Dark Cloud Review

I have been wanting to talk about Dark Cloud for a while now. I used to play this game religiously, and it holds a lot of sentimental value. When I was younger, my uncle lived with us. My mom was sick, and he was there to take care of my brother and I. We would always find new games to play together. It was our way of coping with the difficulties of the hand given to us at the time. So, one day, we sat down, my uncle, my brother, my mom, and I booted up Dark Cloud on the original Playstation 2. You know the very thick ones that weighed a ton. Anyways, we dived into the depths of this game as a family. We became so obsessed with Dark Cloud that I am pretty sure the Playstation wan’t shut off for weeks at a time. I mean this in the literal sense. The four of us would all take turns playing in shifts. My mom and my uncle would play while my brother and I were in school, and once we got home, we would switch off. We would take notes in a notebook to update everyone on what the last person had accomplished and what was left to do. Dark Cloud is just near and dear to my heart so I wanted a reason to cover it. So, here we are doing just that.

Dark Cloud is a game that was originally released for the Playstation 2. However, the have recently released a updated version to fit with today’s graphics for the Playstation 4. Dark Cloud is about Toan, a boy who lives in a rather small village. During a village festival, a dark genie is released from his slumber and proceeds to destroy the entire village. After receiving the call of the Altamilia, Toan learns that it is not only his village affected, but also a lot of other cities around the world. With his calling, Toan navigates through dungeons, rescuing those who were turned into orbs when the dark genie attacked. Toan must rebuild the towns and save the world from the Dark Genie or watch the demise of the world as he knows it.

Throughout this adventure, Toan will meet some strange characters, as well as make some friends and allies in the quest to free the world from the wrath of the Dark Genie. These allies include a cat, a genie, and a rabbit, all with their own unique abilities and talents.

Dark Cloud is one of my favorite games. There are so many different things that this game offers. Not only does the player get to dungeon crawl to save the world, but when you get burnt out on dungeon crawling, this game offers so many other fun activities. Here are some examples:

Fishing

Fishing, like in real life, requires a lot of patience. You must also know the kinds of bait and times that each fish prefer in each area. These things alone will help you get the most out of your fishing experience, as well as more fishing points overall. The reason why fishing is so important in Dark Cloud is because it allows players to get their hands on items that are otherwise very difficult to obtain. Of course, this means you will be spending A LOT of time fishing for points. I promise it is worth it though.

Town Building

Town building is always one of my favorite things to do. I mean you do have to dungeon crawl in order to do this but, in a way, it is optional. Each member of the town will inform you of where they would like their house set up. With their requests, you can build the town however you would like. Usually, certain people will just want to be faced a certain way or next to a certain structure. I don’t know why but this was always my favorite part of the game.

Weapon Upgrading

The farther you get into dungeons, the more you will realize you need stronger weapons. You can upgrade your weapons after you have gained enough experience with each weapon. If you follow the “build up” charts for each weapon you can even create new weapons. I always loved seeing what kind of weapon I got. Now, there are so many different charts that tell you what each weapon becomes, but I don’t look at them because I like the mystery. Eventually, after a lot of leveling, you can create ultimate weapons. Each character has multiple ultimate weapons. I always tried to get each one with my game playthroughs. I think the last time I played was the only time I got all of them for each character. I put so many hours into the game.

Secret Dungeon

Another great thing is that once you actually beat the story, there is one final dungeon. The kicker, this dungeon has 100 floors. Now, of course this is an optional dungeon, but this game will pull you in and it will be hard to not want to play through the final dungeon. In the Demon Shaft, you experience pretty much every enemy you have been faced with throughout the world. The only difference? They are much MUCH stronger.

I guess now that I have gotten carried away with the components of the game, I should probably get around to the actual reviewing part. Obviously, I am going to dote on this game a lot. Like I mentioned earlier, Dark Cloud is very near and dear to my heart. There are so many things that I enjoy with Dark Cloud. In fact, there really isn’t anything that I don’t like. This game offers so much so even when you get burnt out on one thing, you can just move on to the next. Tired of grinding in the dungeons? Alright, go fishing to get some gems for upgrading your weapons. Sick of fishing? Alright, let’s go put a little bit of the town together. I’m sure the neighborhood will reward me somehow. It’s not only the game play though. Dark Cloud offers up an array of interesting characters. I mean did you ever think you need to meet an obsessive cat turned human? What about a machine gun wielding rabbit? Obsessive and rather pushy genie? Yeah, there are those things and more. I mean even the story line is great. It becomes a little dark and tragic, but what else could you expect with a Dark Genie eating a guy in a matter of minutes of the beginning cut scene? Oh, just writing this makes me want to sit down and play through the game again, but I will warn you is is a rabbit hole that is very difficult to pull yourself from. Heed my warning.

I guess now I have to say some cons to Dark Cloud, as even the best of things have flaws. I mean nothing is perfect, right? The only thing I can really find myself complaining about is the tediousness of upgrading weapons. It does indeed involve a lot of backtracking to get the items you need. Then it takes A LOT of time later on in the game to get enough ABS to even upgrade your weapon. OH, DID I MENTION YOUR WEAPONS WILL BREAK AND DISAPPEAR IF YOU DON’T REPAIR THEM?! NO? Yeah, this is one of the most annoying aspects. So, my recommendation? SAVE FREQUENTLY!!!!! SAVE! SAVE! SAVE! The other thing that is rather annoying is one of the dungeons doesn’t have a back key. When the game was ported it was left out or something along those lines. Not really a deal breaker, but it does make me curious what lies beyond those walls. Then finally, Goro is the most annoying character you could ever meet in a game!!! He whines and is essentially a man baby. Well, boy baby. I am pretty sure he is still a child.

Overall though, there really isn’t anything that is deal breaking with Dark Cloud, and the experience is so worth giving it a shot. Sit down with some friends and/or family and make memories with it. I will always cherish mine! I would absolutely recommend giving this game a try! Be careful though, Dark Cloud can consume your life if you are not careful! 🙂 Dark Cloud has the full game experience. That’s all I really have to mention about this super amazing game!! I hope to see everyone in the next one!!! If you have played Dark Cloud, I would love to hear about your experiences with the game!!! Until next time!!!!