Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (“Echoes of a Lost Past”) is available on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS . The eleventh installment of Japan’s best-selling RPG saga is a nostalgic and visually captivating experience that successfully translates the core elements of JRPGs past into the present. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a lost past places us in a classic scenario : we must put ourselves in the shoes of a young hero (and silent, as usual in the Japanese role) who discovers that he is “The Chosen One of Light” destined to rid the world of Darkness -who, on the other hand, is not going to make it easy for him-.
Below you can see the trailer:
This argument serves as an excuse for the creator of the saga, Yuji Horii, and the Square Enix team to develop the best turn-based RPG of recent years , a rich and dense adventure that nevertheless provides a comfortable and comfortable gaming experience at all times. relaxed, as expected of this genre.
The Dragon Quest saga, also known as “Dragon Warrior” by its old title in the United States, is undoubtedly the mother of Japanese role-playing games (JRPG) and the most successful of these in Japan; however, in the West it has never achieved the fame of Final Fantasy . In Horii’s own words, this is because Enix never put as much into international distribution as Square, even though the two former rivals are now one company.
Dragon Quest Builders 2, Dragon Quest Heroes II and Dragon Quest Rivals are the three most recent games in the franchise if we ignore DQXI; Builders 2 and Heroes II are available on Nintendo Switch, and Rivals on Android. Also, Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII have also been adapted for Nintendo 3DS recently.
From the point of view of the western player, the most characteristic aspect of Dragon Quest is the character and monster design by Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball . In this sense, it is also interesting to mention the television series Dragon Quest: Dai no DaibA ken (Fly in Spain), an anime adaptation of the Yuji Horii saga that could be marketed outside of Japan thanks to Toriyama’s success.
The Opening Fly:Full Game Review
As its name suggests, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of a Lost Past takes us back to the golden age of JRPGs – a period that, as all fans of the genre sadly know, ended long ago.
The greatest value of DQXI is the success with which it manages to combine the classic mechanics of the saga (and consequently of JRPGs in general) with more innovative elements, especially at an aesthetic level. Without a doubt, if playing Echoes of an Elusive Age is a real pleasure, this is largely due to the care of its designs, its animations, and its cinematics.
Taking inspiration from recent hits like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Dragon Quest XI introduces elements typical of open world games or even platform games.(such as the creatures that serve as mounts or the ability to jump, a curious innovation within the saga) to counteract a general linearity that is, on the other hand, beneficial in a narrative sense.
And it is that the plot of DQXI, without being new at all, gives a remarkable solidity to the game experience due to the balanced rhythm with which it progresses and its closeness to the anime. The love with which the playable characters develop is central to the story and the player’s involvement in it, and indeed the protagonists and the friendship or collective action they represent are at the core of Echoes of a Lost Past. Dragon Quest XI is a very long game -it can last 100 hours-, voluntarily paused and consisting of three different phases, including a “post-game” that serves as an epilogue to the main plot. This is extremely satisfying since it allows us to continue exploring the world once we have saved it, something unusual in the world of video games.
Despite the fact that the low difficulty of the game contrasts negatively with the importance that the plot acquires, there is a “draconian mission” mode that modifies the difficulty to the player’s taste ; for example, we can increase the damage caused by enemies or reduce the experience gained in simple combat. This game mode and other aspects that we will not reveal give DQXI a high potential for replayability. Getting started tips and guide
The most important advice we can give to anyone starting to play DQXI is to take it easy. Almost all the elements of the game, and especially the autosave function and the frequency with which it is possible to save the game, reinforce the feeling that it is best to spend short periods of time playing and doing so slowly .
It is a suitable game for perfectionists because it rewards those who explore every last corner of each scenario, although these are carefully designed and have a small size to prevent the feeling of being overwhelmed at all times. Something similar can be said of the number of items available, which is almost never excessive.
The Fantastic Forge is a simplified version of the Alchemy Pot from Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King and is very important. With it you can make many weapons and armor, usually superior to those you will find in stores , and it is also possible to improve most of the equipment using the so-called “Perfectionist Pearls”. On the other hand, the Forge is an entertaining minigame and ideal to rest from the battle mode.
As you progress through the plot, you will come to have 7 controllable characters that you will be able to rotate with great ease, although when fighting you will only be able to use 4 of them at a time. At first, the Hero himself must deal with the healing spells, although later on you will be joined by two specialists in white magic. In any case,physical attacks are usually the most effective – and those that affect groups of enemies have a special utility.
All characters gain experience from battles even if they don’t participate, so you can easily develop their skill boards and use them at a later time. As for the skills, we recommend that at first you focus most of the points you get when you level up on a specific type of weapon for each character , although from a certain point you can redistribute them at a low cost.
If you are looking for a complete Dragon Quest XI guide, we recommend the one available at Eliteguias. With it you can get all the items and all the recipes for the Fantastic Forge, complete all the secondary missions, shoot the 5 targets in each region or find each of the mini medals.
- Here you can find the Dragon Quest XI Guide in Spanish.
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