‘Dragon Quest XI’ Announced For PS4 And 3DS, Possibly Nintendo NX

Square Enix may have just revealed one of the very first games coming to the Nintendo’s new NX console. The publisher hosted a presentation Tuesday where it revealed Dragon Quest XI: Search of the Departed Time for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo 3DS, and possibly Nintendo’s next console.

Dragon Quest XI is currently being developed for both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 3DS, according to Siliconera’s report on the Square Enix livestream event. While it first reported that the game will be developed for the Nintendo NX as well, the official press release released afterward says the company is “considering launching on Nintendo’s in development NX platform.”

The game is being developed for the PS4 using Unreal Engine 4, with help from Orca, and will be a single-player open-world title similar to Dragon Quest VIII. The Nintendo 3DS version is being co-developed with Toy Logic and will feature a 3D overworld to explore on the top screen, with a traditional 2D overhead map on the bottom. However, battles will be played using the classic 2D sprites.

The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 3DS versions of Dragon Quest XI will be released sometime between summer 2016 and March 2017. The goal is to get the game out in the same timeframe as the 30th anniversary of the original Dragon Quest.

However, the PS4 and Nintendo 3DS games are being built similar to how Ni No Kuni was for the Sony home console and Nintendo handheld. They share the same story and are being built by the same core teams, but are slightly different games. For example, the 3DS version can switch between 2D and 3D graphics during gameplay.

You can check out footage of Dragon Quest XI in action for the Nintendo 3DS in the video below, captured by Nintendo Everything.

The PlayStation 4 gameplay is off-screen footage captured during the Square Enix event by Scrawlfx.

The PlayStation 4 will also receive Dragon Quest X at some point in the future. The first MMO entry in the series was originally released for the Wii, Wii U, and PC in Japan only. We’ll have to see if the PS4 entry is localized for North America and Europe. That’s where the overwhelming bulk of the console’s ownership is currently set, so that would give it the widest possible distribution.

A Nintendo NX version of Dragon Quest X is also under consideration.

Little is currently known about the Nintendo NX other than the company promising “a brand new concept.” It’s currently thought to be a hybrid platform meant to support home consoles and handhelds. The company recently partnered with mobile game maker DeNA to build a new membership service that will run across consoles, handhelds, mobile devices, and PCs. Meanwhile, rumors suggest that suppliers are gearing up for a 2016 launch of the console.

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[Images via Square Enix]