Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King English Hands-On

We recently spent some time with an English-language build of Dragon Warrior VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, and we were able to learn a little bit more about the story and characters in this latest installment in the classic role-playing series.

Dragon Warrior VIII starts out with three characters in a small clearing in a forest. A portly fighter named Yangus tells you that it's time to get going because there's work to do. Yangus turns out to be your sidekick of sorts, and he'll fight alongside you in battle. The main character takes whatever name you give him and never speaks a word. It's a bit awkward, especially because the other characters always seem to have a lot to say. The other character with you right from the beginning of the game is a Yoda look-alike named Trode.

Trode has employed you to go on a quest to help lift a curse that has befallen the poor old guy and his daughter, Medea, who is in the form of a horse thanks to the very same curse. It turns out that Trode is actually the King of Trodain, though you wouldn't know it by looking at him. To help the King and his daughter return to their former selves, you have to find the evil jester Dhoulmagus and get him to lift the curse.

As the story goes, Dhoulmagus snagged an ancient and magical scepter that was locked away in the Trodian Castle. Using the power of the scepter, Dhoulmagus placed a curse on the entire kingdom, but for one reason or another you weren't affected by it. Of course you're the only one capable of taking down Dhoulmagus, so the fate of the world rests squarely on your orange-clad shoulders.

As soon as you're up to speed on what's going on, you are given a quick crash course on fighting. Three blue slimes appear, but they are no match for your character and Yangus, and as soon as you're finished with them, you move on to a small town. In the town you have to search for a man named Rylus, who taught Dhoulmagus everything he knows. Hopefully, Rylus will be able to tell you where to find the evil jester. We don't want to spoil the story, so we'll have to leave you hanging. But as you can guess, it isn't as easy as walking up to the man and asking where Dhoulmagus is.

While in the town, you meet up with a fortune-teller named Kalderasha, who, you find out, used to be quite famous for his ability to see the future. Unfortunately, he has recently lost the touch and started drinking heavily. Before you can get to know the guy and possibly ask him for help in your quest, you're tossed out of town when everyone mistakes King Trode for a monster. Before you take off though, a young girl named Valentina approaches you and asks you to do her a favor. Being the nice guy that you are, you agree and head up to her house. You soon find out that she is the daughter of Kalderasha, and she wants you to find him a new crystal ball so he can once again see the future. So you have to set out to a waterfall south of town to find the crystal ball, and hope that when Kalderasha regains his fortune-telling abilities, he'll help you out by telling you where Dhoulmagus is and what evil deeds he has planned.

It may seem like there are a lot of names tossed around early in the story, but the plot is fairly straightforward and easy to follow. The game does a good job of piquing your interest by revealing information in small, regimented doses rather than using long-winded dialogue or lengthy cutscenes. The characters are also charismatic and unique, and you'll feel familiar with them as soon as they're introduced. Yes, some of the characters are your rather stereotypical role-playing-game characters, but the dialogue and interaction feel natural and the story isn't nearly as heavy-handed as one you'd find in your average Final Fantasy, Xenosaga, or Star Ocean game.

The character design is a bit plain, but the transition to 3D has been handled well here. The characters are all bright and colorful, and they have a distinct anime look to them. In fact, you could easily take one of the characters and drop it into a Dragon Ball Z game and hardly know the difference. This makes sense, since famed Dragon Ball artist Akira Toriyama designed the characters for this game. Many of the townsfolk havethe same generic character models, but all the story characters are vibrant and detailed and they show off a decent amount of variety in their designs.

The world in Dragon Quest VIII looks bright and clean as well. There are a lot of sharp edges and flat textures, but the art design for the environments is inviting and it works well with the look of the characters in the game. When not in a town you can wander around at your leisure, though you're better off sticking to the path if you're actually trying to get anywhere. If you wander off the path you might find some interesting new areas, but you also might end up experiencing random encounters that only bring you to a dead end or impassable barrier such as a river. Overall the game looks nice, and while the art design may look a bit childish, it's incorporated well and doesn't look too cutesy.

So far the sound in Dragon Quest VIII is fantastic. All of the voices are done quite well, even though each character seems to have a completely different accent despite the fact that they all come from the same kingdom. For example, your friend Yangus has a British accent, while Valentina has a thick Eastern European accent. However, the voices match the characters perfectly and they never sound forced or overplayed. The soundtrack consists of several elaborate orchestral pieces that really give a grandiose feel to the game. The lush score boosts the overall production values here.

We've only just scratched the surface of Dragon Warrior VIII, but it looks like it's shaping up to be a fun, traditional role-playing game that updates the look of the series while retaining the core gameplay that has garnered millions of fans to date. We're going to be spending a lot more time with the game, so be sure to check back for more updates on Dragon Warrior VIII: Journey of the Cursed King.