Dark Cloud
Level 5's perfect blend of action, RPG and strategy helps elevate it to a place most other self-described adventure games wish they could go. Check out the full skinny.
Published: July 23, 2001
If you've read any of the many reviews on Dark Cloud already, you'll know that the game is a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. But just because it's been said over and over doesn't make it any less true. Dark Cloud is a times simultaneously simple and complex, and it's this odd mix of very simplistic gameplay styles and ornate strategy elements that keeps it interesting - even after you realize you really been doing the same thing over and over (albeit in a different setting) for quite a few hours.
If for some unknown reason you don't know what Dark Cloud is, we'll try and break it down in the most concise way. Basically, a freed Genie (the evil kind, not the buxom grant-you-any-wish kind) decides this world isn't quite to his liking, and after eating one of his summoners, proceeds to rain down fire on the world, encasing its inhabitants and their dwellings in little "bubbles." For some reason, a few people were spared from this bubblicious fate, namely our hero Toan, and his village chief. The task now falls to Toan to venture into a nearby cave and pluck from its depths his fellow villagers and their homes, then rebuild them as best he can. Once he's restored order to his village, he must head out and do the same for all the other towns in the world.
What's truly unique about Dark Cloud is that that action takes place in two primary phases. The traditional, and admittedly very Zelda-like action sequences when Toan explores the randomly generated levels (a la Diablo) of the cave for missing friends and family, and then the top-down world-building portion of the quest. The interesting part comes not in these two sequences themselves, but the fact that once you're above ground, you can seamlessly move between the two with just a press of a button, crafting entire villages and then dropping right into them in one seamless motion.
So there's the backstory in a nutshell. A simple premise, yes, but one that does the job adequately. What can't be gleaned from a rough once-over of the gameplay, however, is how well all the small pieces work together. Dark Cloud is very much like Zelda, not just in the combat (although anyone who's played the N64 iterations of the series won't be on unfamiliar ground), but in the fetch-this, find-that aspects of dealing with the villagers. However, there's enough of a difference, thanks to the incorporation of RPG-like status elements, that it doesn't seem like a rip-off. Dark Cloud also has more of an RPG basis then Nintendo's sword-swinging fare, with the inclusion of hit points, weapon hit points (WHp), the ability to level-up weapons as well as your character and the aforementioned status effects.
Weapons, or more specifically weapon management is key. Because each of your weapons have hit points that degrade as their used, it's important to keep repairing them before they break. If they break, the weapon, and all the items attached to it (think of the junctioning system in FFVIII) disappear, never to be used again. This can be frustrating, as on more than one occasion I lost a weapon because as it was nearing the bottom end of its WHp, I launched into a combo against a strongly armored enemy, which caused the numbers to drop like lightning. The good news is that you can also level up your weapon, just by using it. The more contact your weapon has with enemies, the more its "experience" (Abs) goes up. When the meter is full, you can upgrade your weapon, imbuing it with the attached items. As the weapon gets more powerful, it gains more WHp, and even undergoes a little face lift from time to time.
Toan's heath is also a constant concern, both in the usual HP sense, and his thirst. Exactly why water plays such an important part in the game is beyond me, but his running around does tucker the poor guy out, and without a swig of water or a dip in a pool (there's usually at least one on every floor) his health will rapidly drop upon reaching peak thirst. If his health takes a nosedive and there's no pool around, a bite to eat will quickly remedy any low-hp blues.
Once you've collected the pieces of any town, you can return to the surface and begin rebuilding it as you see fit, adding buildings, roads, ponds, trees, rivers and so on in any way you want. It pays to listen, though, as restoring the villages to their former glory in the most accurate way will keep the denizens happy. But, of course that's entirely up to you, so if the inner architect in you says the buildings should flow from one place to the next, regardless of what the owners think, you can drop them anywhere you see fit. Once you're satisfied with the way things look, simply place the cursor anywhere you want and hit select to instantly zoom the camera from overhead to down and behind Toan for that familiar third-person view. It's a really neat effect, and when you see how much detail is laid across all of the buildings, it's quite an impressive feat that it all can happen so quickly and smoothly.
The overall feel of the game is unlike anything else I've seen on the PlayStation 2. It feels uncommonly like something I'd find on a Nintendo system, and while that's certainly not a bad thing, it is a bit unexpected. Nothing about Dark Cloud's interface is in-your-face, it's just very subdued, and perfectly gets the job done. It is obvious that this is a first-gen title, however, and I can't help but think if it had been released here in the US just a little earlier (not a bad thing that it wasn't, as Sony spent some time tweaking the game for US audiences, adding a little more depth), it would have a better time fitting in among the library. The visuals certainly don't slouch in any category, but when you hold them up against efforts from Namco and Square, the results are a little less mindblowing.
