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Dragon Quest XI Game Unveiled With Differing PS4/3DS Versions

Square Enix confirmed during a livestreamed presentation on Tuesday that it is developing Dragon Quest XI: Sugisarishi Toki wo Motomete (Dragon Quest XI: In Search of Departed Time), the eleventh game in the main Dragon Quest series of role-playing games. The game celebrates the series' 30th anniversary since Chunsoft and Enix released the first Dragon Quest game for the Famicom/NES in 1986.

Square Enix is aiming to release the game within the series' 30th anniversary, and will release the game on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 3DS platforms, as well as Nintendo's upcoming "NX" platform. Unlike the previous game in the series, Dragon Quest X, Dragon Quest XI will return to being a single-player, offline title.

While the story of both the PS4 and Nintendo 3DS versions will be the same, the graphics and aesthetic of both versions will differ from each other.

Square Enix is developing the PlayStation 4 version of the game with Orca (Dragon Quest X). The game will use Unreal Engine 4, and will feature 3D environments and a third-person camera. The game will have context-specific animation for the protagonist in different situations, such as climbing a ladder, or balancing on a tightrope.

Square Enix is developing the Nintendo 3DS version of the game with Toylogic (Kid Icarus: Uprising, Super Smash Bros. Brawl). The Nintendo 3DS version of the game will feature two different visual styles of the game on the upper and lower screens of the system. The upper screen will render a super-deformed 3D environment of the game, while the lower screen will render a 2D version of the game intended to evoke classic games in the series.

Takeshi Uchikawa is directing the game project. Akira Toriyama is again designing the game's characters. Long-time series composer Kōichi Sugiyama is composing the game's music. Yōsuke Saitō is credited as producer.

The official Dragon Quest website hosted the unlinked thumbnail images of Dragon Quest XI's full title and logo on the eve of its announcement.

Thanks to CoreSublime2 and meristation for the embedded videos