Dark Cloud gets a lot of extra credit from me for a couple reasons. For one I grew up watching my brother play it, so it has a nostalgia buff. Second, I went in knowing it has some shortcomings that can be mitigated with a little foresight. The weapon system is really cool but it's also a little overwhelming and leaves many doors open that could potentially lead to endless grinding. The level of commitment required to make a decent weapon is so high that breaking your main weapon is a reloadable offense. That said, the game isn't nearly as grindy as I was expecting and you can build up at least a couple decent weapons on your favorite characters that will float you through most of the challenges. The post game is a whole other beast though which I don't dare approach.
Just gonna rattle off some of my gripes now. Weapon durability is really just a pointless mechanic. I came to terms with it but in retrospect it's just a money sink since you just hoard repair powders. Some enemies just annihilate your weapon and you can't always just ignore them. There's way too many mimics and they are both costly and unrewarding to kill. Xiao's attack sound is wildly annoying. The battle music is laughable and your stuck with it the whole game. This especially sucks because I think the music is mostly excellent otherwise. Duels are underutilized. The boss fights are the worst parts of the game and are truly abysmal in their execution.
I thought there was a good chance I'd get filtered out by this game but the gameplay loop was fun enough that I actually found myself excited to play more. As far as I know there's really nothing else like it. It's not something to recommend lightly but there's enjoyment to be had, especially with a guiding hand.
Just gonna rattle off some of my gripes now. Weapon durability is really just a pointless mechanic. I came to terms with it but in retrospect it's just a money sink since you just hoard repair powders. Some enemies just annihilate your weapon and you can't always just ignore them. There's way too many mimics and they are both costly and unrewarding to kill. Xiao's attack sound is wildly annoying. The battle music is laughable and your stuck with it the whole game. This especially sucks because I think the music is mostly excellent otherwise. Duels are underutilized. The boss fights are the worst parts of the game and are truly abysmal in their execution.
I thought there was a good chance I'd get filtered out by this game but the gameplay loop was fun enough that I actually found myself excited to play more. As far as I know there's really nothing else like it. It's not something to recommend lightly but there's enjoyment to be had, especially with a guiding hand.
Very fun formula with a light story. Shame most of the enemies are the most annoying things in the world.
This was one of the first games I had on the PS2 that I really enjoyed... and what a game it was!
It's a rare dungeon crawler that I actually really liked. That genre is usually one I find myself disliking, or even despising, due to a lack of variation in its gameplay and there not being a story or purpose.
However, Dark Cloud is much different in that regard... this game has all of these wonderful ideas the game displays throughout. I loved the multiple gameplay elements that helped break up the monotony of dungeon crawling they had in this game - the multiple characters, weapon upgrades, city building with the Georama pieces, fishing, etc.
This was also the first 3D game I played with a day/night cycle, which invested me even more in its world.
With this game coming out in 2000, it has shown its age, but I will always have fond memories of playing it. It also contributes to one of the greatest sequels I've ever played. Its sequel, Dark Cloud 2, takes the ideas of this game as its foundation, and "runs with it." It builds upon it in such a spectacular way, and in my opinion, becomes Level 5's magnum opus (forget Ni No Kuni - that doesn't even come close)...but I'll save that for my Dark Cloud 2 review.
It's a rare dungeon crawler that I actually really liked. That genre is usually one I find myself disliking, or even despising, due to a lack of variation in its gameplay and there not being a story or purpose.
However, Dark Cloud is much different in that regard... this game has all of these wonderful ideas the game displays throughout. I loved the multiple gameplay elements that helped break up the monotony of dungeon crawling they had in this game - the multiple characters, weapon upgrades, city building with the Georama pieces, fishing, etc.
This was also the first 3D game I played with a day/night cycle, which invested me even more in its world.
With this game coming out in 2000, it has shown its age, but I will always have fond memories of playing it. It also contributes to one of the greatest sequels I've ever played. Its sequel, Dark Cloud 2, takes the ideas of this game as its foundation, and "runs with it." It builds upon it in such a spectacular way, and in my opinion, becomes Level 5's magnum opus (forget Ni No Kuni - that doesn't even come close)...but I'll save that for my Dark Cloud 2 review.
It's been a while since I've played a game that had this many systems that were intentionally supposed to frustrate you (what is even the point of thirst management?) but Dark Cloud is so insanely addicting and charming that it almost makes up for it.
Very much a classic PS2 dungeon-crawler, in both good and bad ways. The story is not too complex, but the combat is fun (with the exception of the weapon-breaking mechanic). Unfortunately after about mid-game, 4 of the 6 characters are basically outclassed, so you only end up using them in the couple levels where you're forced to use them. But still enjoyable, even if it shows its age a little
Underrated demais, ainda não termindi mas pretendo um dia desses
I'm rating the game 2.5/5 but I don't hate it.
