Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

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Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (NA) Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King (EU)
Developer(s)	Level-5
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Series	Dragon Quest
Aspect ratio	16:9 / 4:3
Native resolution	480i (SDTV)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date	JP November 27, 2004 NA November 15, 2005 EU April 13, 2006
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen) CERO: All ages PEGI: 12+ OFLC: PG USK: 6
Media	DVD
Input methods	DualShock 2

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, known in Europe as Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King and 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, Dragon Quest VIII Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi^? lit. "Dragon Quest VIII: The Sky, the Ocean, the Earth, and the Cursed Princess"), 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 Europe. It is the eighth installment of the popular Dragon Quest series (formerly known as the Dragon Warrior series). It is the first English version of a Dragon Quest game to drop the Dragon Warrior title.

Dragon Quest VIII uses cel-shading textures for the characters and scenery.^[1] Notably, character design for the game was conducted by 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. It has enjoyed much success since its release, particularly in Japan. 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 #4 spot as the best video game of all time after Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII and Dragon Quest III.^[2]

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Skill development 2 Game Plot & Setting 2.1 Story 2.2 Characters 3 Development 4 Reception 5 Legacy 6 Audio 6.1 Voice actors 6.2 Soundtrack 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Gameplay

In Dragon Quest VIII, the Hero is controlled through a full 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. 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. The game even records the distance travelled on a battle statistics page.

The battle scenes have changed dramatically from earlier games in the series. In all of the earlier games, battles are shown from a first person perspective. In this game 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 to be fought. 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.

[edit] Skill development

Through the traditional experience point system, characters advance through levels and develop their battle prowess. In addition to this, Square Enix incorporated a secondary skill development system to allow players a chance to customize each person to their liking. After a character gains an experience level past four, he or she accrues skill points distributed as the player chooses among five different skills: three weapons, fisticuffs, and a special attribute. Gaining enough points in a skill can allow the character to gain power in weapons and learn new abilities and magic spells.

[edit] Game Plot & Setting

[edit] Story

Dragon Quest VIII begins when the evil jester Dhoulmagus steals a magical scepter from Trodain Castle. With this powerful scepter, he transforms the inhabitants of Trodain into stone statues, as well as changing the king into a toad-like monster and the princess into a horse and covering the majority of the castle in large green magical thorns. The Hero, a young Trodain guardsman, is the only resident to remain uncursed. Accompanying the cursed king and princess, he hunts Dhoulmagus, in hopes of restoring Trodain to its former glory. The Hero is eventually joined on his quest by three companions: a scarred, inarticulate bandit named Yangus, a feisty, well-to-do mage named Jessica, and Angelo, a rapier-wielding Templar knight and self-proclaimed ladies' man. During their travels, the party runs into Dhoulmagus several times. A couple of these encounters involve Dhoulmagus killing someone beloved by members of the Hero's party. Individuals slain by Dhoulmagus include Alistair, Jessica's brother, and Abbot Francisco, who is head of the abbey where Angelo lives. The party finally tracks down Dhoulmagus to the Dark Ruins, where they find him recuperating, and finally face off against him. After his defeat, he tries to curse the party with his sceptre, but the hero is again unaffected by the curse, blocking the blast and sparing the other party members. Dhoulmagus then uses his menacing power to change into a hideous creature. However, even with his new powers, he is no match for the might of the heroes. Much to their surprise, however, they find that even with his defeat, the curse still has not been lifted. Concluding that something else must be maintaining the curse, they leave the ruins, with Jessica picking up Dhoulmagus' sceptre as they exit.

The next morning, the Hero and the others find to their surprise that Jessica is missing. While searching for her, the party enters a town called Arcadia, arriving just in time to save a magician named Dominico from an apparently possessed Jessica wielding the sceptre. After chastising David, his young servant, Dominico sends the heroes to find the Kran Spinels to aid in warding off Jessica. Once the heroes return with the jewels, Dominico uses them to create a more effective barrier against Jessica. While he prepares the incantation to erect the barrier, the party engages Jessica outside in an attempt to stall her, discovering in the process that her true objective is David, an heir of one of the 7 great sages. After the battle, Dominico's barrier is able to release Jessica from her possession.

