Dragon Quest XI: “new” characters revealed, details on battle system, new monsters

Update: more screenshots for Dragon Quest XI: Sugisarishi Toki o Motomete have been added to this post. You will find them at the very bottom!

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This week again, Dragon Quest XI: Sugisarishi Toki o Motomete is featured in Jump magazine, providing us with some additional details about the game. This time, two “new” characters and party members are introduced:

• Martina (a noble female warrior)
• Rou (a mysterious old man with a rather impressive white mustache)

The Jump article also shares some details about the battle system Dragon Quest XI: Sugisarishi Toki o Motomete. It turns out that there’s some major differences between the PlayStation 4 (and presumably Nintendo Switch) and the Nintendo 3DS version:

• PlayStation 4 / Nintendo Switch: thanks to “Free Move Battle”, characters can move freely during battle, which can be used to attak them from the back. There’s also an “Automatic Camera Battle” option;
• Nintendo 3DS: the game lets you chose between 3D Mode and 2D Mode for battle (just like you can chose between those two modes in the world, and with both running simultaneously at the beginning of the game). In 3D mode, you get to see your characters on the screen. In 2D mode, you only see the sprite of enemies, with a text box just below the battle screen.

Dragon Quest XI: Sugisarishi Toki o Motomete uses the traditional command-based battle system RPG fans (especially Dragon Quest ones) are more than familiar with. The usual commands such as “Attack” or “Spell” can be used in battle. And just like in many other RPG, you can get the first strike if you hit enemies in the overworld. In fact, at night, some monsters can be found sleeping: this is your chance to get a pre-emptive strike!

On Nintendo 3DS, battles also start when enemies touch you in the world. If they spot you, they will move towards you, but you can get a pre-emptive strike to get the upper hand. But that’s how it works in 3D mode, because things work differently in 2D mode. Indeed, when you play in that mode, you will have to deal with random encounters, just like in a classic Dragon Quest game.

The scan and screenshots below show a couple of attacks/skills:

• Hayabusa Slash
• Zaraki
• Begirama
• Tiger Claws

But there’s more: the scan below also shows the protagonist covered in a mysterious blue aura, but unfortunately, the magazine doesn’t tell us more about it. All we know is that this happens in battle… a special ability only the protagonist can use, maybe?

Finally, we get to see two new monsters:

• Mandra
• Ocovolt

Here’s the latest scan from Jump magazine:

Source: Jump / Square-Enix
Via: Games Talk / Game Kana / Games Talk / 4Gamer