US version
this game is pretty okay the dungeons parts can get boring because they are mostly palette swaps with new enemy's the whole game and the town building can be fun you get a choice between 6 characters that you can switch from at any time only in dungeons witch are toan,xiao,goro,ruby,ungaga and osmand but why bother choosing when xiao is literally the most overpowered character in the game with long range and a early 30+ damage weapon and by the end is like a literal god i give this game a 7/10
this game is pretty okay the dungeons parts can get boring because they are mostly palette swaps with new enemy's the whole game and the town building can be fun you get a choice between 6 characters that you can switch from at any time only in dungeons witch are toan,xiao,goro,ruby,ungaga and osmand but why bother choosing when xiao is literally the most overpowered character in the game with long range and a early 30+ damage weapon and by the end is like a literal god i give this game a 7/10
Stellenweise netter Soundtrack und das aufleveln der Waffen macht tatsächlich Spaß.
Alles andere wird entweder nicht zeitgemäß oder einfach schlecht.
Das Spiel ist leider deutlich zu leicht um das Leveln zu rechtfertigen, in den meisten Dungeons gibt es 4-5 Gegner und dennoch kann man seine Waffen auf 6 Elemente und 10 (?) Gegnertypen skillen.
Und wenn man es nicht tut, ist es dennoch kein Problem.
Das Spiel ist alles in allem seeeehr langsam. Die Kämpfe sind langsam und ohne Nutzung eines Verbrauchgegenstands, kann man nicht rennen.. und diesen kann man in Städten nicht nutzen.
Dazu noch das letzte Dungeon, das wirklich unverschämt lang war.
Stummer Hauptcharakter, miese Story und dennoch hat es irgendwie Spaß gemacht.
Die Abwechslung von Städtebau (simpel gehalten) und Deungeoncrawling funktioniert und im 2. Teil wurde wirklich vieles besser gemacht.
Wer beide nicht gespielt hat, kann sich hier getrost auf den 2. Teil stürzen.
Alles andere wird entweder nicht zeitgemäß oder einfach schlecht.
Das Spiel ist leider deutlich zu leicht um das Leveln zu rechtfertigen, in den meisten Dungeons gibt es 4-5 Gegner und dennoch kann man seine Waffen auf 6 Elemente und 10 (?) Gegnertypen skillen.
Und wenn man es nicht tut, ist es dennoch kein Problem.
Das Spiel ist alles in allem seeeehr langsam. Die Kämpfe sind langsam und ohne Nutzung eines Verbrauchgegenstands, kann man nicht rennen.. und diesen kann man in Städten nicht nutzen.
Dazu noch das letzte Dungeon, das wirklich unverschämt lang war.
Stummer Hauptcharakter, miese Story und dennoch hat es irgendwie Spaß gemacht.
Die Abwechslung von Städtebau (simpel gehalten) und Deungeoncrawling funktioniert und im 2. Teil wurde wirklich vieles besser gemacht.
Wer beide nicht gespielt hat, kann sich hier getrost auf den 2. Teil stürzen.
Soft spot for this game...
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 :)
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.
I love you but I hate you
One of my favorite games of all time. My favorite feature was the weapon evolution tree. My second favorite feature was the adorable town-building Geodama system. My third favorite feature was the roguelike dungeon floors with their interactable hidden treasure rooms. The atmosphere was super well-done and memorable.
The dungeon exploration gameplay loop is super fun, especially considering how bad and frustrating the combat can be at times. God, those boss fights are dreadful.
Kickass music and honestly really nice visuals for the time. A good game overall.
Kickass music and honestly really nice visuals for the time. A good game overall.
The atmosphere and music is initially what drew me in, but the jank in the gameplay sucks. Dungeon crawling is tedious, weapon management is annoying. I like the town building mechanics at least but wish they were in a better game.
Un juego que siempre quise jugar por el amor que le tengo a la secuela.
Un RPG que se mantiene atrapante gracias a la mezcla de dungeon crawling y construccion, 6 personajes jugables y un sistema de mejoras de armas curioso.
