DRAGON AGE XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age will be released in the west in 2018, according to a tweet from the Dragon Quest official Twitter account.
“By the time this video is being played, the game would be released in Japan. And, not only Japanese fans, I’m sure Western fans have been eagerly anticipating the localization of DRAGON QUEST XI,” said Yuji Horii, the game designer of the Dragon Quest franchise in the video embedded in the tweet. “Let me take this opportunity to announce that the localization for DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age has already begun.”
The game was released in Japan on July 29 (Japan is currently 13 hours ahead) on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 3DS. A Nintendo Switch version of DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is in development and a release date hasn’t been set for it yet. It is the eleventh installment of the popular franchise Dragon Quest.
“The game is currently being localized into five languages, including English. There’s quite a lot of text, so it’s an exorbitant amount of work,” said Horii. “But, we’re doing our best and working hard to get this game to all of you as soon as possible, so I sincerely hope you look forward to the game.”
The end of the video shows someone in the background packing up the slime plushies stacked on top of one another. He tells Horii it’s time to go, and Horii picks up his own bag of luggage and puts the slime he was holding throughout the video in it, hinting at the games’ eventual release in the west.
DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age was announced back in 2015, according to Siliconera. The console version includes a deeper exploration feature, where players can get to places higher up and explore the map in great detail.
The Nintendo 3DS version allows players to select between a pixelated and 3D version of the game, which lets players who want to feel nostalgic play a version that looks like a throwback to the 90s also according to Siliconera.
The original release window for the game was supposed to be during Dragon Quest’s 30th anniversary, which was in 2016. This release window was pushed into 2017.
The first game in the Dragon Quest franchise, Dragon Quest, was released in Japan in 1986 and wasn’t released in the west until 1989. After that, the Dragon Quest team reduced the time in between Japan and western releases (probably because the technology needed to create western versions of the game got a lot better).
Along with the game’s official release in Japan, Square Enix has also created Dragon Quest versions of the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo 2DS XL, Nintendo’s newest 2DS model according to engadget. They have also made a DualShock 4 controller made to look like a slime for the PlayStation 4, according to IGN.
It’s normal for Dragon Quest games to be released in the U.S. either after a year or more than a year after its release in Japan, meaning that I wouldn’t expect DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age to come overseas until at least July 2018.
In another tweet, the Dragon Quest official Twitter account also said that “more details” will be revealed in fall 2017. Whether this means an actual release date, or a more specific release window, fans can start getting excited for the western version of DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age coming in 2018. With the new features that are being offered in this game, players have the ability to do a lot more than they have in previous Dragon Quest games.
Featured image via Flickr/BagoGames.
