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Begin the year by saving the world in DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

by rawmeatcowboy
20 January 2017
GN Version 5.0

20th January 2017 – Celebrate the beginning of a new year with a great adventure in DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, releasing today for Nintendo 3DS family systems. In this handheld retelling of the DRAGON QUEST title that introduced the series to Europe, adventurers can see away the winter with a grander and greater tale filled with new story content, side quests, and the ability to recruit two new characters, all playable wherever heroes venture. Get a taste of the epic adventure that awaits with the DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King launch trailer.

When the evil jester Dhoulmagus comes to Castle Trodain and steals King Trode’s sceptre, he carves a trail of chaos in his wake, beginning by turning his majesty into a troll, Princess Medea into a horse, and the residents of the castle into plants. Only one castle guard escapes the curse, and escorts the King and his daughter on an adventure to retrieve the sceptre, put an end to Dhoulmagus’ diabolical plans, and restore the kingdom of Trodain.

Whether players are revisiting the rich story of DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King or diving into the adventure for the first time, they can enjoy brand new content that provides more backstory about the dastardly Dhoulmagus and The Hero who aims to stop him. All cut-scenes vital to the plot are also accompanied by full voice-acting, including the new story content and a new alternative ending.

As well as new adventure content, two new characters can be recruited in the form of Red, a former rival of The Hero’s sidekick Yangus, and Morrie, the owner of the Monster Arena. By capturing specific monsters throughout their adventure, players can create their own bands of monsters to send into battle inside the Monster Arena. More powerful monsters means stronger teams and more cunning strategies to be devised in the quest to best all seven ranks, including the new X Rank.

DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King has already proven itself a hit with critics, who found that this title is an ideal way for players to begin their year in gaming:

Nintendo Life: "Dungeons and towns are equally thoughtfully designed, indicative of a welcome wider attention to detail"
Eurogamer: "Dragon Quest 8's Grimm-like story is told with clarity, sincerity and exquisite wit."
IGN UK: "Character design is nothing short of incredible and surely represents some of famed designer Akira Toriyama’s best work."

There are even more enhancements to the classic adventure for players to enjoy, with the new Quick Save function allowing for the action to be paused and saved any time outside of battle and cut-scenes, while the Speed Up feature allows warriors in a hurry to battle monsters with greater haste.

Adventurers can even share mementos of their journey with friends, and at the press of a button can begin setting up and taking their ideal photos, complete with special poses, stickers, filters, and frames to add a personal touch to their memory. All of these images can be saved to the SD card and shared via StreetPass to other DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King owners, who can give these images an approving thumbs-up. The more thumbs-up a player earns for their images, the higher the chance that they’ll earn new items to aid them in their quest to defeat Dhoulmagus. For more information about these new features, check out our DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King website.

Begin the New Year with an adventure to save the world with DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, out now for Nintendo 3DS family systems.

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