Dragon Quest 11 – Review Chapter 3 – Typical Battle Sequences

Many turn based role playing games have drawn from the experience and development of the Dragon Quest series, and true to the original release, Square Enix has actually done very little to overhaul the battle system they have implemented. Sure, there are a few new ways to deal damage, and a new movement option in Dragon Quest 11, but it’s mostly stuck to the core mechanics that have made the franchise so successful for so long. And that’s not a bad thing.

Thanks to Square Enix for providing us a copy of the game for this review.

Chapter 1 – Beautiful Visuals

Chapter 2 – All Those Voices

One of the major advancements in Dragon Quest 11 could possibly be a precursor for what we will see in the next installment of the franchise. Players can either use traditional battle mechanics – where players are stationary on the playing field and actions are performed in order – or they can play with the new free roam mechanic, which allows players to move their hero around the battle arena with fluidity.

I’ve stuck with the traditional mechanics, but only because free roam doesn’t actually do anything extra. I would have thought free roam would have allowed you to maneuver around the back of an enemy, and perhaps deal extra damage; sadly, it does not. Could I see this being a real thing in future Dragon Quest titles? I think based on what we’ve seen in Dragon Quest 11, that is a very real possibility.

Outside of major boss battles, I’ve elected to set all my other party members to auto. With 4 players on the field at one time, it’s definitely time consuming to perform all the actions for each specific character; instead, I opted to control my character, while letting the other three work as they see fit, only taking control in more tense fights were strategy definitely outweighed outright prowess.

When setting others to auto, there was an extra depth of customization that would allow you to set them to specific tactics. Perhaps you want one character to focus on healing, or another to focus on magic. Either way, the options given for battle sequences make it so they are easy enough to complete, yet still engaging and exciting.

And then there are PEP powers, which allows each player on the battlefield to get fired up in order to unleash a powerful, team attack. These aren’t as useful when crawling cross the games open fields, but when taking down larger, more challenging enemies, it definitely is something to be aware of. Getting everyone on the same page to pull of this move can be a bit of work, and when the timing doesn’t quite work out, it can be frustrating. But when it does work, the satisfaction is tremendous!

And this wouldn’t be a typical RPG without some great loot drops along the way, and Square Enix provides plenty of those. From crafting materials to weapons and armour, to consumables, you’ll often find items in treasure chests after hard fought battles. It’s not every time, mind you, but enough to make you excited about the post-game loot prospects!

The battle system in Dragon Quest 11 is very traditional, and that’s perfectly OK with me. It makes this Dragon Quest experience incredibly accessible to all players, and is the perfect gateway game to the vast world of Japanese Role Playing Games!