Aunque suena como un muy buen juego, al final se queda corto en varios aspectos.
Los 6 personajes jugables que aparecen conforme avanza la historia, mayormente son utiles en la seccion del juego donde se unen para luego ser relegados a herramientas para abrir puertas y matar uno que otro monstruo que necesita ese personaje en específico.
El sistema de mejora de armas toma su tiempo y es muy dependiente de la suerte que tengas con los drops de enemigos y cofres (tambien te puedes aprovechar de este facilmente).
La historia es sencilla y un poco babosa pero tampoco es algo que afecte mucho al juego en general.
En general el juego es divertido aun con sus problemas y tiene contenido para largo.
Un RPG que se mantiene atrapante gracias a la mezcla de dungeon crawling y construccion, 6 personajes jugables y un sistema de mejoras de armas curioso.
Aunque suena como un muy buen juego, al final se queda corto en varios aspectos.
Los 6 personajes jugables que aparecen conforme avanza la historia, mayormente son utiles en la seccion del juego donde se unen para luego ser relegados a herramientas para abrir puertas y matar uno que otro monstruo que necesita ese personaje en específico.
El sistema de mejora de armas toma su tiempo y es muy dependiente de la suerte que tengas con los drops de enemigos y cofres (tambien te puedes aprovechar de este facilmente).
La historia es sencilla y un poco babosa pero tampoco es algo que afecte mucho al juego en general.
En general el juego es divertido aun con sus problemas y tiene contenido para largo.
one of my personal comfiest games
A childhood game of mine. It's long, the weapon system is a bit confusing, but the dungeon crawling is fun. Combat is good, but improved in the sequel. Story is pretty typical, but the music stands out for sure. Give it a try if you like dungeon crawlers and JRPGs.
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.
This review contains spoilers
The final boss can go die
Es increíble que Level 5 hiciera un juego así como el primer juego de su historia. La de cosas que implementó fueron increíbles, aunque luego pulieron muchas de ellas en sus siguientes juegos. Un punto de partida para la compañía increíble.
The randomized dungeons feel and fresh for the first few areas but the concept got real old by the end of the game.
It's still a very neat attempt at a Zelda clone with more traditional RPG elements.
It's still a very neat attempt at a Zelda clone with more traditional RPG elements.
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.
sluggish and dull dungeon crawler
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.
Dark Cloud was notable for its blend of action-rpg, dungeon crawling, and light city-building. Far from merely jumbling those elements together, this game elegantly weaves parts of each that interact with one another from mode to mode, creating this addictive loop. Apart from the RPG aspects encouraging creativity and customization, the additional characters also enable strategic depth beyond their gimmick, not only providing a different combat style but also opening up new avenues to handle resource management, enemy interactions, and general dungeon crawling. The setting, characters, and graphics are for the most part uninspired, although especially Zelda-like are the enemies, delightfully irritating to fight with individual combat details that only add to the gameplay flow.
Not all of it works, unfortunately. Each unique dungeon disappointingly feels like a slight variation on the same theme with reskinned enemies, the Limited Zones mechanic makes certain floors way more tedious than it should, and the uneven boss bottles are either too easy or too frustrating. Even so, Dark Cloud remains an overall effective and sprawling work. It's impressive how Level-5 managed to fuse several styles into such a cohesive, calculated, engrossing whole.
Not all of it works, unfortunately. Each unique dungeon disappointingly feels like a slight variation on the same theme with reskinned enemies, the Limited Zones mechanic makes certain floors way more tedious than it should, and the uneven boss bottles are either too easy or too frustrating. Even so, Dark Cloud remains an overall effective and sprawling work. It's impressive how Level-5 managed to fuse several styles into such a cohesive, calculated, engrossing whole.
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.
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. :)
An interesting dungeon crawler with a pretty bomb-ass soundtrack. Features cool town building stuff and some of the first QTEs that I'm aware of. Can be a little janky.