like six months ago, and the Uncharted Collection, which I reviewed) and I need something new to dump 100+ hours into between now and early December.

If the story, characters, setting and gameplay are good I'm gonna be happy.

Even if it's not DQVIII elite, it's gonna be good and enough to tide me over until RDR2 or I choose to buy Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.

 

[member 157595]

DQVIII is love and DQVIII is life.

Rarely has there been such a perfect union of symphony-orchestrated music, rich landscapes, simple and intuitive but not boring gameplay, interesting characters with elite dialogue, high stakes and a simple but compelling story.

Play it yesterday if you haven't.

***

I haven't popped it into the system yet but I was able to scoop up the English edition in Hong Kong (the F am I going to do with the Chinese and Japanese versions?) and will begin it tomorrow night.

I'm not expecting it to be as good as VIII but I'm stoked - I've been recycling through ps4 games I own (currently on Horizon Zero Dawn...which yeah its awesome but I just beat it like six months ago, and the Uncharted Collection, which I reviewed) and I need something new to dump 100+ hours into between now and early December.

If the story, characters, setting and gameplay are good I'm gonna be happy.

Even if it's not DQVIII elite, it's gonna be good and enough to tide me over until RDR2 or I choose to buy Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.

Agreed re: VIII. It is one of the best RPG's of all time and the best DQ game ever IMO.

 

[Voodoo Child]

Agreed re: VIII. It is one of the best RPG's of all time and the best DQ game ever IMO.

Oh no doubt, its been at or near the top of my replay list for a while but I don't want to play it on a tablet like some five year old, and I don't think it's on PS+.

I've banged off about six hours between Monday night and now (I'm on BJT).

- I notice the music is a little tinny sure but it doesn't really detract. That said the serene overworld theme from VIII is far superior to the march-type theme of this game.

- I like that it's not open world because every damn game is an open world game and the areas are massive.

- The battles are fast and furious, you can do like twenty battles in a row or you can skip them entirely, I love it.

- Graphics, character and enemy designs are gorgeous.

As for what I don't like...

- The game is pretty easy. VIII will put you on your ass if you take it lightly, but six hours in and about 400 monsters killed, I've not even come close to having a character die in battle yet.

- 'Oh by the way you're the reincarnation of a legendary hero!', a shit ton of clichés even by DQ standards.

- I like the crafting mini game but I don't like the idea of being only able to craft items at spaced far campfires.

I said if the story, setting, characters and gameplay are good I'll be happy - so far they've stuck the landing on setting and gameplay, while the other two have potential.

Enjoying the ride so far.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I'm having a bit of a hard time staying engaged. Its fun but hardly something I'd qualify as "can't put down".

I am still glad I picked it up though. There's something so damn cozy about this game.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I beat it!!!! (well Act 2)...not the post game stuff.

Took me about 55 hours..WOW i havent played a game this long in probably 15 years!!!

This was a TRUE JRPG game from back in the day, they did EVERYTHING right.

BRAVO!!

9.7/10 (story could have been a TAD better but was still AMAZING)

 

[member 157595]

Update: I gave in and purchased this game. Started yesterday. The last time I fanboyed like this over a video game was Mega Man IX. I don't play "new" games in any real sense; my time as a gamer has long since passed...except for Dragon Quest.

We are expecting our first child in less than 2 weeks and all I can think about right now is Dragon Quest XI. You assholes better f***ing contribute to my inevitable child support payments.

 

[Voodoo Child]

Update: I gave in and purchased this game. Started yesterday. The last time I fanboyed like this over a video game was Mega Man IX. I don't play "new" games in any real sense; my time as a gamer has long since passed...except for Dragon Quest.

We are expecting our first child in less than 2 weeks and all I can think about right now is Dragon Quest XI. You *******s better ****ing contribute to my inevitable child support payments.

Family first...

Then video games...

Then women, in third place.

But truly congratulations, life always goes on, I'm sure though you'll be able to find a but of time to bump off an hour or two here and there.

 

[PullHard]

any word on the release date of the switch version?

 

[member 157595]

Family first...

Then video games...

Then women, in third place.

But truly congratulations, life always goes on, I'm sure though you'll be able to find a but of time to bump off an hour or two here and there.

Thanks.

I believe I have figured out how to avoid a divorce: Wait for my soon-to-be-exhausted wife to fall asleep and put the little one in the swaddle machine after hours, thereby keeping her company with Dragon Quest XI as my wingman. The NHL is going to have to take a back seat at the moment. Hah.

any word on the release date of the switch version?

