Dragon Quest 11: Echoes Of An Elusive Age
The original version of Dragon Quest 11 has been delisted from Steam to make way for a Switch port
By Jody Macgregor published 5 December 20
Even more elusive.
Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age was the first mainline game in the Dragon Quest series to arrive on Steam—part of a move intended to broaden its appeal in the west. It's a traditional JRPG with, as our reviewer noted at the time, a "slightly tinny MIDI soundtrack", though a mod that replaced it with orchestral versions of the same tracks soon appeared.
That version, the "Digital Edition of Light", is no longer available for sale. Owners can still download it, and its Steam page still exists, though it notes, "At the request of the publisher, DRAGON QUEST® XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age™ - Digital Edition of Light is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search."
Instead, customers are directed toward the page for the newly released Dragon Quest 11 S: Definitive Edition. It adds more companion-related quests, a photo mode, and a host of other changes including the option to choose Japanese voice acting, play in 16-bit 2D rather than 3D, speed up battles, and hear a full orchestral version of the soundtrack. It's also a port of the Switch version, which means it's a bit of a graphical downgrade. It'll run at a higher resolution than the Switch version, and at a higher framerate, so it comes down to how much it bothers you that things like water don't look as nice.
The real kicker is that there's no way for owners of the original version to upgrade to the new one, with no discount for them on its $US40 price. As a result, Steam user reviews for the original PC version have dropped from Very Positive to Mixed, with comments like, "Fantastic game, but offering no upgrade path for people who bought this version is absolutely ridiculous" and "I think that the developer should be ashamed of this tactic".
Dragon Quest 11 S is also available on Humble, Epic, and Game Pass for PC.
Jody Macgregor
Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was published in 2015, he edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and actually did play every Warhammer videogame.