DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.4 Update + All DLCs

DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition is a role-playing video game by Square Enix. The eleventh entry in the long-running Dragon Quest video game series, it was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 4 in July 2017 and worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in September 2018.  An enhanced version, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition,[d] was released for Nintendo Switch by Nintendo in September 2019; for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in December 2020; and Stadia in March 2021.

Customize your party members’ skills and appearances without changing their gear, and forge new equipment as you progress. This version also lets you ride and battle alongside monsters to gain experience, and switch between HD or 16-bit visuals, symphonic or synth music, and English or Japanese audio.

Discover new character-focused stories and travel to past DRAGON QUEST worlds, including 2D, 16-bit versions of popular areas from DRAGON QUEST IV and DRAGON QUEST VIII, thanks to the help of Tockles—mysterious creatures you’ll encounter on your journey.

The character designs in this game are based on the signature style of renowned artist Akira Toriyama and come to life through voiced dialogue. For an added challenge, start the game with the Draconian Quest setting, and capture your favorite moments with Photo Mode! Awaken your power, discover the Luminary’s true heritage, and protect the land in this epic adventure.

GAMEPLAY

Dragon Quest XI continues the gameplay of previous games in the series, in which players explore worlds and fight against various monsters, including the ability to explore high areas. The Nintendo 3DS version features a different style to the other versions, showcasing 3D graphics on the top screen and 16-bit styled sprites on the bottom screen. Outside of battle, players can freely toggle between the 3D and 2D graphical styles. Like with Dragon Quest IX, on land, the game’s battle system features no random encounters and shows all enemies on the overworld. The battle system also adds a free-form camera option inspired by the MMORPG Dragon Quest X that allows players to move around the enclosed battlefield, although it is purely visual and provides no other benefits to gameplay.

PLOT

The game is set in the world of Erdrea and begins as the kingdom of Dundrasil is invaded and destroyed by an army of monsters. The protagonist, an infant during the attack, survives and is found floating down a river by an old man named Chalky in the village of Cobblestone. The protagonist is adopted by Chalky’s daughter Amber and raised in the village. After the protagonist’s coming-of-age ceremony, Amber reveals the truth to him about his birth and adoption and sends him to meet King Carnelian of Heliodor. However, the king accuses him of being an evil entity and throws him into the dungeons.

Imprisoned, the protagonist meets a thief named Erik who reveals that he was sent to meet him, as the mark on his hand is proof that he is the Luminary, a legendary hero chosen by the world tree Yggdrasil to save Erdrea from evil. The pair escape and evade capture, later joined by two mages: Veronica, who is trapped in a child’s body due to a curse, and her twin sister, Serena. On their quest to help the Luminary reach Yggdrasil, they gain three other companions: Sylvando, a traveling entertainer, Jade, the exiled princess of Heliodor who helped the infant protagonist escape during the attack of Dundrasil, and Rab, the former king of Dundrasil and the protagonist’s grandfather.

The party eventually arrives at the heart of Yggdrasil, which contains the Sword of Light, the Luminary’s destined weapon. However, just as the Luminary is about to take it, he and the party are intercepted by Carnelian and his retainers Jasper and Hendrik. It is revealed that Carnelian was possessed by an evil sorcerer known as Mordegon, who also was responsible for Dundrasil’s destruction, and Jasper is Mordegon’s agent. The two subdue Hendrik and the Luminary’s party, with Mordegon taking the Sword of Light, corrupting it into the Sword of Shadows, and absorbing the heart of Yggdrasil, destroying the tree and plunging the world into an age of darkness.

Separated from the others, the Luminary returns to Cobblestone, turned into a fortified refuge for Heliodor citizens led by Carnelian and Hendrik, who apologize to the Luminary for all the troubles they caused him. Hendrik joins forces with the Luminary, and together they reclaim Heliodor from Mordegon’s forces. At one point, a dark spirit summons a mysterious orb called Erdwin’s Lantern, however, Mordegon destroys it so no one stands in his way. After reuniting with the rest of the party, except for Veronica, who perished saving the others during the fall of Yggdrasil, the Luminary obtains the means to forge a new Sword of Light, which they use to defeat Jasper and Mordegon, restoring Yggdrasil and the world.

Afterward, the party discovers the means to bring Veronica (and other people who perished) back to the Tower of Lost Time. There, they meet the Timekeeper, who gives the Luminary the power to go back in time and defeat Mordegon before he can steal the Sword of Light and Yggdrasil’s heart, thus saving Veronica from sacrificing herself and preventing Mordegon’s dark age. However, due to Mordegon’s absence, Erdwin’s Lantern wasn’t destroyed, thus the dark spirit can merge with it and awaken as the game’s other main antagonist: The Dark One, Calasmos.

The party learns that a prior Luminary named Edwin was betrayed and killed by his mage companion Morcant, who absorbed Calasmos’ powers and transformed into Mordegon.  Since he could not be destroyed forever without the power of the Luminary, Serenica, Erdwin’s former sage companion and lover, then sealed the weakened Calasmos within Erdwin’s Lantern and attempted to return to the past at the Tower of Lost Time, but was turned into the Timekeeper instead. The party then confronts and destroys Calasmos, before the Luminary entrusts his mark to Serenica, who reverts to her original form and uses it to return to the past and reunite with Erdwin.

Accompanied by Veronica and Serena, he also returns the Sword of Light to Yggdrasil, who reveals itself to be Yggdragon, an ancient dragon of light who was defeated by Calasmos ages ago, whose body transformed into the tree Yggdrasil and gave life to Eritrea. Yggdragon bestows upon the Luminary the title of “Erdrick”, the mightiest of all heroes, and keeps the Sword for the day when a new hero will need it to defend Erdrea from evil. In the mid-credits, Serenica reunites with Erdwin in the past, while after the credits, a young mother, after reading the Luminary’s story in a book, wakes up her child from bed, setting up the beginning of Dragon Quest III.