Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King 3DS Review

Regarded as one of the all-time classic JRPGs on the PS2 alongside Persona 4 and Final Fantasy X, the 2005 adventure Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King weaves its magic tale on the 3DS with several modern refinements.

True to its origins, Dragon Quest VIII’s port leaves much of the core game intact, allowing for a classic JRPG experience. There is no handholding from the outset, throwing players straight into combat and exploration without the overbearing guidance many current games are guilty of. Quest and map markers are absent, leaving the sleuthing entirely up to the player. Combat is the old-school turn-based variety, complete with super-simplified menus, but don’t let that fool you into thinking depth and strategy are absent. Combining many different abilities and skills to level up, in addition to alchemy crafting and equipment management, all the beloved role-playing conventions are ever-present here.

The story is a compelling one, less because of its relatively simple plot of magic and corruption, but more because of the rich smorgasbord of lively characters you encounter throughout the adventure. Delightfully goofy writing keeps the game’s 60+ hour quest bouncing along at a comfortable pace, with the minor exception of a few backtracking quests along the way. Characters such as the brash cockney-English Yangus are hilarious and flesh out the beautifully coloured world they occupy.

Exploring the full-3D landscapes and kingdoms are a visual treat, made more approachable by the removal of random battle encounters from the PS2 version. This is replaced by the more modern JRPG approach of making the various enemies fully visible in the field, allowing players to engage or disengage with them at their leisure. Even more welcome is the option to fast-forward battle animations to speed up encounters for those keen to focus on progressing the story. The best part about many of these changes is that they do not interfere with the core game mechanics; instead, it streamlines the experience.

Keeping in line with the original release, many of the characters’ dialogue is capably voice-acted. Adding to the light-hearted writing is a diverse range of thick European accents, which by large, are incredibly camp and over the top. In a good way, of course.

However, the portrayal of lead female character Jessica is disappointing. Players meet Jessica early in the game, where she feels trapped by her family’s conservative, traditional ways. Once she makes the decision to leave her family behind, joining your party shortly after, she changes from her modest outfit into something much more revealing. This in isolation is not an issue – she can wear whatever she damn well wants, after all. However, upon recruiting Jessica, it is quickly evident the writers and developers of the game thought it appropriate that one of her main methods of engaging in combat would be explicitly defined by her gender. One of her skill trees is called “Sex Appeal”, which includes a range of debuffs and similar abilities to reduce enemies’ effectiveness in combat.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a character possessing femme fatale traits and having agency over their own body and sexuality, but it feels at complete odds with the rest of the game. Dragon Quest’s characters are well-written, three-dimensional characters, and the world’s overall vibrancy lends no inclination towards a male-only audience – this is what makes Jessica’s character and combat design so jarring. The series is well-known for using sexual innuendo for humour, but it falls flat here due to its heavy-handed approach. What makes the objectification of Jessica stand out more is that a male party member, the womanising Angelo, possesses a similar line of abilities, but it is instead referred to as “Charisma”. Perhaps with the progress of female representation in games since 2005 in mind, the developers have made alterations to Jessica’s outfits to make them slightly less racy.

Thankfully, this is the only misstep in what is a truly grand adventure which will tide over 3DS RPG enthusiasts until Nintendo bless us all with another Golden Sun game. Those looking to break into the daunting JRPG genre will be welcome here, with plenty of accessible mechanics to help without removing the challenge. Early level progression feels quick, before it slowly works up to grinding for levels – to be expected for the genre. In fact, grinding in Dragon Quest VIII feels less of a chore than it does in recent JRPGs. Also, the game can be quick saved at nearly any time, relieving the pressure before major battles. Even in the event where you get wiped out in battle, the party will respawn in the most recently visited church with no progress lost, including experience points gained up to that point. Fast travelling between locations is a breeze, in addition to a variety of other field abilities, such as healing.

Occasionally, the gameplay changes up by throwing different mechanics every now and then, including one section where you assume control of a hamster to explore small nooks and crannies. However, these sections just feel tacked on and the hamster section felt fiddly and imprecise to control on the 3DS. These sections are irregular, allowing the focus to remain solely on the solid RPG mechanics.

Rating: 4/5