Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

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Dragon Quest VIII (ドラゴンクエストVIII 空と海と大地と呪われし姫君 Dragon Quest VIII Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi, Dragon Quest VIII: The Sky, the Ocean, the Earth, and the Cursed Princess) is the eighth installment in the Dragon Quest series, developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was also later released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015.

Plot

Warning: Spoilers!
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Yangus, Medea, Trode, Munchie and the Hero

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 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 party. 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 party to find the Kran Spinels to aid in warding off Jessica. Once the party 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 party 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 party 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 party 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.

Characters

The main characters of Dragon Quest VIII.

Playable Characters

  • Hero - 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.
  • Jessica Albert - A voluptuous, short-tempered, and tomboyish sorceress born to a wealthy family in the town of Alexandria, and the third party member. She seeks to avenge her brother Alistair, who is slain by Dhoulmagus.
  • Angelo - Angelo is one of Maella Abbey's Templar Knights and the fourth party member. Though unable to live with the strict moral code of the Templars, with his lust for gambling and women, he is faithfully devoted to Abbot Francisco.

Other Characters

  • 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 party by pulling the cart with their supplies. She and the Hero are close childhood friends.
  • Marcello - Marcello is the captain of the Templar Knights who guard the Abbot with their lives. However, Marcello wants more power than was offered, and after he takes over following the Abbot's death, he becomes a partner to High Priest Rolo. With this opening, the resulting events that Marcello causes will set the stage for the fate of the world to be decided.
  • Sir Leopold - He is the spoiled dog of the great magician Dominico. Leopold is let out of his cage by the mistake of a servant, and after the previous wielder of the Sceptre drops it, Leopold picks it up and is taken over by Rhapthorne.
  • Dhoulmagus - Dhoulmagus is a jester who, in order to get revenge on those who insulted him, stole a magical sceptre from Trodain Castle. However, when he attempted to unleash its power, it overwhelmed him, and allowed Rhapthorne to take over his 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.
  • 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.

New Features

Player conveniences

  • Random encounters are suppressed as long as the party is on a road.
  • 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.
  • Party conversations 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.
  • All items now have specific icons and illustrations, which can be viewed in the menu.
  • The player can now select how long they wish to stay at an Inn, changing the time of day.
  • In the event of a full party wipe out, all characters are automatically revived at the last church the game was saved at.

Battle refinements

  • Individual monsters within groups can now be targeted.
  • Wisdom now improves the power of offensive spells, addressing the infamous schism between the usefulness of magic and skills in VI and VII.
  • A new command has been added to the battle menu, Intimidate. The purpose of this option is to end battles quickly by driving monsters off, and each terrorized beast still has a chance to drop an item. Success is dependent on the lead character's level against the monster's, even if a character not in the lead is shown doing the intimidating.

Alchemy

At a certain point in the early 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 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 "????."

Skill system

In addition to learning spells when reaching a certain level, characters are now able to attain new abilities by allocating skill points into one of five categories. The types of skills are the character's three favored weapon, unarmed combat, and the character's innate personality. Skill points are awarded upon leveling up, or when using a Seed of skill], and must be used immediately or the menu will not close.

Because skills are now tied to specific weapon groups, only the abilities learned by developing a character's personality can be used at any time--all other skills are locked to that specific type of weapon. For example, Jessica may use Puff-Puff if she is equipped with a Whip, but not Sudden Death.

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 by up to seven times. There is a new party AI option to focus on using high-tension attacks, replacing the old "Leave it to me" option. Attempting to reach the fourth, "super-high tension" state has a 2/3rds chance of failure. Also, some monsters are able to instantly reach the third stage of tension, and will then repeatedly attempt to reach the super-high level.

Other changes

  • Characters are shown holding their equipped weapons, posture changing on the type of weapon and their state of health and status. In a few cases the character's displayed clothing will change to reflect their equipment, seen most notably with Jessica's outfits.
  • The battle screens are shown in a dynamic view, with shifting camera angles to display the current combatant and the action being performed. 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.
  • The buildings in a town are visible even from the overworld view.
  • 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 Night light, or related spells.
  • Style has been removed.
  • Characters cannot be renamed.
  • Vehicles 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.
  • 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).
  • Although the party has a wagon throughout the game, it has no effect on gameplay other than housing the Alchemy Pot, since the party is essentially fixed throughout the game. Also, it is not normally shown on the display, only appearing during cutscenes or the Party Chat screen.


Development

DQVIII 3DS Art.png

Dragon Quest VIII's designers include Yuji Horii as scenario director, Akira Toriyama as the art designer, Kōichi Sugiyama as the music composer, and the company Level-5 handling development.