It may be a byproduct of the randomly generated dungeon floors, but there's quite a bit of texture repetition, which gives everything a very similar look. The textures themselves are high-res enough, but repetitious nonetheless. As you progress downward into the depths of the caves, there's little to distinguish it from the floors above and below it, save for the increase in enemy difficulty, and the appearance of new enemies themselves. Luckily, what is repeated is hardly an eyesore. The different environments of the world all offer a unique and varied look, and the first time you walk into a new section, it's hard not to be left at least a little slick-jawed.
The animations, especially during combat are quite well done, with Toan's different sword stroke animations perfectly blended, so combos look just as smooth as a single swipe. Likewise, the enemies move smoothly, transitioning into their swipes and slashes with zero animation pop.
If there's one thing that could best be described as responsible for giving Dark Cloud its Zelda-like feel, it's probably the sound. The effects, from the simple menu chirps to the 4-note plucky chime when you make your first choice on the title screen, all drip with a happy, upbeat sound, despite the rather somber feeling you get when you see a formerly bustling village reduced to nothing but bare dirt. Toan "ha" and "heeya"s just like Link does, and the low grunts and swiping effects sound as if they were lifted straight from the Nintendo sound libraries. This isn't a knock against the game by any means, if anything, the adventure games Nintendo kicks out have some of the best aural presentation ever heard in games, and there's something very warm about the way it all sounds.
The music, while still plucky and fun, often sounds much like something you'd hear in Chrono Cross (especially the town music). Given that Chrono Cross is easily my favorite game soundtrack ever made, it should be obvious that I dug the music in Dark Cloud. There's a heavily synthesized sound to most of the music, and it keeps things feeling soft and warm, but lets the high-quality effects punch through. Though you hear most of the music for many, many hours as you venture in the various caves and rebuild different parts of different villages, it never really seems to grate. Sure, it gets tired, but 30+ hours of almost any music will.
In all, Dark Cloud manages to borrow from a slew of different games form a handful of different genres. What it does well, however is mixes them into a delicious stew of action, RPG and strategy elements that end up tasting better than if they were eaten by themselves. Anyone even remotely vested in any of the above genres owes it to themselves to at least check out the game to see how well all of the different play styles work in concert with each other. If you're in need of something that will keep you entertained for many, many hours (and shut up all those naysayers that claim there are no long PS2 games), give Dark Cloud a shot. You won't be sorry.
If for some unknown reason you don't know what Dark Cloud is, we'll try and break it down in the most concise way. Basically, a freed Genie (the evil kind, not the buxom grant-you-any-wish kind) decides this world isn't quite to his liking, and after eating one of his summoners, proceeds to rain down fire on the world, encasing its inhabitants and their dwellings in little "bubbles." For some reason, a few people were spared from this bubblicious fate, namely our hero Toan, and his village chief. The task now falls to Toan to venture into a nearby cave and pluck from its depths his fellow villagers and their homes, then rebuild them as best he can. Once he's restored order to his village, he must head out and do the same for all the other towns in the world.
What's truly unique about Dark Cloud is that that action takes place in two primary phases. The traditional, and admittedly very Zelda-like action sequences when Toan explores the randomly generated levels (a la Diablo) of the cave for missing friends and family, and then the top-down world-building portion of the quest. The interesting part comes not in these two sequences themselves, but the fact that once you're above ground, you can seamlessly move between the two with just a press of a button, crafting entire villages and then dropping right into them in one seamless motion.
So there's the backstory in a nutshell. A simple premise, yes, but one that does the job adequately. What can't be gleaned from a rough once-over of the gameplay, however, is how well all the small pieces work together. Dark Cloud is very much like Zelda, not just in the combat (although anyone who's played the N64 iterations of the series won't be on unfamiliar ground), but in the fetch-this, find-that aspects of dealing with the villagers. However, there's enough of a difference, thanks to the incorporation of RPG-like status elements, that it doesn't seem like a rip-off. Dark Cloud also has more of an RPG basis then Nintendo's sword-swinging fare, with the inclusion of hit points, weapon hit points (WHp), the ability to level-up weapons as well as your character and the aforementioned status effects.
