Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition |OT| 2D, or not 2D, that is the question (now available on PS4/XB1/PC)

[ShinobiBk]

I'm 8 hours in, I just got the red orb back and it dawned on me that I'm still playing the demo this whole time lol. People weren't exaggerating, what a long ass demo

My mom said DQXI S music was beautiful when she heard it, so y'all who are saying it sucks should gracefully take the L.

Collected all orbs, currently at level 39. Game is so amazing, I'm always pining to get back into it.

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I think the orchestral music is very good with the exception of the battle theme, which is pretty weak imo. That affects the overall opinion a lot given you hear it constantly

 

[Completely Anonymous]

So does Erik have any use?

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He, like Serena gets a lot better as the game progresses. Divide plus statuses simply cannot be underestimated, and if spec'ed right he steals virtually everything to boot

 

[ned_ballad]

when the slot machine glitched out it freaked me out that I lost power or something

 

[Apopheniac]

I kinda wish the game would give you more details on skill tree abilities before you unlocked them (approx. power, stats used). I know I can respec, but Miracle Slash was such a waste

 

[CrazyDude]

It's always funny that I'm never excited or interested in playing a new Dragon Quest game, but once I do I'm hooked.

 

[SPRidley]

Im incredibly hyped I will start finally tonight with the game, as im in the last file of Astral Chain.

Any thing I need to know before going in deep into it? I dont want to make it more difficult as Ive heard some people here the draconian modes were simply not fun.

 

[Bitanator]

So does Erik have any use?

I just got Veronica and Serena and while Serena is obviously going to always be useful with her healing, Veronica however just completely blows ginormous holes in the enemy.

Meanwhile Erik is stabbing away doing less damage than anyone else and it looks like status effects arent particularily useful when it feels more MP and time efficient to just nuke the ever loving hell out of the enemy?

I am eyeing up these Boomerangs though...

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I think Veronica is not worth much in battle until later as she is so hard to keep alive, and her best spells only come after a very high level. Erik will soon become your best damage dealer if you don't have the hero on greatswords. He is an invaluable piece that rarely gets switched out.

 

[mute]

So does Erik have any use?

I just got Veronica and Serena and while Serena is obviously going to always be useful with her healing, Veronica however just completely blows ginormous holes in the enemy.

Meanwhile Erik is stabbing away doing less damage than anyone else and it looks like status effects arent particularily useful when it feels more MP and time efficient to just nuke the ever loving hell out of the enemy?

I am eyeing up these Boomerangs though...

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If dagger his skills that multiply damage when the enemy is asleep/poisoned work great on bosses.

Other than that, he does tend to fall out of my party once Jade/Rab show up.

 

[Deleted member 19782]

Collected all orbs, currently at level 39. Game is so amazing, I'm always pining to get back into it.

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I think I am only missing two Orbs (currently at Snifleheim). However, my party is only level 28. Am I underleveled or are you overleveled?

 

[Foxashel]

I have all orbs and am around level 34.

 

[Skittzo]

Yeah this game hits you much harder emotionally than any others in the series. I'm not sure if that's because of the presentation/cutscenes being light-years ahead of every other game or because I'm a newish father but either way this game is great at tugging on the ol' heart strings.

 

[Foxashel]

I don't want this game to end! Granted I just got all the orbs and probably have a lot left. But still!

 

[Zedark]

I think I am only missing two Orbs (currently at Snifleheim). However, my party is only level 28. Am I underleveled or are you overleveled?

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The latter

 

[Deleted member 46493]

My mom said DQXI S music was beautiful when she heard it, so y'all who are saying it sucks should gracefully take the L.

Collected all orbs, currently at level 39. Game is so amazing, I'm always pining to get back into it.

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The music that's in the game is good but the problem is that there's little of it. It's a minuscule amount of tracks for a 100+ hour game with very distinct locations and cities. This has always been an issue with DQ games starting with VIII - the length of the game and the amount of tracks don't match up, especially for a generation raised on JRPG OSTs that are 3+ hours long (FFs starting with VI).

