Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is arguably the most complete version of a classic Japanese RPG ever released, here on Switch. The player takes on the role of a young man from the village of Cobblestone who, on the day he comes of age, discovers he's the reincarnation of an ancient hero — and is promptly branded an agent of evil by the ruler of the world and hunted as a criminal. From there unfolds a long journey across the continent of Erdrea, during which he's joined by a party of vividly written companions: a big-mouthed thief, a mysterious sorceress, a noble swordsman, and more. Each of them has their own storyline that the game patiently develops over dozens of hours. The storytelling is knowingly traditional, masterfully told, and its clichés never feel like laziness — more like a comfortable armchair the player is happy to sink back into.

The combat system remains turn-based and thoroughly readable: sides take turns, abilities unlock through extensive skill trees, and from the midpoint onward there's enough tactical depth that bosses genuinely demand thought about party composition and spell combinations. The Switch version adds content missing from the original release — side stories devoted to individual party members, the option to switch the entire game into a two-dimensional pixel-art mode styled after Super Famicom-era titles, and an orchestral recording of the soundtrack instead of the synthesized version. That optional 2D presentation is a small marvel in itself: it's not a few-minute novelty, but a complete alternative rendition of the whole game from start to finish.

Technically it's a compromise — resolution and detail are scaled back compared to more powerful hardware — but Akira Toriyama's art style is strong enough that the colorful, softly lit world holds up even on a small screen in handheld mode. And portability is key here, because the main story alone takes dozens of hours, and with the side content and the postgame chapter, playtime easily stretches past a hundred. Reception was very warm, and even today it remains one of the best possible entry points into the genre for someone who has never played a Japanese RPG.