Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Developer(s): Level-5
Publisher(s): Square Enix
Genre: RPG
Wikipedia: Link
Game review links: GameRankings: 90/100, Metacritic: 89/100
Game description: The Dragon Warrior series makes its debut on the PlayStation 2 with Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. You can play as a young guardsman who must fight against a curse that he is mysteriously immune to. Characters in the game are designed by the creator of the Dragonball characters and are cel-shaded to provide an "anime" feel. The game is set in a large 3D world ravaged by the effects of the curse. The game also includes a playable demo of Final Fantasy XII.
Test configurations on Windows:
Environment | Configurations | Comments | Tester | ||||
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Region | OS | CPU/GPU | Revision | Graphics | Sound/Pad | ||
NTSC-U | ? |
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pre 0.9.7 beta (r1884) | GSdx (r1846) |
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Enabling x2 cycle rate and IOP x2 cycle rate may give a slight FPS increase. Be sure to enable 8-bit textures in GSdx to get a performance boost. It's a very GPU intensive game, nVidia cards will preform better then ATI cards. With an ATI Radeon HD on 1024•768 resolution you will mostly get 60 FPS but at sometimes it drops down to 55 (mostly in overworld). | 24.59.33.132 |
PAL | Windows 7 Home Premium |
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pre 0.9.7 beta (r2523) | GSdx |
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PAL version tested (Australian, non-platinum version) working great! Full FPS nearly everywhere in 1280x1280 in Rev 2523. Oddly enough, 8-bit textures slow down the PAL version a little bit, so make sure to turn them off! All other hacks were turned on full blast (except VU skipping was only 2x) | 124.180.6.80 |
NTSC-J | ? |
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0.9.8 | GSdx (r4459) |
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Enabling EE cycle rate (3) may give a slight FPS increase. | Machina |
NTSC-U | Windows |
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1.0.0 | GSdx |
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SCPH-70012.bin/v02.00/USA/2004, This can be a demanding game. My graphics card barely held up full speed at 3x. Software mode is required to see Empyria's shadow when going into the Dark Realm. | |
NTSC-U | Windows |
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1.1.0 (r5480) | GSdx SSE41 (5442) |
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Runs above full speed. | |
NTSC-U | Windows |
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1.2.1 (r5875) | GSdx (r5875) |
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EE/VU Rounding: Chop/Zero, Game runs smoothly with no issues. | |
NTSC-U | Windows 7 Ultimate |
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1.3.0 | GSdx |
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Game runs fine at 60 FPS with 2x Scaling, FXAA and Shader FX, 16x Anisotropic Filtering. I activated the WildArmsOffset in HWHacks to fix some glitches texture. | Wwsnkneo |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 |
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1.5.0 (dev-2445) | GSdx 1.1.0 | SPU2-X 2.0.0 | Game runs at 60+ FPS at all times without noticeable spikes using : x6 Internal Resolution, x8 Anisotropic Filtering, CRC Hack Level on Default. Had to set Round Sprites to Half and Skipdraw to 2 to fix some bugs but nothing game-breaking | Wynd |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 Pro |
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v1.5.0-dev-3264-gd77d440a0 | GSdx 1.1.0 AVX2 |
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Playable at full speed. Round Sprite on Half fixes artifacts on text when upscaling. As of v1.5.0-dev-2868-gf2f66c02d, requires "Disable Safe Features" to fix character outlines.