 

[NabiscoFelt]

So does Erik have any use?

I just got Veronica and Serena and while Serena is obviously going to always be useful with her healing, Veronica however just completely blows ginormous holes in the enemy.

Meanwhile Erik is stabbing away doing less damage than anyone else and it looks like status effects arent particularily useful when it feels more MP and time efficient to just nuke the ever loving hell out of the enemy?

I am eyeing up these Boomerangs though...

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Dual wield brings up Erik's damage to a reasonable level, Sleeper Hit is pretty amazing, and his sigils (especially pepped up) are wild. Scorched Earth, which only requires Erik to be pepped up, did 70 damage a turn on a boss where my harder hitters were averaging 30.

A 3-person pepped up sigil did 234 damage per turn.

 

[HeRinger]

Yeah this game hits you much harder emotionally than any others in the series. I'm not sure if that's because of the presentation/cutscenes being light-years ahead of every other game or because I'm a newish father but either way this game is great at tugging on the ol' heart strings.

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If DQV had similar presentation there wouldn't have enough tissues in the world.

 

[Skittzo]

If DQV had similar presentation there wouldn't have enough tissues in the world.

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It has a full blown CG movie though! Which needs to be localized at some point (but I'm sure it won't be).

 

[HeRinger]

It has a full blown CG movie though! Which needs to be localized at some point (but I'm sure it won't be).

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Yeah, I'm definitely very interested in watching that. Supposedly it's good!

 

[Meows]

What are the best trees to invest Jade in? Or what abilities should I gun for first with her?

 

[ara]

Does this version do anything to address the difficulty complaints? The PC version was way too easy by default and with the stronger monsters modifier on, it was a bit too hard.

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So I take it it's pretty much the exact same?

 

[Skittzo]

What are the best trees to invest Jade in? Or what abilities should I gun for first with her?

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I did claws and haven't regretted it.

 

[sensui-tomo]

It has a full blown CG movie though! Which needs to be localized at some point (but I'm sure it won't be).

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Yeah, I'm definitely very interested in watching that. Supposedly it's good!

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Eh.... it's not DQV. I cant say much more due to it spoiling the movie but it wasn't that good (visuals yes but not the movie)

 

[Completely Anonymous]

Jade is insane with spears. However, I like switching it up from time to time

 

[Xita]

So I take it it's pretty much the exact same?

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Yeah it's a pretty frequent complaint here.

 

[lightning16]

Jade just spams Sexy Beam for me since her Charm stat is insane and it's the highest single target damage attack I have. Uses Harvest Moon if I'm against a flying enemy. She has a spear but doesn't use it very often anymore. Kinda want to figure out a different way to play her since she has MP issues with Sexy Beam spam.

 

[Poltergust]

What are the best trees to invest Jade in? Or what abilities should I gun for first with her?

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I just got her and am doing an even distribution between spears and... whatever her unique section is (I forgot lol). I opted out of giving her claws since Rab already has that, so that was basically the only choice outside of going unarmed.

 

[ned_ballad]

So what's the spoiler recommendations for

Spoiler

Hendrik

Spoiler

Should I just put everything regarding him in a spoiler tag, or is it pretty well known at this point that he joins your party about half way through the game?

I mean, he's featured prominently in the Smash Bros spirit for the Hero's party, and it becomes pretty obvious as the game goes on that something is going to go on with him

I don't really see people discuss him that much in this thread, so I'm not sure

 

[Skulldead]

So does Erik have any use?

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He's broken in end game, on stronger monster mode he was destroying most of the optional bosses in 4-5 turn. But at the beginning he is kinda weak.

 

[Skittzo]

So what's the spoiler recommendations for

Spoiler

Hendrik

Spoiler

Should I just put everything regarding him in a spoiler tag, or is it pretty well known at this point that he joins your party about half way through the game?

