Dark Cloud

[JenovaSephiroth]

8 gameplay
8 graphics
7 sound
9 value
8 personal rating


In Dark Cloud you play as Toan, an elfin teen who bears a striking resemblance to Link of Zelda fame, with his pointed ears and green cap. One night while a festival is underway in his village, an enormous pink pig called Dark Genie destroys Toan's village under the command of Colonel Flag. With his community in ruins, Toan is asked by the guardian of natural spirits to rebuild the village and any other communities that may be attacked. Dark Cloud is basically starts of by entering one of the randomly generated dungeons and destroy monsters, plunder treasure chests, and collect items. There are just a handful of dungeons in the game, and each one contains 18 stages that look nearly identical to each other the only differences being room configuration, object placement, and enemy selection. The most important items to seek in the dungeons are the atla spheres, which contain georama pieces. Georama pieces may represent entire houses or the objects that go inside or around them like fences, lamps, chimneys, and people. Once a building has been dropped into place using the georama's tile system, you can begin inserting any of the building's components you have collected. When all the pieces of a building or landmass have been installed, events occur that will move the plot forward, award you with a new ally, or provide you with an item that is essential to making headway in the game. You can create a 3D community that you built from the ground up and interacting with its denizens can be a great deal of fun regardless of how it was accomplished. Dark Cloud's combat system is 100 percent Zelda. You lock on to enemies with the circle button and attack using the equipped weapon with the X button. If you hold down the X button and release it, your character performs a special move like a jumping slash attack or a powered-up projectile attack. Once locked on, you may strafe around the enemy, dart in to attack, or retreat with the analog stick. Up to three other bombs, spells, and remedies can be selected from a three-window interface with the directional pad, and they can then be triggered with the square button. Cycling through targets is accomplished with the L1 button, and guarding is mapped to R1. The combat system, while not revolutionary, is tight enough to allow you to appreciate the range and quickness of each of the six playable characters. There are dozens of weapons in the game, and each one has a selection of slots that may be filled with a variety of attribute-altering items. There are items that give you enhanced abilities against specific types of enemies; items that change your character's ratings for attack, endurance, speed, and magic; and discs that beef up your weapon's fire, wind, ice, thunder, and holy capabilities. Each weapon has a specific number of attacks that it can inflict before it breaks and vanishes. Inevitably, you will lose a weapon you have spent hours of time leveling up and will not want to go back and start from the last save point. The only remedy to this situation is to save every 10 minutes, carry plenty of weapon repair powder, and watch the meter like a hawk. The attack meter leeches a great deal of excitement out of the game because it forces the player to refrain from getting mixed up in any sort of uncontrollable melee.
Its a good game at best but not the greatest.

[Tidus Blade]

ub3r review! Dark Cloud is one of my personal favourites!
I would give you +REP for sure, but for some reason, it's not working properly....

[Yoherz]

Works fine for me. *Rep +*

As for the game, if it's zelda style, then I'm most likely not gonna play it. Glad I didn't get it when I saw it at Gamestop now.