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Shonen Jump magazine recently offered a more in-depth look at the RPG based on Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, starring a much younger (and much thinner) version of the hero's ex-bandit sidekick named Yangus, aptly but oddly entitled Dragon Quest Yangus.

First revealed visually at Jump Festa in December, the prequel - in league with Square-Enix's Mysterious Dungeon series - will fixate on the childhood adventures of Yangus and the trials which molded him into the, uh, "hero" he became. The story kicks off with Yangus insolubly appearing in an alternate world where he begins his quest through the true meat of the game - the ever-changing dungeons.

Just like the Mysterious Dungeon titles it takes after, Dragon Quest Yangus will contain ample dungeons to tackle and traverse that are generated randomly with each playthrough. That is, their regeneration would be limited as such if not for a new feature implemented within the game: To be blunt, this time around the dungeons will also regenerate with a purely chance outcome each time they're exited and then re-entered. Players will be forced to think twice before stepping outside of one; it will be as if a new dungeon took its place upon returning back inside.

Update! Dragon Quest Yangus is now scheduled to hit the PlayStation 2 in Japan on April 20th, 2006.

Screenshots

Source: RPGamer

Courtesy of an interview with EuroGamer.net, Dragon Quest (or, for those who care little about the continuity of titles, Dragon Warrior) producer Yuji Horii, like many other series heads before him - including Konami's Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima - made it evident at an event held in London last week to commemorate the launch of Square-Enix's largely successful Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King that his reaction toward the prototype controller for Nintendo's up-and-coming Revolution console could be summarized as something more than slightly thrilled, as described by the site's attending journalists.

When prompted by a question regarding the Revolution's controller, Yuji Horii divulged quite a bit of eagerness in response: "I loved the fact that it was interactive, that you do something and you get feedback." According to Horii, a novel concept behind the greatest video game would involve complete interactivity and dictate that consequences are received from the player's every action. Because of the Revolution controller's function, the interactivity isn't limited simply to the gameplay, but extends to the hardware itself. "You do something, and it reacts to you," he stated. "It's human nature that to have some feedback from your actions is rewarding."

So what does all this toying with the idea really amount to? Frankly, the details are too few to draw a solid conclusion, but not too vague to speculate. Oddly enough, the question "Are there any plans to release this title (Dragon Quest VIII) on different platforms or game consoles?" that sprung up on the event's press notes was met with a curious "TBA" (To Be Announced) printed next to it, although nothing yet is confirmed.

The highest selling series in Japan, the very last major Dragon Quest title to be released on a Nintendo console was in 1995, and it's been even less recent for gamers outside its country of origin. But whether or not it's by a gambler's chance, an emergence of the Dragon Quest series on the Revolution may very well have its potential.

Sources: CVG
EuroGamer

With the stack of holidays all but out of mind and the New Year's hangovers now long forgotten, it's once again that mystical time when one's forced to get things back in gear. And what better way for me to kick off the new year than with the latest details on every PC addict's revered fixation and second reality, often called EverQuest?

To be more specific, Sony Online Entertainment contemporarily stated that expansions for EverQuest and EverQuest II were soon on the way. The two new add-oners, Prophecy of Ro and Kingdom of Sky, are both expected to come out this February. However, this time around players will be exposed to more depth in the online RPG as they locate and make use of - or simply break apart for the sake of fun - various destructible items. There are dozens of extra zones and multiple new dungeons to explore, as well as over 30 additional missions to keep fans occupied, plus even more!

The story behind EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky in particular, involves an area above the world of Norrath; a place among a series of floating islands together known as the Overrealm. Along with the ten brand new zones, higher level caps, and the umpteen creatures incorporated within the land are the tantalizing Good and Evil deathmatches held between characters - a feature made possible due to the expansion's "Player versus Player" functionality.

Kingdom of Sky will be out on the 11th of February. As for Prophecy of Ro, it will turn up in retail stores and online come the 21st, just shy of two weeks later.

Source: RPGFan

It looks as though Namco is next in line for bringing a flagship RPG series to the Nintendo DS, this time with the continuation to the developer's groundbreaking Tales saga, entitled Tales of the Tempest, unspecifically planned to release in Japan sometime in 2006. Namco has also provided fans with the newly launched Tales of the Tempest website, although it's exclusively in Japanese for the time being.

Tales of the Tempest places the player in the shoes of fifteen-year-old Caius Qualls from the village of Alleula. Sadly, he discovers one day that the man he looked upon as his adoptive father is not exactly human, but instead a beastman - a fact revealed in the midst of an attack on the village. The residents of Alleula quickly become wary of Caius and his father, thus refusing to aid the two in escaping from the chaos. Caius, however, succeeds in evading the enemy along with his friend Lupia, then sets out on his own quest to track down his real parents. According to Namco, the handheld title is sure to be packed with unique action-based gameplay, much like all the Tales games before it, thereby ensuring frequent use of the DS's touch screen.

As many gamers are aware, Tales of the Tempest was only one of four titles trademarked by Namco earlier this month; the three that remain shrouded in mystery are Tales of Doom Sign, Tales of Two Faiths, and Tales of Howling. Currently there's no further information available regarding these three proposed games.

Source: RPGFan

Grandia III, the long-awaited and quick-to-become-a-hit RPG following its launch in Japan this past August, only recently received a massive hint through the ESRB in late October at a North American release, helping end months of dispute over whether or not the game would ever get here - although most figured it would. Yesterday evening, in response, Square-Enix USA finally put the finishing touches on the game's official domestic website, opening it to the hoards of eager fans inhabiting the partial western world. If anything, it serves as undeniable proof that Grandia III is currently in the localization process.

In actuality, the Flash based site doesn't display too much in the way of features at the moment, consisting of little more than the Grandia III tagline ("Claim the power of the gods... before your enemies do") along with the promise of a brand new trailer on December 22nd. In the meantime, the latest gameplay trailer - now in English - has been let loose, yet appears to be somewhat sparing in terms of new material.

Grandia III is expected to cross North American shores around the first part of March, 2006. It's unknown if the reported timeframe is set in stone, therefore delays remain likely. Thus far no word on a potential European release has been made, but considering past installments it's probably only a matter of time.

Sources:
IGN
RPGamer

BioWare, the folks behind several hit online roleplaying games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the upcoming XBox 360 title, Mass Effect, is holding a contest that could land you a job as a professional writer for the popular game company. How so? As part of their search for fresh and creative ideas to help inspire their future releases, BioWare is asking anyone interested in having their work noticed on a far grander scale to come up with unique concepts for a new Neverwinter Nights module using the Aurora NWN Toolset and Dialogue Editor. If your written work is chosen, you could soon find yourself as a part of the biz!

According to the contest parameters, the module description must contain a maximum of 3500 words or less, including all settings and dialogue in the story; the time period itself must be set within a medieval era, yet possess a fantasyesque atmosphere. Also, no more than four characters are allowed to be present in the module, with only one of which being playable. Additional requirements, guidelines and links to the downloadable tools needed to create a module are listed on the official site's contest page.

A panel of judges on behalf of BioWare will select three of the best submissions as winners, and five more winners will be selected by the Neverwinter Nights community at NWVault. These final eight entries will then be reviewed by Kevin Barrett and James Ohlen - both of the development company's senior staff - with the ultimate prizes in mind: Rewarding the very best writers with an assortment of BioWare merchandise as well as the possibility of hiring the most talented participants as official writers for the company. "BioWare needs good writers to make the best games we can and we are asking all of you to tell us a story."

The contest's submission deadline is January 30th, 2006.