Square Enix has announced ‘Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch 2’, yet another very welcome, but impossibly titled port to Nintendo’s latest console. Dragon Quest XI S will arrive on Switch 2 on 24th September, bringing a number of enhancements over the previous release, but with one major caveat.
That hang up is that there are no upgrades available from the Switch 1 release of Dragon Quest XI S, and seemingly no save transfers either. The game is priced the same across both systems at £34.99, though the Switch 1 version is currently on sale at half price, but the Nintendo eShop necessarily features the warning that you cannot play the Switch 2 release on Switch 1 and to be careful when selecting a version to purchase.
Dragon Quest XI S arrives on Switch in 2019 (and later on other platforms) as an enhanced rendition of the original game, adding new story chapters for party members, including both Japanese and additional English voice acting, an orchestral score, and the ability swap to the previously 3DS exclusive 2D mode, which made the game resemble the earlier entries in the franchise.
New for the Nintendo Switch 2 are two graphical modes which will allow players to prioritise graphics or performance. It will also contain the following item sets:
- The Trodain Set (containing equipment that can change the hero’s appearance)
- The Baby Boar Set (containing equipment that can change Veronica’s appearance)
- The Happy Adventurer Set (containing five bottles of pep pop and five seeds of skill)
But the lack of upgrade pricing will stick in the craw, and has been a common practice for Square Enix, when other publishers are either offering free patches or reduced price upgrade paths.
In our review of Dragon Quest XI S on Switch, Miguel said “Dragon Quest XI is already an incredible JRPG, but this massively updated Switch release makes it almost mandatory. With new outfits, new quests, an entirely new 2D mode and a huge range of quality of life improvements, it’s easy to consider this the best version of the game to play. The only thing holding it back from earning that title are some unfortunate visual and performance issues. A handy patch can fix the latter, but really the only reason not to prefer this version is if pristine graphics are your highest priority.”
via Nintendo
