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Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, known in Japan as Dragon Quest VIII Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi (ドラゴンクエストVIII 空と海と大地と呪われし姫君, lit. "Dragon Quest VIII: The Sky, the Ocean, the Earth, and the Cursed Princess") and in PAL regions as Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, is a role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 home video game console. It was first released in Japan, and was later released in North America and PAL regions, making it the first main series installment released in the PAL regions.[2] It is the eighth installment of the popular Dragon Quest series (formerly known as the Dragon Warrior series) and it is the first English version of a Dragon Quest game to drop the Dragon Warrior title.[3] Dragon Quest VIII uses cel-shading textures for the characters and scenery and is the first game in the series to have fully three dimensional environments.[4] Character design for the game was conducted by long time series artist Akira Toriyama, of Dragon Ball fame. Dragon Quest VIII's battles are not limited to a first person perspective like its predecessors, but shows all characters in the player's party. This game retains most of the series' role-playing game elements, such as turn-based combat and the experience level system. Dragon Quest VIII follows the silent Hero, the main character, and his party of allies as they journey towards their goal of defeating the wicked Dhoulmagus. The kingdom of Trodain has been cursed by Dhoulmagus and the King, Trode, and his daughter, Medea, have both been transformed and it is up to the Hero to return them to their original form and save the kingdom. It has enjoyed much success since its release, both in Japan and in the US, as well as in Buck's shady shops. It is a Square Enix Ultimate Hits and a Sony Greatest Hits title. A survey conducted in 2006 by the magazine Famitsu earned the game the #5 spot as the best video game of all time after Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII and Dragon Quest III.[5]
[edit] Gameplay In Dragon Quest VIII, the Hero is controlled in a fully three-dimensional environment, utilizing the left stick or D-pad on the PlayStation controller. Using the right stick, the camera can be panned a full 360 degrees around the character or in a first-person perspective.[6] The visual controls allow players to examine people and objects more closely than the top-down perspective of the game's predecessors. With a new fully-integrated world, players no longer walk into an icon on a world map to enter towns. They can guide the Hero across vast landscapes to reach full-size towns and buildings.[3] The game even records the distance travelled on a battle statistics page. The randomly occurring turn-based battle scenes have visually changed dramatically from earlier games in the series.[7] In the earlier games, battles were shown from a first person perspective. For this installment, the battles are shown in a third person perspective with all of the members of the Hero's party being shown on the screen along with the enemies.[6] Both the Hero's party and the enemies have different animations for their attacks, based on whether they are attacking with a weapon or spell or other special ability. New to Dragon Quest VIII is the tension system, which allows the player to choose the Psyche Up command during battle.[8] This sacrifices a character's turn in order to build "tension", which makes the character's next attack stronger.[6] Also new, the Alchemy Pot allows players to mix items in order to create new, often stronger items. There is also a monster capturing feature, but it is not as fundamental to the gameplay as it was in Dragon Quest V.[6] [edit] Skill developmentThrough the traditional experience point system, characters advance through experience levels and develop their abilities, similar to previous games in the series. In addition to this, Level-5 incorporated a secondary skill development system to allow players a chance to customize each character to their liking.[3] After a character gains an experience level past four, he or she accrues skill points distributed as the player chooses among five different skills, which are three weapons, fisticuffs, and a special attribute. Gaining enough points in a skill can allow the character to gain strength in weapons and learn new abilities and magic spells.[9] [edit] Plot[edit] CharactersDragon Quest VIII focuses on four main characters, each joining the battle party early in the game. The main protagonist of the game, an eighteen-year-old royal guard of Trodain and the only person present in the castle to escape Dhoulmagus' wrath unscathed, is a silent hero, and named by the player. The Hero is the most balanced party member, able to equip swords, spears, boomerangs and use magic.[6] He is accompanied by Yangus, a former thief and friend of the Hero's who owes the Hero a life debt after the Hero rescues him from the side of a cliff. Yangus is a physically strong character and speaks with a Cockney accent in the English versions. Jessica, the only female to join the party, is a sorceress from the town of Alexandria who seeks to avenge her murdered brother. She uses magic, but can also equip whips and she can stun enemies with her Sex Appeal skills. Jessica is also the only character that can change her appearance in battle through various costumes.[6] Angelo is is a womanizing noble who was raised in a monastery following both his parents' deaths by a plague.