Dark Cloud is a charming gaming that strikes a niche I really enjoy. It's one part dungeon crawling and one part town sim with puzzle elements. It is fun to develop weapons, fulfill requests for villagers, and roam the dungeons. The problem is that is all the of the gameplay, that loop over and over again. I finished the 5th dungeon/town in about 30 hours and I knew there was at minimum 10 more hours of this game. I really did enjoy it but by the end of the first dungeon you've experienced everything Dark Cloud has to offer.
I hope to return one day and finish it.
Dark Cloud is a charming gaming that strikes a niche I really enjoy. It's one part dungeon crawling and one part town sim with puzzle elements. It is fun to develop weapons, fulfill requests for villagers, and roam the dungeons. The problem is that is all the of the gameplay, that loop over and over again. I finished the 5th dungeon/town in about 30 hours and I knew there was at minimum 10 more hours of this game. I really did enjoy it but by the end of the first dungeon you've experienced everything Dark Cloud has to offer.
I hope to return one day and finish it.
Kinda fun at the start but the dungeon crawling gets too repetitive/boring, can't bring myself to finish the second dungeon everytime rip. i feel like if they cut the number of floors in half the game would be much better. soul blazer was a much better iteration of this idea just because it had hand-crafted dungeons, even though the city building aspect is much better here. but you don't get to that when the dungeon crawling is what it is...
This game was p awesome and finished it a couple months ago, but holy shit that final boss fight was atrocious. Having to pause, switch to whatever element the boss was hitting you with killed the mood. Getting to finish it was cool since i had seen my older cousin play this game back in like 2005 made my little kid self want venture the world that was dark cloud. The cover art had a sort of a mystical aura that I HAD to play it. Putting towns together after going dungeon crawling to get the Atma orbs and listening to how the townsfolk wanted things arranged was nice! All the playable characters were lovable but only found myself playing as Toan, Ruby, Osmond and Xiao. Ungaga and goro were literally useless lmao and weapon customization was cool but I hated that they had a durability meter and having to pause and fix your good weapon would kill the action, i know there were auto fix powder but that shit was expensive and I don't really know if there was a better way to get money. Could've done better but this was the first game in the series and they probably fixed some of the flaws of the first game.
The game's got a really solid idea mixing randomized dungeon crawling with a city builder. Game's got that early PS2 launch year feel, but it executes its mechanics decently. Now Dark Cloud 2... that's a good game.
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sluggish and dull dungeon crawler
I honestly really want to enjoy this game, but the thurst mechanic sets things back. I love a majority of Level-5 games, and I've enjoyed seeing others play Dark Cloud, but the thurst puts me, personally, on edge the entire time.
I'm going to search around to see if there's any way to, at least, decrease the stat progression.
I'm going to search around to see if there's any way to, at least, decrease the stat progression.
This review contains spoilers
Dark Cloud was the first PlayStation 2 game I ever played. When I first got a PS2 back in Christmas 2000 all I had was the demo disc that came with it for a wee while and I absolutely rinsed that Dark Cloud demo over and over. So it’s safe to say that it means quite a lot to me, even in just a nostalgic sense.
Flash forward 21 years and there’s me actually beaten the game for the first time. The little 6 year old that was so in awe of the giant purple genie destroying the world would be proud.
The character and world design is superb. Taking influence from the best parts of Toriyama and Ocarina Of Time, I found it absolutely charming. The music and sound design is also excellent, especially the title screen, which is up there with some of the all time greats.
Narratively it had some real highs and lows. The initial intrigue of trying to fix the world, slowly fades and is replaced by some fun character and setting development moments for the cast of the game. I would have liked Toan to have had more of a character rather than be a blank avatar for the player, but I suppose that’s a trapping of the genre. Any plot points of significance are absolutely backloaded into the final area which to be honest was a little too late for me and just ended up being a bit of an exposition dump. It would have worked better drip fed throughout the game.
It’s the gameplay that holds up the least well sadly. Finding the right pieces to build the towns perfectly is great, absolutely adored building wee mighty max houses and constructing the really well thought out towns. The dungeon crawling has aged pretty badly though, it’s repetitive, frustrating and a bit of a drag overall. Don’t get me wrong in the ps2 era it was fine but in 2021 I really didn’t get on with it. Especially hated the entire final dungeon/boss, which I got absolutely no joy out of.
I’m glad I finally made my way through Dark Cloud, despite its flaws I had a good time with it. Just will maybe leave out the final section if I ever go back to it.
Flash forward 21 years and there’s me actually beaten the game for the first time. The little 6 year old that was so in awe of the giant purple genie destroying the world would be proud.
The character and world design is superb. Taking influence from the best parts of Toriyama and Ocarina Of Time, I found it absolutely charming. The music and sound design is also excellent, especially the title screen, which is up there with some of the all time greats.
