DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Preview

Ok, here is the deal.  In Japan there are really two main RPGs that captivate the Japanese market, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.  Sure other RPGs are released but they usually fail to capture the attention of gamers as FF or DQ.  The Dragon Quest series at one time was more successful than the Final Fantasy series.  In fact DQ became so popular that a law was passed that made it illegal to release a Dragon Quest game on a weekday.  People skipped school and work just to buy the newest DQ games.  But over here in America it wasn’t the same.  It seems that Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) was never going to capture the same audience that Final Fantasy was grabbing.  But that isn’t to say that Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest wasn’t a popular game in America, because it was, but its popularity was more of a cult phenomenon. 

When the last Dragon Warrior game was released in American (part seven) the hopes and dreams of the hardcore DQ fans in America were captivated again.  The hardcore gamers loved the game but once again it seems that Dragon Warrior was meant to be a small blip on the radar instead of a large blip that all of the Final Fantasy games were creating.  The power of the internet didn’t let the game die or the legacy of the previous Dragon Warrior games die.  Just check out eBay for the prices on the original Dragon Warrior games to see that people still wanted Dragon Warrior in America.   When the new Dragon Quest game was announced for the Japanese market the appetite of the American gamers became worse with each new screen shot and morsel of information released.  The same question was asked over and over again “Will Dragon Quest 8 come out in America?”  Well I’m happy to report to all of you that have been waiting for so long that the answer is YES!  Dragon Quest 8 is coming to America and you will not be disappointed. 

The first issue I had with the game was the name.  Why Dragon Quest 8 and why not Dragon Warrior 8?  Well it seems that Square Enix really wants to push the Dragon Quest name since it’s been such a huge series over in Japan and decided to keep the name for the American market.  This isn’t the old school, truly hardcore Dragon Quest game, this is a Dragon Quest that really shines.  The visuals are amazing with cel-shading being used on all of the graphics in the game.  All of the characters in the game were designed by the creator of the Dragon Ball series and with the cel-shaded graphics the characters look as if it’s an anime instead of a video game.  If you ask most casual gamers they will probably point out that one big turn off to the previous DQ games in America were the simple graphics.  Now that isn’t a problem.  The game looks stunning and regardless if you’re a DQ or a FF fan there should be no complaints about the graphics.

The game will also include voiceovers for the characters in the game.  With the demo on hand at E3 not all of the characters were fully voiced but during the cut scenes the characters had voiceovers.  The voiceovers sounded good with each character having their own unique voice.  Several characters even had their own accents as well to add more style to the game.  The game includes the traditional Dragon Warrior/Quest sound effects that for many gamers have become as familiar as the Mario theme, Zelda theme or Final Fantasy theme. 

The game is still old school in the way the battles are handled.  There are random battles that you will have to encounter during the game.  The combat system is very straight forward as well with turn based battles that everyone has probably done several times over by now.  The game does include a taunting feature during combat where you can taunt an enemy that might result in the enemy being scared away from battle.  There is a skill points section that allows you to earn points for the different skill levels the characters possess.  There won’t be a wagon in this game so you will need to keep a party together to make sure everyone does level up.

The controls during the rest of the game are simple and easy enough for anyone to play right away.  The game is presented in a behind the back third person perspective.  The right analog stick allows you to control the camera angle at anytime by moving the stick left or right to move the camera.  The menu options are simple and easy to understand as well.  Square Enix did mention that the menu screens were updated for the American release to show a few more small feature displays such as weapons, items, etc.  This was encouraging to hear since it does indicated that Square Enix is serious about getting this game ready for the American market.

Dragon Quest 8 looks to be a tremendous game that should please fans of the series and RPG fans.  If you’ve never played a Dragon Quest game before than this will probably be a great starting point with the excellent graphics and easy to use controls.  I know that the Dragon Quest fans have been rabid for information on this game so I hope this helps.  I hope this is the first in a long series of new Dragon Quest games to be released in America from Square Enix. 
 

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