Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age arrives on the Nintendo Switch today, so but so does a helping of classic Dragon Quest. Dragon Quest 11 was a well-received, highly polished example of a traditional JRPG. But it was also not for everyone. If you want to know more you can read Katie’s review of the PS4 version. That review came out just over a year ago, showing how long we’ve waited for the Switch release. New features and the ability to play on the go make the Switch version most appealing yet.
Seeking to capitilise on this release comes the re-release three of the oldest games in the series. All three of these did not make it to European shores upon their original release. While later games have had DS and 3DS remakes UK Dragon Quest fans have had to wait until now to see where it all began. If you want to play these classic Dragon Quest games for the first time you have two options.
Digital
The easiest way of buying these games is from the Nintendo eShop. Dragon Quest is a pretty reasonable £3.99. The second game is slightly more expensive at £5.35. The third game, ‘Seeds of Salvation’, sees a significant increase ringing up at £9.79. That brings the total for all three to £19.13. Its worth pointing out all three of these were games on the original Nintendo (the NES). So don’t set your expectations sky high – you might get better value from a modern indie game. It also means they could have been a little more generous with the pricing.
Physical
All three of these classic Dragon Quest games have been collected on one handy Switch cartridge. The downside? So far its only confirmed for release in Japan. Thankfully the game is playable in English, however, so it is possible to import it. At PlayAsia the trilogy will cost you £33.54. That’s not as wild as some increases have been for a physical version, particularly as an import. Even if a Western release is revealed its unlikely to be much cheaper. Unless you’re a huge Dragon Quest fan I’d maybe hold off on buying the trilogy and try them one at a time from the eShop. And if you’ve never played a Dragon Quest game before you’re probably better off starting with the latest title.
