Editing Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (section)

===Localization===
''Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King'' was released in North America on November 15, 2005, and shipped with a playable ''[[Final Fantasy]] XII'' demo disc. Additions and changes to the North American version of ''Dragon Quest VIII'' include: voice acting, new animations, enhanced music and sound effects, a new menu interface, and an extended ending sequence. It was also the first game in the {{DQSeries}} to bear the original, Japanese "{{Main Series}}" name (rather than "''Dragon Warrior''") in North America. {{Main Series}}'s North American name was changed, due to a trademark conflict with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game role-playing game] ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonQuest DragonQuest]'', which was published by wargame publisher [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulations_Publications Simulations Publications] in the 1980s until the company's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy bankruptcy] in 1982 and purchase by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSR,_Inc. TSR, Inc.], which then published it as an alternate pen-and-paper RPG line to ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons Dungeons & Dragons]'' until 1987.

A demo disc for ''Dragon Quest VIII'' was released in America during the fall of 2005 through certain venues, including ''Shonen Jump'' magazine. ''Dragon Quest VIII'' is also the first flagship ''Dragon Quest'' game to be released in Europe. It was released in Europe on April 13, 2006, under the title ''Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King'', dropping the number. Unlike the North American version, the European version does not contain a ''[[Final Fantasy]] XII'' demo.

Unlike the original Japanese version, the North American and European localizations of the game include voice acting in nearly all cutscenes. The game nevertheless retains the series' tradition of allowing the player to name the lead character, avoiding issues by having the voice acting script skip all incidences of the {{Hero 8}}'s name by use of stand-in monikers and occasionally replacing the name with Yangus' nickname for the {{Hero 8}}, "Guv'" (as in "governor," pronounced with a Cockney accent). ''Dragon Quest VIII'' also marks the first time that no content was censored for the international release. The English translation is credited to Plus Alpha Translations and AltJapan.