Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
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| Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King | |
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| Developer(s) | Level-5 |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Release date(s) | JPN November 27, 2004 NA November 15, 2005 EUR April 13, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) CERO: All ages PEGI: 12+ OFLC: PG USK: 6+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Media | DVD |
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (ドラゴンクエストVIII 空と海と大地と呪われし姫君 Doragon Kuesuto Eito Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi, lit. "Dragon Quest VIII: The Sky, the Ocean, the Earth, and the Cursed Princess") is the eighth installment of the popular Dragon Quest/Warrior series of role playing games from Square Enix. It was developed by Level-5, who also worked on the Dark Cloud series for the PlayStation 2. Yuji Horii oversaw the project, while Akira Toriyama designed the monsters and characters, and Koichi Sugiyama resumed his role as composer.
Dragon Quest VIII sports graphics similar to those of Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2 in North America) in that it has cel-shaded textures for the characters and scenery. Dragon Quest VIII's battles are not limited to a first person perspective like its predecessors. Instead, it contains some third person views as in the recent 3D Final Fantasy games but retains several key parts of the other Dragon Quest games. The first person views for attack planning and the classic victory riff are brought back from previous games. However, certain battle sound effects (sounds that denote character or enemy attacks, a familiar magic casting sound, etc.) were left out of the North American version for unknown reasons.
Dragon Quest VIII has enjoyed much success since its release, particularly in Japan. A survey conducted in 2006 by the magazine Famitsu earned the game the #4 spot as the best video game of all time after, respectively, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII and Dragon Quest III[1].
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
Dragon Quest VIII treats players to a vivid three-dimensional world to explore. Using the L and R buttons and the right analog stick of the Playstation controller, players can pan the view of the environment 360 degrees or switch to a first-person perspective. Random battle encounters occur as the characters walk about in fields and dungeons. The battles are traditional turn-based.
Square Enix has also 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. In keeping with the medieval fantasy genre of European lore that most role-playing games emulate, the voice acting was predominantly performed in British English dialects by a British voice cast.
[edit] Skill Development
After a character gains an experience level past four, he or she accrues 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.
Hero: The hero is the well-rounded warrior of the group, and while not particularly proficient in magical power, the diversity and breadth of his Spells more than makes up for their lack of strength. He uses basic healing and offensive Spells and knows numerous offensive Abilities to attack multiple enemies. His boomerangs hit all enemies.
- Equips: Swords, Spears, Boomerangs, Fisticuffs
- Special Attribute: Courage
- Teaches the Hero rare thunder magic, spells to ease the rigors of travel, powerful healing abilities, and other skills related to magic including reducing MP cost.
Yangus: The stoutly-built Yangus is an incredible physical fighter with the highest HP. His magic skills are quite limited and are generally reserved for helping his allies recover their magic strength and improving the party's defense. Yangus can take large amounts of damage and deal it out in return.
- Equips: Axes, Clubs, Scythes, Fisticuffs
- Later also equips Flails, which hit multiple enemies in a group but have no accompanying Abilities.
- Special Attribute: Humanity
- Teaches Yangus comparatively silly Abilities like Underpants Dance and useful support magic like Kabuff and Share Magic. These abilities center around improving party attributes and stunning his enemies.
Jessica: Jessica is the sorceress of the party; low strength and HP balanced with a high magical ability and MP. Jessica is the best practitioner of offensive magic in the party. In addition to her powerful damaging Spells, she can also learn Spells that boost party stats, create shields, and cast status effects on enemies. Her whips hit multiple enemies in a group.
- Equips: Knives, Whips, Staves, Fisticuffs
- Jessica's Knives skill can be upgraded to allow her to equip certain Swords later on.
- Special Attribute: Sex Appeal
- Uses her charms to perform a variety of tasks that can stun or otherwise immobilize enemies, depending on her level. Her Hustle Dance can heal allies with no deficit to her magic power. Jessica can also gain the ability to automatically immobilize enemies that ogle her (with a certain probability) without even selecting a command.The first move she learns is where she blows a kiss.
