Dark Cloud

"A nice mix of various game elements."

I bought Dark Cloud the day it was released, and have been playing it ever since. The game puts you through a somewhat rough first few hours, but I feel it's for the best. It has a few gameplay features (which I will go into detail later) that hinder your exploration of the dungeons at first, but over time and effort, you'll be in a good set groove to play more freely. From there on it's just plain, somewhat complicated at times, fun.

Now, for the details...

Gameplay: 10/10

Firstly, there are quite a few factors that make up the gameplay here, so I'll go into each one later, but first a quick rundown for now. The game plays very well, with good solid controls for each thing you do.

--Basic Battles. There is a lock-on targeting ''Zelda 64-esque'' system. This is good for keeping an eye on them, while also being able to block them, while still having very quick responsive controls. The only bad thing, there are very minor camera problems at times. This usually only happens in hallways though, and not very often at that, and still doesn't effect play much.
--Duels. The duels are basically where you are shown what button to hit at a certain time, in order to defeat your opponent(s). There is plenty of time to find the buttons if you don't have them quite memorized, for they are shown going across the screen.
--Each character is actually pretty different in what weapons they use. From long distance attacks, to slow powerful ones, the control is still solid.

Now for some little details.

--Fishing. This is actually pretty fun. There's not much to it, besides waiting for the bobber to go under, than hitting X, but it works. The only challenge here is when you try to catch fish that only take the bobber down for about 1 second, it's all about timing then.
--Thirst Meter. For most people who are just starting, this is the 2nd most evil thing there is. Basically, you have a meter than slowly goes down, and when it's depleted, you slowly lose life. All that is required to fix it is bottles of water, or a waterfall to dip into. Over time, you will slowly find Gourds that add to your meter, and generally make it take a very long time to go down.
--Weapon Hit Points. And here is the starting player's most evil thing in the game. Again, there is a meter to your weapons, which is depleted whenever you hit an enemy, regardless of it blocking your attack or not. Some enemies take more off than others as well. When this meter runs out, your weapon breaks, and you lose it. There are also Repair Powders that can refill this meter. Once your weapon is powered up though, and has greater endurance, this isn't much of a problem. Besides, the game beeps like a car alarm when it gets low, so it's kinda hard not to notice.
--Town Rebuilding. This plays a big part in the game, for many items and events are unlocked through completed parts of a town. It's a somewhat flexible system, with everything taking up certain amounts of space when placed, yet it's not too blocky to where it's like playing Tetris. Trees and rivers can also be placed as well for the fun of it (and sometimes for the requirement of townspeople). All the pieces of the town are found in the dungeons, spread out through multiple floors. Usually the people will have a place they want to be before they will be happy with their location. This can be a puzzle at times, and you will probably often remodel whole sections of town for one person's house.
--Dungeons. As the game says, the dungeons are random. Meaning, every time you go down there, it will be different. They also have multiple floors, and take quite a while to fully explore. Also, some floors are called ''Limited Zones'', where certain functions are not possible. Most commonly, this means you will be forced to play through a level with a different character. The great thing here is though, you can go back to any floor you have been to whenever you go back in.
--Weapon Upgrading. This is a bit of a difference from the norm. Each weapon has an ABS meter that increases with every defeated enemy. When this is full, you can upgrade said weapon. Also note, you can attach various things to a weapon to increase what enemy it is strong against, it's magical element, strength, endurance, WHP, etc. When you upgrade, those attachment upgrades fuse with the weapon, and add to it's stats. Also, when it is at +5 (upgraded 5 times) or more, you can Status Break it, and attach what it becomes to another weapon, gaining 60% of what was on the old weapon, to a new one.
--Character Upgrading. This isn't really a specific system, but it's worth mentioning that even though the characters themselves don't level up, you can give them items to raise their HP's, their defense, and their thirst meter.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics are simply lovely in this game. Excellent models, lighting effects, textures, all of it, it's great. The artwork is very nice as well. Each town looks very distinct in nature, and the parts of the town fit nicely also, doing a good job of not looking like cookie-cutouts. The water effects are amazing too, looking pretty much exactly like water. The dungeons are a bit repetitive at times, and there very minor quirks from time to time, but they don't effect the game in any way. The menu setup is also very well laid out, with all the functions being relatively simple and quickly understandable. The items I must comment on; there are tons of them, and they all look very good and detailed, therefore minimizing any confusion in trying to find out what item you just picked up.

Sound: 8/10

I only give this an 8 because there really isn't much to rate on. The music itself though sounds great. It too can be repetitive at times, but it isn't annoying enough to make you wanna mute it. The sounds effects are very good too. From throwing a rock, to large explosions, they all sound realistic. There are very little voice effects, but they aren't that bad either. Some characters are a bit annoying, but usually it's not bad at all, and sounds good for what it is.

Overall: 9/10

This is quite a nicely put together package of a game. They are lots of elements to play with, each having very good controls and/or flexibility. The weapon system works very well, and allows for a lot of customizing for each weapon. There is lots of time to be spent as well, so don't expect to spend 50 bucks, only to beat the game in a few days. There really isn't much for replayability, but there are plenty of reasons to go back to old areas to try and find weapons or items. In the end, there is a lot to do in this game, and it will last you a while, so I'd say it's a good buy. If you are impatient though, you might wanna rent it, to see how those first few hours treat you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/01, Updated 06/02/01