DRAGON QUEST™: The Journey of the Cursed King™

Product Information Sheet

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on Feb. 8, 2006

Official name: DRAGON QUEST^TM: The Journey of the Cursed King^TM

Release date: April 2006

Format: Exclusive to PlayStation^® 2

Age rating: PEGI 12+

Publisher: Square Enix Ltd

Developer: Level-5

Importance notice - name change for European debut:

The official game name for the European release is confirmed as DRAGON QUEST^TM: The Journey of the Cursed King^TM, not Dragon Quest VIII.

Game overview:

Poor King Trode has been turned into a troll, his daughter Princess Medea into a horse and his subjects into brambles. His kingdom, Trodain, is frozen in time.

The story begins as you, the hero (one of the King's guards), and your eccentric band - King Trode, the Princess and a reformed bandit named Yangus - arrive at the town of Farebury in search of an evil jester named Dhoulmagus. He is the madman responsible for stealing a forbidden sceptre from King Trode's castle and cursing the whole kingdom. Now he roams the land killing innocent victims.

United by a common goal, characters Jessica and Angelo join the party on a quest to bring the devilish Dhoulmagus to justice.

Since the record-selling Japanese release new features have been added for the European versions. The game has been optimised for full-screen PAL 50Hz and the game's text has been rendered into English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The game also features the addition of English voice-overs recorded by a British cast, a full-orchestral soundtrack, a completely renovated menu system, new battle abilities, and improved animations.

DRAGON QUEST: The Journey of the Cursed King offers players a huge, epic adventure in a seamless world. Roam as far as the eye can see and battle against a wide variety of unique monsters by deploying spectacular attacks and spells - all in 3D for the first time ever.

Key features:

Unique visual style (character design by Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball^® Z)

Intuitive game balance makes this title easy to pick up, allowing rapid engagement with the story and environment

Freedom to go anywhere the eye can see in a huge, seamless and colourful world

Battle against a wide variety of weird and wonderful monsters

Party members deploy spectacular attacks and spells in stunning 3D

Individual party members' behaviour can be customised for optimal battle performance

Time passes from day to night revealing an entirely different side to towns and dungeons

- ends -

About DRAGON QUEST

DRAGON QUEST: The Journey of the Cursed King is the first European release of the legendary franchise that has sold over 40 million units worldwide. The DRAGON QUEST franchise has been established for 20 years in Japan, and with 27 titles under its belt, is the cornerstone of family entertainment. In addition to being the biggest selling PlayStation 2 game in Japan, DRAGON QUEST pioneered RPGs for the console platform.

Some of the biggest names in the Japanese entertainment industry work on the DRAGON QUEST series; Akira Toriyama famed for creating Dragon Ball is responsible for character design; Yuji Horii is responsible for the story and script; and Koichi Sugiyama who has composed music for TV and released over 100 soundtracks and orchestral CDs, is responsible for the music. DRAGON QUEST: The Journey of the Cursed King is being developed by the highly respected development studio Level-5, Inc. who deliver a richly detailed environment, vast enough to house Yuji Horii's sweeping drama, and a cel-shaded graphics engine which perfectly captures the spirit of Akira Toriyama's character designs.

About Square Enix

Headquartered in Tokyo, Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix) develops, publishes and distributes entertainment contents including interactive entertainment software and publications in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Square Enix brings two of Japan's best-selling franchises - FINAL FANTASY^®, which has sold over 63 million units worldwide and DRAGON QUEST which has sold over 40 million units worldwide - under one roof. Square Enix is one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world and continues to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation. More information on Square Enix can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com .

About Square Enix Ltd.

Located in London, Square Enix Ltd. handles operations in Europe and other PAL territories including sales, marketing and publishing of Square Enix titles. More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com .

® KOICHI SUGIYAMA.

SQUARE ENIX, the SQUARE ENIX logo , DRAGON QUEST, THE JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING, FINAL FANTASY and other names of products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Square Enix Co., Ltd. in Japan and/or other countries.

"PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For further information on DRAGON QUEST, please contact:

Specialist press enquiries:

Alex Huhtala

Public Relations Manager

Square Enix Ltd

+44 (0) 20 7291 5123

alexh@square-enix-europe.com

UK consumer media enquiries:

Charlotte Fraczek

Consumer PR

Square Enix Ltd