Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is a videogame developed by Level 5 Inc. and published by Square Enix Co. Ltd. The game was released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 from Sony. It was launched on November 27, 2004 and classed as a role playing experience played from a third person perspective with elements of anime and manga and with medieval influences. It is played entirely turn based.

The game tells the story of the evil Wizard Dhoulmagus, who comes to the ancient Kingdom of Trodain in order to obtain a very powerful magic scepter that has been long sealed under the Castle of the Kingdom. He gets it and destroys the Castle of Trodain while also turning the King, Trode, and his Princess into beasts through a powerful curse. The player takes on the role of the soldier surviving the destruction of the castle. He joins the King, the Princess and Yangus, a former bandit turned good, in order to take on the wizard.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is very traditional in its role playing mechanics. There are a lot of combat encounters and players get experience points in order to gain levels. The character classes are pretty different and using heal powers is crucial to surviving. The presentation is anything but traditional, with full day-night cycles being implemented and with full animated menus and complex 3D graphics.

GAMEPLAY HINTS

Spells

Start: Frizz (hits an enemy with a fireball)
Start: Sap (reduces defense of a enemy)
Level 10: Crack (hits an enemy with icicles)
Level 11: Sizz (hits an enemy with blazing fire)
Level 11: Evac (escape from dungeons, caves, towers)
Level 12: Snooze (puts a group of enemies to sleep)
Level 14: Bang (hits all enemies with a small explosion).


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