The full 2D mode is an excellent choice
Added story content is robu🐻st and mostly meaningful
It looks great and performs near flawlessly
Random crashes
Not all of the new story content feels conseq꧟uential
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Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age is my favorite JRPG ever, and I'd just wrapped an 80-plus-hour playthrough on PS4 when the Switch port landed on my desk. It's a testament to the game's quality that I couldn't wait to jump back in. Dragon Quest 11 is today's quintesꦉsential JRPG; a stubbornly faithful evolution of its predecessors adapted to modern standards, polished to a mirror finish and bursting with color, real emotion, and charm. The wordy Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes 🉐of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is a bigger and better version, a technical marvel, and indeed the best way to experience one of this generation's finest RPGs.
Release date: September 27, 2019
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer / Publisher: Nintendo / Square Enix
First let's talk about the 2D mode, mainly because it's what excites me most about Dragon Quest 11 on Switch. I know it's a carryover from the 3DS version, but unless you've got a Japanese 3DS and Japanese fluency, the 3DS port isn't an option. Regardless, playing the entire game in 2D is a nostalgic treat for fans of the early Dragon Quest g🍨ames and the Super Nintendo in general, as well as a viable and arguably preferable way to experience the story. The fact that the 2D mode is so humbly bundled into the Switch port belies the amount of work that went into its development – truly, it deserves its own release and retail price.
The 2D mode is an♒ honest retro tribute, for better or worse depending on your preference. Random encounters in the overworld and in enemy territories force consistent grinding, static sprites may or may not be to your liking, and the same goes for unvoiced dialogue. I play💫ed through most of the game in 2D mode and enjoyed every minute, but I've always had a particular fondness for games of the 16-bit era.
Naturally, the lush e꧒xpanses of Dragon Quest 11's 3D world are compacted somewhat for the 2D format, and as a result the world feels slightly smaller. Though, thanks to random encounters it's debatable whether traveling between different locations is any quicker in 2D than 3D. Regardless, you can switch back and forth between 2D and 3D to your liking, though it's best to do so right after a big event and saving, as it sets your🌄 story progress back to pre-defined starting points.
Erdrea in 2D is a visual masterpiece, and my hat's off to Square Enix for making each location feel as uniquely magical as they do in 3D with so fewer pixels. With my most recent playthrough on PS4 still very fresh in memory, it's remarkable how accurately they were able to replicate some of the more complex, winding spatial🌟 puzzles in dungeons. Likewise, quaint villages like Hotto are just as graceful and inviting – if not more-so – than ever, and bustling cities like Heliodor no less exhilarating to discover.
After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, S🥂creen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.