Are you in Japan? I thought they had no plans to release a Switch or 3DS version internationally?

 

[Saitama]

Family first...

Then video games...

Then women, in third place.

But truly congratulations, life always goes on, I'm sure though you'll be able to find a but of time to bump off an hour or two here and there.

So did you end up finishing this? If so, what were your final impressions? I did my usual thing and took a break to play another game and the break turned into a few months, even though I was really excited to play this when it came out. I think the only game I've actually finished in the past 10 years was Ni No Kuni 2!

 

[Voodoo Child]

So did you end up finishing this? If so, what were your final impressions? I did my usual thing and took a break to play another game and the break turned into a few months, even though I was really excited to play this when it came out. I think the only game I've actually finished in the past 10 years was Ni No Kuni 2!

I did and I offered my take here.

Take away from that what you will, but I greatly enjoyed my time with it. Strengths include play length, characters, side quests, graphics and plain old nostalgia, while I felt the story, villain, map and some notable omissions to be weak. I hope I don't have to wait another 14 years for a new main-console Dragon Quest game.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Barely ever played any JRPGS but bought Persona5 on a recommendation from a friend who was pretty much like me, and I loved it.

Looking at getting this game next but will wait for a sale especially with KH3 coming soon. I rather play this on PS4 than PC also, if someone sees it on sale - let me know please.

 

[RandV]

Barely ever played any JRPGS but bought Persona5 on a recommendation from a friend who was pretty much like me, and I loved it.

Looking at getting this game next but will wait for a sale especially with KH3 coming soon. I rather play this on PS4 than PC also, if someone sees it on sale - let me know please.

All the Christmas/Winter sales had it 40% off, , so that's what you should be looking for. You never know when a specific item may go on sale (Steam's wishlist helps here), but the next guarantee would be the Steam Summer sale. You'll have to wait maybe 6 months for that but it should be 40%-50% off.

I just built a new PC so am finally enjoying it. Wasn't there supposed to be a difficulty setting though? As many reviews I've seen point out it's a bit on the easy side. I was going to look this up as well but there was a mod/file to get the full symphony orchestra sound in it wasn't there?

 

[Leafs at Knight]

All the Christmas/Winter sales had it 40% off, , so that's what you should be looking for. You never know when a specific item may go on sale (Steam's wishlist helps here), but the next guarantee would be the Steam Summer sale. You'll have to wait maybe 6 months for that but it should be 40%-50% off.

I just built a new PC so am finally enjoying it. Wasn't there supposed to be a difficulty setting though? As many reviews I've seen point out it's a bit on the easy side. I was going to look this up as well but there was a mod/file to get the full symphony orchestra sound in it wasn't there?

Yea I want to get it on PS4 though not PC; I'm not in a rush though. KH3 is coming out soon, and then Anthem and then Division 2; so I'll just keep an eye out for a sale.

 

[member 157595]

Thanks.

I believe I have figured out how to avoid a divorce: Wait for my soon-to-be-exhausted wife to fall asleep and put the little one in the swaddle machine after hours, thereby keeping her company with Dragon Quest XI as my wingman. The NHL is going to have to take a back seat at the moment. Hah.



Are you in Japan? I thought they had no plans to release a Switch or 3DS version internationally?

Update: DQ-while-swaddle-machining plan is currently working. Divorce chances are now down to E2. Little one likes the DQXI soundtrack. Cat hates it and is currently plotting my demise.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

But the midi-quality soundtrack on PS4 is sooo bad

Thank the heavens for the PC mod for the orchestral music!

 

[member 157595]

But the midi-quality soundtrack on PS4 is sooo bad

Thank the heavens for the PC mod for the orchestral music!

I'd be curious to know who in this thread is playing/has played which version. I myself am playing on PC.

 

[YNWA14]

I love the game. I haven't played RPGs in forever and this one has been amazing so far. I'm not super far yet (just starting Act II and visited Angri La). I don't have a single complaint so far.

 

[Jovavic]

For those like me that waited for the price to drop, now is the time. Gamestop has it for 30 bucks new so I'm going to snag it on my way home from work and it's the perfect plattee cleanser between Assassins Creed Origins and Odyssey for me

 

[PullHard]

I'm still holding out to play it on my Switch, very excited for it