Dark Cloud is an astonishing and breathtaking game, it was when it released in 2001, and it still holds up today in 2012. It would be an unorganized mess if written in just one paragraph, so this will be broken into separate points.
-Plot Dark Cloud has a surprisingly fascinating story, even though it may seem simple and childish at face value. Along the way, you are introduced to some colorful characters that you must interact with and learn some of their story to satisfy their needs. The game, however, can take a dark turn at some points later in the game.
-Graphics While Dark Cloud may have been a visually great game at the time, it never had the best graphics. This is not to say that the game looks bad by any means, I would not want it any other way. The game is just dated and it shows in some areas such as with draw distance, lighting water and fire effects. Every texture is well represented and looks nice in total.
-Sound The game has an iffy soundtrack at times. The main theme and the Dran boss music are among the best music I have heard in video games, but some of the later bosses and some of the music for areas are a bit bland and sometimes repetitive. The sound is very well done, the sounds the characters make and the weapons or enemies make are all great, well timed and a great addition to the game.
-Gameplay
-Fighting Dark Cloud doesn't necessarily have the most complex fighting system, but it fits for this game. You press X, you attack. You hold X, you do a special attack. That's mostly it. Some enemies, like most RPGs, are a certain element and certain attributes to your weapons hurt some enemies more than others. The system is very simple and repetitive, but fun.
-Dungeon Crawling This game has a unique element to exploring it's dungeons. Every time you enter a floor of the dungeon you are in, the floor is randomly generated, a gameplay mechanic that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon utilized. Some floors do, however have a set condition, whether it be forcing you to play as a certain character or having your weapon lose experience as you use it. In dungeons, there is also an area in some floors called a back floor, which is an area you can only access with a specific item that you obtain randomly in chests. These areas have stronger enemies that give you more exp. for your weapons and also have more valuable loot.
-Weapons In the game, you don't exactly level up your character, you do upgrade your defense through items, but all of your attack is based off of the strength of your weapon. Along the game you will naturally come across more weapons. As you use these weapons, they gain experience and can level up, increasing stats, you can increase them further by adding attachments and gems, which speed the process up significantly. Once you get it's stats to a certain point, you can build up your weapon, making it stronger and capable of surpassing the limitations your old weapon could never break. Once you level up a weapon five times, you can break it down into a synthsphere and attach it to a different weapon, giving 60% of all of that weapon's stats to the weapon you put it to. One sidepoint is that your weapons can break, and you will need to repair them before that with repair powders. If your weapon happens to break, you will revert to the weakest weapon in your inventory that can't 'break', but once it reaches the breaking point, it might as well have broken.
-Characters Throughout the game, you will encounter certain characters that will join your party and are essential to get past obstacles your character cannot. These range from three other ranged characters and two melee characters, they all come with their own set of weapons and stats, but overall are just a tool to the game as they seldom provide any additional plot or intricacy to the situation at hand, they never appear in cutscenes out of the place where you find them, either.
-Georama & Atlamillia Now for the most unique part of the game, Atlamillia. As you progress through dungeons, you will find floating orbs called Atlamillia. As you collect Atla, you will come back to the town you are in and notice the Georama system. This system literally lets you rebuild the town you are in from scratch. The Atla that you collect is actually the parts that you use to create the village. You find the townsfolk and they will give you their requests on what they want in their house and how they want their village to be rebuilt. Once you satisfy them, you will obtain a great reward in return.
-Verdict Overall, this game is a gem from my childhood that still stands up today, it is one of my favorite games that I will always cherish and come back to from time to time. I love this game more than it's sequel and hope there is a third sequel in the Dark Cloud franchise because this game warrants it. 10/10.
Overall rating
5/ 5
Gameplay
5/ 5
Graphics
5/ 5
Sound
5/ 5
Lasting Appeal
5/ 5
Bapho
fromSan Diego, CA
Loved since childhood
PostedFebruary 7, 2014
This game was the first game i ever bought on my ps2 and i loved it and i still love it today. I would buy it from its release price for every time i played through it. It is the only game along with the second game in the series that I can say is worth every cent.
Products related to my review
Dark Cloud 2
(17)
Overall rating
4/ 5
Gameplay
5/ 5
Graphics
4/ 5
Sound
5/ 5
Lasting Appeal
4/ 5
Kurosu
This game is perfect for:hardcore gamers
A Beautiful Action RPG
PostedJune 22, 2013
Usually most Action RPG start to get boring and usually downright infuriating to play after time, but not this RPG 12 years later and it still seems to find a way to surprise me. The gameplay is simple and easy, the story is nostalgic, the sound is beautiful to the point where you have the songs in your Ipod, and the gameplay is forever lasting. I recommend this for any gamer. This game is more entertaining than most other games out their.
Overall rating
5/ 5
Gameplay
5/ 5
Graphics
5/ 5
Sound
5/ 5
Lasting Appeal
5/ 5
nice3792
fromCrum lynne, PA
great
PostedDecember 29, 2012
one of my fav games i could play over and over again and never get bored i don't have the game anymore but it is still my all time fav nothing so far comes even close to Dark Cloud at all
