This review contains spoilers
Sorry but Goro ruined this game for me.
I abandoned it at the Gallery of Time level where you have to play as Goro.
I abandoned it at the Gallery of Time level where you have to play as Goro.
I really loved this game (and its sequel moreso) in the PS2 days. I replayed it fairly recently though, and really don't think that it has held up all that well.
Basically it's half town building sim/half dungeon crawl, with some light RPG elements. Act Raiser is the only other game that I've played that has taken these completely disparate genres and put them together.
It's super interesting and this game does have some good ideas. Finding new town components in the dungeons and subsequently placing them in town always yields a gratifying feeling.
However, for every interesting or fun idea, there exists another to detract from the experience. Breakable weapons don't add challenge to the game, it simply makes it unfun, as you constantly have to stop playing the game to fiddle with inventory minutiae. This is also the only game that I've played that has a 'thirst' meter, and probably for good reason. There's nothing fun, or even fair, about getting thirsty in a dungeon that doesn't even have a water pool (the dungeons are randomly generated, so this happens somewhat often). It just feels like playing an RPG where your character is poisoned from beginning to end.
Overall, there's enough here to make me reallllllly want a Dark Cloud 3, which we will unfortunately never see.
Basically it's half town building sim/half dungeon crawl, with some light RPG elements. Act Raiser is the only other game that I've played that has taken these completely disparate genres and put them together.
It's super interesting and this game does have some good ideas. Finding new town components in the dungeons and subsequently placing them in town always yields a gratifying feeling.
However, for every interesting or fun idea, there exists another to detract from the experience. Breakable weapons don't add challenge to the game, it simply makes it unfun, as you constantly have to stop playing the game to fiddle with inventory minutiae. This is also the only game that I've played that has a 'thirst' meter, and probably for good reason. There's nothing fun, or even fair, about getting thirsty in a dungeon that doesn't even have a water pool (the dungeons are randomly generated, so this happens somewhat often). It just feels like playing an RPG where your character is poisoned from beginning to end.
Overall, there's enough here to make me reallllllly want a Dark Cloud 3, which we will unfortunately never see.
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
Ooooooohhh yeaaaaah buddy, get me to that ocean and cut me off a slice of that THICC genie. I will roleplay as the ape man with the hammer BANGing on her drum with my mallet. Consensually of course :)
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
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.
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...
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.
احد العابي المفضله على الاطلاق
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.
In my youth, I played this game on and off again. Years later, I tried to playthrough but never got to the end. Yet now, I have finally played through it after so many years. This... magical and magnificent fairy tale may have set a foundation in the early days of the PlayStation 2. However, age may have worn this game since it shows its time.
Set in a fantasy world, Dark Cloud centers around a young boy named Toan (Although, the Player are able to rename him and his companions) who is sent on a world saving quest to stop the evil Dark Genie from destroying everything. As Toan adventured foward with new companions to help him, the truth behind the Dark Genie's origins are revealed. A mix of a dungeon-crawl RPG, with a touch of rogue-lite, and town building simulation where request can be fulfilled for additional rewards. There is indeed a repetitive nature when it comes to dungeon crawl games where the Player will have to go in out of the dungeon to fix the town and resupply, but with the playstyle of the different characters can keep things more interesting. However, there is no voice acting in the game outside of character grunts and some of the companions that follow Toan don't really show up in cutscenes. Most of them join and that's it. Yet, they do leave an impression enough to use them in the dungeons.
Combat is a major aspect of the game where players have to defeat monsters to progress through. As well as collecting Atla, what holds the pieces of the region's town. Basically, the formula for Dark Cloud is: "Fight monsters, find the key, collect Atla, and find the door to the next floor". Rinse and Repeat for dozens of times. Mainly, for combat, players will press Cross to attack the monster enough times until they fall, as that is basically it. Each character have their own different attack styles from melee to range attacks. From Toan's combos strikes to Goro's slams and from Ruby's charge spells to Osmond's burst range attacks. Each character has their own unique method of fighting that the Player can master and see which monster type said character can excel in fighting against.
