Description
The court jester Dhoulmagus of the kingdom of Trodain stole a powerful magical scepter sealed beneath the royal castle. Using the power of the scepter, Dhoulmagus destroyed the castle, placed a curse upon the kingdom and its people, and turned King Trode into a troll and the princess into a horse. A sole surviving castle guard journeys with the king, the princess, a reformed bandit named Yangus and a few other companions in search of the evil jester and a way to break the curse.
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is a traditional Japanese-style role-playing game with random enemy encounters, simple turn-based combat mechanics, and management of a party consisting of four characters, each belonging to a clearly defined class. Unlike its predecessors in the series and most Japanese RPGs in general, the game features a continuous world with fairly vast landscapes and integrated towns and dungeons, as opposed to world map traveling and locations represented by icons. The game features full camera rotation and optional first-person view. Like in the previous
Dragon Quest games, many objects can be interacted with; for example, barrels can be physically lifted, carried, and broken, to reveal items hidden within.
In addition to experience points, the player receives skill points from battles, which can be manually allocated into a skill category of the player's choice. These categories include three different kinds of weapons, fisticuffs, and a discipline unique to each character. After a required amount of skill points has been invested into a particular category, the correspondent character learns a new ability or becomes more proficient with the chosen weapon. The Alchemy Pot system allows players to gather recipes and mix items to create new ones.
The international version of the game features several updates to the original Japanese version, including voice acting, graphic menu, symphonic soundtracks, and flashier effects.
Alternate Titles
- "ドラゴンクエストＶＩＩＩ：空と海と大地と呪われし姫君" -- Japanese spelling
- "勇者斗恶龙VIII" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
- "Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi" -- Japanese title
- "Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King" -- UK title
- "Dragon Quest: L'odysée du roi maudit" -- French title
- "Dragon Quest: L'odissea del Re maledetto" -- Italian title
- "Dragon Quest: El periplo del Rey Maldito" -- Spanish title
- "Dragon Quest: Die Reise des verwunschenen Königs" -- German title
- "DQVIII" -- Common abbreviation
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
The Press Says
| GamerDad |
Dec 04, 2005 |
 |
100 |
| Jeuxvideo.com |
Apr 14, 2006 |
19 out of 20 |
95 |
| Next Level Gaming |
Nov 20, 2005 |
93 out of 100 |
93 |
| GameZone |
Nov 14, 2005 |
9.2 out of 10 |
92 |
| Lawrence |
Dec 08, 2005 |
A- |
91 |
| Gamer.co.il |
May 28, 2006 |
9.1 out of 10 |
91 |
| IGN |
Nov 16, 2005 |
9 out of 10 |
90 |
| Play.tm |
May 26, 2006 |
89 out of 100 |
89 |
| PSX Extreme |
Apr 20, 2006 |
8.7 out of 10 |
87 |
| GamePro (US) |
Nov 17, 2005 |
4 out of 5 |
80 |
Forums
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Trivia
North American version
The North American version of the game has been improved. It contains new voice acting, new animations, enhanced music and sound effects, additional spells and attacks, and a new menu interface. It is also the first game in the
Dragon Quest series to bear the Dragon Quest name (rather than Dragon Warrior) in North America. The North American version also became famous for shipping with a playable demo disc of
Final Fantasy XII.
Title translation
The translation of the Japanese title in English is "Sky, Sea, Land and a Cursed Princess".
This entry to the MobyGames database was contributed by
Edward Beezy (38) on Nov 18, 2005.