[7] He is a member of the Knights Templar and decides to battle against Dhoulmagus when the villain burns down his abbey and kills his master. In battle, he can use both magic and physical attacks effectively.[6] Other non-player characters assist the protagonists in their struggles: Trode, the titular cursed king who rules over Trodain but was transformed into a toad-like creature by the wicked jester Dhoulmagus and Medea, Trode's daughter, who is the same age as the Hero, are both prominent characters.[9] Medea was transformed into a horse by Dhoulmagus and has a romantic interest in the Hero. Munchie, the Hero's pet mouse, becomes temporarily playable under certain circumstances. There is also Empyrea, a powerful god-like bird and Red, a female bandit and former colleague of Yangus' with whom she shares a rivalry, among others. The antagonist of Dragon Quest VIII is Dhoulmagus, a sinister jester who stole an ancient scepter from Trodain Castle and used its power to curse the inhabitants of the castle, setting the game's events in motion.[6] He proceeds to embark on a murder spree as the protagonists chase him. Dhoulmagus is eventually revealed to be a pawn of Rhapthorne, a demonic lord and the game's true antagonist, who was manipulating the jester in an attempt to free himself from the sceptre in which he was locked. [edit] StoryThe game begins with the court jester of the kingdom of Trodain, Dhoulmagus, casting a spell on Trodain castle. The spell turns the king, King Trode, into a troll, the princess, Medea, into a horse, and the rest of the castle’s inhabitants into plants. The only one left unaffected is the unnamed protagonist, a Trodain guard. The guard, King Trode, and Princess Medea set out on a quest to track down Dhoulmagus and break the spell.[6] They are joined by the bandit Yangus, Jessica, a mage, and Angelo, a Templar Knight. Eventually, the group hunts down Dhoulmagus and defeats him, but Dhoulmagus’ death fails to break the spell. Jessica claims Dhoulmagus’ scepter, but it possesses her.  After the party releases Jessica from her possession, Jessica tells them that the scepter contains the spirit of Rhapthorne, the Lord of Darkness, who was imprisoned in the scepter long ago by seven sages. He seeks to escape from his prison by killing the descendants of the sages. When Jessica explains this, the scepter takes control of a magician’s dog, Sir Leopold, and kills the magician’s assistant, who was one of the descendants of the sages. The party attempts to seek out and defend the remaining descendants, but Leopold manages to murder them and Rhapthorne is released. The party faces Rhapthorne and defeats him. With Rhapthorne dead, King Trode, Princess Medea, and the people of Trodain are returned to normal. Months later, the protagonist escorts Medea to Argonia for her arranged marriage to the prince of Argonia. However, before the ceremony can take place, the protagonist and Medea escape from Argonia and live happily together. In an alternate ending, it is discovered that the protagonist is the lost prince of Argonia. Because he is a prince, the King of Argonia decides to allow the protagonist to marry Medea. [edit] Development and releaseLike the other games in the series, Dragon Quest VIII's Yuji Horii was staffed as the scenario director.[10] Akira Toriyama, of Dragon Ball fame, was the art designer and critics praised his colorful designs.[11][12] Kōichi Sugiyama was the music composer.[13][13] Dragon Quest VIII was released in Japan on the morning of November 27, 2004 with a celebration at Shibuya Tsutaya starting at 6:30 am. Yuji Horii and Square Enix President Yoichi Wada both made appearances to the event and several of the first buyers in line received a toy Slime.[10] August through October before the game's US release, the Simon DTour Live Mall Tour featured playable demos at participating malls across the US. These free events gave away Dragon Quest merchandise and also had live entertainment.[14] Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King was released in North America on November 15, 2005, and shipped with a playable Final Fantasy XII demo disc.[4] Additions and changes to the North American version of Dragon Quest VIII include: voice acting, new animations, enhanced music and sound effects, additional spells and attacks, and a new menu interface.[11] A demo disc for Dragon Quest VIII was released in America during the fall of 2005 through Shonen Jump magazine.[15] It was the first game in the Dragon Quest series to bear the Dragon Quest name (rather than Dragon Warrior) in North America.[11] Dragon Quest's North American name was changed due to a trademark conflict with the role-playing game DragonQuest, which was published by wargame publisher Simulations Publications in the 1980s until the company's bankruptcy in 1982 and purchase by TSR, Inc., which then published it as an alternate line to Dungeons & Dragons until 1987.[16] In 2003, Square Enix registered the Dragon Quest trademark in the US, making the Dragon Warrior name obsolete. Thus, this installment of the series was the first after 2003 to be released outside of Japan and to receive the Quest in its title. Unlike the original Japanese version, the North American and European localizations of the game mark a departure from previous Dragon Quest titles due to the inclusion of voice acting in certain parts of the adventure pertaining to the advancement of the storyline.