Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King: Difference between revisions

''Dragon Quest VIII'' begins when the evil jester [[Dhoulmagus]] steals a [[Godbird sceptre|magical sceptre]] from [[Trodain]] Castle. With this powerful sceptre, he transforms the inhabitants of Trodain into plant-like statues, as well as changing the [[Trode|king]] into a toad-like monster and the [[Princess Medea|princess]] into a horse, while covering the majority of the castle in large, green magical thorns. The {{Hero 8}}, 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 wand-waving tomboy named [[Jessica Albert]], and [[Angelo]], a rapier-wielding Templar Knight and self-proclaimed ladies' man. 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 seven 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 is missing. They rush over to Dominico's estate, only to see that Rhapthorne has succeeded in mortally wounding David after taking control of Dominico's dog Sir Leopold as his next host. After Rhapthorne flees, David utteres 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]] (the new abbot, and Angelo's half-brother) enters, and frames the party for attempting to assassinate the Lord High Priest, and has them exiled to [[Purgatory Island]]. Marcello picks up the Sceptre, but manages to resist Lord Rhapthorne's evil influence. He assumes his position of the Lord High Priest thereafter.

The party manages to escape from [[Purgatory Island]], returning to face Marcello on the Holy Isle of [[Neos]], and defeats 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 raises 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]] calls 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.

Seven 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 is 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, where the player defeats Rhapthorne again. In the alternate ending, the Hero is revealed as the son of the lost Prince [[Eltrio]] of Argonia. His mother was a Dragovian maiden who escaped to the human world and met [[Clavius]]' older brother, but her father did not agree to the relationship and took her home. Following after, the Prince died just short of the Dragovian homeland. The hero was born shortly afterwards, but sentenced to exile in the human world, as his birth took the life of his mother.  Ashamed for his actions, the maiden's father went with his only surviving kin, as the mouse {{Munchie}}. Upon defeating the Dragovian lord, who had become mad after trying to abandon his human form, gives the Hero his father's ring. Clavius, King of Argonia and Prince Charmles' father, acknowledges the hero's right to marry the Princess after seeing the ring, which allows him to finally feel at peace with his lost brother. The two are wed at Savella Cathedral, much to the scorn of Charmles, who is finally confronted by his father over his initiation test earlier in the story. The newlywed couple come out of the cathedral together and embrace each other, much to the surprise of the other party members. They return to Trodain in the same fashion as the first ending, and live happily ever after.

*{{Hero 8}} - 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, usually rides in his right coat pocket.

*[[Yangus]] - Yangus is a former bandit who journeys with the Hero and King Trode. Like the hero, he is a party member from the start of the game.

*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. During parts of the game, if you press the Select button, King Trode will give you helpful advice.

*[[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. She and the Hero are close childhood friends.

*Lord [[Rhapthorne]] - Lord Rhapthorne is the main antagonist who is heard, but isn't seen until the end of the game. His spirit was trapped in the Trodain sceptre that Dhoulmagus possessed in the beginning of the game. Lord Rhapthorne took control of whoever possessed the sceptre which was first Dhoulmagus, then Jessica, then a fearsome pet dog named Sir Leopold until he killed each heir of the seven sages to release his energy and give himself his own body.

*[[Red]] - Red is a thief who was an old mate of Yangus. She is interested in old, precious treasures. In the {{3DS}} version, she joins the party in hopes of finding valuable loot after being disappointed by a certain pirate's treasure.

*[[Morrie]] Mozzarella - Morrie is a mysterious, energetic older gentleman who runs the Monster Arena. On {{3DS}}, he is the sole optional party member. He can join the group if the Hero manages to impress him, beating Rank S.

*A Sabrecat steed replaces the traditional [[Flying Carpet]], and is unlocked via a sidequest at [[Chateau Felix]]. It moves much faster than the Hero, allowing the party to move further between random encounters (although they still occur at the same rate).

Unlike the original Japanese version, the North American and European localizations of the game include voice acting in nearly all cutscenes. The game nevertheless retains the series' tradition of allowing the player to name the lead character, avoiding issues by having the voice acting script skip all incidences of the Hero's name by use of stand-in monikers and occasionally replacing the name with Yangus' nickname for the Hero, "Guv'" (as in "governor," pronounced with a Cockney accent). ''Dragon Quest VIII'' also marks the first time that no content was censored for the international release. The English translation is credited to Plus Alpha Translations and AltJapan.

*New scenarios to get more context to the {{Hero 8}} and [[Princess Medea|Medea]]'s relationship, and [[Dhoulmagus]]'s original motives.

*A button on the lower screen allows players to access a variety of useful spells and items like [[Zoom]], [[Baumren's bell]] or the [[Alchemy pot]] much faster.

*The Hero keeps his bandana when going into high-[[tension]] mode, losing the super saiyan hair.