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| composer = [[Kōichi Sugiyama]]
| composer = [[Kōichi Sugiyama]]
| engine =
| engine =
| released = {{vgrelease|JP=November 27, 2004|NA=November 15, 2005|AUS=April 12, 2006<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/dragonwarrior8/similar.html?mode=versions | title=Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King for PlayStation 2 | accessdate=July 10, 2008 | publisher=[[GameSpot]]}}</ref>}}{{vgrelease|EU=April 13, 2006}}
| released = {{vgrelease|JP=November 27, 2004|NA=November 15, 2005|AUS=April 12, 2006}}{{vgrelease|EU=April 13, 2006}}
| genre = [[Console role-playing game]]
| genre = [[Console role-playing game]]
| modes = [[Single-player]]
| modes = [[Single-player]]
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}}
}}
'''''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''&nbsp;?) is the eighth installment in the ''[[Dragon Quest (series)|Dragon Quest]]'' series, developed by Level-5 and published by [[Square Enix]] for the PlayStation 2 video game console.  
'''''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''&nbsp;?) is the eighth installment in the ''[[Dragon Quest (series)|Dragon Quest]]'' series, developed by Level-5 and published by [[Square Enix]] for the PlayStation 2 video game console.  
==Gameplay==
===New Features===
* The game uses a over-the-shoulder 3-D display on all maps, replacing the traditional bird's-eye view. It can optionally be switched to a first-person view. Only the lead character is displayed in the map view, however. The lead character may be swapped though.
* There is an automap feature in dungeons, and complete maps of all towns. The locations and contents of chests are marked on the map. Also, it is possible to browse the inventory of the shops while looking at the town map.
* Characters are shown holding their equipped weapons, in an appropriate posture. In a few cases, the character's displayed clothing will change to reflect their other equipment, although it usually stays the same.
* The buildings in a town are visible even from the overworld view.
* Random encounters are suppressed as long as the party is on a road.
* Chests and special encounters with [[monster taming|tameable monsters]] can be found in the overworld.
* The [[day-night cycle]] of games ''III'', ''IV'', and ''V'' is restored. Time now passes even in towns, and the party can use an [[inn]] to switch from day to night, as well as vice-versa. Thus, there is no longer a [[Darkness Lamp]], or related spells.
* [[Party conversation]]s return from the previous installment, but it is now possible to either select which party member to talk to, or cycle through them in order.
* The battle screens are shown as a 3-D view, with shifting camera angles to display the current combatant. The party appears in the battle screen, unlike previous installments. At the end of the battle, an animation of the surviving party members putting away their weapons is played.
===Tension system===
There is a new ''Dragon Ball''-inspired [[tension]] system, allowing combatants to spend a turn building up "tension," which will increase the power level of their next attack or spell. Tension can be built up repeatedly, increasing attack power still further. There is a new [[party AI]] option to focus on using high-tension attacks, replacing the old "Leave it to me" option. Tension can be used to overcome a monster's resistance to physical or elemental attacks.
Attempting to reach the fourth, "super-high tension" state has a chance of failure, depending on the character's level. Also, some monsters are able to instantly reach the third stage of tension, and will then repeatedly attempt to reach the super-high level.
===Skill system===
Each character has five [[skill]] values that can increase during the course of the game; three are associated with the character's three favored weapon types, one with unarmed combat, and one with the character's special ability. Skill points awarded on level-up, or when using a skill [[seed]], can be distributed among the five skills by the player. Increasing a skill beyond certain fixed levels grants additional powers and bonuses to statistics when the player is using an appropriate type of weapon.
===Alchemy===
At a certain point in the game, the party receives an [[Alchemy Pot]]. This device can be used to combine two items into a third (usually more powerful) item following various [[Alchemy recipe|recipes]]. The combination takes a certain amount of time, depending on the power of the combined item and the level of the pot. This "time" only advances as the wagon moves, on the overworld. Later in the game, the pot is upgraded to hold three items, allowing additional, even more powerful recipes.
An invalid recipe will be rejected immediately without consuming the items, allowing the player to experiment to find new recipes. In the Bonus Dungeon, the player gains a pot that can mix items instantly.
New recipes (or clues to new recipes) are revealed in various books and scraps of paper found throughout the game. All recipes the player has discovered are listed in a "recipe book" accessed through the alchemy menu; recipes which are only partially known (from a clue) will have some item names replaced with "????."
=== Vehicles ===
[[Vehicle]]s are shown at their actual size, and the world map is scaled down appropriately when they are in use.
The [[ship]] has a bridge which it uses to dock with the land, and its altitude can be changed to match the shorter cliffs, if necessary.
The other available vehicles are a Sabrecat steed (summoned with a magic bell), which moves much faster than the hero, allowing the party to move further between random encounters (although they still occur at the same rate), and a feather, which allows the party to turn into birds.
Although the party has a [[wagon]] throughout the game, it has no effect on gameplay, since the party is essentially fixed throughout the game. Also, it is not normally shown on the display.


