Final Fantasy XV 10th Anniversary and Dragon Quest VIII Celebrated in Square Enix's Official November 2026 Calendar Wallpapers
The start of a new month brings a familiar tradition for JRPG fans: the release of Square Enix's official monthly calendar wallpapers. For November 2026, the publisher is spotlighting two major milestones across its flagship franchises, unveiling commemorative artwork for the 10th anniversary of Final Fantasy XV alongside a cozy autumn tribute to Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King.
Final Fantasy XV Celebrates 10 Years With New Artwork by Miki Yamashita
Originally launched worldwide on November 29, 2016, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One after a decade-long journey that began as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy XV officially reaches its 10th anniversary at the end of this month. To mark the occasion, Square Enix commissioned illustrator Miki Yamashita to create a brand-new piece capturing the road-trip camaraderie at the heart of Eos.
Set against the towering stone arches of Duscae bathed in golden morning light, the illustration depicts the core four waking up at a haven campsite. In the foreground, Noctis Lucis Caelum holds a metal camping mug in one hand while shielding his eyes from the rising sun. To his left, Gladiolus Amicitia relaxes in a folding camp chair with his own cup of coffee, while Ignis Scientia stands watch on the right, glasses glinting in the dawn light. Further back, Prompto Argentum raises a hand in greeting with his camera pressed to his eye, snapping another memory for the road.
Looking closely at the November 2026 calendar grid, Square Enix has marked two specific dates with a Moogle icon:
- November 11, 2026 (2026.11.11): the annual Final Fantasy XI Day celebration, held every year on the eleventh day of the eleventh month as a nod to the classic MMORPG's Roman numeral.
- November 29, 2026 (2026.11.29): the official Final Fantasy XV 10th Anniversary, marking a full decade since Noctis and his companions first set out in the Regalia.
The expressive hand-drawn illustration is a fitting reminder of why Square Enix veterans insist that only human artists can take a creative spark from 0 to 1. Both the calendar version and a clean textless wallpaper are available in 16:9 desktop resolution (2160x1215) and vertical QHD mobile format (1440x2560).
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Dragon Quest VIII's 22nd Anniversary
Over on the Armor Project and Bird Studio side, the Dragon Quest November 2026 calendar embraces crisp autumn weather beneath red and golden maple leaves. The illustration gathers several classic series monsters around a staple Japanese fall treat: wood-fired roasted sweet potatoes (yaki-imo).
In the scene, a fire-breathing monster fans the flames under a roasting grate while a She-Slime relaxes on a picnic mat with hot green tea and chestnut pastries, and a Mommonja eagerly bites into a steaming sweet potato drizzled with honey.
On the calendar grid itself, a blue Slime icon highlights Friday, November 27. As noted in the Japanese caption at the bottom of the poster (2004/11/27), the date commemorates the original Japanese release of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on PlayStation 2 on November 27, 2004. Twenty-two years later, Level-5's cel-shaded classic remains one of the most beloved entries in the franchise, with dedicated fans recently celebrating version 0.7.1 of the unofficial Dragon Quest VIII PC port that merges PS2 visuals with 3DS content.
Where to Download the Free Wallpapers and Order Official Square Enix Merchandise
Square Enix provides the November 2026 digital calendar wallpapers for free in high resolution (2160x1215 for desktop and 1440x2560 QHD for mobile, with or without the calendar grid) through its official channels, while physical wall and desk calendars alongside official artbooks can be ordered through the Square Enix Store and major retailers:
- Final Fantasy XV 10th Anniversary Digital Wallpapers: free download via the official @FinalFantasy X (Twitter) account and the official Final Fantasy XV portal.
- Dragon Quest November 2026 Digital Calendar: free download via the official @DQ_PR account and the official Dragon Quest portal.
- Physical Calendars, Artbooks & Official Merch: available to order on the official Square Enix Store.
Check Availability for Final Fantasy XV & Official Books on Amazon→
My Perspective
Catching up with Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto over morning coffee at a campsite in Miki Yamashita's new illustration hits right in the nostalgia. It is hard to believe ten full years have passed since we first pushed the broken-down Regalia toward Hammerhead while Stand by Me played in the background. For all of its turbulent development history and linear late-game chapters, the bond between those four characters still stands as one of the warmest, most memorable party dynamics in JRPG history.
At the same time, celebrating a ten-million-selling milestone with a wallpaper feels a little bittersweet when the game itself is still waiting for a proper current-gen console upgrade. On PS5 and PS5 Pro, Final Fantasy XV remains locked to its old PS4 Pro compatibility modes rather than a native 4K 60 FPS patch, and the canceled Dawn of the Future DLC episodes for Aranea, Lunafreya, and Noctis only ever survived as a novel. The same goes for Dragon Quest VIII turning 22 this month: the roasted sweet potatoes are adorable, but an official modern remaster freeing that masterpiece from PS2 and 3DS hardware is what fans are truly hungry for.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
