Early yesterday morning, Square Enix had a press conference that announced several upcoming Dragon Quest titles. The biggest draw was the announcement of Dragon Quest XI, the hotly anticipated sequel in the popular franchise. The last entry, Dragon Quest X, was an MMO which a lot of fans were not fond of. DQXI will be releasing for the Playstation 4 and the Nintendo 3DS. It is also going to be tentatively released for the Nintendo NX which is Nintendo’s next generation console/handheld. No official word on exactly what the NX is going to be, but the system hasn’t even officially been announced; only mentioned at a Nintendo investor meeting earlier in the year.
Not a whole lot is known about Dragon Quest XI, but there is some information that has come out of the conference. The PS4 and the 3DS versions are not going to be exactly the same; just the story. Each respective version will cater to that system’s strength. The PS4 version will take advantage of the system’s power and will be made using Unreal Engine 4. The 3DS version will have two screens and show a 3D version of the cutscene on the top screen with a “retro” 2D version of the same cutscene on the bottom screen. There is no word yet on whether DQXI is going to be made specifically for the New 3DS as it was shown running on the newest 3DS hardware. Both games are being made by the same core staff with Orca helping develop the PS4 version and Toy Logic handling the 3DS. While there is no exact release date, DQXI is planned to be released during the series’ 30th anniversary year.
In addition to DQXI appearing on the PS4, Dragon Quest X will also be available. This will be the first time DQX will be playable on a non-Nintendo console as it has appeared on the Wii, Wii U and the 3DS. But the Dragon Quest games don’t stop there. Also announced is Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 3 for the 3DS. The DQMJ series is very similar to the Pokémon series in that you capture creatures and make them fight. No real details have been announced for the third entry outside of being able to ride any of the game’s monsters. Although announced a few weeks back, Dragon Quest Builders showed off some gameplay. A third person Minecraft-esque take on the beloved DQ series, Builders will be available on the Playstation 4, Playstation 3, and the Vita. Hot off the heels of the previous game, Dragon Quest Heroes 2 will be available in Early Spring 2016 for the PS4, PS3, and Vita, and will feature characters from several mainline DQ games not seen in the first Dragon Quest Heroes title.
Unfortunately, none of these titles have been confirmed for a release in the West, but you can check out the full Japanese stream below:
https://youtu.be/5Kgmb_k3q5U