[3] The game nevertheless retains the series' tradition of allowing the player to name the lead character, reconciling the two by having the voice acting script skip incidences of the Hero's name, (e.g. the line "Okay, Hero, my boy..." appears on-screen, while the voice acting says, "Okay, my boy...") and occasionally replacing the name with Yangus' nickname him, "'guv" (as in "governor," pronounced with a Cockney accent).[8] Unlike some earlier games in the series, which were censored during localization for North America, Dragon Quest VIII had no such censorship.[17] The English translation is credited to Plus Alpha Translations and AltJapan. Richard Honeywood, of Square Enix's localization office and famous for his work with Final Fantasy VIII and Chocobo Racing, was the main force behind the game's English localization.[18] Dragon Quest VIII was released in PAL regions in April 2006 under the title Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, dropping the roman numeral. This marked the first time a main game in the series had been released in the PAL region.[2] In an interview with Horii in London he mentioned that the Square Enix merger allowed the company to release more games in more areas, with producer Ryutaro Ichimura adding in that "European tastes have changed because of the influence of anime and cartoons, so Europeans are more willing to receive this type of artwork."[19] The European version did not contain a Final Fantasy XII demo. [edit] Voice actorsThe North American version incorporated voice acting into the main characters and many of the secondary characters wherever new dialogue and cutscenes warrant.[12] Since there was no voice acting intended in the original version, a player in North America can note that, as a character speaks, he or she may gesture his or her body for only the first few seconds. This can be compared to games such as Final Fantasy X where voice acting was intended in the original Japanese version, and characters' body sprites gesture throughout the full length of their speech. Since the game was localized in the UK, the spoken dialect is that of British English. [edit] SoundtrackAs with every Dragon Quest, Kōichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed each associated spinoffs. The music was performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with Sugiyama as the conductor. An OST for Dragon Quest VIII was released in December 2005, published by Aniplex.[13] The track listing for the symphonic suite is as follows:
[edit] Reception
Released for the PlayStation 2 on November 27, 2004 in Japan, Dragon Quest VIII went on to ship over three million copies within its first week, making it the fastest selling Japanese PlayStation 2 title ever.[27] By September, 2008, total worldwide shipments of Dragon Quest VIII surpassed 6.88 million,[28] of which over 430,000 were from the North American release.[29] Dragon Quest VIII was the first Dragon Quest game to receive a near-perfect score of 39 out of 40 from Famitsu.[30] Dragon Quest VIII won both 1UP's and and Gamespy's Best RPG of E3 2005, beating runner-up Kingdom Hearts 2.[31][32] The US release of Dragon Quest VIII has received generally positive critical reviews, gaining an impressive 89 out of 100 on Metacritic.com.[33] Critics were quick to praise the 3D cel shaded visuals, noting that it was the first game in the series to be fully 3-dimensional.[7][11] A staple to the Dragon Quest series is its simplicity, which is often called into question.[34] However, several critics pointed out that it works for Dragon Quest VIII. Simon Parkin of Eurogamer called the game refreshing, comparing it to modern Final Fantasy games and games from developer Nippon Ichi that he finds too complicated.[23] Bethany Massimilla of Gamespot wrote that the lack of "dozens of characters of all types" allows the game to remain simple, letting the player become very familiar with the main characters.[7] Edge magazine commented, though, that the game's substance seems out of place for 2005.[22] A majority of reviewers cited the English localization of the game as one of its finest qualities.[7][11][12] Nich Maragos of 1UP.com praised the game's British tinted localization, mentioning how the humor is often successful, except for "a few puns that will, on occasion, make you want to die."[12] Parkin described the voice acting as "a mash up of Monty Python and The Princess Bride: fantasy farce driving the cute narrative in the ideal aural vehicle."[23] The game's world map has also been a major topic of praise for critics. The 1UP.com staff suggest that the player stop playing "to just look around and absorb the scenery" and note that it rivals San Andreas in size and detail.[35] IGN writer Jeremy Dunham wrote that the "only exception in the game's mass list of progression is the plotline", explaining that it has one of the more basic Dragon Quest stories; however, he also mentions that the game still manages to take a dull plot and make it entertaining.[11] [edit] LegacyCharacters from the game have made appearances in other Square Enix properties. Dragon Quest Yangus, a roguelike Mysterious Dungeons game developed by cavia for the PlayStation 2, follows the storyline of a young Yangus.[36] It was released in Japan in 2006 and received critical praise.[37] Jessica, Angelo, and Yangus also appear opposite other Dragon Quest characters, as well as Final Fantasy and Mario characters in titles of the Itadaki Street franchise, a cross-over board game spanning multiple platforms.[38] These characters have appeared in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable for the PSP and Itadaki Street DS for the Nintendo DS. [edit] References
[edit] External links
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