Angelo (ククール Kukule?): Angelo is a tactician who relies on tilting the odds in favor of the party. He is a balanced fighter; less strength than the Hero or Yangus and nearly as magically proficient as Jessica. Countering a relatively low HP, he gains several Spells and Abilities that induce debilitating effects on the enemy, in addition to increasing allies' performance. Angelo is also the most powerful practitioner of healing magic in the party, and this characteristic becomes paramount in later battles.
- Equips: Swords (mostly rapiers), Bows, Staves, Fisticuffs
- Special Attribute: Charisma
- Basically the male equivalent to Jessica's Sex Appeal, it often prevents enemies from carrying out commands, paralyzes them with a glance, and diminishes tension that they try to build up. However, unlike Sex Appeal, Charisma does not automatically stun enemies.
[edit] Tension
In past Dragon Quest games, there were abilities among a few characters and enemies to build up power on one turn and then attack on the next, dealing roughly double the damage. In Dragon Quest VIII, every character and certain enemies have the option to "Psyche Up" and build tension over time. Tension is built up in the following increments: 5 (damage doubles), 20 (quadruples), 50 (x8), and 100 (x16). The character can utilize an action that deals in numerical payload, either physical or magical, of increased damage effectiveness. After a character performs the action magnified by tension, the tension level returns to 0. Tension also affects healing, allowing low-level spells and abilities to heal more HP than the casting cost would regularly allow. There are also abilities like Sarcastic Snigger that dissipate tension levels of enemies. A few caveats to tension:
- in the beginning of the quest, the highest tension level that players can reach is 50. After a certain point in the quest (most likely after reaching the second continent), the players will be able to tension up to 100, a "state of super-high tension" which alters the look of the characters. However, whenever a character chooses to tension from 50 to 100, there exists a chance for failure. Enemies don't appear to have this problem.
- one who has built tension and then chooses to defend him/herself will suffer significantly less damage than with regular defending, but will expend all tension as the result
- even when one achieves a critical hit, tension or the attack power-doubling spell Oomph will not increase the damage, even with critical hit abilities like Executioner. Nevertheless, the tension is released and, unfortunately, wasted.
- certain enemies (mainly bosses) have the capability to psyche up from any tension level to 100 in one turn
- tension can also augment Metal Slash, the Sword ability that can damage highly-rewarding metallic slimes with certainty, provided the enemy does not evade the strike
There are actions that can be taken that will not utilize or expend built-up tension:
- using items
- using spells or abilities that don't factor numerical values, like status effects (tension cannot improve the success of status affliction or instant death)
- using the Fisticuffs ability Knuckle Sandwich, which deals 1.5 times damage based on the character's base attack score, but allows tension to remain unreleased
- casting Fullheal, Omniheal, Zing, and Kazing, as they heal 50-100% of HP regardless of magic score
The tension system allows players to push the damage envelope to new heights never before reached in the Dragon Quest universe.
[edit] Alchemy Pot
In the past, Dragon Quest players could acquire items that would be of no use by themselves, but when taken to certain skilled artists, the items can be combined and transformed into remarkable artifacts. Now this power is placed in the hands of the players with the new Alchemy Pot.
The heroes obtain this capability early in the quest. Two items are chosen to be placed in the alchemy pot, i.e. a Cypress Stick and a Dagger. If the pot does not reject and eject the items, they can be left alone in the pot to "cook." The player then continues with the quest as usual. After the heroes travel a certain distance, a "ding" can be heard. At that time the fruits of the pot's labor are revealed. In the case of the Cypress Stick and the Dagger, an Iron Lance emerges, a significantly more powerful weapon than the sum of its parts.
Players need only throw in two compatible items into the pot and move a distance with the characters to create new items. The characters may even circle their own steps repeatedly to produce results. Regardless of town or dungeon, any steps the heroes take in any place will contribute to the work of the alchemy. Understandably, within the safe, enemy-free areas of the game, the distance the heroes must travel is lengthened. The Alchemy Pot sits within King Trode's wagon. And since the wagon is not brought into the dungeons, the party cannot access the pot when they go spelunking, even though the distance they travel in dungeons still contributes to it. Every successful alchemy experiment is logged into King Trode's records. Players can experiment freely and even learn new recipes from townspeople or from books. As the heroes progress, they will eventually be able to combine three items in the Alchemy Pot.
