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When people saw , it was hard not to wonder if this is what Akira Toriyama originally envisioned for the series twenty years earlier when  the original game. Technology had come a long way, and now developers were able to make very good use of a technique called "cel shading" that made a game's graphics look like a cartoon. That's exactly what the visual presentation in provided, as it felt more like playing an anime than any other game in the series up to that point. And the days of top down graphics were over.

 

                                 The classic days of Dragon Warrior

 

The game starts off with a mean court jester, Dhoulmagus, casting a spell on the castle of King Trode. This results in the king being turned into a troll, his daughter into a horse, and the rest of the castle's inhabitants into plants. Only one person escapes the affects of the spell, a lone castle guard who is the hero in . From here, the three set out to find Dhoulmagus and defeat him, hoping this will break the spell. Along the way they meet three more adventurers: the bandit, Yangus, Jessica the magician, and a Templar Knight named Angelo. Eventually they track down Dhoulmagus, and kill him, but this doesn't break the spell. While trying to figure out why this is, Jessica picks up the fallen jester's staff, and is briefly possessed. Through this she learns that the staff contained the spirit of Rhapthorne, a truly evil being, who was imprisoned in the staff long ago by seven sages.

 

     

 

: Dragon Quest VIII saw some very slight differences between the Japanese (left) and US (right) box art

 

In order to be freed, Rhapthorne needs the descendants of the sages dead. After this revelation, the staff takes control of a dog who quickly kills one of the seven descendants. Now the group must travel the world trying to protect the other six descendants. Unfortunately they fail, and Rhapthorne is released from the staff. This leads to a final showdown with him, with the party emerging victorious. Now, with Rhapthorne dead, the spell is finally broken, and the king, princess, and people in the castle are all returned to normal.

 

      

: Adopting a cel shaded aesthetic, Dragon Quest VIII looks and feels a lot like an anime

 

Much of the gameplay in  sticks to what we've seen in previous games, going with random, turn-based battles while exploring the world. One extra bit added to the fights, though, is the ability to "Psyche Up" which means that character waits a turn so that the next round, if they fight, they will hit much harder. There is also something in the game called the Alchemy Bag, which allows players to toss items in it that will then be combined to make a new item. One other touch was added to character development. Unlike previous games, everyone in  had predefined roles. There was no class system here. However, there was the ability to tweak skills specific to each character.

 

With , the game marks the series being taken over by yet another development studio. This time, Enix tapped Level 5 who had already made a name for themselves with the popular action RPG series Dark Cloud. When it was localized for the West, it marked the first time a Dragon Quest game retained its name and wasn't called Dragon Warrior anymore, as the trademark issues that caused this in the past were finally dealt with. We also saw voice acting get used in these versions, which was a big departure from previous games, all of which focused on text for dialogue.