Dragon Quest 11 looks splendid- the Nintendo 3DS version looks like a wonderful blast to the past, a classic Dragon Quest RPG that should tickle fans’ nostalgia bones. The PS4 version looks beautiful in Unreal Engine 4, and like a current generation, ambitious undertaking, like Dragon Quest 8 was on the PS2 back in the day.
It was announced last year, with the implication that it would be out this year, the year that the franchise celebrates its 30th anniversary- but it does not seem like that will happen. At a Japanese event that was held yesterday to kick off celebrations for the series’ 30th birthday, Square Enix confirmed that the game was likely going to slip into 2017, but that they are looking at getting it out before May 27, 2017 regardless.
Considering that it had not even been confirmed for a western release yet, and that western releases for these games are often staggered by a year or more, it is entirely possible we won’t get to play Dragon Quest 11 in the west until 2018. And by them, it will almost definitely be too late to localize the 3DS version of the title- which looks far better to an old school fan of the series anyway.
What a miserable state of events.