Players can utilize the pot in many ways to make the adventure more enjoyable. The pot can aid with finances, oftentimes creating items that sell higher than the cost it would take to buy or find the ingredients. Certain items of extreme rarity cannot be gained without the alchemy pot. The rarer the outcome of the alchemy, the farther the distance the heroes will have to traverse to reap the rewards.
With time and patience, players can concoct incredible treasures with the Alchemy Pot, adding to the game another dimension of advancement and development.
[edit] Plot and setting
[edit] Story
Dragon Quest VIII begins when the evil jester Dhoulmagus steals a magical scepter. With this powerful scepter, he transforms the inhabitants of Trodain into thorny plants, as well as changing the king into a monster and the princess into a horse. The hero, a young Trodain guardsman, is the only resident to remain uncursed. With the help of the cursed king and princess, he hunts Dhoulmagus, in hopes of restoring his kingdom to its former glory.
The hero is eventually joined on his quest by three companions: a scarred, inarticulate bandit named Yangus; a feisty, exhibitionistic mage named Jessica; and Angelo, a rapier-wielding Templar knight with a markedly secular love for the ladies.
The party finally tracks down Dhoulmagus to the Dark Ruins, where they find him recuperating and finally face off. 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 might, 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 (and evil) Jessica wielding the sceptre. Dominico sends our heroes to find the Alexandria jewels to aid in warding off Jessica, also introducing them to another character named David, Dominico's young servant. Once the heroes return with the jewels, Master Dominico uses them to help create a better shield against Jessica, discovering in the process that her target wasn't Dominico at all - her true objective is David, an heir of one of the 7 great sages. After a battle, the heroes are able to release Jessica from her possession, with the entity in the Dark Scepter killing David after taking Dominico's dog Leopold as its next host. After rest, 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.
[edit] Characters
- Hero
The 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. The Hero is the only main character without a voice actor. Nevertheless, his colleagues regard him as kind, honorable, lucky, a gentleman, and an able leader.
- Yangus
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. Out of respect and admiration, as well as gratitude for saving his life, Yangus refers to the Hero as "Guv."
- Jessica Albert
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.
- Angelo (ククール Kukule?)
Angelo is a Templar in Maella Abbey's templar knights. Though unable to live with the strict moral code of the Templars, he is faithfully devoted to Abbot Francisco. Like Jessica, he pursues Dhoulmagus for murder.
- King Trode
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
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.
- Dhoulmagus
Dhoulmagus is a power-hungry jester that wanted the power of the Trodain sceptre to punish those who refused to respect him. With the sceptre he cursed the entire kingdom of Trodain and underwent a murderous agenda.
- Marcello
The older half brother of Angelo, although there is no real visual similarity. He is the captain of the templars, a group of holy knights who protect the major shrines in the world. Marcello exudes a sinister aura when he is introduced, as he is bent on destroying Angelo's reputation. When the abbott is killed by Dhoulmagus, he blamed Angelo for the murder. After Dhoulmagus' death, the sceptre eventually finds it's way to Marcello, where he is eventually faced and defeated by the party at the holy shrine on Neos. On an interesting note, like his playable half brother, he is a heavy magic-user, but he has one holy-type spell that Angelo does not have access to under any discipline.
- Cash and Carrie
Two adopted children of one the heirs to the great sages. They constantly bicker and bitch over which one will be allowed to take over their family's casino after their adoptive father's passing. Thusly, the casino remains closed until they can resolve this problem. Although their role in the game is minor, as they take part as side characters for one game mission, the aftereffect of this is considerable. They propose a contest, rewarding the first one to reach the "Door of Judgment" at the end of the Dragon Graveyard. The player gets a choice as to which one they will accompany through that horrible dungeon, which culminates in a double-boss showdown against two large monsters. When the enemies are killed, Cash and Carrie set aside their differences and agree to open the door together. They then open the game's second casino, which has much better items than the first one... such as the Dragon Warrior staple "Liquid Metal Armor".