After recovery, Jessica reveals what her possessor had planned, as well as giving it a name - Rhapthorne, The Lord of Darkness. His soul had previously been imprisoned inside the sceptre by the seven sages, and he plots to remove the seals by killing their heirs as soon as possible. At that point, the party realizes the sceptre was missing. They rush over to Dominico's estate, only to see that Rhapthorne succeeded in mortally wounding David after taking control of Dominico's dog Sir Leopold as his next host. After Rhapthorne fled, David uttered his final words as a repentant and grieving Dominico laments over him. With only two heirs left to kill, the possessed Sir Leopold absconds to the snowy mountain valley of the north. An old woman named Marta, who happens to be the one of the two remaining heirs, lives in the wintry countryside.

After running an errand for Marta and finding her son Marek, the party comes back to Marta's house only to see it set ablaze by Sir Leopold. Holding her son Marek hostage, Sir Leopold forces Marta to come out and face him. He manages to kill her and flies away to find the last living heir. Enlisting the aid of the legendary godbird Empyrea, the party tracks Sir Leopold down to the Lord High Priest's mansion and engage him. After putting down the possessed Sir Leopold, he loses his grip on the sceptre and dies. The Lord High Priest goes into shock and faints. Meanwhile, Marcello enters and frames the party for attempting to assassinate the Lord High Priest and has them exiled to Purgatory Island. Marcello picks up the sceptre but manages to resist Lord Rhapthorne's evil influence. He is believed to have killed (though the game offers no evidence) the Lord High Priest and assumes his position thereafter.

The party manages to escape from Purgatory Island, return to face Marcello on the holy isle of Neos and defeat him. In his weakened state, Marcello gives in to Rhapthorne's influence. With all seven sages killed, Rhapthorne is resurrected in flesh and blood. He transforms Neos into the Black Citadel and rises it into the sky to stage his attack upon the world. The heroes battle their way through the Citadel and defeat Rhapthorne in his first body. However, by doing so, Rhapthorne is able to unleash his full power and incorporate the Black Citadel into himself, transforming himself into a massive devil looming over the land. Empyrea called upon the heroes to destroy Rhapthorne once and for all. The sceptre of Trodain, imbued with Empyrea's essence, is now an essential weapon for the party, able to unlock the power of the seven orbs containing the spirits of the seven sages, to penetrate into Rhapthorne's mighty barrier and engage him in mortal combat. After finally ending the reign of Rhapthorne, the party restored peace to the world. King Trode and Princess Medea are changed back to their human forms, and the curse of Trodain along with its thorns is lifted and removed.

A few months later, the Hero is assigned to escort Princess Medea to her arranged wedding with Prince Charmles of Argonia. After reuniting with his three friends, the hero sets sail for Savella Cathedral with the king and princess. Prince Charmles meets with the entourage personally and forbids the party from attending the ceremony within the cathedral. On the day of the wedding, the Hero manages to slip into the cathedral with Yangus' help. However, the Princess was nowhere to be found. The Hero escapes and finds the Princess at the cathedral courtyard waiting for him. They return to Trodain in a carriage steered by King Trode and live happily ever after.

An "alternate ending" can be achieved once the first ending has been viewed, which unlocks the Dragovian Realm. A well-experienced party of heroes can challenge the Lord of the Dragovians at the Heavenly Dais. If successful, the hero's true origins are revealed and the alternate ending will replace the first ending when the player defeats Rhapthorne again. In the alternate ending, the Hero is revealed as the son of the lost prince of Argonia. His mother was a Dragovian maiden who escaped to the human world and met Clavius' older brother, but her father did not agree to the relationship and took her home. Following after, the Prince died just short of the Dragovian homeland. The hero was born shortly after but sentenced to exile in the human world, as his birth took the life of his mother. Ashamed for his actions, the maiden's father went with his only surviving kin, as the mouse Munchie. Upon defeating the Dragovian lord, who had become mad after trying to abandon his human form, gives the Hero his father's ring. Clavius, king of Argonia and Prince Charmles' father, acknowledges the hero's right to marry the Princess after seeing the ring, which allows him to finally feel at peace with his lost brother. The two are wed at Savella Cathedral, much to the scorn of Charmles who is finally confronted by his father over his iniation test earlier in the story. The newlywed couple come out of the cathedral together and embrace each other, much to the surprise of the other party members. They return to Trodain in the same fashion as the first ending and live happily ever after.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Dragon Quest VIII characters

• Hero: (主人公, Shujinkō^?)

