Dark Cloud

 PlayStation 2
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
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  1. Games Radar
    100
    A stunning visual banquet, masterfully blending all the necessary ingredients for a cracking fantasy RPG. We're not likely to see many better PS2 titles this year.
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Absolute Playstation
    91
    Crawling through hoards of dungeons in search for more, and more pieces to your missing world never got old for me. I was always driven to go on.
  3. Gaming Age
    91
    One of the rare games that takes the best from lots of games, adds random dungeons, and a dash of its own originality, and ends up being a really great game.
  5. netjak
    89
    While it can be tough at some points and a bit difficult to master everything in the first hour, it’s a great gaming experience and besides, that genie Ruby is kinda cute.
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  6. TotalGames.net
    89
    Simply put, if you don’t like the genre previously known as an RPG then there is nothing here to shine you on, but what there is has been created with such a level of craft that there’s no denying its artfulness. It’s a beauty and as near (yet far) to a Zelda release as we’re going to see.
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  7. TotalPlayStation
    85
    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.
  8. IGN
    84
    What Dark Cloud offers is a splendid mix of several existing genres and game ideas that when merged together brings forth a delightful and extremely addictive adventure role-playing game that's easily one of the best we've yet seen on PlayStation 2.
  9. Gaming Maxx
    84
    With the PS2 RPG release list suffering, Dark Cloud could easily be named the best offering in this genre to date.
  10. GameSpot
    81
    Dark Cloud successfully blends adventure, RPG, simulation, and strategy elements into one incredibly addictive game.
  11. Hot Games
    80
    It’s a captivating run for about the first ten hours of play, then dungeon levels become too mechanical. Still, for all its shortcomings, the game also has its share of charms.
  12. GamerWeb Sony
    80
    The controls are simple, but the weapon system and town building program will take time to master, and this should appeal to RPG fanatics.
  13. Cincinnati Enquirer
    80
    Isn't for everyone. The game lacks speech and some of the Japanese-to-English translations don't read welI. What's more, the music repeats too often. But after a while depth of this RPG grows on you. That said, it's probably not for people with short attention spans.
  14. Happy Puppy
    80
    While the task of rebuilding the village is fantastically addictive, the repetitive gameplay is a bore.
  15. Total Video Games
    80
    The idea of creating your own world is welcomed, and the graphics are good at times, but do falter at certain stages especially throughout the dungeon levels.
    All this publication's reviews
  16. Yahoo!
    80
    We have no problem at all with awarding Dark Cloud a Console Domain highly recommended award.
  17. Electric Playground
    80
    Those who want more than a clone will be disappointed, those just looking for a good game will be pleasantly rewarded.
  18. GMR Magazine
    80
    Pays homage to RPGs past while establishing its own unique identity. [Feb 2003, p.92]
    All this publication's reviews
  19. GameSpy
    79
    There is about 30 hours of play contained within Dark Cloud, but the title does not contain the type of epic storyline needed to drive the player through those hours.
  20. Da Gameboyz
    78
    The sound is fairly lackluster. But overall the game is rich and inviting, with a great storyline, lots of playable characters and an abundance of items for you to collect.
    All this publication's reviews
  21. GamePower
    75
    It has buried within other commonplace RPG elements the most innovative approach to game storytelling I have seen in years.
    All this publication's reviews
  22. Game Revolution
    75
    Despite its obviously derivative mechanics and gameplay, Dark Cloud offers a solid, fun experience and at least tries something interesting with its village building system.
  23. Core Magazine
    75
    An adeptly designed adventure game that effectively combines elements of several other titles into a highly entertaining - if imperfect - package.
  24. Gamezilla!
    75
    Stepping in the right direction to make RPGs a bit more varying. However, it does tend to bog down at times and you'll feel like you’ve done the same thing more than twice, making it a little mundane at points.
  25. All Game Guide
    70
    The game could not have survived as a dungeon crawler alone, and thankfully the many side diversions offer hours of fun by themselves.
  26. GamePro
    70
    A spotty story and monotonous gameplay keep Dark Cloud from rising to new heights.
  27. GamePen
    70
    Music is a mixed bag, ranging from tolerable to downright painful. Music should enhance the mood set by the game, or, at worst, should fade into the background.
  28. PSX Nation
    60
    If you have the patience to endure all that dungeon crawling, and a bothersome camera, there's a very addicting game underneath. Don't expect a Final Fantasy caliber story-line, or Zelda-esque adventure gameplay.