Throughout the game, Players will have to explore dungeons to collect the town pieces to rebuild it and rid the region's influence of the Dark Genie. Some of the characters have their own way of unlocking doors that may be required to get through. However, this can be an issue at times. A prime example I can think of is when Ruby has to open doors with a crystal of a chosen element such as fire or ice. If she doesn't have the proper element, then the Player may be forced to leave the dungeon and go back to it in hopes that the crystal as the right element for them. This type of issue is also added when a character has fallen. If there is a door that needs to be unlocked via that character and they're not available then the Player is SOL and JWF. At then end of each dungeon is a boss. Some of them are pretty easy to fight as others are just outright unfair. One being the third area's boss, The Ice Queen, and the final boss itself. The former has the ability to send a homing freeze attack the character in place before sending down an icicle for additional damage, which may two-shot that character; worst of all that is her main attack. The final boss may be worse because they have an attack that is completely unavoidable unless you use Goro's charge ability. Overall, the combat can feel fun at times but the game does shows it age with certain bosses.
The other half of the game is town building. Here, Players can rebuild the towns they are in to restore what was destroyed. As stated before, players can fulfill certain requests from towns people to additional rewards to help them on their journey. You can also fish in these towns to collect points for items to use to help as well. What makes this fun is that, if the Player can wish, they can build the town the way they want to with their own ideas. The story's progression will require players to rebuild certain buildings to in order to continue on. If the player hasn't collect the necessary parts, they may have to revisit the dungeon until they get what they need. Yet, if sticking with the formula as stated above, this may not be too much of an issue.
The one unique thing about Dark Cloud is the weapon evolution. If the Player has collected a new weapon, they can place attachments to it to fulfil the requirements to upgrade it to it's fullest form. However, this may be troublesome since all of the character's weapons are able to evolve, thus leaving certain supplies short. On top of that, if the weapon's HP is depleted, it will be destroyed, thus losing the progress built on it. Another issue is having the best weapons, especially near the end of the game. Because if certain characters, either through RNG, not having enough upgrades, or don't have the best weapons, then fighting enemies and bosses will take a long time than it needs to be.
The music in Dark Cloud helps with its atmosphere of being a whimsical adventure story. From the music to Toan's home village to the each dungeon's OST, there can be a sense of relaxation while playing the game. However, this can be interrupted with the same battle music every time the player fights an enemy. Yet still, it does keep the game still is able to keep its charm.
Overall, Dark Cloud has charm with its premise and gameplay; unpolished and outdated, but enjoyable. As with it being one of the PS2's launch titles, it has its place among the games worth being noticed. The Toan's story has been told and this review is at its end. Something that should've been done a long time ago is finally done. Now it is time to move on.
Set in a fantasy world, Dark Cloud centers around a young boy named Toan (Although, the Player are able to rename him and his companions) who is sent on a world saving quest to stop the evil Dark Genie from destroying everything. As Toan adventured foward with new companions to help him, the truth behind the Dark Genie's origins are revealed. A mix of a dungeon-crawl RPG, with a touch of rogue-lite, and town building simulation where request can be fulfilled for additional rewards. There is indeed a repetitive nature when it comes to dungeon crawl games where the Player will have to go in out of the dungeon to fix the town and resupply, but with the playstyle of the different characters can keep things more interesting. However, there is no voice acting in the game outside of character grunts and some of the companions that follow Toan don't really show up in cutscenes. Most of them join and that's it. Yet, they do leave an impression enough to use them in the dungeons.
Combat is a major aspect of the game where players have to defeat monsters to progress through. As well as collecting Atla, what holds the pieces of the region's town. Basically, the formula for Dark Cloud is: "Fight monsters, find the key, collect Atla, and find the door to the next floor". Rinse and Repeat for dozens of times. Mainly, for combat, players will press Cross to attack the monster enough times until they fall, as that is basically it. Each character have their own different attack styles from melee to range attacks. From Toan's combos strikes to Goro's slams and from Ruby's charge spells to Osmond's burst range attacks. Each character has their own unique method of fighting that the Player can master and see which monster type said character can excel in fighting against.
