Dark Cloud is a launch game for the PlayStation 2
that can still hold its own above the console’s meager and utterly disappointing
cesspool of an RPG library. Its light storyline, vibrant graphics,
Zelda-like elements and an innovative Georama system led to its success and it’s
no surprise Sony slapped it with a “Greatest Hits” label to further capitalize
on its popularity. I admit I didn’t really take notice of it when it was
released, but in a stroke of marketing genius, Sony sent me some useless Dark
Cloud trading cards, plus some demo that went along with it. ;) So I played it
for a few minutes, grew curious and bought the full version. Before long, I had
logged (too) many hours playing it and became geekishly addicted. Yet, I’ve
somehow managed the find the strength to pry away from my PS2, so I can give you
the full review:
It’s raining fireballs
The plot is quite simple; eager to conquer and rule the Western cities, a
corrupt general summons the legendary Dark Genie as his weapon of war. His wish
was granted when the genie unleashes a devastating attack that left part of the
world all but destroyed. The towns and its inhabitants are completely wiped out
– there’s nothing left but grassland, mountains, and a young boy named Toan.
Chosen as the one who will rebuild the villages and save the townsfolk, he was
given a special power by the Fairy King. The stupidly named Fairy King explains
that the people, houses, rivers and other necessary pieces of the villages are
sealed in Atla spheres at the moment that Dark Genie rained chaos. To restore
them as they once were, Toan must find the scattered Atla spheres and unseal
them, to recreate what was lost that fateful day.
Given the ridiculously cartoon-ish nature of the evil Dark Genie and the
villain’s desire to conquer the world, the plot comes across as something out of
a kids’ movie, without heavily dominant themes of tragedy and loss. Of course,
you shouldn’t expect a mature plot when a cut scene shows the grossly obese Dark
Genie looming like a purple blimp in the sky and blasting away the world with
the tip of his finger. But then again, there’s just no other story that can hand
us the task of rebuilding the destroyed villages. It’s just light enough to
support the overall positive vibe of the game and not drag it down with any
philosophical ideas and irrelevant bullshit. After all, Dark Cloud
focuses more on action and puzzles than story – but I won’t complain since the
former are executed quite well. For those stuck on story, there are mini-tales
within the main plot, such as the weepy love story of Ice Queen La Saia. The
townspeople are also very interesting themselves – apparently, a lot of creative
though went into how characters interact with each other. Although Dark Cloud
went through some hurried changes for its American release, the localization is
pretty well done, despite the occasional out-of-place “yo’.”
Hack and slash – with style
Rebuilding villages sound simple enough, but the task is lengthy and will take
at least 50 hours of gameplay. First, you need to find the Atla spheres before
rebuilding and this leads you to several dungeons brimming with monsters. At 15+
dungeon levels for each village, this can prove to be a little tiresome, though
no level is quite the same since they’re randomly generated. The battle system
is simple, similar to the hack and slash variety, but with more finesse. You’re
able to switch between allies, providing some range, at least when it comes to
fighting styles. Some fights are based on timed button pressing alone, called
Duels, to break the cycle of constant slashing (and yes, I’m grateful for them).
The bosses in this cannot be dealt with in the same way – they require a lot of
strategy to beat since they’re all tough to various degrees and this can either
be frustrating or exciting. I personally love that I can do something other than
hit, stab, poke, yawn, and repeat.
Controls are not hard to master, but can take a little getting used to. The
analog stick is a no-brainer and the Circle button will lock on to the closest
enemy, making it easy to hit your target when you’re fighting as a character
that uses long-range weapons. The D-Pad will select your Active Item (for
in-battle use) and pressing Square will throw or activate it – for example,
selecting Dran’s Feather and pressing Square while running will triple your
speed.
