In this morning’s special Dragon Quest livestream video press event thing, Square Enix announced the next proper Dragon Quest game. Dragon Quest XI: In Search of Departed Time will launch within the series 30th Anniversary timeframe (by April 2017).
In a bit of a twist, the company revealed that the game will arrive on two platforms at once, the Nintendo 3DS and the Playstation 4. The game is also being considered for Nintendo’s upcoming NX console, but no other details were announced for that endeavor. Directed by Takeshi Uchikawa and Produced by Yosuke Saito, DQ XI will be developed by Square Enix with a little help from development house Orca and using Unreal Engine 4. The game will look and feel similar to DQVIII on the PS2, with a open world-ish layout and more action-oriented battles. There was jumping and climbing involved in the demo shown, for instance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kgmb_k3q5U
On the 3DS front the company will partner with Toy Logic to develop the game, which will allow for an interesting twist on the presentation. The top screen of the 3DS will show a 3-dimensional view of the world, much like the PS4 version, allowing the players to traverse using the circle pad (analog) controls. At the same time, the bottom screen will show a traditional Super NES top-down view of the game, using 2D sprites on a 2D world map. By using the d-pad, the players can control the bottom screen instead of the top, if they choose. Story elements will show on both screens at the same time, so imagine a pixel view in one and a 3D model in the other.
Additionally, it was announced that Dragon Quest X, the online MMO that already graces several platforms, will be arriving on the PS4 and possibly the NX as well.
No info on a Western release for any of the games was revealed, but our fingers are crossed.
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