Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Genre : RPG
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Content Descriptors
- Alcohol Reference
- Fantasy Violence
- Mild Language
- Simulated Gambling
- Suggestive Themes
Interactive Elements
No Interactive Elements
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NOTE: Special Edition disc including the demo for Final Fantasy XII available by keeping or buying this game only. The demo disc will not come with rental.
Dragon Quest, previously known as Dragon Warrior, is the latest installment in the most popular Japanese RPG ever, now on PS2 for the first time! A mysterious court jester named Dhoulmagus recovered an ancient forbidden scepter, and used it to curse the entire kingdom. The king and princess were turned into hideous beasts, and the people were all transformed into thorns. The curse left only one person untouched, a young guardsman played by you. Now you must set forth on an epic journey to save the king and your country, and lift the curse of the evil jester. Take up your sword and explore a seemingly limitless world - your Dragon Quest has begun!
Dragon Quest, previously known as Dragon Warrior, is the latest installment in the most popular Japanese RPG ever, now on PS2 for the first time! A mysterious court jester named Dhoulmagus recovered an ancient forbidden scepter, and used it to curse the entire kingdom. The king and princess were turned into hideous beasts, and the people were all transformed into thorns. The curse left only one person untouched, a young guardsman played by you. Now you must set forth on an epic journey to save the king and your country, and lift the curse of the evil jester. Take up your sword and explore a seemingly limitless world - your Dragon Quest has begun!
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User Ratings (3095)
User Reviews (70)
9
Dragon Quest is a must have RPG
Having played DW games since the NES days I had a fair idea as to how the controls would handle. Being the game is the first fully 3-D game and with the addition of the Cel-shading I was wondering how this game would handle. The character movement is sharp and the response time for the commands is just right. I found that the controls have a fluid feel and the menu and such is well laid out. The Menu has been redefined and it takes some getting used to but after a half hour it was like second nature to me. Controls Rating = B+<br>Next up Visuals. The game looks beautiful. This is some of the best cel-shading I have ever seen in a game. The look and feel of the world is breathtaking. One of the neat features is the ability to go into first person viewing and take a look at your surroundings. I highly recommend running around the lush environment and taking peeks at all there is to see. Visual Rating = A+<br>Voice Acting. Superb from what I have seen so far. This is also the First Dragon Quest game to have voice acting and it is spot on. Pleasant voices seem to capture the emotion of the characters speaking. Voice Acting = A<br>Interest value. This game has set the stage for a mystery or two. The opening intro leaves a lot of question to be answered and during the first mission to the waterfall cavern still much is left out in the open. After a couple hours the game still has not really explained the relationship to the other members in your party. I believe these relationships will be slowly introduced as time goes on though. Interest Value = B-<br>Overall rating. So far this game is an exceptional addition to the Dragon Quest series. I am willing to bet this will be trumpeted as one of the best games in the series. Square-Enix has put together a exceptional game and it should attract fans young and old. I highly recommend picking this game up! Overall Rating = A-
(member since 2006)
reviewed on 4/27/06
8
Excellent, but not without flaws
The Good:<br>1) Incredibly engaging gameplay and a enjoyable storyline thats easy to follow<br>2) Fun and cartoony graphics<br>3) Easy to jump right in without concerning oneself with becoming immersed in the universe first (a la Morrowind)<br>4) It's not too repetitive, and the skills have a lot of variety.<br><br>The Bad:<br>1)It's difficult to put down, as you'll quickly forget what you were doing and spend hours trying to remember (not a huge deal for a rental, though)<br>2)It's sometimes neccisary to powerlevel yourself for hours just to beat that one obnoxious boss(not unlike some final fantasy games I recall)<br>3) The biggest clincher for me was that it was impossible to get more than two of the 'best' weapons because of the limited number of the high end components.
(member since 2006)
reviewed on 6/25/06
9
Old School, maybe, but it feels so new!
I had seen tv commercials for this game and I just kinda shrugged it off. Looked like DBZ graphics, eh why did I care. But then I read the reviews for it, and it felt like I should really give this a try. Well, in short, it was worth it. This is old school perfection of rpgs. If you like 'em that way, then here's your game.<br><br>Graphics - 10<br>Clear cut, cell shaded, and the good old style of DBZ graphics. They were pulled off very nicely, and even the bosses and baddies have their own unique styles to them.<br><br>Sound - 8<br>Dragonquest 8 delivers what ALMOST every rpg should have: an orchestral soundtrack. You can just feel more emotion flowing through it whenever you are doing those final battles, or have beaten the game. The voices are also very good, and so overall this was a pretty good soundtrack and voicetrack.<br><br>Plot - 10<br>A king and his kingdom have become cursed. You, playing as the unspoken main character, are on a quest with the king, his cursed daughter (who has been turned into a horse), and a bandit friend, to restore the kingdom to it's once former glory. Along the way, more friends, and yes, more plot twists than you can shake a stick at.<br><br>Gameplay - 8<br>Turn-based goodness. The usual style, but one very interesting aspect added to the style is that your characters are not limited to one style of weapon fighting. Instead, every character has 4 styles of fighting (with the final style always being their fists), and you can level up the style of your choice. Overall, it's done pretty well, however it just sometimes did feel like it was too easy, then suddenly got too hard. But pretty solid.<br><br>Overall - 9<br>Go try it. It really is quite worth it. Once you start, you'll be engrossed like I was, rushing home from school to see what happened next. Just remember this: IT WILL SUCK YOUR SOUL AWAY! XD
(member since 2006)
reviewed on 4/22/06
9
A great game.
