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November 15th, 2005 almost marks a new beginning for Enix's flagship series. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King will be the first DQ game in the US to use the Japanese series name (thanks to Enix acquiring the US rights to the name in 2003), it is the first DQ game to be played in full 3D, and it has received both commercial success (3 million copies sold in its first week in Japan) and critical acclaim (a 9.0 from Gamespot and a 9.5 from 1up). American gamers can experience what is being hailed as the best game in the storied series on the PS2 starting today.

Dragon Quest VIII uses the creative talents of the series' original "big three" (Producer/Director Yuji Horii, character designer Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball __ fame, and music composer Koichi Sugiyama) and the visual stylings of the development team Level-5 (most well-known for their Dark Cloud games) to create this PS2 RPG. You assume the role of a name-it-yourself silent protagonist who teams up with the kind-hearted former bandit Yangus, the attractive young sorceress Jessica, and the suave Templar Angelo to try and save the kingdom of Trodain from the evil jester Dhoulmagus. Dhoulmagus has used a powerful magic scepter to transform the good King Trode in to a troll, his daughter in to a horse, and every other denizen of Trodain in to thorns. Somehow, The Hero (as every principal protagonist in the DQ/DW series is called), a young guardsman of the castle, managed to be unaffected by the spell and now travels with the king and princess on a journey to undo the curse.

One thing that is particularly striking about Dragon Quest VIII is the modern visuals. The massive, immersive continuous 3D world really looks excellent. However, that's where most of the modern features end. Dragon Quest VIII uses the traditional methods of random battles, level-ups, and round-based combat that the series has used since it's beginning in 1982, but it offers a degree of customization by allowing characters to distribute Skill Points earned a level-ups to different weapon skill levels and innate skill levels. For example, Angelo learns a great deal of healing magic if you give him points in Staves, and learns offensive movies if you give him points in Swords. In any case, the game looks to be extremely old-school rpg with absolutely gorgeous, if a bit cartoonish, graphics and a world map that's a wonder to behold.

And if that isn't enough to pique your interest, keep in mind that DQ VIII contains a bonus demo for Final Fantasy XII, which you may have heard gaming sites discussing in detail recently. That will only serve as added incentive for fans of Square-Enix to purchase this new game.

So let's review: Switching to Japanese titles, hitting 3D for the first time, excellent visual presentation, commericial success, and consistent critical acclaim? Sounds like Final Fantasy VII to me. Will DQ VIII parallel FF VII's succes? Probably not, but in any case, if you've been a fan of the Dragon Quest series for awhile or at least have a fondness for old-school RPGs then this game might be worth checking out. If you want to learn more about DQ VIII, check out some of the links below.

Gamespot's review
1up's review
Square-Enix's official website
Wikipedia's DQ VIII entry

A new twist in Konami's Suikoden series of RPGs arrived in North America today. "Suikoden Tactics" ("Rhapsodia" in Japan) is a significant deviation from the typical style of the rest of the series. The game will feature a tactical scenario style of combat instead of the traditional turn-and-party based system, and is also the first in the Suikoden timeline to cover the same events as another game, namely, Suikoden IV.

Sources:
IGN
SARS

Personally, I'm not sure what to think until I've played it. I really didn't like Suikoden IV, and I think the release of another game with a completely different style is a way for Konami to gauge reaction to gameplay innovations before implementing them in the series proper (and risking backlash like that which accompanied Suikoden III's new combat system). If this is the game that gets the series back on track, it will certainly be ironic.

Tales of Phantasia, the start to the Namco's Tales series of RPGs, will have it's 2003 Game Boy Advance port hit Europe in the first quarter of 2006, according to Nintendo of Europe. There is no word on a possible future release in the US, but rumors are circulating that a 2006 release is probable, but details are fuzzy thus far.

ToP was first released on the SNES in 1995, then ported to the Playstation in 1998, and most recently ported to the GBA in 2003, all only in Japan. This new release is likely in large part thanks to the popularity of the most recent Tales game, the publicly and critically acclaimed Tales of Symphonia. The Tales series has enjoyed only a small cult following outside of Japan previous to Tales of Symphonia's success with the Playstation games Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny II (the latter is known as Tales of Eternia in Japan; this is extremely confusing because a direct sequel to Tales of Destiny was made for the PS2 in 2002, also called Tales of Destiny 2) and widespread emulation of Tales of Phantasia thanks to DeJap Translations' 2000 translation patch. Now the rest of the world (hopefully including the US at some point) can legally enjoy one of Namco and Wolf Team's masterpieces.

Sources: RPGamer.com (news source)
Wikipedia (Tales series background info)

By now most gamers in the US are familiar with the recent bill passed in California intended to further restrict the sales of graphically violent video games to minors. This has seemingly acted as a cue for other states to follow its lead, beginning with Florida senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who introduced a similar bill this week.

Diaz de la Portilla's bill, more specifically, is nearly identical to the bill approved by California governer Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both provide corresponding examples of what constitutes a violent video game, and the limit on fines for breaking this law as well as the required 2-inch-by-2-inch label reading "18" on the covers of adult-themed games are virtually the same. Apparently the only difference between the two bills is that, under Diaz de la Portilla's legislation, anyone under the age of 18 will be forbidden to access violent games within arcades in addition to stores.

Video game legislation is becoming quite a hot topic among state leaders. Tighter laws regarding violent games have garnered heavy support on both sides of the political spectrum in recent years, and further debates aren't expected to cause a division along party lines.

Source: GameSpot

According to RPGamer, Nintendo has reportedly asked Square Enix to produce a new version of Final Fantasy III for the Game Boy Advance. As the story suggests, Final Fantasy III hasn't seen the light of day since the original Famicom release - the Wonderswan Color version was badly hampered by the premature demise of the system.

Final Fantasy III has never been released in the United States. However, if there's a GBA version done in Japan, there's very little stopping it from coming here. The GBA, unlike the WSC, has brand identity and a stranglehold on the portable gaming market. Given the massive brand appeal of the Final Fantasy franchise and the novelty of the particular title, it seems reasonable that we could finally have a full official translation of this poor forgotten game sooner than we thought.

According to FFInsider.net, Square has just announced that Final Fantasies I and II (II never before released in the US) will be released in the US sometime next year.  The article also states that the games will be together on one disc, and sold at a "budgeted price."  The article doesn't say it, but the games will be released for the PSX, not PS2.  The games will be redone quite a bit, with new art and music to take advantage of the leap in technology.  I can't wait for this gem to come out.