Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Released: November 27, 2004

Type: Main Game

Platforms:

PlayStation 2

Genres:

Role-playing (RPG) Strategy Adventure

Game Modes:

Single player

Themes:

Action Fantasy

Player Perspectives:

Third person

Ratings

User Rating

86.0

Based on 106 ratings

Critics Rating

86.6

Based on 12 ratings

Total Rating

86.3

Based on 118 ratings

Summary

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is the eighth installment in the Dragon Quest series, developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was also later released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015.

It 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.

Storyline

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.

Screenshots

Involved Companies

LEVEL-5

Role:

Developer

Square Enix

Role:

Publisher

Square Enix Product Development Division 9

Role:

Developer

Bird Studio

Role:

Developer

Armor Project

Role:

Developer

Keywords

anime magic grinding minigames turn-based death horse mummy gambling flight multiple protagonists overworld backtracking multiple endings artificial intelligence dialogue trees snake amnesia sequel giant insects silent protagonist good vs evil day/night cycle sword & sorcery alchemy possession boss fight explosion alternate costumes leveling up voice acting human shopping bow and arrow party system original soundtrack release active ability non-player character save point treasure chest character creation moral decisions side quests royalty melee blindness circle pad pro support stat tracking instant kill optional boss multi-phase boss political thriller pax prime 2014 coming of age destructible environment british accent item combination tentacles plot twist one-handed gameplay fetch quests power of friendship teenager fan service new protagonist in sequel flashback poisoning scripted events random encounter giant squid escaping imprisonment fast traveling battle screen monster capturing nameless protagonist secret identity restoration creature compendium status effects moat sea monster sequel by a different developer timeskip potential love interest retroactive achievements greatest hits gender exclusive equipment comic relief old-fashioned english damage over time jester ancient curse e3 2005

Alternative Names

Dragon Quest 8 DQ8 DQVIII 勇者斗恶龙VIII Dragon Quest VIII: The Sky, the Ocean, the Earth, and the Cursed Princess Doragon Kuesuto VIII Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi Dragon Quest VIII: El periplo del Rey Maldito Dragon Quest: Die Reise des verwunschenen Königs Dragon Quest: L'Odissea del Re Maledetto Dragon Quest: L'Odyssée du Roi Maudit

Websites

facebook.com twitter.com jp.square-enix.com dragon-quest.org twitch.tv en.wikipedia.org

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