Nintendo Treehouse and Square Enix have given demonstrations of Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition, giving us more insight into the game.

We will first focus on content learned via the Nintendo Treehouse livestream (that can be viewed above).

Story

• You will learn more about the main character’s background and history.

Battle

• Battles have a new speed level called Ultra-Fast.

Audio

• The soundtrack can now be set to Symphonic or Synthesized- and changed freely in the overworld.
• Japanese and English voice acting is present.
• The protagonist can also be muted independently of the voice volume.
• A DLC Bundle will be released later to let you change the overworld’s soundtrack to that of Dragon Quest VIII.

2D Mode and Past Dragon Quest Game Dungeons

• You can switch into 2D mode at churches. Changing to 2D mode takes you to “start you at a chapter in the game” and you save before you switch modes. The game takes on a retro sprited look while in this mode, and the sound-effects sound like classic Dragon Quest sound effects. The music can still be toggled between Symphonic and Synthesized. There are no enemies in the overworld in 2D mode, bringing back random encounters. It is unsure what will occur to special points you could gather resources from in this mode, along with other treasures in the overworld.
• Small mysterious creatures called “Tockles” (usually called Yocchi in the original game) have a greater presence than in the original game. They are invisible to humans and love playing pranks on them, even by manipulating time. The protagonist can see them however. As the player find them throughout the story, Tockles will grant the player with a “pastword.”
• In the Japanese exclusive 3DS version of Dragon Quest XI, there were street pass dungeons in which you played as Tockles. Beating them earned you a scroll to access past DQ worlds. The pastword system here replaces this system.
• When the player finds the Tockles village “Tickington”, they can find the Echo Chamber. With the right pastword, the player can access a chapter of a world from a past Dragon Quest game. In the demo, it seems there were three possible chapters per world, but the final game could have more. Beating the mission within these worlds will grant the player rewards.
• From the Square Enix footage, we learned all of the past worlds will be in 2D, even if they were 3D on the 3DS version.

New Content

• A new item called the Baumren’s Bell lets you call and ride a Great Sabrecat. It can knock away weaker enemies so you do not fight them (much like the horse when galloping) and can roar to lure enemies in.
• Enemies that glitter in the overworld and in battle can be mounted once beaten. Like the Great Sabrecat, these mounts can bash away weaker enemies. It is unknown how long mounts like this last, but it seems to have vanished once you entered a city.
• Quick Commands menu lets you access key items quickly. These include The Fun-Size Forge, Nose for Treasure, Baumren’s Bell, Horse Hailer, Quest Catalog and Photo Mode.
• Outfits can now let you equip special costumes to party members without affecting their stats.
• A DLC Bundle will be released later to give you a “Trodian Soldier Outfit” for the main character. These are the clothes of the main character in Dragon Quest VIII.
• The Fun-Sized Forge can now be used anywhere, not just at camp sites.

Square Enix also conducted a livestream. However, this was entirely in Japanese.

We believe the following information is correct, but we are relying on third-party translation (via Gematsu). There are also some differences in names and terms in localization. For example, “Smell” becomes “Nose for Treasure.” In addition, some of this information may only apply for the Japanese edition. For example, dashing was added to English releases.

Story

• There will be more dialogue with party members.
• Can skip cutscenes even if it is your first time playing.
• A new character designed by Akira Toriyama has been added to the game- Madame Cherie.  She is a professor at L’Academie de Notre Maitre les Medailles.
• Revised soldier events in Heliodor Sewers.

Battle

• Party members will move around the battlefield and speak more. In addition, they will react more to what happens.
• 2D Only Monsters are still shown in the 3D bestiary. This may confirm visiting past Dragon Quest worlds can only be done in 2D. Though this does beg how the characters will appear in the 3D bestiary.

Audio

• All events will be fully voiced, as well as party member dialogue.
• The game shall have a “Voice Drama” DLC. It will be four to five hours in length and is a collection of short stories based on the party members. These include things such as Jade as a child, Rab when he was younger and Medamoiselle’s play. This audio drama can still have text displayed and features a log, fast-forward and rewind. This may only be exclusive to Japan.

New Content

• The player can reset their skills from the beginning of the game.
• Some quests have been adjusted.
• Reverse Look Up added for materials required for forging. In addition, it is easier to purchase some of the materials that you need.
• Changes to the horse racing minigame and changes to the Bowgun gameplay.
• Improvements to the camera.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition is launching September 27th for Nintendo Switch.

Dragon Quest XI is now available for Windows PC and PlayStation 4. In case you missed it, you can find our extremely thorough review for the game here (we absolutely loved it!).