When comparing Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age vs Dark Souls III, the Slant community recommends Dark Souls III for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Dark Souls III is ranked 70th while Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is ranked 76th. The most important reason people chose Dark Souls III is:
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story. Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you. Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Well-implemented turn-based combat for traditional JRPG fans
The combat is by-the-books as far as JRPGs go, with a great turn-based system that stays true to the traditional formula. You have a party of up to four companions taking turns to attack the enemies, with a menu-based system where you pick your spells, abilities, and items to use as strategically as possible. If you love old school JRPG combat systems, this is an excellent one to check out.
The game encourages you to switch up your party members, since everyone has their own specialized abilities and skill tress to help them feel like they truly have their own combat identities. Switching members in and out of battle is a solid way to tackle the challenges that the game throws at you. Everything works well and feels like another good iteration of the tried-and-true turn-based combat formula.
Pro Gorgeous and expansive environments, towns, and cities to explore
Exploring the locations in Dragon Quest XI and discovering new towns and cities are some of the best parts of the game. From how beautiful everything looks, like tiny details in architectural designs and how colorful the maps are, just walking around and adventuring is a ton of fun. Getting to a new area is a lot like seeing an impressive vista for the first time, just from the sheer size of the cities you come across. Running around in the towns and talking to all of the people who live there really lets you see the culture and inspiration behind each of the places. You get a real sense of adventure and awe from the exploration, helping to keep you hooked throughout the long hours of the main story.
Pro Accessible for Dragon Quest newcomers
Dragon Quest XI's story is pretty much standalone and separate from the rest of the games, so you don't have to worry about missing out on any continuity details. You can pick up this one without having played the others, and you won't be lost on important plot points or anything like that. Jumping in at the eleventh title of a long-running series sounds daunting, but this game is quite accessible to new players.
Pro Light-hearted and entertaining story that can take 70+ hours
Dragon Quest XI has an excellent story that spans well over 70 hours. You start off as a supposed harbinger of darkness, demonized by the government as a danger to the people, but things quickly turn around to a much lighter tone. Journeying across the world with your companions to save various places from evil forces helps to show your true and honorable intentions, especially as you befriend like-minded companions who all have their own well-written personalities, from eccentric tricksters to more grounded warriors.
While the larger story looms over your head, you're mostly free to spend time getting to know your party members through plenty of fun interactions. The plot does tread familiar ground by JRPG standards, meaning your mileage may vary on whether it innovates enough or not for your tastes. If you want a lengthy story that feels familiar but isn't too weighed down by dark themes, this is a pretty good fit.
Pro Cool anime art style with detailed cel-shaded graphics
This is a great-looking game that stays true to its original art style from the 1980s. The sharp and colorful art style is a staple of the series that's now an iconic look. The cel-shaded graphics help to keep the game from looking dated in the generations to come. They made sure to update the anime look by using excellent motion capture, realistic lighting effects, and awesome animations for each monster that gives them some extra personality. It's such a nice game to look at that's sure to age well down the line.
Pro Extensive lore that's presented in unconventional ways
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story.
Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you.
Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Pro Stunning environments
The world of Dark Souls 3 looks amazing, so you may often feel the need to stop and take in the beautiful sights. This can be the sheer size of structures, mountains, or caves. It can also be the decorations, inscriptions, or details in a room. There's always so much to look at, allowing you to truly immerse yourself in its world.
Pro Can give a great feeling of accomplishment
The Dark Souls series is known for its difficulty and Dark Souls 3 is no exception. It's filled with difficult enemies and tough boss battles, able to cause you grief on more than one occasion. However, every time you progress to the next safe spot or defeat a boss you'll often be filled with a mix of joy and relief. Beating this game will almost certainly feel like an achievement.
Pro Unpredictable boss battles
The boss battles in Dark Souls 3 consist of several phases, changing up how the bosses fight over the course of the battle. They will gain new abilities, become more aggressive, or reveal various nasty surprises. This creates an enjoyable experience that is different from most modern games where bosses are just glorified pincushions.
Pro A great variety of equipment for almost any playstyle
You'll be finding new pieces of equipment quite often, giving you many options to choose from. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to pick the equipment that best suits your playstyle.
For example, heavy armor will make you move slower, but you'll be better protected. Greatswords have a wide reach, but you swing them really slow. Conversely a dagger is very fast but it has a horrible reach.
Pro Solid controls
This game feels and plays really well. Your character responds to button inputs immediately and it almost never feels like you're losing control over it. The control scheme can also be customized, giving you the option of a more personalized experience.
Pro Great combat system
Dark Souls 3 is a very fast-paced game but it's not just about having quick reflexes. A lot of the combat comes down to exploiting your enemies. To do that, you have to learn their patterns and attack the moment they pause or perform a telegraphed attack. This creates a combat system, which rewards awareness and patience, and is satisfying to master, even if you don't have extraordinary reflexes.
Cons
Con Too familiar and formulaic as a JRPG
If you typically stay away from JRPGs that follow the same old formulas with their turn-based combat and linear stories, then Dragon Quest XI probably won't change your mind about that. It's the type of game that stays true to its roots and mostly avoids changing up its formula. It gets a lot of credit for being part of the franchise that created the formula in the first place, but it still won't win over players who are turned off by traditional JRPGs.
Con Some pacing issues with the story
While the story is mostly well-written and easy to follow, there are some hangups here and there. With a 70+ campaign, it's understandable that the plot drags in certain places. Depending on your tolerance levels, it shouldn't be enough to make you put the game down, but it is pretty noticeable when it happens.
Con Poor support for mouse+keyboard control
The default DS3 key/button bindings actually prevent full use of certain weapons by requiring the shift key to be pressed and not-pressed simultaneously. Rebinding is possible, but limited by issues like the left mouse button overriding all others and certain bindings not actually working in game (e.g. Shift+MiddleClick).
Con It's hard
You should try avoiding the trap of great review scores since most of them fail to mention the difficulty. It's simply put - hard. A lot of the combat requires quick reflexes, good mechanics, and the mental fortitude to carry on after failing for hours. If you're new to the Souls-like genre or simply want to enjoy a relaxing evening playing a video game, you most likely won't enjoy Dark Souls III.
Con Poorly tuned dynamic visiblity
You may notice some texture pop in while sharply turning the camera. It can be somewhat distracting if you notice it, but most of the time you won't because it happens in the distance.
Con Occasional performance issues
There are portions of the game that will have noticeable framerate drops, which can negatively affect the gameplay. Most of the fault lies with the game engine, so getting better hardware won't help that much.