Square Enix has announced a new 3DS port of Dragon Quest VIII complete with fresh scenarios and new, fully-voiced party members.
Back in 2013, Square Enix announced that it would be porting Dragon Quest I-VIII to iOS and Android. It was a welcome move that left many fans of the beloved role-playing franchise itching to give their favorite entries another go. Now, it appears as though 3DS owners will be given a similar opportunity to retread Dragon Quest VIII. Square Enix has announced plans to bring a new version of the PS2 RPG to the handheld, complete with an impressive collection of fresh content.
The publisher announced the new port on a Japanese language web page showcasing the game and detailing the planned content. Among those will be new party members, new scenarios, a musical score recorded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and support for the 3DS’s StreetPass feature. The new party members will include a female thief named Garda and Morrie, a character who previously appeared in the spin-off title Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road. Both characters will have full voice acting. The game itself is currently set to release in Japan later this summer on August 27th.
The big question, of course, is whether or not the new 3DS version will also make its way to gamers in North America and Europe. While Dragon Quest has never been as big of a hit in those markets as in its native Japan, there are still plenty of fans who would love a chance to play an enhanced edition of one of the franchise’s best-regarded entries. We’ve reached out to Square Enix to see if we can get any comment about that.
Source: Gematsu