I mean, he's featured prominently in the Smash Bros spirit for the Hero's party, and it becomes pretty obvious as the game goes on that something is going to go on with him

I don't really see people discuss him that much in this thread, so I'm not sure

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Spoiler

I personally had no idea he'd be joining until it happened, so it would've been a spoiler for me.

 

[ned_ballad]

What stat increases should I look for with swords to replace the Falcon Blade?

When does it stop doing better DPS than other swords?

 

[mute]

So what's the spoiler recommendations for

Spoiler

Hendrik

Spoiler

Should I just put everything regarding him in a spoiler tag, or is it pretty well known at this point that he joins your party about half way through the game?

I mean, he's featured prominently in the Smash Bros spirit for the Hero's party, and it becomes pretty obvious as the game goes on that something is going to go on with him

I don't really see people discuss him that much in this thread, so I'm not sure

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Spoiler

I just used axes because they were new and nobody else can use them (IIRC?)
If MC switch off of great swords by then, Hendrik using them might be good.

 

[ned_ballad]

Spoiler

I just used axes because they were new and nobody else can use them (IIRC?)
If MC switch off of great swords by then, Hendrik using them might be good.

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Spoiler

lol this was actually exactly what I wanted to know, between Axes and Great Swords

I have him using Great Swords, but I was wondering whose better for raw damage, him or Jade?

 

[Lord Vatek]

So what's the spoiler recommendations for

Spoiler

Hendrik

Spoiler

Should I just put everything regarding him in a spoiler tag, or is it pretty well known at this point that he joins your party about half way through the game?

I mean, he's featured prominently in the Smash Bros spirit for the Hero's party, and it becomes pretty obvious as the game goes on that something is going to go on with him

I don't really see people discuss him that much in this thread, so I'm not sure

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Spoiler

You can keep him a secret still. It's not that well-known that he joins and not everyone plays Smash.

 

[Skittzo]

What stat increases should I look for with swords to replace the Falcon Blade?

When does it stop doing better DPS than other swords?

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I've noticed that enemy defense kinda makes the Falcon Blade a bit underpowered after a while. The defense applies to each hit, so 2 hits with one weapon that has say, 50 attack will do less damage than 1 hit with a weapon that has 65 attack for some enemies.

Basically I switched to the Miracle Sword once I got it. I think the Falcon Blade becomes very useful when you're hunting metal slimes, since it doubles your chance for a critical. Or quadruples it if you want to dual wield them.

 

[KtotheRoc]

So what's the spoiler recommendations for

Spoiler

Hendrik

Spoiler

Should I just put everything regarding him in a spoiler tag, or is it pretty well known at this point that he joins your party about half way through the game?

I mean, he's featured prominently in the Smash Bros spirit for the Hero's party, and it becomes pretty obvious as the game goes on that something is going to go on with him

I don't really see people discuss him that much in this thread, so I'm not sure

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Spoiler

Probably better to err on the side of caution.

 

[Apopheniac]

I'm doing the bonus story for Rab in portable and my Switch's fan just spun up more than I've ever heard it before. I'm amazed this game doesn't have more frame rate drops.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I'm doing the bonus story for Rab in portable and my Switch's fan just spun up more than I've ever heard it before. I'm amazed this game doesn't have more frame rate drops.

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looks like waiting for improved UE4 support worked out well. Octopath Traveler had its fair share of drops and stuttering despite the more simple make up

 

[Nelo Ice]

I'm doing the bonus story for Rab in portable and my Switch's fan just spun up more than I've ever heard it before. I'm amazed this game doesn't have more frame rate drops.

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The game destroys my switches battery. I'm using the original switch and god damn if lasts maybe 2 hours undocked.

 

[Skittzo]

This game just refuses to end, I love it. It's like, "oh, you think you're maybe getting close to the final boss? How about doing a 9 story dungeon first?"

I'm doing the bonus story for Rab in portable and my Switch's fan just spun up more than I've ever heard it before. I'm amazed this game doesn't have more frame rate drops.

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I've noticed a couple when sprinting around the overworld but yeah barely any. It's really remarkable how well this runs.

