My impressions of Dragon Quest XI (3DS version) after 30 hours of gameplay (minor spoilers included)

The playtime for the 3DS version of Dragon Quest 11 is
It's been over 30 hours.
I'd like to share my thoughts at this point.

① Story
② Combat
③ Other parts

① Story
The story was consistently easy to understand, and it was often clear where to go next, which I found helpful.
The story itself isn't particularly groundbreaking; it feels like a classic Dragon Quest game.
The story involves strange events occurring in the world, requiring the protagonist to gather companions again. It's reminiscent of Final Fantasy VI, and I quite like this plot development.
Since I'm playing without looking at online walkthroughs, I was a little happy when (presumably) the last party member joined and I thought, "So this guy's going to be a party member!"
I was imagining him being treated like Leo from FF6...

② Combat
Regarding the combat, I felt that the difficulty level was rather low.
In the sense that you're not forced to grind levels, it's very comfortable.
As I mentioned last time, in 3D mode,Since encounters are triggered by a symbol-based contact system, you can choose whether or not to engage in battle.
That significantly reduces stress.
Furthermore, there are plenty of ways to attack all enemies at once, making normal battles considerably easier.
With the protagonist and Veronica's Io-type spells, and Camus's boomerang technique, Dual Cutter, etc., if you set the game to "Go all out," it's easy to one-turn kill weaker enemies.
Moreover, there are plenty of camp points where you can fully recover, so you can engage in battles where you use MP freely.
For boss battles, you can fight more efficiently by swapping in characters strong against single targets, such as Silvia or Martina.

In patterns where the boss is accompanied by minions, using Camus directly will provide a significant source of damage.
Basically, as long as you have a solid means of healing, I don't think you'll have much trouble with the boss.
The fact that you can choose multiple pieces of equipment for each character might make the decision quite difficult.
My preferred setup is: the protagonist uses a one-handed sword (later dual-wielding), Camus uses a boomerang, Veronica uses a staff, Serena uses a spear, Silvia uses a one-handed sword (later dual-wielding), Rab uses a staff, Martina uses a spear, and the last party member uses an axe.
I would like to let them use weapons that only that character can use, but somehow it ended up looking like this.
When using two swords, incorporating the Hayabusa Sword allows you to attack about three times with a normal attack, making it extremely powerful.

③ Other parts
One thing I've noticed is that I think I'll be able to save money quite quickly this time around.
You can create equipment through mysterious blacksmithing, and the fact that bosses give you a fair amount of money is also a big plus.
Also, when I arrive in a new town, I feel like there aren't many pieces of equipment that are significantly stronger than what I currently have.
Therefore, I tend to refrain from buying things that only slightly increase the price, and as a result, I often end up saving money.
Also, I often pick up healing items, but I never have a chance to use them, which I think is fine.
It seems like it could be a valuable source of supplies when you're doing a hardcore playthrough.

Anyway, it's very interesting so far.
I'll continue playing at this slow pace.