We'll have to wait until next year to play Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King

At least it's still coming.

While Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King was never given a concrete western release date, it was expected to arrive on 3DS sometime this year.

It was announced during today's Nintendo Direct, though, that it will skip 2016.

Square Enix has been rather silent on the game of late, so this isn't completely unexpected.

All is not lost, however, as fans of the series still have Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Past to look forward to later this month.

The classic game has been remade and includes many hours of new content. It comes with a StreetPass feature which allows players to swap Traveller’s Tablets to access special dungeons and items.

Through online distributions, players will also be able to encounter new monsters, explore new dungeons and obtain unique items.

Anyone who pre-orders the game before it launches on 3DS will also be handed a free Dragon Quest 7 menu theme.

Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Past will be released in North America and Europe on September 16.