Weapons, or more specifically weapon management is key. Because each of your weapons have hit points that degrade as their used, it's important to keep repairing them before they break. If they break, the weapon, and all the items attached to it (think of the junctioning system in FFVIII) disappear, never to be used again. This can be frustrating, as on more than one occasion I lost a weapon because as it was nearing the bottom end of its WHp, I launched into a combo against a strongly armored enemy, which caused the numbers to drop like lightning. The good news is that you can also level up your weapon, just by using it. The more contact your weapon has with enemies, the more its "experience" (Abs) goes up. When the meter is full, you can upgrade your weapon, imbuing it with the attached items. As the weapon gets more powerful, it gains more WHp, and even undergoes a little face lift from time to time.
Toan's heath is also a constant concern, both in the usual HP sense, and his thirst. Exactly why water plays such an important part in the game is beyond me, but his running around does tucker the poor guy out, and without a swig of water or a dip in a pool (there's usually at least one on every floor) his health will rapidly drop upon reaching peak thirst. If his health takes a nosedive and there's no pool around, a bite to eat will quickly remedy any low-hp blues.
Once you've collected the pieces of any town, you can return to the surface and begin rebuilding it as you see fit, adding buildings, roads, ponds, trees, rivers and so on in any way you want. It pays to listen, though, as restoring the villages to their former glory in the most accurate way will keep the denizens happy. But, of course that's entirely up to you, so if the inner architect in you says the buildings should flow from one place to the next, regardless of what the owners think, you can drop them anywhere you see fit. Once you're satisfied with the way things look, simply place the cursor anywhere you want and hit select to instantly zoom the camera from overhead to down and behind Toan for that familiar third-person view. It's a really neat effect, and when you see how much detail is laid across all of the buildings, it's quite an impressive feat that it all can happen so quickly and smoothly.
The overall feel of the game is unlike anything else I've seen on the PlayStation 2. It feels uncommonly like something I'd find on a Nintendo system, and while that's certainly not a bad thing, it is a bit unexpected. Nothing about Dark Cloud's interface is in-your-face, it's just very subdued, and perfectly gets the job done. It is obvious that this is a first-gen title, however, and I can't help but think if it had been released here in the US just a little earlier (not a bad thing that it wasn't, as Sony spent some time tweaking the game for US audiences, adding a little more depth), it would have a better time fitting in among the library. The visuals certainly don't slouch in any category, but when you hold them up against efforts from Namco and Square, the results are a little less mindblowing.
It may be a byproduct of the randomly generated dungeon floors, but there's quite a bit of texture repetition, which gives everything a very similar look. The textures themselves are high-res enough, but repetitious nonetheless. As you progress downward into the depths of the caves, there's little to distinguish it from the floors above and below it, save for the increase in enemy difficulty, and the appearance of new enemies themselves. Luckily, what is repeated is hardly an eyesore. The different environments of the world all offer a unique and varied look, and the first time you walk into a new section, it's hard not to be left at least a little slick-jawed.
The animations, especially during combat are quite well done, with Toan's different sword stroke animations perfectly blended, so combos look just as smooth as a single swipe. Likewise, the enemies move smoothly, transitioning into their swipes and slashes with zero animation pop.
If there's one thing that could best be described as responsible for giving Dark Cloud its Zelda-like feel, it's probably the sound. The effects, from the simple menu chirps to the 4-note plucky chime when you make your first choice on the title screen, all drip with a happy, upbeat sound, despite the rather somber feeling you get when you see a formerly bustling village reduced to nothing but bare dirt. Toan "ha" and "heeya"s just like Link does, and the low grunts and swiping effects sound as if they were lifted straight from the Nintendo sound libraries. This isn't a knock against the game by any means, if anything, the adventure games Nintendo kicks out have some of the best aural presentation ever heard in games, and there's something very warm about the way it all sounds.
The music, while still plucky and fun, often sounds much like something you'd hear in Chrono Cross (especially the town music). Given that Chrono Cross is easily my favorite game soundtrack ever made, it should be obvious that I dug the music in Dark Cloud. There's a heavily synthesized sound to most of the music, and it keeps things feeling soft and warm, but lets the high-quality effects punch through. Though you hear most of the music for many, many hours as you venture in the various caves and rebuild different parts of different villages, it never really seems to grate. Sure, it gets tired, but 30+ hours of almost any music will.
In all, Dark Cloud manages to borrow from a slew of different games form a handful of different genres. What it does well, however is mixes them into a delicious stew of action, RPG and strategy elements that end up tasting better than if they were eaten by themselves. Anyone even remotely vested in any of the above genres owes it to themselves to at least check out the game to see how well all of the different play styles work in concert with each other. If you're in need of something that will keep you entertained for many, many hours (and shut up all those naysayers that claim there are no long PS2 games), give Dark Cloud a shot. You won't be sorry.