 

[Completely Anonymous]

The battery mode is amazing on the new version of the Switch with this game - just so you know.

I get bored with the same ol same ol so just picked up the falcon blade and banishing blade. Will switch to sword and shield for awhile, on the way to becoming the ultimate Swordmaster. Also, I have basically forged +3 of everything up to magic key items, so I'm freaking rich as hell, and I don't have to worry about costs associating with respec' of the entire character if I want, so experimentation is great

Jade has major MP issues, so I gave her a +MP accessory as well. That, along with upgrading her ribbon to +3 allows her to recover 6MP every turn. As for Erik, he steals every turn for me, so I'm swimming in items to forge additional stuff for money

 

[Xemnas89]

Man I have the worst luck on these slot machines. Always lose about ten thousand tokens before getting something halfway decent. I see videos of people constantly getting metal mode and pulling in thousands of tokens. Keep hoping my luck will turn around then I lose another ten thousand.

 

[Skittzo]

Man I have the worst luck on these slot machines. Always lose about ten thousand tokens before getting something halfway decent. I see videos of people constantly getting metal mode and pulling in thousands of tokens. Keep hoping my luck will turn around then I lose another ten thousand.

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I've always used the back left machine in whichever section I play in. It may take a while but I would consistently be winning lots, and LOTS of tokens. Like, I had 2 jackpots there over a couple hours.

I read somewhere that the back left machines always work best for whatever reason. Seems to work for me.

 

[Deleted member 19782]

The battery mode is amazing on the new version of the Switch with this game - just so you know.

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How long does it lasts? My original Switch can keep up for around 3 hours if not less.

I get bored with the same ol same ol so just picked up the falcon blade and banishing blade. Will switch to sword and shield for awhile, on the way to becoming the ultimate Swordmaster.

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For the Luminary? I have been thinking of switching too but I am not sure how this will affect his damage output.

 

[Xita]

Damn :(

Spoiler: Act 2

I guess everything can't be as happy as Sylvando's story :(

Erik losing his memories felt so bad, we were bros!

 

[Completely Anonymous]

Battery lasts a good while. Haven't timed it, but I can play for hours on end without a charge. The new model switch was worth the $75 I paid when turning the old one in, since I wasn't going to hack it.

As for damage output, it isn't as good as the two-handed sword, though I love falcon slash with the falcon sword. However, with a shield I use the accessory that attracts people to attack you, and the Luminary is just a tank that can take the hits. He also counterattacks a good amount if you spec him for that in Swordmastery instead of dual wield right away ...

 

[Apopheniac]

The game destroys my switches battery. I'm using the original switch and god damn if lasts maybe 2 hours undocked.

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I play the OG Switch in bed off a hub with the Pro Controller's cable attached and the battery charges just barely faster than it depletes. Good enough for me!

Also

Spoiler: Act 2

I was wondering if the game would actually remove the Luminary branch on the skill tree after the Hero lost his mojo, and the madmen actually did it. We'll meet again, Holy Protection...

 

[DPT120]

So does Erik have any use?

I just got Veronica and Serena and while Serena is obviously going to always be useful with her healing, Veronica however just completely blows ginormous holes in the enemy.

Meanwhile Erik is stabbing away doing less damage than anyone else and it looks like status effects arent particularily useful when it feels more MP and time efficient to just nuke the ever loving hell out of the enemy?

I am eyeing up these Boomerangs though...

Click to shrink...

Erik does massive amounts of damage once he gets Dual Wield and some skills from his class tree.

 

[Deleted member 32106]

50 hours in and holy shit. I beg you please, just fucking end this game already.

 

[TYRANITARR]

The game destroys my switches battery. I'm using the original switch and god damn if lasts maybe 2 hours undocked.

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Same here. This game SHREDS battery life like nothing else... except maybe Divinity Original Sin 2. That game also burns the battery right up.

 

[Deleted member 46493]

So I take it it's pretty much the exact same?

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It's the same. If you want it to be harder but still not annoyingly difficult, either avoid most encounters or grind more on Stronger Monsters.