Dqxis

Tomorrow sees the launch of Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch, a "definitive version" of the critically acclaimed game. One of its key features is the ability to switch between 2D and 3D graphics at will - a very neat addition, we're sure you'll agree - and the game's producer, Hokuto Okamoto, has revealed just how difficult it was to pull off.

His comments come from an interview with RPG Site, where both he and series creator Yuji Horii sat down a for a good old chat about the new release. You can check out the full interview here if you're interested, but we've included just a snippet below:

RPG Site: Were there any interesting challenges in development in terms of ensuring that area design and elements like that work in both modes? Obviously they're very different in terms of how they represent the world...

Hokuto Okamoto: [laughs] Oh, it was hard. As you mentioned, the design of these areas is quite different and the size of the maps is very different between 2D and 3D. We still wanted players to recognize that the cities are the same even if they're really quite different. We had to choose what to leave in and what to leave out in terms of the geography of things, which landmarks to keep in the 2D version and so on... that was difficult, to determine what we'd leave in and what we'd take out.

Another thing is that the text is different in 3D and 2D - so we have to manage all that at the same time. If we change one, it doesn't mean that the other changes automatically... so we had to change everything one-by-one. That was hard work. I never want to do that again! [laughs]

Dragon Quest XI S' 2D mode in action

It sure does sound like a lot of work, but we're sure fans will be grateful once they get the chance to play it. We'll have our full review of the game for you up on the site later today, so make sure to keep an eye out!

Are you hyped for this one? Will you be picking it up tomorrow? Let us know with a comment below.

[source rpgsite.net, via gonintendo.com]