2027 will mark the 10-year anniversary of Dragon Quest XI’s Japanese release, as we wait with baited breath for another glimpse of its sequel, Dragon Quest XII Beyond Dreams, which restarted development and has no specified release timing. The Switch 2 release of Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition represents yet another port to Nintendo’s latest console, but given that the game already got an upgrade in moving from the PlayStation 4 and 3DS to Switch, we have to ask once again if it’s worth heading back to the world of Erdrea.

Dragon Quest XI follows the exploits of the Luminary, a legendary hero who ends up being raised in the village of Cobblestone and sets out after becoming of age. What follows is a massive adventure with a charming cast of characters, memorable locales, and all of the Dragon Quest trappings fans have come to expect. Given that this was essentially the follow-up to Dragon Quest IX on Nintendo DS, and there was a pretty sizeable gap between mainline releases there as well, this meant a lot was riding on the success of DQXI. Fortunately, the game delivers in spades and is among the most well regarded entries in the series. The hero would even go on to become a character in Smash Bros Ultimate, which is at least in part a testament to how good Echoes of an Elusive Age is. I even completed my first playthrough entirely in 2D mode, which is a delightful addition that calls back to the Japan-only 3DS version.

Because this is a Switch 2 port and because we’ve already reviewed the Switch version itself, we were eager to see what’s going on under the hood, particularly when it comes to the major new benefit for Switch 2 owners: a choice between Performance mode and Quality mode. With thanks for my colleague John Rairdin, we were able to confirm that Performance offers a steady 60fps and a resolution of 1080p. This was the first option I selected when beginning a new save file, and the intro sequence of the game did an admirable job of showcasing the smooth framerate. Switching over to Quality mode yielded a drop down to 30fps, but a boost in resolution to 1440p. Having already seen DQXI running at 60, it was difficult to give that up for better resolution. Fortunately, there don’t appear to be any major differences in terms of draw distance, lighting, foliage density, or shadows between the two modes. We also had the opportunity to revisit the Switch version of Dragon Quest XI running on Switch 2 via backwards compatibility, and from here we retained the 30fps of Quality mode but saw a decrease in resolution to 720p. While there is a noticeable boost in texture resolution, draw distance on certain objects, and shadow quality for the Switch 2 version, the game remains a decent option on Switch 1 for those who already have this version or those who can pick it up at a discount.

The question, then, is whether folks who already own Dragon Quest XI on Switch should double dip, especially since there’s no discounted upgrade path or save data carry over. If you’re a sucker for games running at 60fps or 1440p and really want to playthrough this amazing RPG again with either enhancement in mind, the game is good enough to warrant another purchase. I still don’t love that there isn’t a benefit to fans who supported the game on the original Switch, other than still being able to play it via back compat, but the new optimization modes are a nice extra to have. For those who haven’t played DQXI yet, there’s really no better time, especially with a longer wait for the 12th game since its retooling. Even though I recognize that this is an incredibly crowded fall season for RPGs, a full Switch 2 replay of Echoes of an Elusive Age is something I’ve firmly penciled in for the end of the year, because there’s few series that do cozy comfort as well as Dragon Quest.