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Dragon Quest XI S on Stadia is a visual feast that has hypnotized my children

by: Eric - posted: 3/19/2021 7:12:00 PM
More On: Dragon Quest XI

I've been laid up this week, so its a perfect time for me to jump feet first into a game that requires me to run around grinding a pile of cute monsters, completely zoned out on Tylenol and popsicles. Luckily, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition came flying out of left field and onto Stadia this week in all of its gorgeous glory, just in time for my convalescence.

Never having played the full version of Dragon Quest XI, and with nothing but time on my hands, I wasted no time jumping in. Stadia is the perfect place for a game like Dragon Quest - which has some stellar story moments and writing, but also allows the player to spend hours jogging in a circle killing Drak Mages if the mood strikes. My thought was, I could play big story moments on my TV, while grinding on my phone or laptop while laying in bed.

Of course, this was before I realized that playing away from my television would result in strong words from my children, who have decided that Dragon Quest XI is the greatest game - possibly the greatest piece of entertainment - ever produced. It took once glance at the game to pull them in, and since then, they have been sitting on the sofa for hours like little JRPG zombies, only stirring long enough to holler at me to keep going if I dare consider pausing for a few minutes. The mix of gorgeous cel-shaded visuals, lovable characters, and chatty banter keeps them entranced for hours. They have slowly migrated their craft projects to the living room, so they can sit on the floor creating puppets and drawings while basking in the blue light of Dragon Quest. 

Its wonderful having a game like this to share with my family, especially since I feel like I may be passing my deep love for JRPGs on to them in some small way. But the downside of sharing the game with the kids is that they have been keeping me somewhat enslaved as the controller wench, forced to play for hours on end and enduring harsh criticism when I try to pause for bathroom breaks. In the morning, which is usually my Red Dead Online time, I have been subject to bitter demands to stop "the dumb hunting game" and just get on with the Dragon Quest, already. 

Not that playing Dragon Quest XI is a punishment. It's actually a complete joy. Ever since I played hours of the Dragon Quest XI demo on Switch, I've known that the game is a gorgeous winner, but it wasn't until I saw it blazing in HDR on my 4K TV that I realized what an amazing visual achievement this game really is. Every texture in Dragon Quest XI just pops on Stadia, resulting in some jaw-dropping moments of splendor that make even my tough-to-impress kids whisper "Wooooow...".
 
 
But it's not just the visuals that have them entranced. It's the fun characters, the fantastic voice work, the twisting story, and - lest I forget - the cute monsters. "Oh, these monsters are so cute!" the four-year-old says. "I love these monsters so much!" "They aren't cute," the eight-year-old corrects, "they are adorable." So yeah, if you need me, I will be chained to my Stadia controller, rocking through Dragon Quest XI in record time at the behest of my two tiny tyrants. I've got to admit, there are worse ways to spend a week of downtime.