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Expansion Pass 2 Game #1/Blog a Day #28

Hello everyone, how are you? 

The long-awaited last game of Expansion Pass 2 is finally here. Many of the games that we know and love are the result of games from the past that served as the blueprint for games that came afterwards. For platformers we know and love, Mario is that blueprint. For first-person shooters, it's Doom. For rpgs or at least JRPGs in general, no other game series fits the bill more than Dragon Quest. Every RPG/JRPG out there owes a lot to this beloved series and today we are going to take a look at one of the most recent games in the series. Dragon Quest Xl S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition draws near!

 

                              I have nothing witty to say other than this art is fantastic

Dragon Quest Xl originally released in 2017 for both the PS4 and 3DS in Japan and the rest of the world got the game in 2018 for both the PS4 and PC. The Switch version was announced early on for the Switch but time went by and we didn't hear from it ever again. Later in 2018 they showed the Switch version again and we finally got the game released in 2019. I played the Switch version so that's what I'll be using for this post, so let's see how the game is.

I honestly don't know how to talk about this game without spoiling anything, it's really hard when it comes to games like rpgs so here is an abridged version. The game takes place in the land of Erdrea, a land with such a beautiful and diverse environment. In the game you play as an unnamed protagonist also known as the Luminary, who is the prophesied hero of legend. However not everyone is happy to see the Luminary return. As a wanted hero, you must save the land from darkness, but can you do that with a bounty on you?

The land of Erdrea is vast and there's a lot of areas to explore as well. The game is not open-world, but each area that you can go in is large enough to explore. Some ares are even connected to others and different areas open up as you progress through the story. The environtments are definitely really good looking, I know that they had to compromise the graphics for this version but it still looks great. You'll be doing a lot of exploring and questing but you aren't alone in questing as eventually you'll be joined by a number of characters along the way. I love how each character is unique as well. Akira Toriyama's character designs here might be the best.

 

 

                              This is definitely the best looking JRPG on the Switch

The gameplay during a battle with enemies is still turn-based which still works well. One change I love is that the battles are a little more dynamic. You can move around and move the camera around too, though this does not give you any advantage in a fight but it makes for a chance to take some really cool pictures during fights. This version of the game also includes the option to change the game to look like the original Dragon Quest games. This mode was only present in the 3DS version but I love that they included it in the Definitive Edition of the game. 

The game has voice-acting, which may be a first for the series. I really love that the game is voiced, like it really gives the characters much more personality and you can really the characters shine during cutscenes. This version of the game includes an orchestrated soundtrack and it sounds so good, I love it. You can also change it to the original version if you want to. 

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" Well there are many ways to play this game. You can playthe original version of this game on PS4 and PC, and 3DS if you are in Japan. But if you opt for the Definitive Edition of the game, then you can pretty much play it on anything from Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and even on Stadia if you're into that for some reason. The only real problem with the Definitive Edition of the game on other platforms not called the Switch is that it's a direct port of the Switch version. That means there are no graphical improvements whatsoever. If you care about graphics, then the vanilla version is the way to go. But if you don't mind that and want to play all the extra new content, then the Definitive Edition is for you.

 

 

                      The battles are much dynamic now that you can move around

Final Thoughts: Dragon Quest Xl S is among the best JRPGs that I've ever played. I really loved the overall world of the game. I love how different each area is and one thing I like is how gorgeous the environments look. The gameplay is fundamentally the same but that isn't a bad thing, it works well. The sound direction in the game is really great as well with such great orchstrated arrangements and the voice-acting. They also included a lot of new content as well. It truly lives up to the Definitive Edition moniker. It might have taken a hit in the graphical department but it still looks great on the Switch. 

One thing I really love is that they took everything that everyone loves about Dragon Quest while adding new things to the game as well without changing what makes a Dragon Quest game and losing its identity. Many games in their genre sometimes fail to evolve over time, the games may sell well due to just the name alone. I mean yes, if it ain't broke don't fix it comes to mind and I understand that. But that should never be the case and not strive for improvement whenever possible. This game however is definitely an evolution of the series in my opinion and I feel that it really moved it forward, it knew what to keep and what to improve and in the end it turned out to be such a fantastic game.

The Switch has had a lot of great games these past few years and it's the definitely the home of some of the best rpgs out there, whether they are original games or ports of existing games. I feel this is the best JRPG that you can play on the system since you are getting a lot. If I had played this game when it launched, it definitely would have been on my definitive top 30 games of the decade list. Honeslty, I think I could even swap out a game from that list for it, it's that good. 

 

 

                               I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this the first time

Whether you're on a quest to find the funny meme dog or a different quest, know that it'll be worth it in the end and there's nothing wrong with asking help from others along the the way.

 

And that's the last game on the list and most likely the last blog for BaD. I hope you enjoyed this last list of games that I did for this year. This wil; be the last list of Games of the Decade. What will be my favorite games for this decade? Who knows but it's already shaping up to be a very good one for games. I don't know what I'll be doing for next year's Blog a Day. I don't know for how long I'll keep doing this since I kinda struggled a bit this year, but we'll see. As always, thank you so much for reading and...

 

 

*All images except the first one were taken by my Switch and copy of the game*