Dragon Quest VIII to Reach Japan This Year?

After a seemingly endless wait for news of the return of Level 5’s much-loved Dragon Quest series, Square Enix has revealed a Japanese release date for the eighth PS2 iteration. Dragon Quest VIII: Sky, Sea, Earth & The Cursed Princess will hit shelves this winter. Although a specific date has not been confirmed, the fact that Square Enix’s other heavyweight RPG series, Final Fantasy, is returning in early 2005 would suggest that DQVIII will be released prior to that, in order to avoid potentially conflicting sales.

Information regarding US and European versions is sketchy at present. Dragon Quest is a quintessentially Japanese franchise, and so the company may choose to leave western audiences with its more established RPG's, namely Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts 2, due out in early 2005 and late 2005 respectively.