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, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix Co., Ltd. |
| Series | Dragon Quest series |
| Release date(s) | JP November 27, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) CERO: All ages PEGI: 12+ OFLC: PG USK: 6+ ō |
| 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 Co., Ltd. (formerly the Enix Corporation). It was developed by Level 5, Inc., 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, Akihiro Hino directed the project 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 Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII and Dragon Quest III.[1]
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[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.
[edit] Battle sequence
As the Hero walks about in fields and dungeons, random turn-based battles can occur. Upon entering the battle mode, the Hero's allies appear beside him. The battles in Dragon Quest VIII follow the same structure as previous Dragon Quest games. From a first-person perspective of the enemies facing the player in-line, the player chooses battle commands for each character. Once the commands are inputted, each combatant conducts their chosen action in accordance to their agility scores, the highest of which act first. Unlike previous games, the camera constantly views and pans the action from different angles, breaking the trend of viewing the battle always from the first person.
In past Dragon Quest games, there were abilities among a few characters and enemies to double attack power on one turn and then strike on the next, inflicting more 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. The tension system allows players to push the damage envelope to new heights never before reached in the Dragon Quest universe.
[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.
Hero: (主人公 Shujinkou?) 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: (ヤンガス Yangasu?) The stoutly-built Yangus is a 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: (ゼシカ・アルバート Zeshika Arubaato?) 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 at skill level 30 to allow her to equip certain Swords.
- 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.
Angelo (ククール Kukuuru?): 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] Equipment and treasure
Finding valuable weapons and artifacts has always been a hallmark of Dragon Quest games. The player can guide the team through the different corners of the world to acquire items from dungeons and from people. The battle appearance of the characters can be customized by equipping different weapons and shields. Jessica is able to change her clothing when equipping certain armor or combination of items.
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 rare artifacts. With the introduction of the Alchemy pot, players can control this process themselves. 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. 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.
[edit] Plot and 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 thorny plants, as well as changing the king into a toad-like monster and the princess into a horse. 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, exhibitionistic mage named Jessica; and Angelo, a rapier-wielding Templar knight with a markedly secular love for the ladies.
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 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. Marcello picks up the sceptre but resists Rhapthorne's evil influence. He kills the Lord High Priest and assumes his position thereafter. The party manages to escape prison, 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 this alternate ending, the hero is revealed as the lost prince of Argonia. This intimates that he is destined to marry Princess Medea. Clavius, king of Argonia and Prince Charmles' father, acknowledges the hero's right to marry the Princess and the two are wed at Savella Cathedral. The newly wed couple come out of the cathedral together and embrace each other, much to the surprise of the party. They return to Trodain in the same fashion as the first ending and live happily ever after.
[edit] Characters
- Hero: (主人公 Shujinkō?)
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: (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. Out of respect and admiration, as well as gratitude for saving his life, Yangus refers to the Hero as "Guv."
- 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.
- Angelo (ククール 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.
- 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.
- Dhoulmagus (ドルマゲス Dorumagesu?)
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.
[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 localizations.
- 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).
[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] By January 31, 2006, total worldwide shipments of Dragon Quest VIII surpased 4 million, of which over 430,000 were from the North American release.[3]
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.
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.[4] 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 PlayStation 2 that 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.
[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.
- 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. 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
- 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) - [Eastern Tower, Heavenly Dais, Rydon's Tower, etc.]
- Reminiscence ~ Go Topo Go!! (3:05) - [Controlling 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) - [Moonshadow World]
- Memories of an Ancient Ocean (4:17) - [Travelling by Ship]
- Stalked by Fear (1:27)
- Ruins of Darkness (1:55) - [Dark Ruins, World of Darkness]
- Sanctuary (3:05)
- Heavenly Flight (2:51) - [Travelling by the Godbird Soulstone]
- Nearing Our Destiny (3:40) - [Black Citadel]
- Dhoulmagus ~ Great Battle in the Vast Sky (7:11)
- Battle in the Heavens (4:34) - [Final battle against Rhapthorne]
- Sky, Ocean and Earth (6:18) - [Ending Credits]
[edit] References
- ^ Campbell, Colin. Japan Votes on All-Time Top 100. Next Generation. Retrieved on March 3, 2006.
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop. Dragon Quest Ships Triple Platinum. IGN. Retrieved on November 16, 2005.
- ^ Niizumi, Hirohiko (2006-01-30). Four million Dragon Quest VIIIs shipped. GameSpot. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
- ^ Dunham, Jeremy. Dragon Quest VIII: Now THIS is what role-playing is all about. IGN. Retrieved on November 16, 2005.
[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 North American Fan Community
- Unofficial sites
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