Dragon Quest XI S arrives on Switch 2 on 24 September

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition has a Nintendo Switch 2 release date: 24 September. Nintendo's UK game page lists the port with that date and confirms it runs only on Nintendo Switch 2, so the original Switch release will not run it.

A fuller Erdrea on Switch 2

This is not a trim. The Switch 2 edition carries everything added to the Definitive Edition on the original Switch: new story chapters in which the party members take centre stage, Japanese voices alongside additional English ones, the ability to switch between 3D and 2D presentation, and a fully orchestrated score. The bundle also includes the base game and three bonus item sets — the Trodain Set, the Baby Boar Set and the Happy Adventurer Set — which change the appearance of the hero and Veronica and hand over pep pops and skill seeds.

The new work is on the technical side. Nintendo's listing describes new optimisation modes that let players prioritise graphics or performance, the kind of choice the original Switch version could not offer. The eleventh mainline Dragon Quest still follows the Luminary, a young man from a country village who sets out to work out what it means to be a hero and uncovers rather more about his own world than he expected.

Where it sits in the series

Reviews have long treated the Definitive Edition as the version to play of one of the strongest entries in the series, largely because of the orchestral score and the side chapters that give the supporting cast room. Transplanting it to Nintendo's newer console in the same month as several other RPG releases puts it in a crowded window, but the market for a long, traditional turn-based Japanese role-playing game on Nintendo hardware has not gone anywhere.

Nintendo of Europe is handling the eShop sale, and the game page is live with purchase options ahead of release.

Our opinion

Porting Dragon Quest XI S to Switch 2 is the least surprising announcement of the month and, for anyone who skipped the original Switch version because of its soft image and reduced audio, probably the most welcome. The 3D and 2D toggle is still one of the strangest and most generous features in any role-playing game, and the performance mode addresses the one complaint that genuinely stuck to the earlier release. The open question is price and effort: Square Enix has form for charging full price for ports that add very little, and a graphics-versus-performance switch is table stakes on this hardware rather than a headline feature. If the port runs cleanly and the orchestral score survives intact, this is the definitive way to play one of the best-loved JRPGs ever made. If it is a straight re-release with a resolution bump, players who already own it should feel no pressure at all.