At the end of the battle, an animation of the surviving party members putting away their weapons is played. The party appears in the battle screen, unlike previous installments.

The battle screens are shown as a 3-D view, with shifting camera angles to display the current combatant.

Party conversations return from the previous installment, but it is now possible to either select which party member to talk to, or cycle through them in order.

Thus, there is no longer a Darkness Lamp, or related spells. Time now passes even in towns, and the party can use an inn to switch from day to night, as well as vice-versa.

The day-night cycle of games III, IV, and V is restored.

Chests and special encounters with tameable monsters can be found in the overworld.

The buildings in a town are visible even from the overworld view.

In a few cases, the character's displayed clothing will change to reflect their other equipment, although it usually stays the same.

Characters are shown holding their equipped weapons, in an appropriate posture.

There is an automap feature in dungeons, and complete maps of all towns.

The lead character may be swapped though. Only the lead character is displayed in the map view, however. It can optionally be switched to a first-person view.

The game uses an over-the-shoulder 3-D display on all maps, replacing the traditional bird's-eye view.

When an ancient sceptre is stolen, an epic adventure is born! Gameplay New features

Dragon quest 8 ps2 mac emulator