Preliminary development began 2001, with Sony's recently released PlayStation 2 console being considered a logical choice thanks to its breakout sales figures and the popularity of the previous iteration of hardware. Troubled by the rough development period of the previous game and its mixed reception from fans, as well as the drastic changes taking place in the industry during the shift to the sixth generation of console hardware, Yuji Horii struggled to form fresh ideas for what would become the eighth game. During this time a representative of Enix, Tatsuhiro Watanabe, approached Akihiro Hino of Level-5 over the possibility of developing the next Dragon Quest, explaining that he was deeply impressed with the quality of Dark Cloud. Hino initially declined the offer, being occupied with the development of Dark Cloud 2 and feeling that such a project was beyond him at the time. However, he and Watanabe would later meet at a drinking party where Hino would list off his several complaints about Dragon Quest VII. Watanabe responded to this by stating that if he loved the series enough to have so many issues with the latest game, then why not make the next one himself? The Watanabe piqued Hino's interest further by stating that Level-5 would have to develop a working prototype to be compared against other candidates.

Hino's competitive spirit was fired up with the context of the selection process being framed as a contest, and Level-5 completed its prototype in December of 2001. When it was presented to Horii for his evaluation, he was shocked by both the quality of the demo and the strong technical understanding of the PlayStation 2 hardware the company demonstrated. Level-5 was selected as the developer of Dragon Quest VIII and Hino was appointed as the director, which caused much surprise among Japanese fans of the time as none of the company's staff had any prior involvement with the series. Regardless Hino and his staff proved themselves to be more than capable developers, with VIII being the only time that a title experienced no delays from its announcement to release.

Being developed by Level-5, with many staffers being fans of the series since their childhood, VIII is a love letter to the entire franchise. Several characters from previous Dragon Quest games make a cameo appearance, among which are the Martial Artist and Warrior from Dragon Quest III; Ragnar, Healie, and Torneko Taloon from Dragon Quest IV; There is even an allusion to the Dragonlord from Dragon Quest present. Additionally, extra care was taken to ensure that the feel of the classic titles was maintained in all aspects, such as using a stopwatch to time how long it takes for the magic sound effect to play after a spell is cast to even the time spent opening and closing the menu compared to the 8-bit titles. Level-5's prowess with the PS2 hardware also invigorated Toriyama and Sugiyama, who were able to rely on the company to realize the more detailed character designs and richer compositions they had prepared. In regards to the former, the staff watched several dozen hours of the anime adaptation of Toriyama's Dragon Ball in preparation for developing the walking, speaking, and battle animations.

Localization

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, a new menu interface, and an extended ending sequence. It was also the first game in the Dragon Quest series to bear the original, Japanese "Dragon Quest" name (rather than "Dragon Warrior") in North America. Dragon Quest's North American name was changed, due to a trademark conflict with the role-playing game DragonQuest, which was published by wargame publisher Simulations Publications in the 1980s until the company's bankruptcy in 1982 and purchase by TSR, Inc., which then published it as an alternate pen-and-paper RPG line to Dungeons & Dragons until 1987.

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 number. Unlike the North American version, the European version does not contain a Final Fantasy XII demo.

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.

Mobile port

Square Enix released a mobile port of Dragon Quest VIII on December 12, 2013 in Japan and on May 29th, 2014 worldwide. This [[Cell phone]) was based on the original Japanese release, so it lacked some features the western fans had come to love from the original release: orchestral soundtrack, voice acting, and the more intricate interface. Some of this version's characteristics and changes compared to the Japanese PS2 version are:

  • Basic phone utility changes.
  • Touch control and other adaptations needed. The text boxes are much simplier and NPCs have a circular interaction area around them, for instance.
  • Locked in portrait mode, cannot be played while on landscape mode.
  • It's not compatible with controllers.
  • Alchemy is instantaneous starting from this version. (The Dragovian reward is now 10 Super Seeds of Skill)
  • Pots and barrels are destroyed on the spot.
  • AI for Hero, as well as the removal of Dragon Soul
  • Skill points don't need to be used immediately upon leveling up.
  • Changes to certain spell and skills, like Pearly Gates using it's animation from the western PS2 release.
  • Trode has been removed from the battle record screen.
  • Unlike the other versions of the game, it is only available in English and French in Europe.

3DS remake

The game was remade for the Nintendo 3DS and released in Japan on August 27, 2015, and in the US and Europe on January 20, 2017.