Throughout the game, Players will have to explore dungeons to collect the town pieces to rebuild it and rid the region's influence of the Dark Genie. Some of the characters have their own way of unlocking doors that may be required to get through. However, this can be an issue at times. A prime example I can think of is when Ruby has to open doors with a crystal of a chosen element such as fire or ice. If she doesn't have the proper element, then the Player may be forced to leave the dungeon and go back to it in hopes that the crystal as the right element for them. This type of issue is also added when a character has fallen. If there is a door that needs to be unlocked via that character and they're not available then the Player is SOL and JWF. At then end of each dungeon is a boss. Some of them are pretty easy to fight as others are just outright unfair. One being the third area's boss, The Ice Queen, and the final boss itself. The former has the ability to send a homing freeze attack the character in place before sending down an icicle for additional damage, which may two-shot that character; worst of all that is her main attack. The final boss may be worse because they have an attack that is completely unavoidable unless you use Goro's charge ability. Overall, the combat can feel fun at times but the game does shows it age with certain bosses.
The other half of the game is town building. Here, Players can rebuild the towns they are in to restore what was destroyed. As stated before, players can fulfill certain requests from towns people to additional rewards to help them on their journey. You can also fish in these towns to collect points for items to use to help as well. What makes this fun is that, if the Player can wish, they can build the town the way they want to with their own ideas. The story's progression will require players to rebuild certain buildings to in order to continue on. If the player hasn't collect the necessary parts, they may have to revisit the dungeon until they get what they need. Yet, if sticking with the formula as stated above, this may not be too much of an issue.
The one unique thing about Dark Cloud is the weapon evolution. If the Player has collected a new weapon, they can place attachments to it to fulfil the requirements to upgrade it to it's fullest form. However, this may be troublesome since all of the character's weapons are able to evolve, thus leaving certain supplies short. On top of that, if the weapon's HP is depleted, it will be destroyed, thus losing the progress built on it. Another issue is having the best weapons, especially near the end of the game. Because if certain characters, either through RNG, not having enough upgrades, or don't have the best weapons, then fighting enemies and bosses will take a long time than it needs to be.
The music in Dark Cloud helps with its atmosphere of being a whimsical adventure story. From the music to Toan's home village to the each dungeon's OST, there can be a sense of relaxation while playing the game. However, this can be interrupted with the same battle music every time the player fights an enemy. Yet still, it does keep the game still is able to keep its charm.
Overall, Dark Cloud has charm with its premise and gameplay; unpolished and outdated, but enjoyable. As with it being one of the PS2's launch titles, it has its place among the games worth being noticed. The Toan's story has been told and this review is at its end. Something that should've been done a long time ago is finally done. Now it is time to move on.
Very fun formula with a light story. Shame most of the enemies are the most annoying things in the world.
A creative take on dungeon crawling, but sadly the combat is clunky and the overall experience is repetitious and grindy. This series is absolutely begging for a remake or reboot, as the core loop of combat, crafting, and constructing has the potential to be very satisfying.
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 :)
Very interesting game with some serious flaws, chief among them being the thirst meter, which they thankfully did away with in Dark Cloud 2. Town building was fun though, dope soundtrack and a great opening cinematic.
Juego de mi infancia, re-jugué mil veces la demo de ps2 que tenia hasta que aprendí a piratear la ps2, y pude jugarlo completo.
Una experiencia que ojala otros muchos juegos me puedan dar porque en serio que este juego es muy simple, pero a la vez tan rico en historia, personajes, enemigos, jugabilidad, música, y puedo seguir así... aunque quizás me esta poseyendo la nostalgia pero para mi es un 10.
Una experiencia que ojala otros muchos juegos me puedan dar porque en serio que este juego es muy simple, pero a la vez tan rico en historia, personajes, enemigos, jugabilidad, música, y puedo seguir así... aunque quizás me esta poseyendo la nostalgia pero para mi es un 10.
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.
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
never met anyone else who played this game but it has a special place in my heart
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...
Nigel Thornberry wakes up a cool genie but instead of dealing with that you go in dungeons for whole game lol xd
Wrong kind of jank for me and maybe a little too unforgiving in its prep expectations.