Dark Cloud 2 (PS2)

[Guest]

One day I went to Wal-Mart in search of new games. I had with me 80 dollars; enough for two or three PS2 games. I decided I was in the mood for and RPG, and started looking. Sure enough, I found two: Dark Cloud 1, and Heroes of Might and Magic. Judging by the covers, they looked respectable. Anyway, to make a long story short, I bought them and played those mugs raw.

I ended up loving Dark Cloud 1 and having a play time of over 40 hours, and wasn't even 50% done. Naturally, when number two came out, I got it. Lucky me. :D

Story: Dark Cloud 2 has a far more in depth storyline than Dark Cloud 1. For the most part, it assumes that the first one never occurred with the evil genie and all that stuff.

Anyway, a Griffon Emperor from the future decides to conquer the world. But, as it stands, armies, mythical creatures, and other forces appose him. So, to easily eliminate them, he goes back in time using the power of an ancient stone, and sends powerful blasts through the warp to destroy the ancestors of all who appose him. As he does this, great heroes are never born and history is rewritten in his favor.

Luckily, the fairy people, right before the blasts hit the towns, sealed them in spheres that were, again, scattered everywhere. Now you fight your way through forests, dungeons, caves, sky towns, etc. to retrieve them and attempt to rebuild as it was. You must travel to the future to see if you placed the buildings correctly, make the right people meet each other, etc. to fix the damage the emperor caused.

Note: That is the MAIN storyline, there are many side stories, twists in plot, surprises, and all that other good stuff. I just went into the most basic details. I don't want to spoil the surprises, but I tell you, it's a great game.

There really is a lot more to the story, but I guess that sums it up...


Score: 9/10

Fighting System:
This game is RPG/Adventure. Its fighting system is VERY much improved from the first. For those of you who haven't played the first one, enemies and things have life, your weapons have an attack power; basically like an RPG. But, like Phantasy Star, there is no battle scene, you find a creature, walk up to it, and start whacking with your sword or whatever weapon you have. Unlike the first one, there is a new method of blocking, which makes the battles much more intense.

This game has a larger array of weapons than the fist one, by far. Not only do you have swords, but even guns, magical bracelets, the Ridepod (A robotic machine you can upgrade and ride in, so customizable you can even but it a voice box with different voices), and pretty much anything you can find. If your primitive muzzle loading gun doesn't break and moves up enough levels, you can even upgrade it (with the right parts) to a fully automatic machine gun!

You only get two characters that you can actually alternate from in a level. But, you can take side characters with you, like a mechanic to fix the Ridepod, or a miner to gather resources from the level, a healer to help you, a bomb expert to make you bombs and refill your gun powder, and many more.

As said in the plot, you must reconstruct civilization to save the future. The towns are so much more customizable than the first. You can do everything from change shingles on someone's roof to creating a river with element stones. You decide what people should live in what house, how big to make it, weather it should be wood, straw, or brick, or weather there should be an aquarium inside. This really makes the game fun, and, in a way, difficult, because you must please the people and make the future happen.

Luckily, there is a larger array of level types. The first one got annoying after going through 15 of the same forest based levels. Not in this game. there is always something to do or new places to go.

The game has so many items you wouldn't believe. You can cook the fish you catch on a grill if you buy one. You can even get sunglasses to increase accuracy in bright places.

Finally, sideline things. There are many things in this game you can do that are not required, but fun. You can go fishing and try to catch the legendary bass, you can invent items, you can take pictures and sell them, and you can go to populated towns.

Score: 9/10

Graphics: Don't be fooled by the ugly cover of this game. The graphics really are good, even though they are a bit cartoonier than the first game. Even then, it's only the main characters like that. The game is so detailed that you can sometimes see a rainbow after it rains.

Score: 8/10

Music: Not bad music, but not extraordinary. The music matches the game fine, but I'm sure it could have been better.