==Characters==
==Characters==
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*[[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
*[[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


==Story==
==Plot==
{{Spoilers}}
===Hunting for Dhoulmagus===
===Hunting for Dhoulmagus===
''Dragon Quest VIII'' begins when the evil jester Dhoulmagus steals a magical sceptre from Trodain Castle. With this powerful sceptre, he transforms the inhabitants of Trodain into plant-like statues, as well as changing the king into a toad-like monster and the princess into a horse, while covering the majority of the castle in large, green magical thorns. 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 wand-waving bimbo named Jessica, 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.
''Dragon Quest VIII'' begins when the evil jester Dhoulmagus steals a magical sceptre from Trodain Castle. With this powerful sceptre, he transforms the inhabitants of Trodain into plant-like statues, as well as changing the king into a toad-like monster and the princess into a horse, while covering the majority of the castle in large, green magical thorns. 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 wand-waving bimbo named Jessica, 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.
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===Alternate Ending===
===Alternate Ending===
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 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 afterward, 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.
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 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 afterward, 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.
{{Endspoiler}}


==Development==
==Development==
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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.
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.


==New Features==
==References==
 
* The game uses a over-the-shoulder 3-D display on all maps, replacing the traditional bird's-eye view. It can optionally be switched to a first-person view. Only the lead character is displayed in the map view, however. The lead character may be swapped though.
* There is an automap feature in dungeons, and complete maps of all towns. The locations and contents of chests are marked on the map. Also, it is possible to browse the inventory of the shops while looking at the town map.
* Characters are shown holding their equipped weapons, in an appropriate posture. In a few cases, the character's displayed clothing will change to reflect their other equipment, although it usually stays the same.
* The buildings in a town are visible even from the overworld view.
* Random encounters are suppressed as long as the party is on a road.
* Chests and special encounters with [[monster taming|tameable monsters]] can be found in the overworld.
* The [[day-night cycle]] of games ''III'', ''IV'', and ''V'' is restored. Time now passes even in towns, and the party can use an [[inn]] to switch from day to night, as well as vice-versa. Thus, there is no longer a [[Darkness Lamp]], or related spells.
* [[Party conversation]]s return from the previous installment, but it is now possible to either select which party member to talk to, or cycle through them in order.
* The battle screens are shown as a 3-D view, with shifting camera angles to display the current combatant. The party appears in the battle screen, unlike previous installments. At the end of the battle, an animation of the surviving party members putting away their weapons is played.
 
===Tension system===
 
There is a new ''Dragon Ball''-inspired [[tension]] system, allowing combatants to spend a turn building up "tension," which will increase the power level of their next attack or spell. Tension can be built up repeatedly, increasing attack power still further. There is a new [[party AI]] option to focus on using high-tension attacks, replacing the old "Leave it to me" option. Tension can be used to overcome a monster's resistance to physical or elemental attacks.
 
Attempting to reach the fourth, "super-high tension" state has a chance of failure, depending on the character's level. Also, some monsters are able to instantly reach the third stage of tension, and will then repeatedly attempt to reach the super-high level.
 
===Skill system===
 
Each character has five [[skill]] values that can increase during the course of the game; three are associated with the character's three favored weapon types, one with unarmed combat, and one with the character's special ability. Skill points awarded on level-up, or when using a skill [[seed]], can be distributed among the five skills by the player. Increasing a skill beyond certain fixed levels grants additional powers and bonuses to statistics when the player is using an appropriate type of weapon.
 
===Alchemy===
 
At a certain point in the game, the party receives an [[Alchemy Pot]]. This device can be used to combine two items into a third (usually more powerful) item following various [[Alchemy recipe|recipes]]. The combination takes a certain amount of time, depending on the power of the combined item and the level of the pot. This "time" only advances as the wagon moves, on the overworld. Later in the game, the pot is upgraded to hold three items, allowing additional, even more powerful recipes.
 
An invalid recipe will be rejected immediately without consuming the items, allowing the player to experiment to find new recipes. In the Bonus Dungeon, the player gains a pot that can mix items instantly.
 
New recipes (or clues to new recipes) are revealed in various books and scraps of paper found throughout the game. All recipes the player has discovered are listed in a "recipe book" accessed through the alchemy menu; recipes which are only partially known (from a clue) will have some item names replaced with "????."
 
== Vehicles ==
 
[[Vehicle]]s are shown at their actual size, and the world map is scaled down appropriately when they are in use.
 
The [[ship]] has a bridge which it uses to dock with the land, and its altitude can be changed to match the shorter cliffs, if necessary.
 
The other available vehicles are a Sabrecat steed (summoned with a magic bell), which moves much faster than the hero, allowing the party to move further between random encounters (although they still occur at the same rate), and a feather, which allows the party to turn into birds.
 
Although the party has a [[wagon]] throughout the game, it has no effect on gameplay, since the party is essentially fixed throughout the game. Also, it is not normally shown on the display.
 
<br />
 
{{Wikipedia|Dragon Warrior VIII}}
{{Wikipedia|Dragon Warrior VIII}}
{{Wikipedia-ja|ドラゴンクエストVIII_空と海と大地と呪われし姫君}}
{{Wikipedia-ja|ドラゴンクエストVIII_空と海と大地と呪われし姫君}}
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{{Dragon Quest series}}
{{Dragon Quest series}}
[[Category:Main series games]]
[[Category:Main series games]]
[[Category:Dragon Quest VIII]]
[[Category:Articles on Wikipedia]]
Retrieved from "https://dragon-quest.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/33077"