Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004)
LEVEL-5, Square Enix Product Development Division 9
4.17 from 789 ratings
2268 members have it in their collection · 116 playing now · 936 backlogged · 573 wish listed
How long? Main story 53h · with extras 68h · 100% 122h (from 23 logged playthroughs)
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King 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.
It is a traditional Japanese-style role-playing game with random enemy encounters, simple turn-based combat mechanics, and management …
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Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King 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.
It is a traditional Japanese-style role-playing game with random enemy encounters, simple turn-based combat mechanics, and management of a party consisting of four characters, each belonging to a clearly defined class. Unlike its predecessors in the series and most Japanese RPGs in general, the game features a continuous world with fairly vast landscapes and integrated towns and dungeons, as opposed to world map traveling and locations represented by icons. The game features full camera rotation and optional first-person view.
Like in the previous Dragon Quest games, many objects can be interacted with; for example, barrels can be physically lifted, carried, and broken, to reveal items hidden within.
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Details
- Developers
- LEVEL-5, Square Enix Product Development Division 9
- Publishers
- Square Enix
- Genres
- Adventure, Role-playing (RPG), Strategy
- Themes
- Action, Fantasy
- Franchises
- Dragon Quest
- Series
- Dragon Quest
Release dates
- Nov 27, 2004 (Japan) PlayStation 2
- Nov 15, 2005 (North_America) PlayStation 2
- Apr 12, 2006 (Australia) PlayStation 2
- Apr 13, 2006 (Europe) PlayStation 2
Also available on
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2013) · ANDR, iOS
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2015) · 3DS
Featured in lists
Rating distribution
5 stars
341
4 stars
280
3 stars
131
2 stars
31
1 star
5
Community All Reviews Statuses
Status Ovinnik Jun 3, 2022
I'm playing through this one slowly, and I am enjoying the story and music a lot, but at 15+ hours in, the gameplay hasn't evolved much from just pressing the A-button repeatedly. The Story, Music and Visuals really are carrying me, and the game is very relaxing, but does the core gameplay get any more interesting as time goes on? …
Read moreI'm playing through this one slowly, and I am enjoying the story and music a lot, but at 15+ hours in, the gameplay hasn't evolved much from just pressing the A-button repeatedly. The Story, Music and Visuals really are carrying me, and the game is very relaxing, but does the core gameplay get any more interesting as time goes on? I really like RPGs a lot, so the turn based combat isn't really an issue.
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Status internpepper Nov 12, 2020
I've heard nothing but high praise for this game, and sadly, I just thought it was all right. The plot is decent but I never felt that the characters were exceptional. The combat system adding Tension was a great idea and the cel-shaded character models look great.
Status QuilDewIvy Feb 9, 2020
Played a few hours of this over time
It's comfy, but ultimately I think this game and possibly the franchise as a whole is just not for me. Too boring for me to muster any more motivation to get past where I was, and the aesthetic only lasted a couple hours before I was bored of that too.
EDIT: Still …
Played a few hours of this over time
It's comfy, but ultimately I think this game and possibly the franchise as a whole is just not for me. Too boring for me to muster any more motivation to get past where I was, and the aesthetic only lasted a couple hours before I was bored of that too.
EDIT: Still gonna try the rest of the series, bad idea to write the series off on one entry
Status Pale Jan 14, 2020
I did it. I beat it. It took a year and a half but it's done. I'm so exhausted I don't think I can even consider writing a review. I did enjoy it though.
I joked to my wife when "The End" came up on the screen that the letters were going to morph and turn into some dude who …
I did it. I beat it. It took a year and a half but it's done. I'm so exhausted I don't think I can even consider writing a review. I did enjoy it though.
I joked to my wife when "The End" came up on the screen that the letters were going to morph and turn into some dude who sends me on another quest.
Status TheFavorista Nov 25, 2018
Liked the characters (some of my favorites in the series?) but did not complete. The length of the overall games don't bother me as much with the JRPGs that take 40 or 60 hours to complete, but this I just got burned out on.
Status Pale Jun 12, 2018
I started playing Dragon Quest VIII on my PS2 yesterday. It's really hard to force myself to play these old games, but I know I will enjoy this one as I get into it. Sadly, I'm sure me breaking out my PS2 for it will surely mean an HD remaster is announced any day now.