Score: 7/10

Overall: If you like adventure/RPG's, this is a must get. If you liked Phantasy Star, you'd love this. But, this game probably wouldn't be good for you if you're not willing to devote a LOT of time to it. On average, without a walkthrough, it takes 100 hours to beat. It doesn't get slow at any point or boring, it's just long.

I'd personally recommend this game to anyone with a penis.

Score: 8/10


I wish I could rate it high because I personally love it so much, but I must be fair at rating. So, it's an 8/10.

[FredDibnah]

I rented Dark Cloud 1 and I'll admit I didn't like it too much. I didn't want to try the sequel, but after your review, I'm having second thoughts. Awesome job! :D

[Guest]

I played Dark Cloud 1 for a long time, always waiting for it to get better. It's almost the same the whole way through. Go through random levels with different scenes, and build villages. I only played 40 hours out of respect for the second 1, which I feel is worth it. It's a good game. BUT, it does have a few bad points. I hate how you cannot name the characters. And, the main character is an emotional inventor. Random, but you'll get used to it.

[FredDibnah]

Well, I don't name my characters anyway.

[Wutai]

I used to have Dark Cloud 2. Stupidly, I later traded it in.
That game was so awesome. You can make your own inventions and stuff.

Fred, you would love it.

[PixelP]

Sounds cool. I'll maybe try it.

[Arce]

Aw, man this topic brings back old memories.

I wish I still had DC2...D=

[programmerinprogress]

Dark cloud!, I remember that, it took me ages to find when I got my PS2

you're talking about the dark cloud, where you had to go into dungeons, collect those spheres, to rebuild your home town, and then travel and rebuild all those other towns?

I think I played the first one, I was aware of a sequel, but I never bought it.

I thoroughly enjoyed that game, until I traded in my PS2...

[Arce]

Yeah, that'd be the game.

And if you like the 1st (which most people don't) then you'd love the second. Gameplay, storyline, originality++.

[Falco Girgis]

Yeah, I will agree. Dark Cloud 2 was significantly more badass than the original. I think that Dragon Quest 8 was Level 5's finest work (my favorite game), but Dark Cloud 2 was second. Unfortunately "Rogue Galaxy" didn't live up to the hype at all...

[TroyBob]

Yeah, I will agree. Dark Cloud 2 was significantly more badass than the original. I think that Dragon Quest 8 was Level 5's finest work (my favorite game), but Dark Cloud 2 was second. Unfortunately "Rogue Galaxy" didn't live up to the hype at all...

Yeah I took your advice Falco and I've stopped playing Rogue Galaxy and I'm now playing Dragon Quest 8 and I have to say, that game is the shiz!! (good)
Rogue Galaxy just seemed to drag on and I was like 20 hours into it and it just didnt seem to be going anywhere, but Dragon Quest 8 is really great from the start. It's not that Rogue Galaxy is bad...just not as good as it could have been. To be honest its just too long, which normally I don't say about an RPG, but it just seemed to try and stretch the amount of gameplay hours too much.

On to Dark Cloud 2, I have a story about that game. I was at the shops a few weeks ago just looking at some games, and this awesome looking game called Dark Chronicles was there, and I picked it up and thought "hey that looks really cool", but I was skeptical since I wasn't sure what it was. Sadly being the ignoramus that I am I didn't realise that here in Australia Dark Cloud 2 is actually called Dark Chronicle, so I went home without the game thinking nothing of it. It wasn't until about a few days later that I looked up this Dark Chronicles game and found out that it was in fact Dark Cloud 2 in disguise. So I quickly rushed back to the store in order to try and purchase it, since the game is fairly rare, (or it's rare in Australia at least). Of course I got there and it wasn't there, so I went home empty handed and sad *cue sad music*. I havn't been able to find the game since, plus games are fairly rare here in Australia, so I'm kicking myself that I didn't just buy the damn game then and there.

The moral of the story is; if you see a game and its made by people like Level 5, or Square Enix, don't hesitate, JUST BUY IT!!!