Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Dragon Quest VIII releasing on January 20th, new trailer, screens and boxart

3 November 2016 Lite_Agent Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, Europe, North America, Square-Enix

During the latest Nintendo Direct presentation, back in September, Nintendo revealed that Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King was delayed to 2017 (it was originally supposed to launch this year). And today, it was announced that the game would eventually come out on January 20h in North America and Europe.

In the press release, Nintendo talks a bit about the game, starting with the story:

The story begins when a jester, Dhoulmagus, comes to Castle Trodain and steals the King’s sceptre. He then uses its power to turn his majesty into a troll, the Princess into a horse and the castle inhabitants into plants. The only one left unscathed from this attack is a castle guard who escaped the curse and must now step up to save the kingdom he’s sworn to protect. Only by traveling the lands, recruiting allies and following the trail of destruction that Dhoulmagus leaves in his wake will The Hero be able to retrieve the sceptre in order to restore Trodain back to its former glory.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King features voice acting during the plot-important cutscenes, but also some extra story content (providing players with more back story about The Hero and Dhoulmagus). There’s also additional quests, dungeons, two new playable characters, and even a new alternative ending.

But that’s not all: this Nintendo 3DS version received various enhancement streamlining the experience, such as a Quick-Save function (allowing you to stop playing at pretty much any time), or the “Speed Up” feature (allowing you to speed up battles).

Finally, there’s also a new feature that lets you take pictures at any time (outside battles and cutscenes). You can even customise them by having the characters perform special poses, but also by using stickers, filters, and frames.

Once you’re done, you can save the pictures to your SD Card, and even share them with other players via StreetPass (who can then give them a thumbs up. The more of those you earn, the higher the chance of receiving a new item as reward).

If you really like taking pictures, you should definitely go see Cameron Obscura in Port Prospect: he gives you the Cameron’s Index. If you complete it by taking pictures of specific subjects, monsters, or situation, you will receive some rewards.

Here’s some screenshots and the North American boxart for Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on Nintendo 3DS, along with a brand new trailer: