Defeated the big bad and got to the credits yesterday. Fun boss battle and great ending. I hear there's plenty more game post-credits, but I'm saving all of it for my new play-through.

-Play time of 65:38

-Main hero lvl 52

-30 mini medals

-12 side quests

Really enjoyed it all the way through, although I was already anxious to jump into a Draconian Quest run about halfway in after seeing that most of the combat wasn't a challenge. Started a new game with No Fleeing, No Shopping, Reduced XP and Super Strong enemies. I had grand plans to try a run with all the modifiers on at once, but No Armor didn't seem fun since one of my goals now is to nab all the unique appearance gear, and Shypox became infuriating after only a few battles. Gonna attempt as close to 100% complete as my sanity will allow too (mini medals, quests, etc).

Something interesting I noticed when starting a new game; you're not allowed to use the name Erdrick for your character, which is the name of the original legendary hero used in the English translations of the series (including Dragon Warrior). You can however name your character Loto or Roto, which was the name of the hero in the original Japanese. You're also allowed to use Erdwin, who is the ancient Luminary referenced in this game.

Anyone else complete a play-through yet? Thoughts on the game in general?

Have not completed it yet, I am only about 15 hours in. Characters are in the low 20's. I've been playing like 2 hours a night before bed but I do have some thoughts just on the game so far.

People saying this game is like a security blanket I can totally agree with. It doesn't seem to do anything revolutionary, but the stuff it does is very well done. It is cute, and genuinely funny at times. In my game, I just returned from the ruins of dundrasil so people who have finished will know how far in I am. I have done the side quests where the items kind of just fell into my lap, but have mostly stuck to the main quest. When I encounter a new enemy, I will fight them to see their animations etc., but after the initial battles I largely just skirt them until I run up against a boss or enemy I cannot beat and need to grind. This hasn't happened often, maybe once so far, which I have to say is the best part about this game so far as far as mechanics. Grinding IMO isn't fun. I don't have all the time in the world for gaming, so I don't want to be bogged down by filler. I have no idea if this will change further into the game, but so far I have appreciated not needing to grind. The boss battles for me have ended up being pretty challenging because I don't grind ahead of time. Biggest example of this was the spider boss after the martial arts tournament who kept downing my team except for one and I would have to use items and the AI controlled helper to revive them. I still didn't have to grind, since I was able to eventually defeat it....but I thought about grinding.

The art is fantastic. Similar to Cuphead, the art is consistent and varied enough to be interesting. There were times, especially in cities where I just looked around and was awestruck by the new architecture styles and beautiful colors. So many games are dark and gloomy, whether by choice or by trying to be realistic, but DQ11 feels like I am at Disneyworld because of how colorful every detail is.

The actual story so far is a basic trope, but they sprinkle in enough interesting side characters and situations that I haven't felt bored by the mainline structure yet. Your party members all have their own unique personalities, and I find myself interested in their stories. No idea how much you get to explore their backstories, but at least I am interested.

So those are my initial thoughts and feelings on DQ11 so far. I needed something like this in my life right now and it is a nice relaxing way to unwind in the evenings. The forgiving autosaves and well placed campsites provide for ample opportunities to put it down and come back whenever you need, which I appreciate.

If I can hijack this a little bit. As someone who's only reference point is playing most of DQ8 and liking but not finishing it. What are some general compare and contrasts you can do with that game and this? I'm a little short on time but I'm interested in 11.

Does the combat feel snappier or is it about the same as 8 and other old Jrpgs? Does it seem biased to focus on heavy mechanics or mostly story? Does it feel like the game moves at a snappy pace?

@tobbrobb: It feels a bit snappier than 8. Definitely more so than 7.

Post credits has been rough and I'm not entirely convinced it's for good reasons just yet, it makes me very glad I didn't play with any of the restrictions.

It's also maybe some Nier Automata levels of no wait the game isn't over you shouldn't let people think it is!

@tobbrobb: The combat and the story both move at a quicker pace than VIII, imo.

