At the time of writing this article, it just turned 12am in Japan — and that means Dragon Quest 8 is officially 20 years old. The PS2 RPG first launched on the 27th November, 2004 — but the West didn't get to experience this franchise-defining adventure until later.
Dragon Quest 8 dropped the following year in the US, but us poor Europeans had to wait until April 2006 to finally get our hands on the game.
It was a huge deal at the time, because Dragon Quest 8 was actually the first Dragon Quest title to be officially released in PAL regions. Square Enix even dropped the '8' — or 'VIII' in roman numerals — from its name, calling it Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King in Europe.
Meanwhile, in North America, it was the first Dragon Quest game to be called Dragon Quest, and not Dragon Warrior — which had long been the localised name of the series. It also came with a demo for Final Fantasy 12!
Dragon Quest 8 — which was developed by Level-5 — was met with near universal acclaim from critics, and is widely regarded to be one of the finest games of its generation. We'd go as far to say that it's one of the best Japanese RPGs ever made — and as such, we'd lose our minds over an eventual remaster. Ball's in your court, Square Enix.
Do you have fond memories of Dragon Quest 8? Would you join us in campaigning for a long-awaited remaster? Smile like a slime in the comments section below.
[source x.com]
Comments 23
I only played this a little bit back in the day when I was going off JRPGs. But the last few years I've been back on the bandwagon and I would absolutely play a remastered version
DQ8 is definitely in my top 10 Jrpgs. Would love to see it remastered or even remade.
The fact it is stuck on old consoles (PS2 and 3DS) and the only way to play it on modern hardware is on mobile is a travesty. Being a PS2 game it probably needs a bit more work, but would love to see a thorough remaster or remake.
I think I'd much rather play a remaster yea. I'm playing it on the 3ds for the 1st time. And it's good but I don't love it anywhere near as much as I love 4 and 11. The overworld just feels so needlessly big and the characters run too slow. The story and the characters do have great moments but the dialog man. I know DQ usually has goofy writing. But in this one it's a bit much sometimes
A remaster on proper hardware would alleviate some of my issues with the game at least
While I was a big fan of DQ/DW in the early years (1-4), I kind of lost touch with the series until the phenomenal DQ11. Going to be playing through the ones I missed eventually, a remaster would be nice, though I prefer OG hardware.
Definitely, especially if they make all enemies visible. It's one of my favourite games of all time. I didn't like it at first, I think I expected all JRPGs to be like FF back then.
I've sadly only played 1-6 and 11, that 8 is still in my backlog is a black mark on my gamer status and I feel ashamed.😁 Hopefully I'll get to it sometime next year. Unless a remaster get announced ofc.
This was the game that got me into Dragon Quest and it's still one of my all time favorites. Shame that it's legacy currently ends with a downgraded port on a now dead piece of hardware.
It doesn't even need to be a remaster, I'd settle for a port with a resolution boost. As long as it still has the orchestrated music and Yangus' beautiful voice.
@themightyant The fact that the 3DS is now considered an old console makes me feel old
@LuXifer I am in a similar boat (except I stopped at 4). Mostly because 5, and 6 were not released in the US until over a decade later on the NDS, and by the time VII released I had forgotten about the series.
I played the first five dragon quests games this year, and still chipping away at the sixt one. I have seven, eight and nine ready to go after I blow the dust of my 3ds. After that some more modern dragon quest gaming with eleven en the new remake of three.
Jeeeez this makes me feel old! I remember getting it in 2005 after hearing how good it was. I got this and Shadow of the colossus on the same day. Didn't see daylight for weeks!
3DS version is the remaster. A remake might be nice though. Have it look similar to XI.
Personally I'm not fussed as I have it on 3DS but I think now that the 3DS store is shut and physical copies are going for a high price, it may be time to make it more accessible and release on modern consoles.
@thedevilsjester I played the fan translated snes roms of 5 & 6 a couple of years ago. Not perfect, but serviceable and it was fun to finally play them.
Time to feel old again.😏
One of my favorite DQ games. Happy 20th anniversary Dragon Quest VIII.🎉🎈
This would be a timely drop for next month as a PS Premium drop...
Seen DQ8 and thought we were finally gona get a PS2 port atleast. My heart, it has sank
@Bigkopman I would love that! But Square Enix hasn't really been playing ball with Sony on Premium, unless the game was already released by themselves (SE). This would be unique to PS+
@L_Bosch Oi, guv!
Played it using citra on PC with 4K textures and resolution on laptop recently. Still a masterpiece
Was 1 of my favorite JRPG and I’d like to play it again. Not sure what qualifies as a “remaster” these days but I just bought FF8, either on the Switch or PS5 🤷🏻♂️ and looking forward to playing that so yeah sure, make it playable. Then let me know when it’s like $7 or $8. 😂
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