A Charming, Slightly Unsatisfying Adventure
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age seems like it's doing everything right on paper. The game is a return to the Japanese Role-Playing standards that made it so popular, which basically means that it revolves around telling a character-focused story while having players fight through countless battles using turn-based combat mechanics. The world in Dragon Quest XI is beautiful and, most of all, just as charming as the cast of characters you are going to meet throughout this 50-hour adventure. The mechanics work just as well as you would think, meaning that navigating the many different menus (combat, crafting, dialogue) is a cinch.
The game lacks weight, however. First of all, the game lacks difficulty, which results in the already repetitive and unengaging turn-based combat feeling even more like a chore. Throughout my playthrough, I simply adjusted my characters' AI behavior (done through a 'Tactics' menu) so that I could completely go hands-off as I walk through the game. I am serious, I auto-battled my way through most of the game because my characters were doing just fine without my interference. I never had to use any of the more advanced spells, and my characters' AI mostly just selected the strongest attacks with a side of healing spells.
The story was also not particularly 'challenging'. What that means is that I could only listen to half of the dialogue and still feel like I was ahead of the game. That is not to say the story was unenjoyable, or that some of the characters didn't end up developing in ways that I didn't expect. Basically, going through the story of Dragon Quest XI felt like reading through one of those short and colorful books for children that feature lots of pretty pictures, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it was not 50 hours long. Exploring the world and the different locations definitely alleviated some of that problem, but it still felt like there just was not enough meat to this adventure. The side quests are completely forgettable and clearly just there to pad out the game.
Overall, I am happy that I played Dragon Quest XI. It made me feel happy because of the charming characters and the positive attitude of the game in general. However, the lack of difficulty made the gameplay unengaging (literally, since I was able to put down the controller using auto-walk and auto-battle features) and the game ultimately somewhat boring to play. Still, it was an adventure that I will not forget any time soon, but not one I would want to go on again any time soon either.