Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, known in Japan as Dragon Quest VIII Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi (ドラゴンクエストVIII 空と海と大地と呪われし姫君?, lit. "Dragon Quest VIII: The Sky, the Ocean, the Earth, and the Cursed Princess") and in PAL regions as Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, is a role-playing video game developed by Level-5, localized and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. It was first released in Japan in 2004, and was later released in North America in 2005 and PAL regions in 2006, making it the first main series installment released in the PAL region. It is the eighth installment of the popular Dragon Quest series and it is the first English version of a Dragon Quest game to drop the Dragon Warrior title.
Dragon Quest VIII uses cel-shading textures for the characters and scenery and is the first game in the series to have fully 3D environments. The game retains most of the series' role-playing game elements, such as turn-based combat and the experience level system. Dragon Quest VIII follows the silent Hero, the main character, and his party of allies as they journey towards the goal of defeating the wicked Dhoulmagus. The kingdom of Trodain has been cursed by Dhoulmagus, with the King, Trode, and his daughter, Medea, transformed into a troll and a horse respectively, and it is up to the Hero to return them to their original form and save the kingdom.
Dragon Quest VIII has enjoyed much success since its release, both in Japan and in the US. It is a Square Enix Ultimate Hits and a Sony Greatest Hits title. A survey conducted in 2006 by the magazine Famitsu earned the game the #4 spot as the best video game of all time after Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII and Dragon Warrior III. In 2010, IGN listed it at #39 in their "Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games".
Read more about Dragon Quest VIII: Journey Of The Cursed King: Gameplay, Development and Release, Soundtrack, Reception, Legacy
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“And then at last our bliss
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The old Dragon underground,
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Swinges the scaly horror of his folded tail.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
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—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)