I'm about 15 hours into the game, playing on the default difficulty without any "Draconian Quest" modifiers. I've never felt bogged down at any point or like I need to grind to get through. It also really helps that enemies are visible in the overworld, thus making it possible for you to avoid random encounters if you're in a rush, low on HP/MP, or just returning to town to complete a side-quest.

@chaser324: Not sure if you have hit it yet, but there is a point coming up based on where I was at 15 hours, where all of a sudden I actually had to strategize and use buffs/debuffs efficiently in order to make it through a boss battle. I did grind a little, as I felt completely outmatched, and I also for probably the first time in the game I took a look at all of the characters' abilities and really planned out my attack sequence for this boss. I then went and saved money to get the best gear I could, even trying my hand at the casino in Puerto Valor. I mention this only so you aren't dumbstruck by the sudden difficulty spike. Much of the early game for me has been easy breezy then this happened and I was kind of put off at the thought of having to grind. I also forgot the main character has the Zoom spell which allows you to fast travel to cities, so there was a ton of frustrated sailing around before I remembered I could do that. Also BTW, when you are in the boat, there ARE random encounters, which is annoying, but unless you are like me and forget you can cast zoom, you don't need to use the boat that much that it becomes a big pain.

@lokihellfire2008: Is this the mural boss? I'm playing with the harder monsters modifier, so I had already gone through some tough boss fights (the Slayer of the Sands and tentacular bosses gave me some trouble), but this was on a whole new level. Got completely demolished, then grinded (ground?) out about 5 levels on each character and got completely demolished again. Finally squeaked through after unlocking Serena's Multiheal ability, but it was rough going for a bit there.

I was kinda with this initially but having thought about it I think it works pretty well. It was just very what the fuck in the moment.

Would have been a much better moment with a protagonist capable of expressing emotion though... but that's the whole game.

I'm about 2/3(?) through the game, ~40 hours in. Just went through the second round of party collection, got the "airship". I think the combat is challenging enough if you skip through areas quickly enough and don't fight everything, but it's also that frustrating early-JRPG level of challenge, where it's all about enemy targeting and skill choice. If the boss wants to use his super AOE, repeatedly target your weaker character, or gets lucky with disables, then it becomes rough. You can plan around that if you have trouble, somewhat, but the basic strategies in terms of equipment and buff/debuff/heal have not gotten that complex even though my party has grown. Just buff up strong guys, hit the boss hard, keep your health high. Most encounters can be taken down if you just play carefully enough and adapt slightly.

My biggest issue with the game is that there's almost no follow-through on the big mid-game event. After the fall of the tree they make it out like the world is ending, most people have died, and those that are left are in a desperate struggle for survival. Only for you to quickly find out that almost every other area in the game is generally the exact same as you left it, every city and person is generally still alive and in the same shape. A second party collection / world unlock quest is fine, but going from "this is the apocalypse" to "there are some fires in the overworld and some new big bosses to fight" was jarring.

Other than that, the enemy designs and animations are fun, the party is mostly good, and the events are predictable yet harmless JRPG standards. Will see how it turns out and if the post-game stuff is worth doing, but compared to the more modern JRPGs out there I've played recently that have a ton more depth or try out different things with story/systems/combat/strategy it feels very shallow. It's a fun and well-made throwback, which I guess is what this series is, but I'm much more looking forward to diving into Trails of Cold Steel 2 after finishing up the first entry in that series earlier this year.

I just beat (and platinumed) the game. I have tried to get into the DS/3ds games but always fell off them for some reason. As this was the first one on modern consoles here in the west I figured it'd be the best version to play and boy did I get hooked. Other than some minor gripes about the repetitive music, and revisiting some past places (those freaking islands....) This blew the RPG's ive played this year out of the water. I hope it does well as I'm already clamoring for more DQ.

I had to google it. Apparently that scene was the beginning of Dragon Quest 3 . I guess there were some rumors about this game back in June so not sure if this is confirmation that it is happening, or just a little tease that shows where XI takes place in the overall timeline.