The Xbox Games Showcase pre-show started off with a pretty major (and surprising) announcement. Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently talked about wanting to have better Japanese support on Xbox, and Microsoft seem to be putting their money where their mouth is. Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition is coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox One on December 4.

It will also be releasing for PC, which up until now has only had the base game. With the definitive edition now coming to PC and Xbox, and having been available on the Switch for a while, PS4 remains the only platform that doesn’t have that in its library- it remains to be seen whether that will be announced.

It’s also been confirmed that Dragon Quest 11 S will be available via Xbox Game Pass as well, which is excellent news for subscribers of the service who haven’t played the game yet.

It’s a great game, and definitely worth playing, to say the very least. You can read our review for the original PS4 release through here. Dragon Quest 11 has sold over 5.5 million units worldwide– Square Enix will be hoping that the upcoming Xbox launch will drive up those figures even further.

The Super Smash Bros. series started as a fighting game crossover between Nintendo franchises, but with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the game has evolved into a more general video game franchise crossover. The DLC has continued that with the inclusion of any characters from classic Japanese series, such as Hero from Dragon Quest. It also apparently was no easy task.

In a recent interview with Nintendo Dream magazine, the producer of Dragon Quest 11, Hokuto Okamoto, said there was a lot of back and forth between Nintendo and Square Enix about adding the various DQ Heroes to Smash. He says that apparently there’s been numerous attempts to put Dragon Quest characters in other games, but it’s always fallen apart due to the various guidelines between companies (thanks to Twitter user Robert Sephazon for translations).

“It’s nearly impossible for Dragon Quest characters to appear in other companies’ games. We discussed many ideas, including what we’re doing with DQXI S, such as making each color a hero of past games. Mr. Sakurai accepted both Nintendo’s direction as well as Square Enix branding, and then got on board. It was a very exciting experience.”

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Dragon Quest 11 S are now both available exclusively for Nintendo Switch. The next Dragon Quest title is in development, but it’ll be a few years before we see it.

Dragon Quest 11 was quite the entry for the legendary Japanese RPG series. Not only did the game see the return of the mainline series to home consoles for the first time since Dragon Quest 8, it was well received critically. It also seems as if the game has done pretty well for itself with the amount of units it sold.

As announced by publisher Square Enix, the game has managed to sell over 5.5 million units worldwide counting both physical and digital. That includes the releases across all platforms in all regions. No unit breakdown was given, nor those for regions, though presumably the bulk of the sales came from the series’ homeland, Japan, where the franchise is an ongoing juggernaut. Hopefully, this success means we’ll continue getting more games in the storied franchise.

Dragon Quest 11 is available now for PlayStation 4 and PC, with the enhanced S version recently releasing for the Nintendo Switch. A 3DS version also released exclusively in Japan.

Nintendo has unveiled its plans for Gamescom. The gaming trade fair kicks off in Cologne, Germany on August 20th, and starting then, up until August 22nd, Nintendo will be publishing videos showing new gameplay footage and sharing new information for several upcoming Switch titles.

These include Astral Chain (which releases days after Gamescom wraps up), Luigi’s Mansion 3 (which is due out in October), The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (releasing in September), Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (also coming out in September), The Witcher 3: Complete Edition (which doesn’t have a release date yet- hopefully we get one at Gamescom), and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Other than these video, Nintendo will, of course, also have their own booth at the show. From August 20th to August 24th, several games will be playable at this booth. Other than the ones mentioned above, you can also get hands-on time with Pokemon Sword and Shield and Daemon X Machina.

With Gamescom right around the corner, stay tuned to GamingBolt for all the latest news and updates from the event.

Nintendo have released a 20+ minutes-long video, as promised, in which Masahiro Sakurai – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director and series creator – goes into extensive detail about the second Challenger Pack in the game’s expansions pass. Introducing the Hero from Dragon Quest in various forms, the DLC is out right now- download away, either as part of the $25 season pass, or individually for $5.99.

Protagonists from Dragon Quest 3, Dragon Quest 4, Dragon Quest 8, and Dragon Quest 11 are featured as playable characters- they’re all Echoes, which means they’re functionally the same (though each also has unique alternate looks). The video below takes a deep dive into how they fight and function, with spells, attacks, recoveries, and unique commands and abilities taking the Dragon Quest theme to heart.

The DLC also introduces a new stage- Yggdrasil’s Altar from Dragon Quest 11, which flies around Erdrea, showing various sights and locations in the background that fans of the game will recognize immediately. There’s even musical tracks from all four of the games represented included in the package (though Dragon Quest 11 S, of course, has the most representation in that respect). Four new Mii Fighter costumes have also been released. They’re all Dragon Quest-themed, and each costs $0.75. Finally, Dragon Quest Spirits have also been added to the game.

On top of that, Version 4.0.0 of the game is also out now, and that, too, brings some notable changes and additions. For starters, Final Smash meters now have time limits attached to them, and the meter keeps depleting as time passes, so you can’t just store that forever and let loose whenever you want. Additionally, a new “Very Easy” difficulty mode has been added to the World of Light campaign, and there’s also a new Spectate feature that lets you predict the winner in online matches (with correct predictions netting you with coins that you can use to purchase stuff), while there’s also a new Online Tourney mode.