Game play 10/10<br>My favorite part of ANY game, was the battles, and this really did the trick to me. The battles were random encounters that occurred anywhere in the world except towns. If you've ever played any other Dragon Quest, there almost exactly like that except you saw your characters attacking. The world map was huge, with so many places to explore, I couldn't have been happier. But that didn't make it so it took a long time to get to a place half way around the world, since you had a spell that could teleport you to any important place you'd visited in the past.<br><br>Story 6/10<br>This is where the game failed in my opinion. It just lacked any kind of serious story to keep the player going, and there were certainly no twists that made the game make up for this. But it didn't screw up bad enough that it didn't recover.<br><br>Sound 10/10<br>All the music in Dragon Quest VIII was orchestrated, which was a big okay from me, being a fan of that kind of music. This also kept me drawn to the game, so much so that I couldn't get enough of the music and almost had me buying some kind of soundtrack.<br><br>UI/Control 8/10<br>The UI and controls were good, except that you had to go through many of your party members inventory just to find that one particular object, which was very annoying. I also had some troubles getting to things like the options menu.<br><br>Overall 9/10<br>This game is definitely worth buying, especially if your a die hard RPG fan!
(member since 2006)
reviewed on 4/12/06
9
GREAT Game
For me, this was one of those games that I was sad when I had finished. Great story, great character development and the game play was phenomenal. Many many hours of game play and side quests. I'd recommend this game to anyone, in a heartbeat.
(member since 2004)
reviewed on 9/6/06
9
Next to perfection
Easy to pick up & go while detailed enough in gameplay aspects to keep you hooked instantly. The graphics are top notch and a definate boost for cel shading. Crisp, clean control and a brilliant storyline with all the usual RPG elements. The best PS2 rpg since FFX and should definately hold you over untill FFXII comes out. Must try this one out to believe.
(member since 2006)
reviewed on 4/16/06
10
Back into the Mix!
Well I haven't played a DQ(DragonWarrior)game since it was on the nes and I was really looking forward to getting it but I didnt.Hearing about how it feels like its still on the nes and I wasn't to fond of the DBZ like graphics. But it came in the mail after being influenced by friends to rent it.I love it I don't mind the graphics now cause I just got used to them the story may not compare to FF but it brings its own storytelling style to the mix. Also the land is enormous I couldn't put it down when it came.I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good rpg that is not to complicated and is just right. But be warned new style rpg players might not catch onto the battle system as quickly as others but once you've got the hang of it clocks in about a month or more of fun!
(member since 2006)
reviewed on 7/6/06
9
Cliche in a Good Way
The Dragon Quest series is widely popular in Japan, even more popular than Final Fantasy. So when a series that hasn't been released in the US for several years finally makes a return you know it's going to be good. In fact it was better than good it was near perfect. The story of DQ is very cliche, evil emperor, a kind, a reluctant hero blah blah. It's nothing new but it's just interesting enough to push the story along. What makes this game so good is the scale the world you travel in is built apon. There are basically no boundaries, you can literally venture off the main map for hours without invisible boarderes blocking you. Another positive are the battles, the battles are turn based but they are fast and fun. Leveling up is something you wont mind doing for once. There are tons of wacky characters, and there are plenty upgradeable weapons, items and armor.<br><br>I guess the only remaining downside is you may or may not like art choice for the game. If you don't like Dragonball then you probably wont like the character and art design. one more little negative is the game at first is a little slow moving and may take a little bit to get into the flow of things. Other than that this game is amazing. Everyone should give this game a chance so that more DQ games will see their way over to the US.
(member since 2005)
reviewed on 6/23/06
9
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Wow, this game is great. One of the best RPG's that I have ever played. It has everything that a good game needs. Battling, weapons, armor, strategy, and even an awesome storyline. It's kind of slow at the start, but once the action starts it keeps going. It all starts with this guy named Dhoulmagus, he takes this scepter that is containing a great evil, I won't tell you what is is though. The king and his daughter were cursed and they join you as you try to catch Dhoulmagus, along the way you will get new weapons, armor, and skills. You even get new partners and battle different beasts as you travel on. If you are looking for a game that will keep you busy then this is it. This game is fun and has it's hard points. Just some training and hard work and you can do anything is this game. Hope you enjoy it.
(member since 2005)
reviewed on 6/18/06
10
A Dynamite RPG, DBZ in a D & D World
I've heard of the Dragon Quest series for years. Finally I get to play it and the Game is Sheer perfection. It has it's running gags,"Cor Blimey!!", Serious action, and even a DBZ edge to it, mostly because of the look of the characters(Thanks, Mr. Toriyama). This game will pull NO punches! You have to stay on top of all your stats, while running across the countryside with VERY LIITLE HP left, You will breath a sigh of relief when out of the dust you see, an INN. The action is non stop and with the addition of Alchemy, the experiments to make new items and equipment never ends. To make a Long story short, from beginning to end, DQ8 is one of the greatest RPG to date! So get packed and head out Guv!
(member since 2003)
reviewed on 5/29/06
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