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.