Dragon Quest XI S: New Nintendo Switch Features Revealed

Dragon Quest XI is going to receive substantial upgrades for the Nintendo Switch version, due to launch this fall. We discovered in a Nintendo Direct that Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition will not only benefit from the addition of orchestrated field and battle music, but from the addition of an alternate 16-bit graphical mode as well. Now we have even more details, thanks to a recent presentation from Square Enix.

Yesterday, during a special Japanese broadcast, Square Enix revealed several more new features and updates coming to Dragon Quest XI S. Our hats are off to Gematsu for providing the translated information. Here’s a quick rundown of the new features you can look forward to this fall:

• Party members will follow you on the field.
• You can talk directly to party members without opening the menu.
• You can change the music from Orchestra to Synthesizer at any point by going to the sound settings in the menu.
• You can dash with the ZR button.
• By using the new “Horse Bell” item, you can call your horse at any time.
• You can now gain experience points when your horse knocks away an enemy on the field.
• You can change the battle speed to “Normal,” “Fast,” or “Really Fast.”
• The quests from the 3DS version of Dragon Quest XI in which you visit the worlds of past Dragon Quest titles will be included in the Switch version, but not without changes.

Make no mistake, this is going to be the best way to experience Dragon Quest XI. It’s as though Square Enix had a producer with an ear to the door of every Dragon Quest fan as they played through the Dragon Quest XI. Almost every complaint or shortcoming has been addressed. If you’ve played through the original, or part of the original, I think that these quality of life upgrades more than warrant a second playthrough.

Hopefully we can also look forward to some upgrades for the new, more powerful Nintendo Switch model rumored to launch this summer. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about Dragon Quest XI S, so stay tuned!