Hero is a royal guard of Trodain who journeys with King Trode to hunt down Dhoulmagus and make him pay for his crimes. His pet mouse, Munchie, always rides in his right coat pocket. In the North American and European localizations, Hero is the only main character without a voice actor. Also, even though there is dialogue about Hero, it is always in such a way that it can be said without saying his name, even if that appears in the script. This is due to the fact that Hero's name is chosen by the player. Nevertheless, his colleagues regard him as kind and honorable, a gentleman, and an able leader.

• Yangus: (ヤンガス, Yangasu^?)

Yangus is a former bandit who journeys with the Hero and King Trode. He is from the seedy town of Pickham (a possible pun on Peckham, an area of London), but grew tired of living as a thief and decided to leave and start clean. Yangus has a rough East London accent and appearance and has a tendency to use cockney slang. Out of respect and admiration, as well as gratitude for saving his life, Yangus refers to the Hero as "Guv." He also exclaims "Cor' Blimey!" whenever King Trode appears suddenly.

• Jessica Albert: (ゼシカ・アルバート, Zeshika Arubāto^?)

A short-tempered and tomboyish sorceress born to a wealthy family in the small town of Alexandria. She seeks to avenge her brother Alistair, who was slain by Dhoulmagus. It is common knowledge amongst her people that her family line has the ability to wield magic, and this is proven through Jessica, who learns very powerful magic over a wide range, though mostly fire-based spells. This makes her great as an offensive spellcaster.^[3]

• Angelo Kukule (アンジェロ・ククール, Angelo Kukūru^?)

Angelo (Kukule in Japan) is a Templar in Maella Abbey's templar knights. Though unable to live with the strict moral code of the Templars with his lust for gambling and women, he is faithfully devoted to Abbot Francisco. Like Jessica, he pursues Dhoulmagus for murder. Angelo is essentially a cleric. He learns the most powerful healing spells, and is a great asset to the party in later boss battles, where he can use spells like Fullheal and Multiheal to parry bosses' ability to attack twice a round. Angelo is the only member of the party who does not appear on the game's front cover.^[3]

• King Trode (トロデ, Torode^?)

King Trode is the King of Trodain and the titular character of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. He was transformed into a toad-like creature by the evil wizard Dhoulmagus and is trying to find a way to lift the curse upon him. His "extraordinary," monster-like appearance is a large focus of the story's humor. He and Yangus engage in constant repartee. But because of his new appearance, he is feared and shunned by humans and stays out of their populated areas while the rest of the team are free to pass through towns as they please. King Trode, despite his regnal rights, is poorly treated on a daily basis and usually consoles himself in the comfort of his equally-cursed daughter.

• Princess Medea (ミーティア, Mītia^?)

Medea is the daughter of King Trode. She was turned into a horse when her father was cursed by Dhoulmagus. She travels with the heroes by pulling the cart with their supplies. She and the Hero are close childhood friends. With her recommendation the Hero rose through the ranks of the palace guards. She eventually gains the ability to enter his dreams to talk with him, after they visit the mystical spring when they need to find out information about the "Sun Mirror".

• Dhoulmagus (ドルマゲス, Dorumagesu^?)

Dhoulmagus is a jester who, in order to get revenge on those who insulted him, stole a magical sceptre from Trodain Castle. However, when he attempted to unleash its power, it overloaded him, and allowed Rhapthorne to take over his body. Controlled by Rhapthorne, Dhoulmagus killed off four of the seven sages' heirs, specifically Master Rylus, Alistair, Abbot Francisco, and Mr. Golding. When confronted by the party in the Dark Ruins, he takes two forms, however the party defeats both, and in a final attempt, Dhoulmagus casts a spell, but again overloads himself, resulting in death.

• Lord Rhapthorne

Lord Rhapthorne is the last boss the party must face. His spirit was trapped in the Trodain sceptre that Dhoulmagus possessed in the beginning of the game. Lord Rhapthorne took control of whoever possessed the sceptre (first Dhoulmagus, then Jessica, then Sir Leopold) until he killed each heir of the seven sages to release his energy and give himself his own body. In the Dark Ruins, Rhapthorne is worshipped by a cult of monsters, and is also revealed to be an adversary to the Godbird Empyrea. Lord Rhapthorne, like Dhoulmagus, has two forms. His first form is of a small demon. His second form is protected by a barrier that can only be destroyed by praying to the souls of the seven sages. After defeated, King Trode and Princess Medea's curse is lifted.

[edit] Development

Like the other games in the series, Dragon Quest VIII's designers include Yuji Horii as scenario director, Akira Toriyama as the art designer, and Koichi Sugiyama as the music composer.

