They didn't include japanese voice acting because the japanese voice acting for this game doesn't exist. The game was released without voices in Japan,  probably because of tradition or nostalgia.

This explains that. I'll probably just mute the voices then.

Are we sure there weren't voices in the Japanese PS4 version? Maybe I just didn't realize it because all DQ games were mute. Then I guess it's fine and I also understand why they would include an english voice track then.

DQ is the one game where I will usually support omission of features due to tradition because that's basically the reason this game exists. Though it is kinda odd at some point.

In traditional DQ you will have to talk to a priest to see how many XP until your next level. It's still present in this game but you can also just see how many XP left in the attribute screen. I wonder if that is another addition to just the English version.

https://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-quest-11s-pc-port-is-barebones-but-it-looks-great-anyway/

Barebones port, as per usual.

PCGamer as usual as well, willing to let it slide.

I've only had enough time to play to get to the first campfire, of which was 3.5 hours of playtime. I spoke to all villagers multiple times after each change in the scenario, as I typically do in DQ games. So far it's met or exceeded my unreasonably high expectations. I'm a huge DQ fan, and can say that for other DQ fans, this game is freaking amazing.

Everything looks so nice; encountering an enemy for the first time brings back nostalgia from playing older games, but yet they look so new and shiny in this one. I'm going to savor this game and only play an hour or so each day before bed. My wife is doing the same, and we agreed to progress through the game together.

I also have opted out of using the free items that were given to me with the in-game code. I did, however, use the code so that the items get tracked in my log. They don't seem too overpowered, but I like a challenge, so I'm using the Cypress stick.

Edit: I also didn't really see an option to enable any of the 'Draconian Quest' options, which are the game's difficulty options. From what I understand, they change the rules of the game such as "no buying items in shops" or "no equipping a weapon". Once enabled, you can turn them off, but then you can't re-enable them.

You get the draconian options when you start a new game. It says you can disable them anytime at a church but it seems like you cannot enable them again. Maybe there'll be a save game editor in the future, at least for PC.

I do appreciate the difficulty in previous DQ games but I don't really mind reducing the hassle of juggling herbs by using the +3HP per turn item. It's not really making the game easier but it sure is very convenient in the early game. The usefulness will most likely diminish in the mid to late game after more powerful accessories become available. Also not gonna use the bonus skill seeds I got. That's gonna take all the fun out of the grind.

Do you know yet if there will be another meta game like the Monster Arena in VIII in this game?

After 30h I finally reached the midgame. I managed to play over 25h on the weekend. Here are some thoughts:

- After initial skepticism I really embraced the crafting mechanics. While it is very RNG heavy, that's also what makes it fun.
- Slot machines are as fun as ever. The adventure slot machine is just a confusing mess and doesn't seem to have much better yields than the regular slots. Took me like 40 minutes to make get from 200 tokens to 20000.
- I still haven't found a meta game that's as engrossing or rewarding as the Monster Battle in DQVIII. The horse race doesn't really count and I still have my fingers crossed.
- The "find tiny targets on huge maps" minigame is beyond retarded. Impossible to find all of them with reasonable effort.
- The crossbow generally has never helped me and is only annoying.
- I don't like the hidden abilities in the skill tree. Most of the time they're just disappointing. And there isn't really any point of hiding them anyway since it's so easy to just reskill.
- The game overall is on the easy side. Of course I'm heavily over leveled as usual but there should still be a challenge. I have all my characters autopilot the grinding and they're doing well despite being inefficient. But I am glad that the initial items you got from the preorder are close to useless already in the midgame.
- I have managed to stay away from FAQs so far, which is good.

My final party is as follows:

MC - One handed Sword Build as tank
Erik - Boomerang build with boosted attack for quick grinding
Jade - Lance Build for heavy attack
Rab - Wand build for healing. So far I haven't seen any significant reason for picking Serena over him. They don't seem to be different from each other when it comes to healing.

Thats true. Its really fantastic, love it :) With Spiderman and God of War the Game of the Year 2018. And next month Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming, very exciting. The good thing is: 88 % ratings worldwide (Dragon Quest Xi) and its number 2 in uk currently for PS4 :) Thats awesome for the game :)