Arriving on the PS4 and PC this year, coming later to the Switch and not all for the 3DS.
The release date for Square Enix’s upcoming RPG has finally been announced. Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age will make its way onto the PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) on Sept. 4th, 2018.
Not only did we get a release date, but it also seems that the Western release will also have some extra content. Apparently, there will be some upgrades and enhancements that weren’t available in the Japanese release. Keep in mind that Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age was released in Japan during July 14, 2017. So while we’re getting the game a year later, it looks like it will be worth it.
The enhanced content comes in the form of the following;
- English Voiceover
- Draconian Quest, a hard mode that offers additional challenges for more experienced players.
- Overhauled Menus & UI, with graphical enhancements and more intuitive navigation.
- Camera Mode, allowing players to take in views of the beautiful landscape, character renders and ferocious monsters in detail.
- A New Dash Function and many other system enhancements such as improved character and camera movement
Take a peek at the Western version below.
Square Enix is also promising that the title will feature over 100 hours worth of content. Now, if that’s true then that’s going to be amazing.
Now, for the bad news. While the Nintendo Switch version is still planned, but there’s no information on that as of yet. Square Enix released a statement on why that is, today.
“We are also developing the Switch version for Europe and North America, but development is expected to take a long time from a technological standpoint as well, so we still have a long way to go until its release.”
As for the 3DS version of the game, we won’t see that in the West at all. According to Square Enix, this is due to wanting to grow the Dragon Quest brand in the West.
“From a business point of view, it made strategic sense to release the 3DS version in Japan in 2017. For the West in 2018, it made the most sense to focus on the PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) platforms.”
Which makes complete sense. We all know that Nintendo is slowing phasing out the 3DS, in favor of the Switch. What made sense in 2017 no longer does as the Switch has been one of the fastest selling consoles of all time. It’s only practical that they shift their efforts on the platforms that are selling games. Which happens to be the Switch, PS4, and the PC.
I’ve been waiting for this game for a while now, so I’m happy to see that we finally have a release date. I really wanted to import this, but there’s the little issue of the language barrier. Longevity, fun combat, an appealing story and it looks amazing? Yep, it looks like I’ll need to mark some time on my calendar for when Dragon Quest 11 finally gets released this September 2018.
