Dragon Quest XI S on Switch 2: Nine Extra Gigabytes and What They Mean

Here's the thing about Dragon Quest XI S: I've already bought it twice. Once on PS4, where it ran like a dream and looked like Akira Toriyama's sketchbook come to life. Once on Switch, where it ran like a dream you're having on a bus—slightly compressed, occasionally stuttering, but still recognizably a dream. And now there's a third version coming to Switch 2, clocking in at 23.4 GB versus the original Switch's 14 GB.

That's 9.4 extra gigabytes. Not nothing. Not everything. But enough to ask: what's in there?

The obvious answer is texture resolution. The original Switch version was a minor miracle of compression—they got that whole world into 14 GB by dialing back textures, shadows, and draw distances to something that still looked good on a 720p screen. On Switch 2, with its higher resolution output and presumably more RAM, those textures can breathe. The 9.4 GB delta is probably 80% texture data, 15% audio (maybe higher bitrate music, maybe the orchestral soundtrack finally getting the space it deserves), and 5% whatever else—loading optimizations, shader caches, the kind of stuff nobody notices until it's missing.

But here's where my brain goes: Dragon Quest XI S on Switch was already the "Definitive Edition." It had the 2D mode, the extra story chapters, the orchestral soundtrack toggle, the quality-of-life features that made the PS4 version feel like a beta. So what does a Switch 2 version add? More resolution? That's fine. But I wonder if Square Enix is doing something smarter.

I think about the jump from the PS1 version of Final Fantasy VII to the PC port. Same game, higher resolution, but the PC port had a different feel—cleaner, sharper, like seeing a painting you'd only seen through frosted glass. That's what this Switch 2 version might be. Not a new game. A clearer window into the same one.

And that's worth something. Because Dragon Quest XI is a game about memory—the hero's memory of his past, the party's memories of each other, the way a world remembers its own history. Playing it at higher resolution doesn't change the story, but it changes how you inhabit it. The textures on the cobblestones in Gondolia. The individual leaves on the trees in the Arborian Highlands. The way light falls on Serena's dress in the cutscenes. These aren't gameplay changes. They're atmosphere changes. And atmosphere is half of what Dragon Quest does.

I also think about what this means for the Switch 2 as a platform. 23.4 GB is not small. It's bigger than Breath of the Wild on Switch (13.4 GB). It's smaller than The Witcher 3 on Switch (28 GB). It suggests that developers are treating Switch 2 as a genuine mid-generation upgrade, not a handheld with a dock. They're not afraid to use the space.

Who is this for? If you never played Dragon Quest XI, this is probably the version to get—assuming the price isn't absurd. If you played it on Switch and loved it, the upgrade might be worth it if you care about visual fidelity. If you played it on PS4 or PC, this is a lateral move at best. The 2D mode is still there. The story is still the same. You're paying for clarity.

And maybe that's enough. Because Dragon Quest XI is a game that rewards attention. Every NPC has something to say. Every town has a history. Every monster has a pun name that makes you groan and smile. Playing it in higher definition doesn't make it a better game. But it makes it easier to see the craft.

I'll probably buy it a third time. Not because I need to. Because I want to see what I missed.