Narratively it had some real highs and lows. The initial intrigue of trying to fix the world, slowly fades and is replaced by some fun character and setting development moments for the cast of the game. I would have liked Toan to have had more of a character rather than be a blank avatar for the player, but I suppose that’s a trapping of the genre. Any plot points of significance are absolutely backloaded into the final area which to be honest was a little too late for me and just ended up being a bit of an exposition dump. It would have worked better drip fed throughout the game.
It’s the gameplay that holds up the least well sadly. Finding the right pieces to build the towns perfectly is great, absolutely adored building wee mighty max houses and constructing the really well thought out towns. The dungeon crawling has aged pretty badly though, it’s repetitive, frustrating and a bit of a drag overall. Don’t get me wrong in the ps2 era it was fine but in 2021 I really didn’t get on with it. Especially hated the entire final dungeon/boss, which I got absolutely no joy out of.
I’m glad I finally made my way through Dark Cloud, despite its flaws I had a good time with it. Just will maybe leave out the final section if I ever go back to it.
Wish it expanded on all of the core aspects of the game. The narrative, the dungeon crawling, and the town building are all fine, but doesn't really give you much more than what's on the surface for its fairly long runtime.
Finally finished this game, 21 years since I first got it. For a PS2 launch title, Level 5 knocked it out of the park. Is it perfect? Of course not! The story is extremely weak for an RPG, having your weapons break and be gone is devastating, and the bosses are either laughably easy or annoyingly hard. However, the combat is satisfying when you discover how to swap characters and statuses to counter enemy types. I also finally understood the point of status breaking weapons and adding them to other ones to counter the XP grind, which I regrettably never understood in either this or it's sequel when I was younger. Finally, the base rebuilding is fun, and I like how it's tied to upgrading your character stats.
dark cloud is an amazing rpg. really. was a journey to play through last year.
basically you help rebuilding destroyed towns by collecting several lost pieces scattered in dungeons.
and its really fun!
the dungeons have really nice music, the designs are incredibly cool (my faves being the owl forest and the sunken wreck) and as a whole this game really tried to bring this genre in a nice new direction. crafting weapons, looking out for your weapons breaking status and your own thirst is a mechanic that somehow even added little survival elements to it.
however, its sad this game doesnt really embark in its world. it feels a little soulless, the teammates and characters in general have no real human feeling to them. they are just kinda there. we get some backstory on goro and the elder dude from the desert but other than that the game just wants you to treat them like a abillities more than real team mates. its sad because this is a big minus in depth for this game. it seems shallow at times and at certain points, especially the boss battles, you can notice this was level 5 first game. some bosses dont work at all, some are just incredibly weak and others, like the final boss, are just unfair.
dungeons having two parts, the front and back, was also a nice idea. just not really great put into work, not to forget that in the final dungeon, in the pal version of the game, the item which lets you go to the back of the dungeon simply doesnt spawn at all.
its also sad they forgot about the quick time events as the game progressed, i always love these kind of things.
but other than that this was a great entry into the franchise and still a really cool, magical journey! cant wait to play the second part :)
basically you help rebuilding destroyed towns by collecting several lost pieces scattered in dungeons.
and its really fun!
the dungeons have really nice music, the designs are incredibly cool (my faves being the owl forest and the sunken wreck) and as a whole this game really tried to bring this genre in a nice new direction. crafting weapons, looking out for your weapons breaking status and your own thirst is a mechanic that somehow even added little survival elements to it.
however, its sad this game doesnt really embark in its world. it feels a little soulless, the teammates and characters in general have no real human feeling to them. they are just kinda there. we get some backstory on goro and the elder dude from the desert but other than that the game just wants you to treat them like a abillities more than real team mates. its sad because this is a big minus in depth for this game. it seems shallow at times and at certain points, especially the boss battles, you can notice this was level 5 first game. some bosses dont work at all, some are just incredibly weak and others, like the final boss, are just unfair.
dungeons having two parts, the front and back, was also a nice idea. just not really great put into work, not to forget that in the final dungeon, in the pal version of the game, the item which lets you go to the back of the dungeon simply doesnt spawn at all.
its also sad they forgot about the quick time events as the game progressed, i always love these kind of things.
but other than that this was a great entry into the franchise and still a really cool, magical journey! cant wait to play the second part :)
True adventure experience. A great work by Level 5.
Fun gameplay, great immersion, endearing soundtrack, great graphics for 2000s standards.
Tight controls.
Highly recommended. I still play it time and time again. In fact it is my 5-ish sessions. The first was in 2003.
Fun gameplay, great immersion, endearing soundtrack, great graphics for 2000s standards.
Tight controls.
Highly recommended. I still play it time and time again. In fact it is my 5-ish sessions. The first was in 2003.