  • Two new playable characters: Red and Morrie. The former is recruited automatically at certain point in the story, while the later can be obtained after beating Rank S in the Monster Arena.
    • Due to this, the S Rank Battle is delayed until the party defeats a boss in Arcadia.
  • This version has symbol encounters like most 3D Dragon Quest games released after the first Joker game. To compensate for it's technical charge, the overall draw distance for trees and other elements was reduced.
  • Colors are much more saturated than on any other version.
  • Like in the mobile port, alchemy is instantaneous.
  • New scenarios to get more context to the Hero and Princess 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.
  • A side-story with Marcello and Juggerwroth. This sidestory is unlocked very near the end of the main story, and gives party some insight on one of Rhapthorne's strongest followers.
  • A boss-rush type dungeon called Memories Lane, available as a reward from the Lord of the Dragovians. This dungeon contains stronger versions of most of the bosses in the game, and a familiar superboss.
  • A new Monster Arena rank: Rank X. It becomes available after unlocking Morrie.
  • The Japanese release has orchestral soundtrack, by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. The Western release uses midi soundtracks.
  • Japanese voice acting available for the first time.
  • New English lines were recorded where needed (new scenarios, changes like Red's role, etc), and Jessica's VA was replaced due to her original actress leaving the dubbing industry.
  • New ending with a certain lady and some minor additional scenes leading to it were added.
  • New sets of outfits for every playable character.
  • The Hero keeps his bandana when going into high-tension mode, losing the super saiyan hair.
  • Some of the most revealing outfits for Jessica were toned down or altered.
  • Two scenes were toned down by censoring David being forced to eat dog food and Marcello no longer stabbing himself with a dagger to snap himself out of Rhapthorne's control.
  • New Rarefied monsters that only appear under specific conditions, like Cherreevil blossom, Crème caraslime, or Morrimp.
  • A new camera mode is available. There are several sidequests related to it, giving players rare rewards. The last few quests contain a a character from Dragon Quest IX. The game includes a limited photo editor for pictures taken with the new mode.
  • There is DLC equipment in this release, most notably Erdrick's Sword.
  • New items were added. With a couple of the new items, players to ride a silver and a black great sabrecats.
  • Some bosses, skills and spells were re-balanced. The most notable example is the Twin Dragon Lash skill being nerfed considerably.
  • Princess Minnie's rewards are expanded. Some include new weapons and even costumes.
  • A Walking corpse operates a night shop in Arcadia where a [[Seed of skill] can be purchased once every 24 hours in real time.

Trivia

  • VIII is the first, and so far only, entry in the main series to begin with a battle sequence. This is a response to fan criticism of VII's notoriously long prologue.
  • On PS2, DQ VIII had synthesised music in Japan, and orchestral elsewhere. On 3DS, the situation was the opposite: orchestral music in Japan, and synth everywhere else.
  • Angelo cannot be seen in any of the game's box artworks despite joining the party early in the game.

