Dragon Quest XI Impressions

I’ve started Dragon Quest XI! I was given the game as a gift for Christmas and so I started the journey! I was ready to be in it for the long haul. That first play session lasted around 7 hours. Now, depending on when I can schedule this post, I may have already gotten way further in than you think. But I am writing this only with those 7 hours in my head so keep that in mind.

Honestly, the game is a bit slow, even at the start. Barring the cutscenes, the game starts off very ordinary (as ordinary as any JRPG) and it follows a very linear pattern from there. Combat itself is just a collection of commands but I’m very sure this becomes far more strategic once I have more magic and skills to use. It also won’t hurt that I’ll have more party members in the future to play around with.

But it really does keep to the very traditional grind of JRPGs. I now know why people have said to take this game at night, after a nice bath with a hot cup of coffee or tea. It lulls you very easily, and that can either be a good or a bad thing! After all, no one wants to fall asleep playing their game but then again, it’s always great to have this dreamy experience when you’re all cozy and comfortable at home. In the future, I do feel that this game has the potential to appeal more to the latter but I need to progress through a little more before I can say so for sure.

There are very purposeful, methodical actions you have to make in the game that could be done better in my opinion. Like, it doesn’t even appeal to the above lifestyle as I’ve described. It’s just a bit of a misfire, almost as if it’s just a feature included to appeal to old school fans of the traditional system. Even combat is needlessly slow moving but it is what it is I suppose. I can’t really say much about it since I haven’t gone far enough with many skills or party members yet.

But what is surprising is the story beats. I went in expecting a full-on traditional JRPG and for the most part, yes, that’s what I got. But the story beats can shift so fast that I’m not quite ready to take in what they’re showing me (in a good way). They’ve also gone and thrown in so many iconic (and usually dead) old school story elements that it’s actually entertaining to me! If this keeps up, I’d say they’re doing a damn fine job with the narrative aspect of it, which is a surprise all things considered.

It’s also a bit unfortunate that there is a very noticeable motion blur when playing on the PS4 Pro and since the game has already been out for a while and that has still not been fixed, I don’t think it’s ever going to be fixed. It’s not really a game breaker since you don’t get to move around that quickly anyway unless you really just want to hit each story beat as you go along.

Overall, it strikes me as an interesting balance. I love some of the stuff, I do not like some other stuff. I find the narrative fascinating, I find the gameplay a bit dry. It really is just a matter of how they continue from this point