• EE/IOP settings at defaults. • VU settings at defaults. • Speedhacks at defaults, except MTVU enabled. |
pandubz |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 |
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1.5.0 dev 1646 | GSdx 0.1.16 - OpenGL (Hardware) |
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The game runs flawlessly. Don't touch the emulation settings, keeping the safe preset is fine. Use OpenGL (Hardware), set the resolution to anything as long as it's not custom, enable hardware depth, accurate date and basic blending unit accuracy. Go to H/W hacks, set skipdraw to 0, enable Preload Data Frames and set Round Sprite to half or full (I prefer full) | Gamesfan34260 |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 |
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1.5.0 dev-3310 g24be7785d | GSdx 1.1.0 AVX2 |
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Runs perfectly. Compatible with HDLoader. Disable Safe Features removes thick black outlines around characters. Half-pixel Offset set to Special (Texture) thins out the black lines at the edges of the screen, Normal (Vertex) also works but creates a blue line at the top of the screen and makes lines run through certain effects. Round Sprite set to Half removes Text Artifacts. | Lumaro |
PAL | Windows 10 |
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1.6.0 | GSdx 1.2.0 AVX2 |
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This config runs perfectly for me without any bug at the momment, with OpenGL the game has FPS drop in some areas and this setting fixed it for me. Working at June 2020 | samoisamoi12 |
NTSC-U | Windows 11 |
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1.7.2656 | ? | ? | Tested on the 25th of April, 2022. The game is practically problem-free. With the exception of some (as of currently) unfixable but rather minor issues (updated all of them below in Known Issues category), the game works great. The optimizations of the dev builds have made it run even smoother than before. Recommended to not use any manual hardware hacks unless you require to test something out. | coornio |
Environment | Configurations | Comments | Tester | ||||
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Region | OS | CPU/GPU | Revision | Graphics | Sound/Pad | ||
NTSC | Ubuntu 12.04+, Archlinux |
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1.2.2 | GSdx |
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GPU's used: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti, AMD Radeon HD 6850 & 7850. Catalyst runs faster than Radeon open source but has freezes in Farebury in the church; open source Radeon r600 driver more compatible than RadeonSI, but both are very slow; Nvidia closed source is much better; game able to be completed with occasional slowdowns; software mode required in flashback scenes and it will be very slow regardless of GPU driver; you may need to adjust clamps in Farebury to enter Kalderasha's house | DaTankAC |
PAL | Linux Mint 19.1 |
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1.4.0 | GSdx (GCC 7.3.0, SSE2) 1.0.0 [libGSdx-1.0.0] | SPU2-X 2.0.0 [libspu2x-2.0.0] | BIOS: Europe v02.00 FPS 48/50 (Pal games run only at 50fps). OpenGL Hardware , Shade Boost all Set to 50, Full Depth Emulation, Internal Resolution X2 Native , Blending Unit Accuracy Basic , Automatic CRC Level Partial , Speed Hacks Enable INTC Spin Detction Enable Wait Loop Detction mVU Flag Hack. Only player the first level its seems to play fine but more testing might be needed. | Logeater |
NTSC-U | Manjaro 17.0.2 Gellivara |
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1.5.0 (dev-2175) | GSdx AVX2 |
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Runs pretty much perfectly at 2x native res - 100% speed, slowdowns occur with 3x res although this is down to the GPU. | |
PAL | Archlinux |
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1.7.3546 | Vulkan | Default | Runs at 100% most of the time at native res 1x. Sometimes goes down to 95%. Lag in spoken dialogues (70% speed). | Quellen |
Environment | Configurations | Comments | Tester | ||||
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Region | OS | CPU/GPU | Revision | Graphics | Sound/Pad | ||
? | ? |
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? | ? | ? | There are no test results for this game on macOS. You can help by playing and submitting your test results here. |
? |
Trivia
- Original names: ドラゴンクエストVIII 空と海と大地と呪われし姫君 (SLPM-65888) & (SLPM-66481), ドラゴンクエストVIIIプレミアム映像ディスク (SLPM-62490)
- Also known as Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi (JP), Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King (EU, AU), Dragon Quest: L'odyssée du roi maudit (EU)
Known Issues
Corrupted orb effect when receiving Sage's Scepter
- Status: Active
- Type: Minor
- Description: When receiving the purified Sage Scepter prior to the final boss fight, the lightning effect of the orb it resides in is corrupted and appears as static color noise.
- Workaround: Use Software mode.
- Last tested on: v1.7.2656 (by coornio)
Fixed Issues
Empyria's shadow
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Major
- Description: Empyria's shadow isn't visible when in the Dark Realm.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
Opaque sepia filter during some cutscenes
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Major
- Description: Cutscenes that use the sepia filter are corrupted and will become opaque.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
- Last tested on: v1.5.0
Bad reflections on water/cave walls
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: Water and cave walls have some square, crystal-like reflection artifacts.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
- Last tested on: v1.7.2656 (by coornio)
Text artifacts
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: When upscaling, there's garbage pixels around text characters and certain menus.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
- Last tested on: v1.7.2656 (by coornio)
Character outlines are blocky and misaligned
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: Character outlines will appear blocky, oversized and out of place.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
- Last tested on: v1.7.2656 (by coornio)
Missing shadows
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: Shadows are missing in hardware mode.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
Black boxes
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Affected Game Versions: Prior to v1.5.0-dev-2784-gfce391856
- Description: A black box appears around a character when psyched to maximum Up.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
Non-Issues
Intermittent grid lines on sea surface
- Type: Not an issue
- Description: When upscaling, you might catch glimpses of black/white grid patterns on the surface of the sea rising and then submerging again, disappearing altogether.
- Workaround: Use Software mode.
- Last tested on: v1.7.2656 (by coornio)
- Type: Not an issue
- Description: The orange highlight on the character cards is missing some "chunks" when upscaling, but is otherwise non-critical.
- Workaround: Use Software mode.
- Last tested on: v1.7.2656 (by coornio)
Black lines on edge of screen when upscaling
- Type: Not an issue
- Description: When upscaling, black lines will appear along the bottom and right sides of the screen. Oddly enough, these same lines will be absent when the game is in fullscreen.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
Gallery
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Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (SLPM 65888)