Credits

Core design group
Role Staff
Scenario & game design Yuji Horii
Character & monster design Akira Toriyama
Music composer Kōichi Sugiyama
Director Akihiro Hino
Scenario staff Jin Fujisawa
Atsushi Narita
Amo Kamimura
Shigeki Nakadera
Level-5 staff
Role Staff
Programming director Yasuhiro Akasaka
3D system programmer Kenji Matsusue
Main programmer Tomohiro Misei
Yoichi Kawaguchi
Battle system program Takayuki Kobayashi
Koji Chado
Mamoru Itagaki
Motion systems & plug-ins Makoto Shikasho
Scenario script Masahiro Noda
Yoshio Fukushima
Tetsu Konno
Yukinori Yamaguchi
Keiji Noda
Naohiro Ikeda
Takaharu Takesada
Kiyonori Tsutsumi
Kazuma Shinkawa
Programming support Usuke Kumagai
Character director Jun Sonobe
Main character models & motion Akiyuki Tomita
Sub-character design Tomokazu Arisaka
Sub-character models & motion
Kengo Todaka
Shinya Hayakawa
Chie Sasaki
Hiroto Jinnouchi
Akiko Shigeto
Jun Suzuki
Event motion Emiko Ikeuchi
Takashi Hara
2D Graphics design Noriaki Sonoda
Miho Tanaka
Noriko Maruya
Kazuyuki Koga
Takahiro Koshio
Yukari Fujiki
Event movie arrangement Eiji Ishii
Monster & effects director Ken Motomura
Monster models & motion Jun Maeda
Takahiro Fujimatsu
Takehiro Fujii
Tomoe Ueda
Yoshiaki Kusuda
Hiroshi Niwa
Hiroshi Sawano
Takayoshi Hirose
Kenichi Kurakari
Yuuki Kokubu
Takeshi Akasaka
Mineaki Sugata
Effects design Yoshiaki Kōya
Rika Yamashita
Youhei Fujimura
Mitsuhito Nakajo
Art directors Takayuki Sameshima
Kazunari Matsuo
Original backgrounds Shinichi Matsumoto
Nobuyuki Yanai
Kaoru Minami
Map graphics Naoko Mori
Miyuki Sumiyoshi
Noboru Tsuda
Tadahiro Masuya
Wataru Shimanouchi
Akari Uchino
Hisami Miyamoto
Daisuke Koga
Kōsuke Uemura
Yasuyoshi Sasaki
Tatsuya Asano
Hidenobu Sasaki
Kengo Okabe
Yasuhito Tsugimoto
Hiroshi Matsuyama
Tetsuya Maeda
Nahoko Kawabata
Satoshi Baba
Masako Arakawa
Daisuke Simakawa
Naotsugu Zushi
Yasuhiro Fukuyama
Sound effects Dai Yamanaka
Sound production support Tomohito Nishiura
Yumiko Hashizume
Takeshi Inoue
Special thanks Takeshi Majima
Taku Tanaka
Jiro Morinaga
Keiji Nagao
Koji Hori
Noriko Ikeura
Tatsuru Nakaza
Yukiko Harada
Tomoko Hirayabu
Asako Fujita
Music & vocal production
Role Staff
Music Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kōichi Sugiyama
Music programming Kōichi Sugiyama (SUGIYAMA KOBO)
Hidenori Miyanaga (TOSE)
Ryoue Takagi (TOSE)
Dialogue production SIDE UK LTD.
Voice casting Andy Emery
Cheryl Prince
Voice direction Kate Saxon
Sound engineer (dialogue) Ant Hales
Lead actors Ricky Grover
Emma Ferguson
Blake Ritson (as Blake Riston)
Jon Glover
Victoria Shalet
Josh Cohen
Keith Wickham
Brian Bowels
Richard Pearce
Jessica Martin
Jonathan Keeble
Other actors Kerry Shale
Sarah Hadland
Cate Debenham
Morwenna Banks
Simon Greenall
Stephen Grief
David Holt
Eve Karpf
Jo Wyatt
Jon Voce
Jonathan Kydd
Peter Dickson
Ewan Bailey
Emma Tate
Robbie Stevens
Stephen Critchlow
Caroline Bernstein
Lewis Macleod
Maria Darling
Mark Silk
Walter Lewis
Rob Rackstraw
Laurel Lefkow
Rupert Degas
Jack Burke
Square Enix Co., Ltd.
Role Staff
Project management Division 4th Unit - General Manager Yū Miyake
Project management Division 4th Unit - Public Relations Ryoichi Kuramochi
Project management Division 4th Unit - Staff Takamasa Shiba
Hiroshi Satō
Mayumi Takita
Localization director Jin Kimura
Translation director Richard Mark Honeywood
Translators Will Blatchley (PLUS ALPHA TRANSLATIONS)
Clare Saracine (PLUS ALPHA TRANSLATIONS)
Matt Alt (ALTJAPAN)
Hiroko Yoda (ALTJAPAN)
Localization editor Morgan Rushton
Localization assistants Naima Yamamoto
Mizue Uda
Other localization staff Yuko Tomizawa
Localization general manager Masashi Hiramatsu
QA coordinator Koji Numata
QA assistant planner Mikihiro Hayashi
QA technical engineers Kazuya Okamoto
Hisato Iwatsuki
QA technical assistants Yusuke Sadamasa
QA senior tester Minako Ikeda
QA testers Masaki Nakamura
Akira Morishita
Yasuhiro Hayashida
Kenichi Yamamoto
Mei Ito
Takaaki Hagiwara
Shinya Kawamura
...and all other QA staff
QA technical director Hideyuki Kato
QA manager Yukihiro Shibuya
QA general manager Koji Yamashita
Senior vice president & General Manager (publicity) Koji Taguchi
Publicity staff Minako Gotō
Ayako Kawamoto
Makiko Noda
Ratings advisors Hiroko Hamada
Reiko Kondo
Sueko Kogai
Akira Kashiwagi
Legal manager Ayako Hino
Special thanks SUGIYAMA KOBO
Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru
Kaori Okada
Keiji Honda
Katrin Darolle
Hiroshi Hatajima (GAL ENTERPRISE)
Assistant producers Eisuke Yokoyama
Noriyoshi Fujimoto
Naofumi Matsushita
Naomi Ozawa
Producers Ryutaro Ichimura
Yoshiki Watabe
Chief producers Yū Miyake
Taichi Inuzuka
General producer Yukinobu Chida
Publisher Yōichi Wada
Square Enix, Inc.
Role Staff
Quality assurance manager David Carrillo (Ribs)
Assistant QA manager Mohammed A. C. Wright
Senior QA coordinator Aaron J. Adams
QA associate Jason Sanders
QA coordinator Mathew A. Clift
Assistant coordinators Alfred Holz
Greg Melancon
Robert Allen Peeler
QA team Sam Baek
Cheryl Baker
Tim Bui
Carmelo Cabezo
John Clark
Kythera Contreras
Jesyka D'Itri
John Fournier
Jeremy G. F. Goldsmith
Chandler Green
Cassidy Hammermeister
Isagani Camangian
Alicia Y. Kim (Alicia Kim)
Harley Meeks
Max P. Mena
Matt Sanchez
Lila Shin
Adam Raun
Steven Ray
Kien Trieu
QA translators Arthur T. Kawamoto
Emi Bliss
Kazuo M. Tanaka
Localization manager Yutaka Sano
Public relations Sonia Im
Kumiko Hakushi
Frederick K. Hashi
Product marketing Fernando Bustamante
Felice V. Wu
Philip Ser
Dais Kawaguchi
Marketing communications Patrick H. Cervantes
Jonathan Cooperson
Tim Law
Sales Alaine C. de Leon
Traci Jones, Shundea K. Brooks
Legal counsel Neal Black
Executive director, Sales & Marketing Shinji Futami
Senior vice president Shinji Hashimoto
President & COO Daishiro Okada