Crawling dungeons with my 7th Heaven +9
The weapons system is a bit ambitious, if arduous, and a source of big time fun
for those who insist it on being as badass as it gets. Using attachments will
raise a weapon’s magic attributes or deal more damage to a specific class of
enemies. Defeating each enemy will raise its ABS (absorption meter),
allowing you to upgrade it to the next level. Reaching a level of +5 or more
will give you the option of turning it into a SynthSphere, which is
essentially a fancier attachment, carrying 60% of the former weapons stats and
any special abilities. You can choose to cultivate its strengths, but the best
deal here is to max out all its attributes and evolve it to something even more
powerful. There’s a lot of leverage here, but this can take quite an amount of
time.
Items like bombs and elemental gems deal damage and others will give you certain
advantages over enemies. These can be found all over the place and there are
plenty of them. The only drawback is the lack of armor and accessories, although
certain foods can increase the Life Meter and raise the Defense of your
character.
He’s got the whole world in his hands… literally
Dark Cloud’s highly touted Georama system allows the player to
switch to Edit Mode, where recovered houses, trees, rivers, and etc. can
be placed on the village map, anywhere you please. The Georama Analysis
will give you a graph of how many Atla spheres you’ve unlocked for that specific
village and the percentage of its completion. Additionally, it displays how many
of the villagers’ requests you fulfilled – speak to them and they’ll ask to be
placed far away from someone or near a certain spot. Each request is different
and at times, easily confusable, but when you’ve collected 100% of the spheres,
completed 100% of the village and honored 100% of the requests, you’ll be
rewarded greatly. In Walking Mode, you can freely roam around in your
creation and fish around for compliments. This is excessively fun, and
definitely feeds the need for accomplishment that gamers typically have. ;)
The gameplay is evenly balanced: you do as much village building as dungeon
crawling as weapons upgrading as fishing. Yes, fishing. For those too lazy to
fish in real life, you can fish with your PS2, another way to enjoy this
peaceful, relaxing activity. No, actually, fishing in Dark Cloud is
annoying as hair loss (not that I’d know) and you’ll be hell-bent on catching
those damn wankers, but this mini-game is worth it if you know the tricks.
Character interaction is built right in since you might want to consult the
folks before rebuilding their homes. The townsfolk will give you items to aid
your quest when you finish their home and fishing will earn you points to
exchange for valuable weapon attachments. Everything connects wonderfully
to make gameplay fun and (dare I say?) addictive.
Graphics and music - Compatibility Lvl 10
The world that we resurrect is rendered in visually appealing graphics with a
very bright look and pleasant feel to them. Conversely, most of the dungeons
(but not all) are dark and unremarkable, though nicely textured. They just
aren’t very unique since they’re generated at random. All characters, NPCs,
houses and even fishes look fresh, vibrant and distinctive and there’s
absolutely no exception to that. Detail is applied in every pixel and everything
is drawn in a cartoon-style, lending to the game’s lively and upbeat atmosphere.
The color tones are also applied to fit the time of day - sunny in the mornings
to orange at dusk. At its release, Dark Cloud’s graphics were just
testing the waters on the PS2 so it’s not fair to compare it to recent games –
but by no means do they suck. They’re definitely up to standard, despite the
occasional jaggedness and shaky angle. You can also experience it in
first-person view.
Compositions of the piano, acoustic guitars, wind instruments, and light
percussion accompany Dark Cloud’s carefree vibe – and it’s not bland at
all. The “light” and cheerful music is catchy (and so enjoyable) as well
suitable for the environment I’m in. The melodies are soft and beautiful, but
never boring. In contrast, the music in battles and particularly boss fights are
ominous and expresses a darker mood, yet remains a great pleasure to listen to
all the same. The music is an integral part of the game’s ambiance and it rocks
(in a way that rock doesn’t ;).
More blabber without the standard stupid title
Dark Cloud is typically classified as a Role-Playing Game, but it’s more
a hybrid of RP/action/adventure/strategy. There’s something for everyone, unless
you happen to be spitefully anal and overly picky. Replay value is great for
those who want to explore every possibility in the game. While it can be tough
at some points and a bit difficult to master everything in the first hour, it’s
a great gaming experience and besides, that genie Ruby is kinda cute.
8.9
