Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

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Steamflogger Boss
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Steamflogger Boss »

Pretty great takes from Sumez. I would absolutely recommend playing 8 and skipping 7.
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Necronopticous
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Necronopticous »

I think this is a perfect place to jump in, but I also think it is easily the best game in the series, so it might be harder to go back to other titles after getting spoiled on this one. If you are on the fence about this game at all I would highly recommend that you watch this excellent video from Tim Rogers.
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Blinge
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Blinge »

Haha that video. I'm fuckin' sold.

But do I put it before my playthrough of FF12 and 15 :wink: :wink: :wink:
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Necronopticous
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Necronopticous »

I don't know if you're serious or not, but Final Fantasy XII is a genuinely great game, and a fascinating glimpse into the actual epoch of Square's shitification thereafter. Final Fantasy XV is the 3rd worst thing created by human beings, but it's worth a play in the same way that hydrogen bomb test footage is worth a look.
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Sumez
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Sumez »

Man, been playing this game non-stop since it came out, and today I finally saw the "end" credits around
Spoiler
90+
hours in
(spoiler tag in case you're like me and don't even want to know how close to the ending you are)
Tip-toed into the postgame which is supposedly completely mandatory (and I can see why), and a large part of the game.

Man what a game!! Not only is it the natural culmination of everything the DQ series has been doing since its start. It's like the JRPG genre has been sleeping since Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger came out, and finally decided to wake up and truck on where it left off.

On top of everything, the gameplay has just been extremely involving and entertaining all the way through. I expected the added challenge of the "super strong monsters" setting to calm down a bit into the game, like DQ8 did following Dhoulmagus, or after you get start getting heal-all spells.
But like 90% of the boss fights throughout the entire game required me to either prepare my equipment and strategy thoroughly based on their attack patterns and/or make use of pretty much every tool you have available in the combat system, from buffs and debuffs to constantly changing out the party lineup to maintain the best possible advantage. The final boss fight was extremely satisfying!
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soprano1
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by soprano1 »

Sumez wrote:Not only is it the natural culmination of everything the DQ series has been doing since its start. It's like the JRPG genre has been sleeping since Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger came out, and finally decided to wake up and truck on where it left off.
That is quite the statement!
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
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Sumez
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Sumez »

It really is, isn't it? I think it's well deserved.
It's not like it's a perfect game or anything. There really are a lot of things I would have liked differently, but it also just does all the things that originally made me love the genre back in the days, and which has been less and less prevalent ever since even the PS1 generation.
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Sumez
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Sumez »

Damn, DQXI postgame ready to load up that motherfucking
Spoiler
Dragon Quest III OST
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by evil_ash_xero »

I beat this game a while back, and I thought I'd put my 2 cents in. My praise is not as glowing as some of you fellows is....but I thought it was "really good". I'd give it an 8, whereas I would give VIII a "9". Which is kind of funny.

And I am directly comparing this to VIII. It's better than IX.

My problem is a lot of the cast are kind of dull. They'll have their moments, and then they get boring again. The 2nd act things get more interesting, and then they get even more interesting in the 3rd.

The Draconian Mode really saved this game for me, because I put over a hundred hours in it. And if I was cakewalking thru the whole thing, I'd be pissed. So hooray for that.

It's way too linear at points. Especially at the beginning. And throughout, at times. But it varies it up enough, to where I felt like I was on a good adventure.
The MIDI sucked, but I used the Orchestral mod..so f'em. However, the soundtrack could be better.

I hated Octogonia, and anything that happened there. Except the dungeon. It was fine.

I had to look up stuff on the game, after the "true" ending, as I was really confused about a couple of things. Now, the emotion with two characters, who shall remain nameless, was something I really liked. More of the game needed some more of that kind of thing, I think.

But there you go. Buy it!
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Cannonballs »

How did you do the orchestral mod? My bud was telling me about the midi bs in the game, can’t believe that even happened on a game this big.
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by evil_ash_xero »

Cannonballs wrote:How did you do the orchestral mod? My bud was telling me about the midi bs in the game, can’t believe that even happened on a game this big.
You talking about PC? Because that's the only place you can do it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 1521444556
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Cannonballs »

evil_ash_xero wrote:
Cannonballs wrote:How did you do the orchestral mod? My bud was telling me about the midi bs in the game, can’t believe that even happened on a game this big.
You talking about PC? Because that's the only place you can do it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 1521444556
Whoops should've known, I'm on ps4. Thanks though.
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by evil_ash_xero »

Cannonballs wrote:
evil_ash_xero wrote:
Cannonballs wrote:How did you do the orchestral mod? My bud was telling me about the midi bs in the game, can’t believe that even happened on a game this big.
You talking about PC? Because that's the only place you can do it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 1521444556
Whoops should've known, I'm on ps4. Thanks though.
You're welcome.
Sorry I couldn't help you out.
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Sumez
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Sumez »

After more than 130 hours, I'm finally done with it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry during the postgame ending. It's really a question of being into the series as a whole though, as the game's story itself doesn't really do more to appeal to the player at this point. And to be fair, the ending (as in the very very end of the ending) does feel a little shoehorned in.
But I guess I can be a sensible person at times. :oops:

I did mostly like the postgame, but overall it's hard for me to say if the game is any better for it. As much as it adds to the game, it also seems to subtract a bit from the complete experience, and especially the way it ties into the main story, it effectively compromises some of the more impactful story beats from the story before that point, which I'm not sure what to think of. I like a bit of "darkness" in my Dragon Quest.