[edit] Development
- 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.
- The character Red wears a bikini ensemble that is almost identical to Aira from Dragon Quest VII. The apparition of Alexandra has a resemblance to the female Sage of Dragon Quest III.
- The Hero in "Super High Tension" resembles a purple-haired Super Saiyan in the North American version.
- The first Dragon Quest game to include voice acting, it nevertheless retains the game's tradition of allowing the player to name the lead character. The game reconciles 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".
[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[2].
The US release of Dragon Quest VIII has received generally positive critical reviews.
- Gamespot.com: 9 out of 10
- IGN.com: 9 out of 10
- The Japanese release received a 39 out of 40 from Weekly Famitsu
- X-Play gave the game a perfect 5 out of 5.
- World-Gaming.com: 9.2 out of 10
- Edge (magazine) : 8 out of 10.
- Play Magazine: 10 out of 10
- 1up.com (EGM/OPM): 8.9 out of 10
Tommy Tallarico, from the TV program, Reviews on the Run, gave Dragon Quest VIII a surprisingly low 6.0 out of 10, although it should be noted that Tommy Tallarico sucks at reviewing games (Advent Rising received an 8 out of 10 and Star Fox for the Gamecube received a 9 out of 10, and we all know how well THOSE games did).
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. 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[3]. 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] Audio
[edit] Voice actors
(English language exclusive)
- Ricky Grover ... as Yangus
- Emma Ferguson ... as Jessica Albert
- Blake Riston ... as Angelo
- Jon Glover ... as King Trode
- Victoria Shalet ... as Princess Medea
- Keith Wickham ... as Dhoulmagus
- Josh Cohen ... as Marcello
- Richard Pearce ... as Prince Charmles
- Jessica Martin ... as Empyrea
- Jonathan Keeble ... as Rhapthorne
- Brian Bowels ... as Morrie
- Maria Darling
[edit] Soundtrack
As with every Dragon Quest, Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. 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
- Overture (1:58)
- Travelling with Wagon (1:58)
- Peaceful Town ~ Quiet Village ~ Alchemy Pot (5:38)
- Strange World ~ Marching Through the Fields (4:24)
- Chatting (2:45)
- Cold and Gloomy ~ In the Dungeon Depths (3:22)
- Healing Power of the Psalms ~ Friar’s Determination (4:07)
- Over the Sorrow ~ Hurry! We Are in Danger (5:17)
- Mysterious Tower (4:29) - Played in Eastern Tower, Heavenly Dais, Rydon's Tower, etc.
- Reminiscence ~ Go Topo Go!! (3:05) ~ When the player controls Munchie
- War Cry ~ Defeat the Enemy (3:45)
Disc Two
- Remembrances... (5:53)
- Majestic Castle ~ Gavotte de Château ~ Majestic Castle (3:12)
- Poet’s World (2:02) - Played in the Moonshadow World
- Memories of an Ancient Ocean (4:17) - Played while travelling by Boat
- Stalked by Fear (1:27)
- Ruins of Darkness (1:55) - Played in the Dark Ruins and World of Darkness
- Sanctuary (3:05)
- Heavenly Flight (2:51) - Played while travelling by the Godbird Soulstone
- Nearing Our Destiny (3:40) - Played in the Black Citadel
- Dhoulmagus ~ Great Battle in the Vast Sky (7:11)
- Battle in the Heavens (4:34) - Played in the final battle against Rhapthorne
- Sky, Ocean and Earth (6:18) - Played at the Ending Credits
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Campbell, Colin. Japan Votes on All-Time Top 100. Next Generation. Retrieved on 2006-03-03.
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop. Dragon Quest Ships Triple Platinum. IGN. Retrieved on 2005-11-16.
- ^ Dunham, Jeremy. Dragon Quest VIII: Now THIS is what role-playing is all about. IGN. Retrieved on 2005-11-16.
[edit] External links
- Official sites
- Official Dragon Quest VIII North American website
- Official Dragon Quest VIII Website in Japan
- Official Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King European
- Slime Knights (official fan site)
- Unofficial sites
