On the day of its release in Japan, Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest XI will be arriving in the West in 2018. Series game designer Yuji Horii posted a video announcing that localization for Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age has officially begun.
“The game is currently being localized into five languages, including English,” says Horri in the video. “There’s quite a lot of text, so it’s an exorbitant amount of work. But we’re doing our best and working hard to this game to all of you as soon as possible, so I sincerely hope you look forward to this game.”
Like previous entries of the classic JRPG series, DQXI will feature a brave hero, a world in crisis, and a colorful cast of supporting characters. Dragon Quest XI will continue in the tradition of using beloved character artist Akira Toriyama and composer Koichi Sugiyama.
The prolific franchise celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. We recently saw Nintendo 3DS remakes of Dragon Quest VII last Fall and Dragon Quest VIII early this year. Last Fall also saw the release of spin-off title Dragon Quest Builders, which combined the traditional RPG with Minecraft-style gameplay and world building. Earlier this year another spin-off, Dragon Quest Heroes II launched on PlayStation 3 and 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
The previous main Dragon Quest game, Dragon Quest X, was an MMORPG (similar to FFXI and FFXIV) developed for the Wii, and later Wii U. It was never released outside Japan.
The last main Dragon Quest title to reach the US was Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, which launched in 2010 on Nintendo DS.
No specific date other than 2018 has been given for the international release of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. Dragon Quest XI just released today in Japan for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 3DS. A Nintendo Switch version is also in development, but no release date has yet been announced.
