Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition now has a 10 hour demo on Steam

Dragon Quest 11 — (Image credit: Square Enix)

Dragon Quest XI S- Definitive Edition is a reissue of the 2018 decent-albeit-safe JRPG, bringing a fully orchestral soundtrack (much demanded), a retro-styled 2D mode and much more. It doesn't release until December, but if you're keen to dive in there's now a ten hour demo available on Steam. It's the same demo that released on the Nintendo Switch, and it's a generous chunk of game time.

Of course, it doesn't make up for the fact that this Definitive Edition is coming as a standalone, and that an upgrade for the original Steam release won't be available. Still, the demo will shed light on whether the Definitive Edition is up to scratch on PC, an area worth discussion thanks to it being based on the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

The demo will let you sample a bunch of the Definitive Edition's new features, including the soundtrack, the ability to make battles faster (if you sank 100 hours into the original, you'll be thankful for this) and the photo mode. It doesn't look like you'll be able to try the 2D mode, though.

Series and genre fans are likely to feel too at home with Dragon Quest XI, but if you don't belong to those categories, maybe try the demo. As Chris wrote back in 2018, it's "a JRPG for people who haven’t played one in a while, basically. Well-made, but disappointingly safe."

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.