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Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King PlayStation 2
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Image
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Metascore
89 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 63 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 114 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: The world of Dragon Quest VIII is created with breakthrough 3D graphics. The world, which includes fields, towns and dungeons, allow players to move around seamlessly. The graphics are of a high-quality animation, and players can feel as if they are walking around inside the world created by Character Designer, Akira Toriyama. The battle scenes and monsters make users feel as if they were actually facing them All of the monsters and characters are transformed with 3D graphics. Battle scenes provide astrong presence of characters and monsters due to its stunning visuals. Moreover, both new andfamiliar monsters have been recreated with uniquely detailed animation. Characteristic monsters popular among fans of Dragon Quest VIII come alive with a fresh breath of life. An entirely new original score by Koichi SugiyamaKoichi Sugiyama, the composer of Dragon Quest VIII and all of the music from previous titles in the series, composed an entirely original score. A classic and elegant score, the music is also memorable and will leave people humming the tunes. The impressive score makes the journey much more adventurous and paints each scene with emotion. [Square Enix]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 63
  3. Negative: 0 out of 63
  1. Play Magazine
    100
    DQ8 is the epitome and ultimate maturation of traditional role-playing, nothing more, nothing less. [Nov 2005, p.26]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. G4 TV
    100
    Thanks to careful balancing, rewarding pacing, and an excellent translation, Dragon Quest VIII is one of those rare games that's more than the sum of its parts.
  3. AceGamez
    70
    For fans of the Dragon Quest series, technology advances have now meant that the transition from PC to console is a smooth one, although its appeal to non-RPG fans is limited - Final Fantasy this most definitely is not.

See all 63 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 45
  3. Negative: 4 out of 45
  1. GUe1
    10
    This game is a masterpiece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… Expand
    • 4 of 4 users said yes
  2. Arshad_S
    6
    Tedious, lame story line, obvious expectations from people you need stuff from ie you have to go out of your way to get a lame item. Unlike the final fantasy series with a balanced level up period, dq8 presses for long level up time or be owned by our nasty sea ocean monsters. The dialogue seems to be read out, majority characters lack emotion in their voice and lack personality. game gets unfairly difficult in a short distance in certain areas which calls for a night at the inn. If a good lvl up is wanted you have to prepare yourself almost a few days of playing ( if you are playing 8 hours a day) to start gaining levels at a good pace due to the building of items that can give you some hope of not starting at a save point again or losing your gold. I dont think anybody would want to spend a day just leveling up. it gets really really boring. Some items are almost completey unused by the hero since he got its effects built in his spell list... lame! Resurrecting a character is more %&$% $&^# rather than a phew. The battle system was abit different with funny monsters and a few unique status effects which i liked. The area design and layout of towns and the surrounding nature was good to look at. Other than that not much positives. just another rpg with the same turn based system. Its nowhere near close to even ffx nor as gripping but it does manage to keep you interested.... that is if you dont get pissed at the level up time you spend then its ok. Not a complete fail and worth the buy at a bargain price.… Expand
    • 0 of 4 users said yes
  3. AnonymousMC
    2
    I couldn't even get past a couple of hours playing this game. Yes, it's difficult; but more importantly, it's tedious. Right off the bat the game seems to demand a huge amount of fight, heal, save grinding. The healing and saving part means you have to head back to town, go to the inn, sit through the dialogue and animation, head to the church, sit through the dialogue, wait for it to save etc. Where's the fun in that? On the plus side, the graphics and music are excellent.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 45 User Reviews

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