Millions of fans throughout Russia, large circulations, hot discussions on the network … All this does not apply to the series Dragon Quest From the Japanese publisher Square Enix. In homeland, this JRPG cycle is considered almost the standard, but we (and even Europe and the USA for the most part) remains the destiny of the fans of the genre. Such games are played by those who do not mind getting used to the conventions of the local world, to endure the need for grind and wave their hand on the fabulous-classic plot tie: about the boy from the village, forced to fight with an evil evil with the heart and soul of the boy.
The problem is that Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Ellusive Age – This is a game that completely and completely consists of morally outdated cliches. She pedals them. Builds to the Absolute. As if mocking buyers.
But this does not make her bad.
If you are not scared away from this trailer, then the visual style of DQ XI will come in a bang
On old rails
Get on a cutting table, any other JRPG with a tie in the spirit of “Once upon a time there was a boy-then he became a hero” and the cloying atmosphere of a second-rate anime, it would automatically be recorded in the category of “garbage”. Simply because Jrpg is like a genre for too long in deep stagnation. For every excellent project in the spirit The World ends with you, Persona 5 or Final Fantasy XII There is a mountain of indecency, except perhaps for the kindling of a stove-stove-stove. With stamps the size of skyscrapers, empty characters and false moral dilemmas.
The eleventh part of the dragon saga from the “birdhouse” literally consists of the elements hated in a normal society … But Dragon Quest created these elements, even at the time of the 8-bit Famicom. More precisely, adapted the support points of the Western RPG for the Asian market. Walks on dungeons, accumulation of experience in the same battles, penny plots on the requirements of gamers – this is something that is difficult to imagine the golden era Jrpg. And in the form of a slender formula, all this appeared precisely thanks to Dragon Quest.
Tie in a nutshell: Once upon a time there was a boy. Then he was sent to live in the village after the attack of evil. And so he grew up and became a hero. Classic? Of course!
The series has not changed for years. The picture was good, the platforms crashed each other on commercial turns, and the Dragon Quest remained the same – warm, lamp, irritating an excess of battles. That is why the eleventh license plate is not very one and I want to cheat-it is so simply because of the traditions that he himself once created. No one in the industry, except for the Square Enix command, can make classic JRPG so authentic in sensations.
If you have at least once launched the old console RPG, you can assume that you know about the new Dragon Quest, if not everything, then almost everything. Add something significant will not work; DQ XI is a game where the main character explores the world, destroys enemies in step -by -step mode, talks a lot and storms the dungeon. Just keep this in mind when planning a purchase after passing one of the parts Tales of or Final Fantasy XV.
Echoes of an elusive age already from the first frames immerses in the desired atmosphere. The tie, in which the baby from the faithful death was fused along the river in a village, the first meeting with a sludge at the company in the company with an anime girl and a mi-mi-shine dog. Incomprehensible power (and great responsibility, of course!) that makes the hero go on a long journey. The thief you meet in a royal prison. Stripping dungeons. Grind. Preservation in the church. If at least one of the above causes emotional rejection, pass by the Dragon Quest XI immediately and boldly. Here, after all, how: the game clings not to modern game design, but by the opportunity to penetrate the spirit of the past on a technically modern console, with a good picture and the corresponding budget.
And this is the whole Dragon Quest XI. Do not expect anything supernatural from the game in terms of the plot-for drama, darkness and tin it is better to go to any of the parts Shin Megami Tensei
Bouquet of nostalgia
In such an insanely narrow niche for the Russian market, there is a new part of dragon adventures. Personally, I rejoiced as a child from the first minutes. Simply because eight -bit sound effects are used in the arrangement of the game. Due to the retro-atmosphere, so verified that even the character has to give the character independently, there are no workpieces. And this is not another indie project, stylized as classics, this is a modern classic that can be bought at any store at a similar price!
Echoes of an elusive age gives sensations comparable to sensations from the first launch of the Japanese version Landstalker (because the other was not brought to the store with cartridges) or Phantasy Star 2. It is valuable with this. But if you look at things not through the prism of that era, then the picture is quite depressing. Dragon Quest XI is not able to hook modern gamer bones to the bones. From the word "completely".
And the point here is a whole bunch of aspects. Firstly, absolutely no "plot in which terry stamps begin with the first screensaver. Then everything develops along the rolled. Do not expect from DQ XI in the spirit of the sacrifice of the child from Tales of berseria or "Hollywood" Road Muy from Final Fantasy XV. For her, the correct motivation of the hero of the hero was the maximum – they must admit, not so cardboard. Visual language – images of characters, their appearance, equipment – here even too Japanese, the game was collected according to the manual. As if you are watching a cheap anime series for boys of primary and secondary school age.
