Nintendo announces a new release date for the recently delayed Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King on Nintendo 3DS, and details some of its new features.
During the November 2015 Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo confirmed that remakes of Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King would be make their way to Nintendo 3DS. Dragon Quest VII released a couple of months back, but Dragon Quest VIII was unfortunately delayed to 2017. Nintendo has now shared when exactly the game will be available in 2017, and as it turns out, fans won't have to wait too much longer to get their hands on the game.
As announced earlier today by Nintendo, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is coming to 3DS in North America on January 20th, 2017. While it will be a graphical downgrade when compared to the PS2 version, it will include special features designed to make it a more accessible experience for all gamers.
In the 3DS remake of Dragon Quest VIII, players have the option of speeding up battles. This means that the turn-based encounters with monsters and other enemies can go by much quicker, which is great for gamers on a tight schedule. It should also make getting through the game's critically-acclaimed story faster, which should be a selling point for those that care more about the story and characters than the combat.
Another major new feature coming to the 3DS version of Dragon Quest VIII lets players use a camera to take pictures of characters and the environment. A character in the game named Cameron Obscura will reward players for taking pictures of certain things, which should lend the game some added replayability for those that have already played through the adventure on PS2, iOS, or Android.
These new features should make Dragon Quest VIII more enticing for series veterans, but they may have bought it regardless in an effort t to prove to Square Enix that there is a demand for DQ games in the west. After all, in the past, people from the company have stated that Americans don't like turn-based games, which understandably worries fans of the series and the JRPG genre in general.
Hopefully the western release of Dragon Quest VIII on 3DS means more games in the series will be localized as well. Fans have been waiting for the MMO Dragon Quest X to make its way stateside, and many are hoping that Dragon Quest 11 on Nintendo Switch also has a worldwide release. It's hard to say for certain if Square Enix is going to start consistently releasing Dragon Quest games outside of Japan, but if Dragon Quest VII's strong reviews translate to strong sales and if Dragon Quest VIII lives up to expectations, then there's a good chance the company will start doing just that.
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King will be available for Nintendo 3DS on January 20th, 2017.
Source: NeoGAF