Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Review

Visuals 9/10
Gameplay 10/10
Control 9/10
Sound 10/10
Replay Value  9/10
Impact Rating 10/10
Overall Rating 95/100

To the North American market, when it comes to RPG’s, there has always been one big name: Square. Ever since the initial release of Final Fantasy, and eventually with their blockbuster hit they would become synonymous with the term RPG. Yet the picture in Japan paints a completely different story. There a game from the company Enix called Dragon Quest rules the day, where popularity has risen to the point where the games cannot be released on a work day as too many call in sick. Yet in North America, despite many of the games seven previous titles the series never caught on except to a few diehards. Will part eight be able to break that curse, or is it doomed to obscurity once again?

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (DQVIII from this point) places you in the role of Eight (named just like every other hero, after the numbered installment of the game…don’t worry you change the name to anything you’d like) who has been charged as the retainer of the king. Of course something is horribly wrong with King Trode; he has been transformed into a hideous creature by the Evil Jester Dhoulmagus. To top it all off, his lovely daughter Medea has also been transformed, although in a horse more befitting of her beauty. The game begins on your way to a little town called Farebury in which you are looking for leads to where Dhoulmagus would be hiding. This sets the mood for the course of your adventure, an epic quest to remove a curse upon the king, and put an end to Dhoulmagus’ plot before it’s too late.

DQVIII plays much like every other RPG in the series. You navigate an overworld map to reach various towns and dungeons, and you encounter random battles. Towns are filled with shops, inn’s and churches to revive your party members (for a cost of course), remove curses, and save the game. All in all pretty standard RPG fare. The battles in the game are menu based allowing you to choose from fight, spells, abilities for skills related to your weapon, and new to this entry, Psyche Up which allows you to skip your turn in exchange for a stronger attack the next. You can continuously Psyche Up increasing your tension before unleashing a massive strike. Now before all you die hard DQ fans start writing your angry letters, I do realize that the skill has been available before, but as exactly that, a skill, not a generic command available from the get go.

So that all sounds pretty standard, why is the Dragon Quest series so popular in Japan? Well the battle system does have a few nifty features. Firstly is the variety of weapon classes. Using a sword will attack a single foe, yet using a whip will strike all foes in a single grouping (enemies are grouped together dependant on class). Better yet, the astounding boomerang will attack all enemies on screen with one blow. This adds an extra layer of depth not really present in the Final Fantasy games as you gauge which enemies to attack with which weapons for the quickest win. Leveling up in DQVIII also offers something new from past entries, skill points. Every level will earn you skill points which can be pumped into your available weapon classes or into each characters specialty class such as courage.

Wait you say, what of the job class system! That is what I managed my skills with before! Unfortunately the job class system is gone from this entry in the series. This offers some advantages as you immediately begin gaining skills from the outset of the adventure, but it is definitely a disappointment for fans of the series (oh job system how I miss thee!).

Of course this doesn’t mean the games DQ roots have been ignored. You will be faced with favorites such as slimes of all sorts, drakees, and imps. Mini medals are abundant throughout the lands, and yes you still ransack people’s furniture in your attempts to discover them. This game is very much a Dragon Quest title at its roots.

Well enough about the game system because the graphics are by far the largest change to the Dragon Quest series. Developed by Level 5, masters of cel-shading, Dragon Quest VIII is one of the most astounding looking titles to date on any console. This is a huge turn from Dragon Quest VII which was one of the ugliest games the PS1 had to offer (at least while in the overworld). The character models designed after Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball fame) concepts are as detailed as can be. The characters are full of emotion, and you can’t help but grow attached to your characters as their faces smile back at your or twist into a wrathful glare. Personality most definitely is not lacking in this game. Of course the character models aren’t all there is too this games beauty. The actual world doesn’t use a cel-shading technique which gives an odd cartoon in a real world look to it. Yet the world itself is decidedly cartoonish in nature and as such everything works itself together brilliantly. The world is gorgeously modeled, and the draw distance is absolutely incredible. It’s surprising that Level 5 was able to pull this kind of detail with the minimal amount of memory available on the PS2.

Control is a blessing especially after past RPG outings. The game gives you free control of the camera, allows you to enter a first person view mode, and you also have immediate access to a map, your sub menu, an action button, and a party view in which you can talk to your members in an attempt to understand your next move. Controls are simple, yet intuitive, and never once will you struggle against them either in battle or on the world map.

Sound in the game is a brilliant blend of old and new. The overture theme of course returns once again (never missed a DQ game with the exception of part III) to usher in the feeling that you are truly playing a new DQ game. The menu music is the same as it’s ever been, selection sounds are exactly as they have been since the NES and still give you a sense of nostalgia as you play. Of course you can’t use completely old sounds and music for everything so the game has tons of brand new compositions which feel like they’ve been with you all along. Never once will you find yourself reaching for the remote to turn it down (turn it up perhaps though). Battle sounds and music are just as great as the town and overworld themes and sounds. The nostalgic feel returns in full force within battle where you brandish your weapons only to hear the return of the traditional hot or miss sound. A new addition for the series is the use of voice acting.  Voice acting is generally a very hit or miss ordeal, but the voice acting in this game is absolutely refreshing.  The voice actors are all very talented and really do make you feel like the characters themselves have a voice.  The speech uses a form of old English giving it a sort of British feel to it, and every character, even the NPC’s have incredible voice talent.  The team could not have done a better job with the sound in this RPG catering to both new fans and old alike.

Essentially, what it all boils down to is that we have the eighth installment in the Dragon Quest franchise, but for once the game has everything it needs to make itself a smash hit with North American audiences. The story is refreshing in its depth mixed with simplicity, the graphics are amongst the best in any RPG yet, and the gameplay is a mix of old and new that should be fitting of any RPG player. Also, as with every DQ title, you’ll get a nice helping of comedy along with the storyline as well.  Oh and weighing in at around 90 hours, you’ll definitely be getting your moneys worth. If you could only own one RPG this year, this is the one because it is by far, the best RPG of the current console generation, if not the best RPG you will ever play. Buy it for the Final Fantasy XII demo, stay for the Dragon Quest and experience what the Japanese have been raving about for years now.

BEST FEATURE – The most graphically stunning RPG yet

WORST FEATURE – The job system is gone sadly

Paul Nunes, Gaming-Media Staff