Dragon Quest XI

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix.  An entry in the long-running Dragon Quest video game series, it was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 4 in July 2017, worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows in September 2018, and will be released for the Nintendo Switch at a later date.  Dragon Quest XI shipped over four million copies by November 2018.

Plot

The game is set in the world of Erdrea, and begins as the kingdom of Dundrasil is invaded and destroyed by an army of monsters.  The protagonist, an infant during the attack, is among those who attempt to escape, but becomes separated and ends up floating down a river and is found by an old man known as Chalky in the village of Cobblestone.  Being adopted by his daughter, Amber, the protagonist is then raised in the village.  Unaware of his adoptive status and living in the village until his teens, he eventually participates in a coming-of-age tradition by climbing the mountain Cobblestone Tor with his childhood friend Gemma.  During the trek, they are attacked by monsters, and upon reaching the summit, a large bird-like monster attacks and leaves Gemma hanging off the edge.  Noticing a mark on his hand glowing, the protagonist then summons lightning to attack it, killing it and saving Gemma.

Upon returning, Amber reveals the truth to him about his birth and adoption, and sends him to meet king Carnelian of Heliodor.  However, upon meeting him and his royal knights Sir Hendrik and Sir Jasper, the protagonist is thrown into the kingdom's dungeons under the accusation that he is the Darkspawn, a evil being predicted to destroy the world.  Once imprisoned, he meets a thief called Erik who recognizes the mark on his hand, calling him the Luminary, a legendary hero chosen by the world tree Yggdrasil to save Erdrea from evil, and says he was fated to meet up with him.  The pair then escape by using a tunnel Erik dug, and eventually are discovered by Hendrik and Jasper and escape to another kingdom by using a special item left behind by Chalky in a buried box they found during their travels.  In a town called Hotto, the pair meet two mages who hail from the city of Arboria: Veronica, who fell into a curse that transformed her body into that of a child's, and her twin sister Serena.  The two immediately recognize him as the Luminary and swear their allegiance to him, as is their sworn duty.  The four then set on a quest to reach Yggdrasil so that the Luminary can understand more about his destiny.  On the way, they gain three other companions: Sylvando, a traveling entertainer, Rab, former king of Dundrasil and the protagonist's grandfather, and Jade, exiled princess of Heliodor who helped the infant protagonist escape during the attack of Dundrasil.

The party eventually arrives at the heart of Yggdrasil, which contains the Sword of Light, the Luminary's destined weapon.  However, just as the Luminary is about to take it, he and the party are attacked by Jasper, who was following them, and are left unable to fight further.  With Carnelian and Hendrick in tow, it is then revealed that Carnelian was possessed the entire time by an evil being known as Mordegon, otherwise known as the Lord of Shadows, and that Jasper has been an agent of his.  The two then subdue Hendrik and the Luminary's party, with Mordegon taking and corrupting the Sword of Light and absorbing the heart of Yggdrasil for himself, destroying the tree and plunging the world into an age of darkness.  Separated from his companions, the Luminary is revealed to have been rescued by mermaids from the underwater kingdom of Nautica, where he learns that the fall of Yggdrasil happened months ago, with Mordegon sending his forces to terrorize Erdrea. - Wikipedia

Dragon Quest XI is features an automatic turn-based battle system where you can set Tactics.  I found Fight Wisely for everyone, works all the time, including Boss Battles.

The game play is mostly straight forward, but you can fine many 'Beginners Guides' that will give you nice hints on how to play, with one exception (for those who haven't played Dragon Quest before).  Automatic saves are done automatically at many points.  Manual saves are done via Churches or Sacred Statues using the Confession option.

The game is very lengthy, took me a Play Time of 58hrs (close to real time) to finish.

The plot is somewhat linear that follows a long and twisting plot.  This makes the game outstanding in my book.

My Rig:  Win7 Pro 64bit, 8gb DDR3 System Memory, 4tb Hard Drive with SSD, nVidia GeForce GTX 770 with 2gb on-board video memory

Definitely worth the play.

There is a Trainer available.