The Dragon Quest franchise made headlines a couple of weeks ago, as Square Enix announced a multitude of upcoming events for the series. This included a PS4 port of Dragon Quest 10, as well as the reveal of the next game in the series, Dragon Quest 11.
During the conference, Dragon Quest 11, along with Dragon Quest 10, were both said to be coming to the Nintendo NX and PlayStation 4. While Square Enix later retracted the bit about the Nintendo NX, we do know that Dragon Quest 11 is still coming to PS4, with a separate version of the game making its way to the 3DS, both set to release in 2016.
Right now, only gamers in Japan can definitively look forward to Dragon Quest 11, as Square Enix has yet to say one way or another if the game is releasing outside of their home country. Based on the franchise's localization track record, things aren't necessarily in favor of people that don't live in Japan. In fact, we're still waiting on word on whether or not the 3DS version of Dragon Quest 8 will be localized, let alone the 3DS version of Dragon Quest 7, which has already been out for over two years in Japan.
While European and North American JRPG fans wait patiently for news on a potential localization of any of these Dragon Quest games, perhaps these newly released, stunning screenshots of Dragon Quest 11 (both the 3DS and PS4 versions) can help tide them over. Check out how great Dragon Quest looks on PS4 and 3DS:
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Square Enix's strategy with Dragon Quest 11 is an interesting, but smart one. Creating a full-fledged, gorgeous open world JRPG adventure for the PS4 along with a smaller, more traditional version of the same game for handheld devices greatly expands the potential audience for the title. Now hopefully Square Enix decides to expand that audience even further by bringing the 3DS and PS4 versions of Dragon Quest 11 out of Japan for the rest of the world to enjoy.
While the odds that Dragon Quest 11 gets a localization aren't good, fans can do their part to show Square Enix that they are interested in playing localized versions of the games. Perhaps if the upcoming Dragon Quest Heroes sells well, it will show Square Enix that there is enough interest in the classic JRPG franchise outside of Japan to justify bringing it to other countries.
It's unfortunate that the last main series Dragon Quest game to release outside of Japan was Dragon Quest 9 five years ago. We'd really like to see Dragon Quest 11 receive the proper worldwide treatment that Square Enix gives their other games (for example, Final Fantasy 15 is having a simultaneous worldwide launch), but we're not getting our hopes up just yet. After all, the creator of Dragon Quest is convinced that Americans don't like turn-based games, and that attitude coupled with the lukewarm sales of the series is what prevents the games from being localized.
Looking at those gorgeous screenshots, it'd be a shame if Dragon Quest 11 doesn't get a worldwide release. Simply put, the game looks stunning and could be a revitalization of the JRPG genre. Suffice to say, many will be asking Square Enix to localize them.
Dragon Quest 11 is due for release at some point in 2016. However, so far it's only confirmed for release in Japan.
Source: 4Gamer