Dark Cloud 2

"Meet the new hero...and her boyfriend Max."

Role Playing Games seem to be taking a turn for the better these days, and resuming the role of God and savior, you have Dark Cloud 2. While the game does not really pick up where the original game left off, there are plenty of people and names that you’ll recognize through your trek to rebuild the planet. With only two main characters, you are now introduced into the supporting cast, all of whom are helpful and needed at different points of the game, which is a plus. New visuals, better music and a slew of improved game play and control brings a welcomed change to the usual formula of linear exploration and mystery solving.

The story starts with a young woman who finds herself at odds with a mysterious group of monsters. Finding that the only way to escape is to fight her way out, she battles with a group of mysterious assailants on a dark and stormy night. In another time and another place, a young man works as an assistant with an old man in a machine shop, creating new technology. Through a twist of fate and the apparent linking of mysterious stones, the two are teamed together to explore a world that has been drastically changed by some greater evil. Through thick and thin, Max and Monica bravely battle their way through the present and into the future, to help change the past.

The first few things that you’re going to notice that are different about the game play is that most of your time will be spent in the dungeons and mazes that litter your world. While this is the same format that the previous game had, one of the true differences comes with the exclusion of weapons that simply break and revert to a default weapon when you run them down too far. You’ll find that unlike the first one, if you’re in the middle of heavy battling with the enemy, you might break your weapon, but you need not get upset once you’ve figured out that all it takes is repairing the weapon. Magic spells are limited to Monica, while Max contends with his enemies using a tool and a variety of guns.

As you progress through the game, you’ll find that there are a slew of enemies that will keep you guessing at just what you can and cannot do with what you’re using for weapons. Another great feature is that there are now additional forms that you can use in order to fight such as a huge machine known as the Ride Pod. Venturing through the game will allow you to upgrade your Ride Pod with a variety of different weapons, power supplies and legs as well as bodies and optional equipment. You’ll find that using the Ride Pod gives you the ability to contend with some of the toughest enemies and boss characters in the game, though you will have to watch your fuel expenditure.

Another interesting feature that Dark Cloud 2 has to offer is the invention system, which gives you the ability to create items that you just can’t find anywhere else in the game. While this might not seem all that important and more of a throwback from Final Fantasy games, you’ll find that in order to have some of the more important weapons for yourself and even your Ride Pod requires you to invent them from time to time. The theme of invention is allowed when you take photographs of different ideas and enemies in different positions throughout the game. Some of the more important photographs are right in front of your face, so it is important to take snapshots of everything just so you aren’t missing something.

One of the key elements to Dark Cloud isn’t so much the fighting, but the actual building that you have to do in order to progress through the different chapters of the game. You’ll find that the land building is a little more extensive with goals that you have to complete, but it is still limited to just where you can place certain buildings, items and even people. The linear fashion of this makes it more of a chore and a requirement than something fun that you can simply do in order to get a different effect out of the game. However, the dungeon portions of the game allow you to experience randomly generated mazes that are filled with monsters and treasures.

Control is about as good as you can expect it to be with most of your movement controlled through the left analog stick. Switching characters on the fly is easy to do with an analog stick press and even item management is easy once you’ve gotten the hang of it. Most of your battling will be done through a lock-on system, and all of these functions are clearly explained in the Help section of the game menus. As you progress through the game, you’ll see that even the camera angles that you have at your disposal are fully controlled by you, so there is no need for wracking your brain to learn what buttons perform what functions.

The world of Dark Cloud has undertaken a major face-lift in my opinion and now the visuals are no longer polygon shapes and movement, but rather a clean and cell-shaded scheme. The characters and even the enemies look well detailed, right down to the clothing and the weapons that the heroes carry throughout the stages. Enemies and boss characters all have a fantasy art style to them that is really quite refreshing from the standard polygon designs. The worlds themselves are huge and expansive with detail and theme that you have to experience at least once in order to understand. The sun move and the shadows lance across the ground depending on what time of day it is and even fog effects slither across the ground in excellent fashion.

Musically sound, Dark Cloud 2 has plenty of adventure themes going for it that give the right mood depending on where you happen to be at the time. Battle music slides into place without a hitch and you’ll be able to tell what time of day it is based on the musical selection that plays through the speakers at any given point. The voice acting and the sound effects are up to par, though you might find that the main character sounds like a wimp and Monica has more testosterone running through her veins than pretty boy Max. Either way you look at it, the voices add a little more depth to the story, though you might find them just slightly annoying in some cases.

Dark Cloud 2 is a wonderful RPG if you’re looking to play through something that doesn’t just have one thing that you have to do all the time. There is plenty of battles and plenty of exploration, but you might find that the main point of the game, the land building, is just a little too linear for your liking. The visuals, the audio and the finer points of the game play such as the battles and the inventing of new items is truly a wonderful experience. A rental to say the least, if you’re a fan of role playing games and you want something that will be well played and well enjoyed, then you might want to take a gander at Dark Cloud 2.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/17/03, Updated 03/17/03