Dragon Quest VIII

The court jester Dhoulmagus of the kingdom of Trodain stole a powerful magical scepter sealed beneath the royal castle. Using the power of the scepter, Dhoulmagus destroyed the castle, placed a curse upon the kingdom and its people, and turned King Trode into a troll and the princess into a horse. A sole surviving castle guard journeys with the king, the princess, a reformed bandit named Yangus and a few other companions in search of the evil jester and a way to break the curse.

The game also features full camera rotation and an optional first-person view. You can interact with many objects in the game, like lifting and breaking barrels to find hidden items. The player earns skill points from battles, which can be allocated into different categories to learn new abilities or improve existing ones.

The Alchemy Pot system allows you to gather recipes and mix items to create new ones. The international version of the game includes voice acting, graphic menus, symphonic soundtracks, and improved effects.

When the game was released for Nintendo 3DS, some changes were made. Random encounters have been removed, battles can be started by running into enemies on screen, and there's a new photo mode feature that allows you to capture screenshots. The Alchemy Pot now produces items instantly and has additional features like producing multiple items at once.

Other additions include two new characters who can join your party, new story sequences, challenging dungeons, monster arena challenges, costumes, recipes, equipment, and new monsters.