Square Enix, Ltd.
Role Staff
President and CEO John Yamamoto
Senior vice president Tomohiro Yoshikai
Senior vice president - sales and marketing Michael Sherlock
Senior European marketing manager David Dyett
Marketing communications manager Stéphanie Journau
PR managers Alex Huhtala
Charlotte Fraczek
Associate manager - marketing & PR Abbass Hussain
Chief of production department Sebastian Ohsan Berthelsen
Associate localisation producer Yuko Tomizawa
QA supervisor André Woitczyk
Technical assistance Alex Moresby
QA coordinator (English team) Morgan Rushton
QA coordinator (French team) Isaak Vié
QA coordinator (German team) Stefanie Jahn
QA coordinators (Italian team) Alessandro Bovenzi
Carlo Trevisan
QA coordinator (Spanish team) Ricardo Robredo Quintana
English QA team Lao Akintoye
Oli Chance
Alex De Moller
Sofie Dodgson
Liban Hassan
French QA team Cindy Bamba
Julien Bouille
Laure Deslandes
Eric Lestang
Jess Mallevre
Selçuk Sarpdag
Dimitri Siger-Perian
German QA team Jay S. Bannmüller
David Gudisch
Inna Kaysina
Larissa Kogleck
Alastair Morse
Nora Neye
Miika Virtanen
Matthias Winter
Joe Witt
Italian QA team Dario de Cesare
Rachele Dini
Mario Donisi
Enrico Ghira
Lorenzo Grimaldi
Riccardo Rossi
Spanish QA team Ivette Bermúdez Cañete
Juan Carlos Chaparro
Álvaro Fernández González
Iria Lamas Pérez
Ana Lastra Álvarez
Raúl Nieto García
Píndaro Vargas-Farías
Alejandro Vivancos Galiano
Localisation team Stefanie Deinet
Geneviève Marier-Howard
Rafael Rios Perez
Special thanks to Katrin Darolle
Antonio Marfuggi
Joshua Wong
Ikuyo Sanford
Rustam Roy
Kumiko Kondo
Tomoko Nunomura
Toshio Murouchi
Michel Sainisch
Phil Spencer
Mark Bulley
Saori Hill
Andy Clark
Andi Ewington
Jo Wain
Anthony Hinds
Kirk O'Connor
Jim Smith

Gallery

  • A Japanese promotional poster for the game.

  • Soundtrack.

  • 4koma comics.

  • 3DS box. (Japan)

  • 3DS box. (NA)

  • DQVIII 3DS wallpaper.png
  • Dragon Quest VIII 3DS wallpaper.png

  • V Jump cover art.

  • Monster Battle Victory splash art.

External links

Smartphone version sites:

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
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Main series
  1. Dragon Quest (Satellaview version)
  2. II
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