Video games - Dragon Quest VIII

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	Video games - Dragon Quest VIII

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Japanese language: ドラゴンクエストVIII Doragon Kuesuto VIII) is the eighth installment of the popular Dragon Quest series of role playing games from Square Enix. It was developed by Level-5, who also worked on the Dark Cloud
series for the Sony PlayStation 2. Its full Japanese title is Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi (Japanese: 空と海と大地と呪われし姫君 - meaning 'Sky, Ocean, Earth and a Cursed Princess'). 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 Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle in Europe) in that it has cel-shaded textures for the characters and scenery. Dragon Quest VIIIs 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, the classic attack and magic sounds, and the victory riff are all brought back from previous games.

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.

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. 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 will also become the first Dragon Quest game to be released in Europe in April 2006, under the title Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King. The European version will not come with a Final Fantasy XII demo.

As a nod to the game's high fantasy roots, the translation is done in British English and the voice actors for most major characters are also British. This is especially noticeable in the character of Yangus, who speaks with a Cockney accent and occasionally uses Cockney rhyming slang.
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 and turns 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 feisty, exhibitionistic mage named Jessica, a scarred, inarticulate bandit named Yangus, and Angelo, a rapier-wielding Templar knight with a markedly secular love for the ladies.

Dragon Quest VIII is a very long game, typical of the series; it can take upwards of sixty hours to complete the journey, even if the player chooses to disregard the myriad secrets the game has to offer. Players can collect 115 medals scattered across the planet, which are redeemable for prizes at a mysterious castle. They can also concoct new items via the 'alchemy pot', a device which takes two (or three) items and spits out a new, improved one after a certain period of time. As is increasingly commonplace in modern RPGs (albeit, a tradition which appears to be inspired from Dragon Quest V
), certain monsters can be captured and made to battle in a Monster Arena. Jessica and her ample bosom will appear in new outfits depending on her equipment.

And if players are willing to explore the extra dungeon after the game's initial closing, more surprises await...
Character attributes
Hero: Well-rounded character who can learn basic magic in addition to being one of the strongest physical fighters on the player's team. Mostly relies on Abilities and attacking, with a few basic Spells. His boomerangs hit all enemies. Equips: Swords, Spears, Boomerangs, Fisticuffs

Special Attribute: Courage

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Video games - Dragon Quest VIII

Story

Character attributes

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