FFXII demo with Dragon Quest

By Ellie Gibson Published 23 September, 2005

For the US, and maybe us too.

Square-Enix has confirmed to Eurogamer that forthcoming PS2 sequel Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King will come bundled with a Final Fantasy XII demo over in the States - and hinted that we might get it, too.

"We can't confirm that the demo will also come with Dragon Quest 8 in Europe at the moment," a spokesperson told us.

"But we'd love to do it," he added - so let's hope they get their wish.

The spokesperson also confirmed that Europe will get the "international version" of Dragon Quest 8 rather than the Japanese one - so you can expect voiceovers, a proper soundtrack by a proper orchestra, a newly designed GUI menu system, new battle abilities and better animations.

Dragon Quest 8 is due out on the same day as the Xbox 360 in the US - November 22 - but there's no word yet on when it will arrive here. Final Fantasy XII will launch in Japan on March 16, with US and European versions to follow later in the year.

To view the Dragon Quest 8 trailer, visit the game's official website.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dizzy #1 6 years ago

    Err... why would you play FF after playing the superior DQ games?

  • tengu #2 6 years ago

    Because people can like more than one thing perhaps?

  • Blerk #3 6 years ago

    Please don't mess up the PAL release of DQ8, Squenixto. :-(

  • Sorb #4 6 years ago

    Best reason so far to import a U.S. PSTwo! Tempting, tempting...

  • RabidMonkey #5 6 years ago

    "Err... why would you play FF after playing the superior DQ games?"

    You've got it the wrong way round. You play the demo first, then you play the superior DQ.

  • Daryoon #6 6 years ago

    Oh god, the hero went Super Saiyan in the trailer. Can't Toriyama do anything that isn't Dragonball Z?!

  • Artemus #7 6 years ago

    So we could see a FFXII demo by 2007. Full game by 2008 then. Good job the PS3 is backwards compatible...

  • Feanor #8 6 years ago

    "Because people can like more than one thing perhaps?"

    Your logic will just confuse him.

  • OnlyMe #9 6 years ago

    Well, I can't imagine ALL the DQ games being better than ALL the FF games. I'd imagine we have both good and bad DQ games as well as good and bad FF games. I only tried DQVII but I can't say it's better than for example Final Fantasy VII. Maybe somewhere as good as FFVIII.

  • ST.. #10 6 years ago

    Please optimise both DQ and FF12 for PAL you buggers.

  • Mr_Brown #11 6 years ago

    Well I'm getting the US DQ8 anyway. Great news ether way! Not as if i need a reason to buy the outstanding Dragon Quest VIII anyway! :)

  • Meff #12 6 years ago

    Well, it's a Square Enix game, so I'm getting it. Simple and no questions asked. I admit it! I'm a total Square-Enix fanboy!

  • Yonda1me #13 6 years ago

    MAYBE????

    I`ll be getting this one, even if I have to import it!

  • Dragul #14 6 years ago

    You know what?! Nice would be a concrete date for an euro realese... now that would be nice...

  • smelly #15 6 years ago

    DQ is the sole reason im considering getting a ps2.

    .. but not while they're priced so rediculously stupidly highly.

  • Scimarad #16 6 years ago

    I'm not at all convinced I'm going to like DQ (sounds a bit too old fashioned for me) but I'll give it a go as I've never played one. Especially if they chuck in an FF demo.

  • silke #17 6 years ago

    On the whole, the Dragon Quest series is vastly superior to the FF games. The DQ games are just unbelievable engaging. And no, i'm not talking about it in the "adolescent crap story with even worse dialogue" way. It's the gameplay, the world and its inhabitans and the emotional impact those things create together that makes this series so tantalizing to experience.

    And this one seems to be amazing. Although as a long time DQ player i'm extremely worried about the changes. Hopefully they will make it a better game, but I wonder....

  • OnlyMe #18 6 years ago

    azmol01: basically, FF is a DQ clone originally, so I guess you'll have a tough time enjoying DQ too. One of the few differences between the old DQ games and the old FF games is that you usually fight the baddies in first person in DQ, but it's still turnbased like FF, giving out commands and stuff.

    But I only really *played" DQVII and just tried the other ones for a few seconds/minutes on an emulator. Based on the quality of DQVII, I reckon DQVIII will be the best RPG on the PS2 yet.

  • silke #19 6 years ago

    Indeed. DQVII is a wonderful experience. Among the best 100 hours i've ever spent on a single game. The sense of progression in the world that gradually changes around you is absolutely mezmerising.

  • Scimarad #20 6 years ago

    "On the whole, the Dragon Quest series is vastly superior to the FF games."

    /is extremely dubious

  • Lightbringer #21 6 years ago

    Ive heard people say that many times, and from the reviews of DQ8 ive read, i am starting to believe its true. Anyway i dont really care about FFXII demo, i just want a solid release date.

  • firefly #22 6 years ago

    Can't say I really care too much for demos anyway all too often they're rather fleeting experiences that reveal little of the finished game and soon turn into random discs that you still have lying around long after you've bought/not bought the propper game - the Final Fantasy X demo included with VI was a prime example of this. In conclusion I concur - sod the demo just give us a release date and a proper PAL conversion of Dragon Quest 8 already.
    Edited by 1 at 15/03/08 @ 19:52