You can take a look at the whole video for more details below. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available on the Nintendo Switch, and Challenger Pack 2, with all its Dragon Quest content, is out now, a day earlier than we had expected.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is about to get its second character from the Fighters Pack – and its third downloadable post-launch character overall – soon with Dragon Quest’s Hero. Nintendo will be releasing an over twenty minutes-long video tomorrow going over the character in great detail and revealing all the new content that he brings along with him, while also confirming the exact date said new content will be added to the game- but Nintendo themselves may have accidentally let slip what that date will be a bit prematurely.

Recently, Nintendo of Europe’s Twitter account put up what seemed like a regular update, telling fans that with Version 4.0.0 of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on its way soon, replays in the game’s vault will have to be converted if players want to keep them- it’s a tweet that Nintendo sends out before all major updates for the game. This tweet, however, also mentioned that the update lands on July 31st, just a couple of days from now.

That, of course, is significant because both such updates in the past have come with new characters being added to the game. Piranha Plant was added to the roster with Version 2.0.0, while Persona 5’s Joker arrived with Version 3.0.0. It follows that Dragon Quest’s Hero would be added with Version 4.0.0. The fact that Nintendo of Europe have since deleted the tweet should be even further evidence. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s absolutely certain, but it seems pretty likely. Take a look at the screenshot of the tweet in question below (via Nintendo Life).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is in line to receive three more Challenger Packs after the Dragon Quest one. The contents of the final two remain unannounced so far, but Banjo-Kazooie will be joining the roster this Fall.

Nintendo announced at their E3 presentation last month who the next two DLC fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would be, who’d also be bringing with them a themed stage and multiple music tracks. The first of these, the Luminary from Dragon Quest 11, was announced to be joining the fighter’s massive roster in Summer of this year.

It seems like we might have a more specific date to look forward to. Twitter user PushDustin has spotted a pop up ad in Japan that mentions the character’s arrival in the fighter, and though the ad itself only mentions Summer as a release window, it’s worth noting that the duration of the ad is till August 4th only. By itself, it could mean nothing at all, but notably, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate finals at EVO take place on August 4th, which would be a pretty suitable stage for announcing the character’s release.

Of course, this doesn’t set anything in stone by any means, but the likelihood of the Luminary’s Smash release being narrowed down to early August doesn’t seem that far-fetched.

Luminary is the second DLC fighter coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, following on from Persona 5’s Joker, who arrived earlier in the year. The third character (or characters) – Banjo and Kazooie – will be joining the roster in Fall of this year.

7/11 in Japan has a pop up display for Fire Emblem and Hero. (it just says that Hero will be released in the summer).

The pop up display is only until the 4th though. pic.twitter.com/ZXTOwSHogc

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) July 24, 2019

Nintendo kicked off their E3 2019 Direct presentation in style, by announcing the next DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. True to the leaks, and true to Nintendo’s commitment to teaming up with third parties for Smash, the next DLC character for the crossover fighter is the Luminary, the protagonist of Dragon Quest 11.

A CG trailer is wha kicked it off, as always, followed by a pretty good looking gameplay demonstration of the Luminary’s moves. Music (and slimes) from Dragon Quest were also part of the equation, of course, while we also got a look at other Dragon Quest protagonists in the game as swappable characters. Take a look below.

The Luminary (or the Hero) will be joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster of characters in Summer 2019. No specific release date was given, but obviously that’ll be coming soon, as we get closer to the DLC’s launch. Stay tuned for more updates as the Direct continues.

As one of the best JRPGs to have been released not only last year, but perhaps this entire console generation, Switch owners who haven’t been able to play Dragon Quest 11 due to not owning the platforms it launched on must surely be looking forward to the release of its version on Nintendo’s console-handheld hybrid. Though we definitively know now that it’s coming, we still haven’t seen much of it in action yet, nor have he received much word on what changes it will be making to the launch version.

That might be about to change soon. Square Enix has announced that it’ll be holding a livestream for Dragon Quest 11 S on January 25, which will run from 9:30 PM Japan time on that day. What can we expect to see in the livestream? Well, beyond some gameplay footage (presumably), Yuji Horii, Director Takeshi Uchikawa, Producer Hokuto Okamoto, and Brand Producer Yosuke Saito will be in attendance, while voice actors Ami Koshimizu, Emiri Kato, and Mitsuki Saiga are going to be part of the livestream as well. That, of course, is significant, because Dragon Quest 11 S will be the first version of the game to include Japanese voice overs.

Square Enix haven’t revealed any information on what they’ll be revealing and speaking of in the livestream, but considering that there’s not long left until the day anyway, the wait shouldn’t be too much to bear. Stay tuned to GamingBolt, and we’ll keep you updated on any info that comes our way. Meanwhile, head on over here to check out the visual differences between the game’s PS4 and Switch version, or over here to read our review of the PS4 version of the game.

ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY

Ubisoft went the full RPG route with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and in doing so, made sure that the Origins formula, that was already brimming with content, would become even more packed. Ancient Greece is an astoundingly large setting, full of beautiful locations to discover and sights to see, with a plethora of quests and side quests waiting for you around every corner. The Aegean Sea is a vast and open environment for you to sail about in, engage in naval battles, and dive underwater to discover hidden secrets. The Cultists system is intricate and expansive, and it’s very easy to get lost in the loop of identifying targets and tracking them down before moving on to the next one. On top of that, there’s tons of smaller activities to indulge in, such as killing mercenaries, gathering loot, upgrading your ship, clearing out forts and fortresses, and so, so much more.