Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

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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.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

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

• Animals: Mice
• Console Generation Exclusives: PlayStation 2
• Dragon Warrior / Dragon Quest series
• Dragon Warrior / Dragon Quest universe
• Fantasy Creatures: Orcs
• Gameplay feature: Alchemy
• PlayStation 2 Platinum Range releases
• Visual technique / style: Cel shaded

User Reviews

A perfect continuation of the classic Dragon Quest series	PlayStation 2	Bregalad (969)
A perfect flawed experience, not unlike eating the best shit sandwich you’ll ever have	PlayStation 2	lasttoblame (424)
Dragon Quest Finally returns to NA!	PlayStation 2	Rich Hollands (7)
If only they made the turn-based combat better...	PlayStation 2	Indra was here (20862)

Critic Reviews

HonestGamers (Staff reviews only)	PlayStation 2	Dec 17, 2005	10 out of 10	100
Game Chronicles	PlayStation 2	Dec 11, 2005	9.5 out of 10	95
MAN!AC	PlayStation 2	May, 2006	93 out of 100	93
Next Level Gaming	PlayStation 2	Nov 20, 2005	93 out of 100	93
Gamer.co.il	PlayStation 2	May 28, 2006	9.1 out of 10	91
GameSpot	PlayStation 2	Nov 14, 2005	9 out of 10	90
Gaming Target	PlayStation 2	Dec 02, 2005	9 out of 10	90
Pro-G	PlayStation 2	May 16, 2006	9 out of 10	90
PSX Extreme	PlayStation 2	Apr 20, 2006	8.7 out of 10	87
Retroage	PlayStation 2	Mar 26, 2012	7.7 out of 10	77

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Mobile version	6	Fred VT (25910) May 30, 2014

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The PS2 version of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

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".

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2006 – #3 Best Role-Playing Game of the Year
• GameSpy
  • 2005 – #8 Game of the Year
  • 2005 – #3 PS2 Game of the Year
  • 2005 – PS2 RPG of the Year

Related Web Sites

• Dragon Quest (Official European Website of the game (English, Français, Deustch, Español, Italiano))
• Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Official North American website)
• I Love Dragon Quest (Viral game with the fictional character Nobu)
• Slime Knights (The official Dragon Quest VIII fan community)
• Wikipedia: Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Information about Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King at Wikipedia)