Hell it even compromises areas that didn't even make sense
Spoiler
The rewriting of the mermaid story is just one big plot hole, as that story originally happened before the timeline splits
evil_ash_xero wrote: My problem is a lot of the cast are kind of dull. They'll have their moments, and then they get boring again. The 2nd act things get more interesting, and then they get even more interesting in the 3rd.
It's definitely not as interesting and immediately likable as the DQ8 cast. But then again, DQ is rarely about the characters, so when some of them are actually well made, that's still a nice surprise. Sure, we don't have people like Yangus or King Trode, but I can still appreciate Veronica and especially Sylvando, who was absolutely a highlight of the game to me.
The Draconian Mode really saved this game for me, because I put over a hundred hours in it. And if I was cakewalking thru the whole thing, I'd be pissed. So hooray for that.
More than 50% of why I love DQXI is entirely due to the amazing strategic gameplay pushed by the super strong monsters setting, so I can get behind this. DQ5 and 7 are my two least favourite games in the series, and a lot of that ties into how every single battle in those felt like a cakewalk.
It's way too linear at points. Especially at the beginning. And throughout, at times. But it varies it up enough, to where I felt like I was on a good adventure.
While I didn't mind it, if I were to really improve one thing about the game, I definitely would have liked it to open up a bit more, and preferably earlier on. Even after you get the boat, you still have to truck on for quite a while before you even get one extra pathway you can follow a while before running into a dead-end.
I hated exploring the islands around the ocean, as none of them have anything. Even getting the flying vessel didn't add anything to exploration, as you can only access specifically pointed out "hot spots", and they just function exactly like aforementioned islands. This really seems like a missed opportunity.
Act 2 and 3 do give you a bit more stuff to go and do as you prefer at least. But I really wouldn't mind a new game structured like the second and third games of the series. Reportedly, the developers originally considered making DQXI an "open world" game - I would have loved to see how that could have turned out. Maybe for the next game?
Spoiler
I had to look up stuff on the game, after the "true" ending, as I was really confused about a couple of things. Now, the emotion with two characters, who shall remain nameless, was something I really liked. More of the game needed some more of that kind of thing, I think.
Hmm. What characters, and what confused you?
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by evil_ash_xero »

I just didn't know what the very last scene was representing. The wakeup scene. I had absolutely no idea what that was about, before looking it up.
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Sumez »

Spoiler
Yeah, that one is obviously just a nod to Dragon Quest III, which is still considered the epitome of the series in Japan, and among a lot of western fans too. You know that classic JRPG start where a mother wakes up the main character? That is always a callback to that game.

I think most people expected the past events of Erdwyn and his team being this game's version of Erdrick, the DQ3 events, which are also referred to as the previous legendary hero in DQ1 and 2. But I guess the ending reveals that DQXI actually takes place before then - before that, you wouldn't even have realised they were in the same universe.
But as someone who has just finished playing through the entirety of the series before picking up DQXI, it really touched me a lot more than I could have expected. Like I said, it definitely feels shoehorned in, but it still worked.
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by gbaplayer »

I'm 51 hours into the game and in the Fear Castle now. So far i really like it, but thanks to some idiot on Youtube
Spoiler
i got myself Veronicas death spoilered -.-
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by scrilla4rella »

I just finished this last night on Switch after
Spoiler
80
hours. That was one satisfying experience. Probably my RPG of the generation (didn’t play Witcher 3 or Zelda BOTW, yet). The story was amazing.
Spoiler
It kind of blew my mind how it implied there are these alternate dimensions and how everything tied into past games.
Hori obviously had some great writers and planners working with him.

I took my sweet ass time with this and had the battles set to auto for most of the game. I enjoyed seeing what the AI would do as I got new abilities. It was a total cake walk until the last act but that was perfect for my needs. I was usually playing this late at night (after wrangling two toddlers to bed) without the energy to focus on every single action in battle (If I want a challenge I play a shooter). But I can see why some folks would criticise the difficulty.

I’m tempted to jump back into another DQ game, thinking of starting DQV on PS2. I played a significant amount of the Super Famicom version before my save got corrupted and I’ve always wanted to go back.

edit:
also agree that it could have opened up a bit more, especially after you get the vehicles
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Sumez
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Sumez »

scrilla4rella wrote: I took my sweet ass time with this and had the battles set to auto for most of the game. I enjoyed seeing what the AI would do as I got new abilities. It was a total cake walk until the last act but that was perfect for my needs. I was usually playing this late at night (after wrangling two toddlers to bed) without the energy to focus on every single action in battle (If I want a challenge I play a shooter).
Man, you missed out big time.
But if you're satisfied playing on easy mode, that's good enough I guess.
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by blackoak »

Just thought I'd drop a link here to this big Dragon Quest 30th Anniversary Special I finally finished subtitling: https://youtu.be/w0rRgdQ1kK0

It does contain some footage of the making of DQXI, plus a look back at the original game's development and lots of interviews. I'd say it's a must-watch for Dragon Quest fans. 8)
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Sumez »

Wow, you're a hero of the people
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Re: Dragon Quest XI [PS4/3DS/SWITCH]

Post by Necronopticous »

Great shit! Really enjoyed that. Thanks for doing the subs!
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