That feeling when the game offers you to survive in the church. Just like in a 16-bit era … or in GTA 2
Is it a joke: the Japanese version of Echoes of An EluSive Age is so faithful to the old school that it entered the local market without voice acting. In the English -language version, the heroes talk, but only in significant scenes – the rest, like the rowing, be kind to read. And this, in combination with the absent localization, is another frightening factor for most of the Russian gamers. However, far from the main.
More importantly, it will not work to go through dq XI without grind. Forget about the “three -dimensional Final Fantasy” formula, in which you had to swing intensely only for the sake of a couple of bosses just before the finals. In essence, echoes of an elusive age is closer to some Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch from Level 5. In it, if you remember, the fabulous atmosphere of Miyazaki was interrupted by the hours of tiring battles. Here is about the same.
In this place it is necessary to draw one important line. Echoes of An Elusive Age is a game where you are immediately thrown into a gameplay. Do not wait for the hourly entry and long -burning of the one who is in this world who. In fact, the entry into DQ XI lasts a good about ten hours, but these ten hours are filled with battles with monsters – that is what the Square Enix series is famous. No popes with tedious viewing of giant videos, circumstances, persons, dates. The developers denote the plot canvas and, like a kitten in a bucket of water, throw a gamer into the world.
It is clear that the first battles will not be difficult. An interesting thing will happen further. For example, one of the key plot turns will remind gamers of the old hardening (or just lovers to play emulators) 16-bit Final Fantasy. There is even something like stealth elements-for example, an attempt to escape from the dragon (with a predictable result), but all this fades against the background of a refined concept.
This is not a camera crazy. Just at this game moment, Dragon Quest XI offers his version of Stlas. Nothing complicated, you can go straight a lot – in this case you are not waiting for a restart, but a battle with a jerk
Everything is simple with pumping: you can’t choose a character class, please download what you have. But there is a plus: creating a Pinocchio unsuitable for life in an interactive environment will not work. Skill glasses can be redistributed, which gives some freedom and relief for those who are not used to thinking through each move in advance. Perhaps the only one unambiguously negative is associated with the absence of a pause button. Immediately recall one of the Angry Video Game Nerd issues, in which James Rolf complained about the inability to stop Ghostbusters 2. I think you should not say how inconvenient it is. Here with the eleventh "quest" the same story.
In the spirit of time
Fortunately, it cannot be said that DQ XI is completely devoid of the features of modern games. In it, for example, PlayOJO Casino you can still see opponents in advance-they walk on the map, and not, in the best traditions, materialize from the air. And in the battles themselves the character can move. True, there is a little sense of this: the battle area is still limited by tough frames, and it will not work to escape from the enemy’s blow with all the desire. And you can also shift the brothers of the board by the party to the shoulders of artificial intelligence and not be disappointed – the hero’s companions behave adequately to the situation.
A person who has never played a Jrpg of the past in his life will hardly understand the nostalgic meaning of this screenshot. Something like this began the battles in retro -rometroes. But such attention to trifles works in both directions. Someone will not understand and say "cheap". Others will be gushed with enthusiasm
Occasionally, Echoes of an elusive age even tries to dodge “into the drama”, but in combination with a deliberately cartoon mi-mi-mi-design, she does not really. But her world is really interesting to explore. In this aspect, cities come to the fore: they are unique, colorful and atmospheric. Huge plus immersion in the world of the game! And then minus: the dungeons suffer by all sores of the genre, they cannot be called outstanding with all the desire.
You should not be surprised at side quests in the spirit of "Give-Brothers" or "go-and-nad". It would be strange to expect from the frankly Japanese Dragon Quest tasks of the third level "Witcher" or serious moral elections, as in recent Vampyr.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age was a great gift for fans of the genre and nightmare for those who wanted to get modern JRPG in a popular universe. Square Enix made a beautiful, deliberately Japanese console game that gives sensations from the past … But Echoes of An Elusive Age has not a single chance to come to the liking of a massive gamer in Russia – there are too many “but frank archaisms (like the need to grin).
It is difficult to advise buying the eleventh quest: in our realities it is a game "not for everyone". But if you treat people that you were trying to defeat a 16-bit classic on the “lunar”, you can safely go to the store. DQ XI will not disappoint you.
Pleased
- Great design;
- rejection of random battles;
- Fairytale atmosphere.
Sharped
- the need to grind;
- abundance of stamps;
- Lack of the "pause" button
How we played
What: The game is provided by the publisher
On what: PS4 Pro
How many: Fifty hours
Achivka of the editorial office
"Be patient, gamer, you will become samurai"
Try to penetrate the atmosphere of the old Golden period of the Golden period Jrpg.
About localization
Localization is absent.
?
Verdict
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age-a story about how one giant publisher has been operating the same ideas since the 80s. The catch is that no one does it better than Square Enix.