Classic RPG, a mix of Zelda, Sim City and a Rougelike, only real complaint is low HP always chimes so keep some heals on you at all times
Hard af and kinda grindy, but hidden gem and one of my fav childhood games
It's definitely a good game but it has major flaws, it's incredibly clunky and the dungeon crawling kinda feels like it stunts progress, making the game harder and longer than it should be. The weapons and thirst mechanic can be added to that too, honestly.
Really wish this game got a remastered version with less booboo tier controls but that'll prolly not happen. I'll definitely pick this game up again at some point tho it's just some mechanics that annoy me a bit.
Really wish this game got a remastered version with less booboo tier controls but that'll prolly not happen. I'll definitely pick this game up again at some point tho it's just some mechanics that annoy me a bit.
BE CAREFUL with your weapon health. its more important than your ACTUAL HEALTH. BUT pretty fun. you gotta have patience for the grind of leveling up weapons and not almost breaking them as well as repeating dungeons
Definitely an early PS2 game, it still held my attention for awhile and I was intrigued by the potential. I need to return to it but by the time I played the sequel I was more engaged by the newer title's look and feel.
Great music. They town building was pretty fulfilling when you'd bring a house together and get a wholesome cutscene. Progression is slow unless u know the mechanics to boost weapons quickly.
This game is still to this day one of my favorites. The different weapons and quirks of said weapons are so cool, i love rebuilding the towns, i think the story is rly cool and the atmosphere is AMAZING. The songs still are in my playlists to this day. :)
I tried to replay this game recently, and it was pretty much one of the biggest shocks of my life. The game is ridiculously tedious with shit tons of underdeveloped mechanics. The dungeon crawling is actually okay, but I remembered the town building being a lot... better than it was.
Going into Dark Cloud, I was expecting an RPG adventure akin to Grandia, and what I ended up getting was a rogue-like experience attached to a city building simulator. What's perhaps weirdest of all though, I played through a rogue-like I could not only tolerate, but kinda like.
To say my love for rogue-likes is minimum is an overstatement. I love a lot of genres in games, but rogue-likes always put me on edge and boost any anxiety I have up to the max. There is just something inherently I don't like about Rogue-likes and that's being punished for trying to explore more, and getting set back to square one. While I wouldn't say Dark Cloud is that bad when it comes to dying consequences, it still feeds into the loop of safety vs. risk, and punishing you with more grinding if you die by taking your current weapon.
Dark Cloud thankfully had a neat mechanic of building your towns in each chapter, and rescuing a new character in each new chapter, and honestly I was all for that jam. You can set up the town however you wanted, and even sometimes had to rearrange the town in a certain way to get better rewards from towns people and the like. Each new character you got in Dark Cloud also had their own moveset and personality to look forward to, and it was always a treat to start a new chapter to see them.
Story is still rather minimal in Dark Cloud however, and while you do get to build cities and meet with villagers, it never really goes above and beyond it's story telling of evil genie hurts local people's lives, but this is only a minor complaint.
Really at the end of the day, Dark Cloud is a far more accessible and neat idea for a rogue-like I've seen, and deserves the following it has. I do issues with the weapon= levels, but it thankfully wasn't as big of a hurtle due to playing safely. I recommend anyone to play Dark Cloud if they are looking for a rogue-like that is a bit out there, but has a ton of charm.
To say my love for rogue-likes is minimum is an overstatement. I love a lot of genres in games, but rogue-likes always put me on edge and boost any anxiety I have up to the max. There is just something inherently I don't like about Rogue-likes and that's being punished for trying to explore more, and getting set back to square one. While I wouldn't say Dark Cloud is that bad when it comes to dying consequences, it still feeds into the loop of safety vs. risk, and punishing you with more grinding if you die by taking your current weapon.
Dark Cloud thankfully had a neat mechanic of building your towns in each chapter, and rescuing a new character in each new chapter, and honestly I was all for that jam. You can set up the town however you wanted, and even sometimes had to rearrange the town in a certain way to get better rewards from towns people and the like. Each new character you got in Dark Cloud also had their own moveset and personality to look forward to, and it was always a treat to start a new chapter to see them.
Story is still rather minimal in Dark Cloud however, and while you do get to build cities and meet with villagers, it never really goes above and beyond it's story telling of evil genie hurts local people's lives, but this is only a minor complaint.
Really at the end of the day, Dark Cloud is a far more accessible and neat idea for a rogue-like I've seen, and deserves the following it has. I do issues with the weapon= levels, but it thankfully wasn't as big of a hurtle due to playing safely. I recommend anyone to play Dark Cloud if they are looking for a rogue-like that is a bit out there, but has a ton of charm.
Soft spot for this game...
Wrong kind of jank for me and maybe a little too unforgiving in its prep expectations.
The game is insanely slow and holy shit it's fucking harder than I remember but it's a nostalgia game so obligatory 3 stars.