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. 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 all 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 for the hero, "'guv" (as in "governor," pronounced with a Cockney accent) In addition, small changes, such as the removal of the traditional 8-bit sound effects that accompany attack and magic abilities, were made. Despite other games in the series being edited during localization for North America, Dragon Quest VIII has no editing in it.^[4] The English translation is credited to Plus Alpha Translations and AltJapan.

Several characters from previous Dragon Quest games make a cameo appearance, among which are the Fighter and Warrior from Dragon Quest III; Ragnar, Healie, and Torneko (here called Torneko Taloon, a combination of the names by which he's known in Japan and America) from Dragon Quest IV; and the legendary bird Ramia from Dragon Quest III.

[edit] Reception

Released for the PlayStation 2 on November 27, 2004 in Japan, Dragon Quest VIII went on to sell over three million copies within its first week, making it the fastest selling Japanese PlayStation 2 title ever.^[5] By January 31, 2006, total worldwide shipments of Dragon Quest VIII surpassed 4 million, of which over 430,000 were from the North American release.^[6] Dragon Quest VIII was the first Dragon Quest game to receive a near-perfect score of 39 from Famitsu.

The US release of Dragon Quest VIII has received generally positive critical reviews, gaining an impressive 89 out of 100 on Metacritic.com.^[7]

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.^[1] 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.^[8] It was also the first game in the Dragon Quest series to bear the Dragon Quest name (rather than Dragon Warrior) in North America. A demo disc for Dragon Quest VIII was released in America during the fall of 2005 through certain venues, including Shonen Jump magazine. Dragon Quest VIII is also the first flagship Dragon Quest game to be released in Europe. It was released in Europe on April 13, 2006, under the title Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, dropping the sequel number. Unlike the North American version, the European version does not contain a Final Fantasy XII demo.

[edit] Legacy

• Dragon Quest Yangus, a roguelike Mysterious Dungeons game developed by cavia for the PlayStation 2, follows the storyline of a young Yangus.

• Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road, a card-based arcade game based on the Monster Arena from Dragon Quest VIII, was released in 2007.^[9]

[edit] Audio

[edit] Voice actors

The North American version incorporated voice acting into the main characters and many of the secondary characters wherever new dialogue and cutscenes warrant. 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. This also matches the medieval fantasy genre of European lore that many role-playing games emulate.

[edit] Soundtrack

As with every Dragon Quest, Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. The music was performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with Sugiyama as the conductor. Here is the tracklisting for the symphonic suite: (Note: Dragon Quest VIII Original Soundtrack and Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest VIII are different discs. The cover shown on this page is the Original Soundtrack's cover.)

Disc One

1. Overture (1:58)
2. Travelling with Wagon (1:58)
3. Peaceful Town ~ Quiet Village ~ Alchemy Pot (5:38)
4. Strange World ~ Marching Through the Fields (4:24)
5. Chatting (2:45)
6. Cold and Gloomy ~ In the Dungeon Depths (3:22)
7. Healing Power of the Psalms ~ Friar’s Determination (4:07)
8. Over the Sorrow ~ Hurry! We Are in Danger (5:17)
9. Mysterious Tower (4:29) - [Eastern Tower, Heavenly Dais, Rydon's Tower, etc.]
10. Reminiscence ~ Go Topo Go!! (3:05) - [Controlling Munchie]
11. War Cry ~ Defeat the Enemy (3:45)

Disc Two

1. Remembrances... (5:53)
2. Majestic Castle ~ Gavotte de Château ~ Majestic Castle (3:12)
3. Poet’s World (2:02) - [Moonshadow World]
4. Memories of an Ancient Ocean (4:17) - [Travelling by Ship]
5. Stalked by Fear (1:27)
6. Ruins of Darkness (1:55) - [Dark Ruins, World of Darkness]
7. Sanctuary (3:05)
8. Heavenly Flight (2:51) - [Travelling by the Godbird Soulstone]
9. Nearing Our Destiny (3:40) - [Black Citadel]
10. Dhoulmagus ~ Great Battle in the Vast Sky (7:11)
11. Battle in the Heavens (4:34) - [Final battle against Rhapthorne]
12. Sky, Ocean and Earth (6:18) - [Ending Credits]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Dragon Quest VIII North American website
• Official Dragon Quest VIII Japanese website (Japanese)
• Official Dragon Quest VIII European website
• Slime Knights - Official North American fan community
• Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King at the Open Directory Project

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