dragon quest xi north america release date

Maybe Square Enix did go to them and attempt to get the game published by them in NA only to be turned down.Īfter that, Square Enix looked at the market conditions and simply figured bringing the game over was not worth it. One other thing to consider here is that Nintendo was the publisher for Dragon Quest VII and VIII in North America. So in that regard, I don't blame Square Enix for not wanting to test the waters and localize a text-heavy RPG for a handheld that was one foot in the grave. Only Pokemon was able to keep selling and push 3DS hardware sales. The few games Nintendo was tossing at the platform like Fire Emblem Echoes, Metroid: Samus Returns, Beyond Oasis, and ports of Kirby's Epic Yarn and Luigi's Mansion were largely ignored and sold poorly. The 3DS market basically collapsed quickly once the Switch arrived and sold insane numbers, and numerous games even major ones like Fire Emblem Echoes and Metroid: Samus Returns were not selling huge numbers and were overshadowed by the hype behind the Switch.īy the time Dragon Quest XI would have arrived in the west, the 3DS market were pretty much dead. While it is sad that we never got the 3DS version of Dragon Quest XI in the west, I honestly can't blame Square Enix for not bringing it over.

Sadly, Dragon Quest XI has remained a Japanese exclusive – which is why we thought it would be nice to revisit the game so that more people can see what an amazing achievement it was – and to highlight the fact that Dragon Quest XI is a game that spans hardware generations in a way few other JRPGs can manage. What makes all of this even more remarkable is that Nintendo's next portable console – the Switch – has been able to handle a pretty faithful port of the PS4 iteration, which, when you compare the 3DS and PS4 versions, just goes to show how small the gap is between domestic and portable gaming technology these days. If that sounds similar to the 2D gubbins included in Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition, that isn't all that surprising – because all of that good 2D stuff originated on the 3DS! Naturally, some concessions were made in the graphics department to get Dragon Quest XI running on the 3DS' dual-core ARM11 processor, but a good chunk of the start of the game goes the extra mile by replicating everything that happens in the expected 3D in tandem with a 2D version on the bottom screen.

The 3DS has been home to some rather ambitious ports, of course, such as the surprisingly effective Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, and the slightly less-than-impressive Hyrule Warriors Legends.

Dragon quest xi north america release date