Playing Dragon Quest 11 as an adult

I’ve played a number of JRPG’s through out my life. My first was in Grade 7 when I got a copy of Final Fantasy 8. I was obsessed with that game, I haven’t played anything like it previously as I’ve only been a SNES/N64 guy who did mostly platformers and shooters. It was a new kind of addiction that had me sneaking up past my bedtime playing till 4-5 am and going to school the next day faking I’m well rested.

I didn’t need rest, what I needed was to find the next rare item or learn to defeat the most difficult bosses the game had to offer!

Upon completion I needed something else it to sink 1-200 hours into because my childhood was obviously very exciting, filled with many friends who begs to go outside <-- sarcasm. I went to Legend of Dragoon, to Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy 10, until today where I’m playing the “tales of” series as well as other non JRPG titles but with the same open world elements like Fall out and The Witcher series. Enjoyed them all immensely, but nothing quite like Dragon Quest 11 made me feel like that young teen again.

I beat Dragon Quest 8 - 15 years earlier on the PS2. I was a fan of the addicting gameplay and the heart of the story. While its peers at the time, just like now, are always about finding new inventive takes on the genre, that game like DQ11 sticks to what it’s known for - the classic JRPG elements. The simplicity yet strategic ways of turn based combats, the format of saving the world from destruction by going town to town recruiting members of your team, beating baddies and looting them for materials used for building powerful weapons and armors. Not to mention a story filled with heart, lovable characters as well as some mindf*ck twists your wouldn’t expect from a more “simple” JRPG. It all feels so familiar, yet so welcoming. While games continue attempting to break new grounds, what can be refreshing sometimes is a more modernized “back to the basics”. This is what it felt like through out my 150hr gameplay of DQ11 doing every side quest and completing a surprisingly meaty post game. It never got too complicated to pick up the controller as I played on the slow pace that I can manage in my adult life. Never the feeling like it’s a chore to fulfill the tiniest, barely relevant to the story NPC request. It took 4 months to perfect, but it sure doesn’t feel like it!

To be clear, this isn’t a review. Heck, I’m not even trying to sell you the game. I’m writing to share an experience I had as an adult with a video game that made me feel like I’m that same 12-13 year old which is rare. I hope that you as the reader, have a game that makes you feel the same and to be able to play plenty more like it!

Gone are the days where we can sink in all the free time we have on a game, as now we have to manage our time adulting (Booo!). But just like with movies or music, we look for something that can give us an escape. A world so well crafted that we feel like we are there as the “hero” of the story (literally the main character’s name in the game if you choose not to name him). DQ11 did that for me. Only the big difference was me playing those older games as a teen alone, while I played the entirety of DQ11 with my fiancée. I’m telling you, it’s much more satisfying experience escaping into video game world together with someone else! Also because it’s less tedious when you’re farming because you can take turns with the responsibility but - you know what I mean!

-Twizzie Ramos