The biggest surprise about the Dragon Quest smartphone ports isn’t that they exist, those were inevitable. It’s that Square Enix eschewed the typical landscape orientation most RPGs use in favor of portrait mode. The benefit is obvious, you can play Dragon Quest VIII with one hand, which is a big plus if you’re riding the subway and one hand is grasping a handrail.
You can choose the placement of the digital analog pad, which you use to move the hero. Sliding the bottom of the screen left and right turns the camera. Tapping on people starts conversations and tapping on a gate opens it. Dragon Quest VIII also has an auto run option, so all you need to do is control the camera to turn. In battle, you select attacks using a touch screen menu and tap on targets.
Japan gets Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on December 12 and more Dragon Quest games will follow afterwards.