Awards & Rankings

46
#46 Best PS2 Game of 2001
15
#15 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2001
7
#7 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2001

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 152 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 113 out of 152
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 152
  3. Negative: 15 out of 152
  1. HnojtheDemon
    Nov 2, 2012
    10
    Dark Cloud is an astonishing and breathtaking game, it was when it released in 2001, and it still holds up today in 2012. It would be anDark Cloud is an astonishing and breathtaking game, it was when it released in 2001, and it still holds up today in 2012. It would be an unorganized mess if written in just one paragraph, so this will be broken into separate points.
    -Plot
    Dark Cloud has a surprisingly fascinating story, even though it may seem simple and childish at face value. Along the way, you are introduced to some colorful characters that you must interact with and learn some of their story to satisfy their needs. The game, however, can take a dark turn at some points later in the game.
    -Graphics
    While Dark Cloud may have been a visually great game at the time, it never had the best graphics. This is not to say that the game looks bad by any means, I would not want it any other way. The game is just dated and it shows in some areas such as with draw distance, lighting water and fire effects. Every texture is well represented and looks nice in total.
    -Sound
    The game has an iffy soundtrack at times. The main theme and the Dran boss music are among the best music I have heard in video games, but some of the later bosses and some of the music for areas are a bit bland and sometimes repetitive. The sound is very well done, the sounds the characters make and the weapons or enemies make are all great, well timed and a great addition to the game.
    -Gameplay
    -Fighting
    Dark Cloud doesn't necessarily have the most complex fighting system, but it fits for this game. You press X, you attack. You hold X, you do a special attack. That's mostly it. Some enemies, like most RPGs, are a certain element and certain attributes to your weapons hurt some enemies more than others. The system is very simple and repetitive, but fun.
    -Dungeon Crawling
    This game has a unique element to exploring it's dungeons. Every time you enter a floor of the dungeon you are in, the floor is randomly generated, a gameplay mechanic that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon utilized. Some floors do, however have a set condition, whether it be forcing you to play as a certain character or having your weapon lose experience as you use it. In dungeons, there is also an area in some floors called a back floor, which is an area you can only access with a specific item that you obtain randomly in chests. These areas have stronger enemies that give you more exp. for your weapons and also have more valuable loot.
    -Weapons
    In the game, you don't exactly level up your character, you do upgrade your defense through items, but all of your attack is based off of the strength of your weapon. Along the game you will naturally come across more weapons. As you use these weapons, they gain experience and can level up, increasing stats, you can increase them further by adding attachments and gems, which speed the process up significantly. Once you get it's stats to a certain point, you can build up your weapon, making it stronger and capable of surpassing the limitations your old weapon could never break. Once you level up a weapon five times, you can break it down into a synthsphere and attach it to a different weapon, giving 60% of all of that weapon's stats to the weapon you put it to. One sidepoint is that your weapons can break, and you will need to repair them before that with repair powders. If your weapon happens to break, you will revert to the weakest weapon in your inventory that can't 'break', but once it reaches the breaking point, it might as well have broken.
    -Characters
    Throughout the game, you will encounter certain characters that will join your party and are essential to get past obstacles your character cannot. These range from three other ranged characters and two melee characters, they all come with their own set of weapons and stats, but overall are just a tool to the game as they seldom provide any additional plot or intricacy to the situation at hand, they never appear in cutscenes out of the place where you find them, either.
    -Georama & Atlamillia
    Now for the most unique part of the game, Atlamillia. As you progress through dungeons, you will find floating orbs called Atlamillia. As you collect Atla, you will come back to the town you are in and notice the Georama system. This system literally lets you rebuild the town you are in from scratch. The Atla that you collect is actually the parts that you use to create the village. You find the townsfolk and they will give you their requests on what they want in their house and how they want their village to be rebuilt. Once you satisfy them, you will obtain a great reward in return.
    -Verdict
    Overall, this game is a gem from my childhood that still stands up today, it is one of my favorite games that I will always cherish and come back to from time to time. I love this game more than it's sequel and hope there is a third sequel in the Dark Cloud franchise because this game warrants it. 10/10.    … Full Review »
  2. Warrior_of_Doom
    Jul 19, 2023
    9
    The overall score is based on how much fun I personally had with every component of the game
    and the overall experience.
  3. quietgrave
    Aug 17, 2021
    6
    It was really fun to play as a kid but coming back to it as an adult was a mistake. This has been obliterated by the passage of time, even aIt was really fun to play as a kid but coming back to it as an adult was a mistake. This has been obliterated by the passage of time, even a nice modern controller couldn't make the combat any less obtuse and awkward, the boss fights are all incredibly gimmicky and detached from the core combat of the game, it expects you to navigate through menus far more often than you want to because of the transition lag between screens, the city design is incredibly and ironically restrictive for something that is supposed to be a modular experience, the weapon synthetization is cryptic and unexplained, requiring a walkthrough or some kind of external source to utilize properly, the one and only side quest is bugged in a way that most people will encounter a soft wall and will be unable to complete it without starting over completely. This honestly feels like an RPGmaker 3 game with how clunky the combat and player controls are and it completely fails in a number of basic game design concepts.

    I loved it as a kid, it's still got a lot of charm in its art design and music, people can find something to like about it even today but it is by no means a timeless game and can't hold a candle to even its sequel in terms of playability.    … Full Review »
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