Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is a rare case of a game that doesn't try to turn the Japanese RPG genre upside down, but instead brings it to textbook perfection. A young, nameless hero learns on the day he comes of age that he's the reincarnation of an ancient Luminary, but instead of honors and glory he's met with accusation, flight, and a journey across the continent of Erdrea. Out of that grows a journey dozens of hours long, during which he's joined by a group of distinctive companions, from a thief with a good heart, through a mysterious warrior, to an absent-minded mage. Each of them has their own storyline that connects with the main plot at just the right moment.

The gameplay is built on classic turn-based combat, which the game presents clearly and without unnecessary complexity, yet with enough room for tactics. Characters unlock abilities on branching skill panels, change weapons and with them their entire fighting style, and later on combine attacks into shared team maneuvers. Alongside this, the game offers extensive blacksmithing in the form of a minigame, recipe collecting, riding saddled monsters, and a surprisingly large number of optional quests. Anyone wanting a challenge can turn on stricter rules at the start, which tighten up both the economy and combat.

Technically, on PlayStation 4 it's a clean, colorful, and smoothly running showcase. The art style draws on the iconic character designs of Akira Toriyama, so the world feels like a moving illustration, and Koichi Sugiyama's orchestral music lends even ordinary travel through the countryside a festive air. Critics received it very warmly, calling it the series' return to prominence and an ideal entry point for newcomers who had previously passed Dragon Quest by. The title's influence is more confirming than revolutionary, but it showed that an honest turn-based JRPG can hold its own even in an era of open worlds and action combat. Today Dragon Quest XI feels like a comforting, gentle game worth returning to precisely because it knows exactly what it wants to be.