Dark Cloud

 PlayStation 2
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
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  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 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    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 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.    … Expand
  2. BoredTodeath
    Feb 9, 2002
    1
    I expected this would be like Zelda with a main story and multiple side quests. This was just multiple dungeons doing the same thing over and over and over and over. The Bosses were easy too, including the genie at the end. Expect to be bored to tears and to spend a lot of time as you move from place to place as the game takes forever to switch scenes. The only good thing I can say is the I expected this would be like Zelda with a main story and multiple side quests. This was just multiple dungeons doing the same thing over and over and over and over. The Bosses were easy too, including the genie at the end. Expect to be bored to tears and to spend a lot of time as you move from place to place as the game takes forever to switch scenes. The only good thing I can say is the graphics were excellent.… Expand
  3. Theimminent26
    Mar 21, 2003
    5
    I give this pathetic piece of "entertainment" five merely for the georama and the deep weapon system. However every single other aspect except for the usually entertaining music is worthless and should be eternally forgotten the day this game is someones favorite is the end of the world. Plus since the combat is inept it cancels out the deep weapon system. Maybe if you enjoy going to teh I give this pathetic piece of "entertainment" five merely for the georama and the deep weapon system. However every single other aspect except for the usually entertaining music is worthless and should be eternally forgotten the day this game is someones favorite is the end of the world. Plus since the combat is inept it cancels out the deep weapon system. Maybe if you enjoy going to teh exact same dungeon over and over with different "random" floors over and over and over and over for every dungueon you might enjoy this waste of time. ANd as a last note to many characters with useless purposes......I hate this game but you are entitled to your .....opinion...i guess. … Expand
  4. FedG.
    Oct 30, 2005
    10
    This game is the best.
  5. JimC
    Jun 10, 2009
    5
    The combat is boring and repetitive, the plot is terrible, and the soundtrack is dull. I personally find half the characters worthless, and they also add nothing to the story. The game is so empty that every main character could die a horrible death and I'd be indifferent. However, I love the weapon system and rebuilding the villages so I might just be able to finish it.
  6. MatthewI.
    Nov 12, 2004
    2
    Can people please stop judging this game on the demo as only with the real game can you grasp the true monotony of it. The randomly created dungeon levels are dull and exactly the same as the one before it, and the one before that, and the one before that, and the ten more before that and even when you reach the bottom of the dungeons (if you have the patience to get there) bosses consist Can people please stop judging this game on the demo as only with the real game can you grasp the true monotony of it. The randomly created dungeon levels are dull and exactly the same as the one before it, and the one before that, and the one before that, and the ten more before that and even when you reach the bottom of the dungeons (if you have the patience to get there) bosses consist simply of choosing the character with the weapon that can stun the boss and then hitting it with your strongest one. The weapon system is drab and anoying, never giving you enough repair powders with which you acxn repair your swords so that you're eventually forced to sell anything good that you have in order to buy repair powders. And after putting so much work into "training" a sword for it to suddenly break and you loose everything is one of the most annoying things I've ever experinced. For some reason your character cannot go five minutes without a drink. Literally. If he doesn't have a drink he starts to loose health, meaning you either have to stock up on expensive water or constantly trek back across the levels to get to a spring. It gets two marks only for the village building part, which is also flawed. There is no storyline that I can see. Never ever ever get this game. Get Dark Cloud 2 instead.… Expand
  7. AndoT.
    Apr 13, 2006
    2
    Boring and repetitive. Definately one to steer well clear of. It's so dull that it makes Runescape look inspired.
  8. SeanM.
    Aug 29, 2001
    4
    I was not excited one bit about Dark Cloud. I thought the game looked great from the package and heard great reviews. Sadly, I ended up trading this game because it lacked in the "fun factor." After awhile it got tiring and not as great as it was rated in top magazines. DARK CLOUD gets the McNair thumbs down!
  9. llamayarmybar
    Jul 21, 2011
    6
    More repetitive than watching the tour de France. Serious collision detection issues, boring enemies, cheap attacks, no ability to buy items until portions of the village have been set down, no interesting characters, no continuity, poor camera, useless item breaking system, tedious town re-building, and many other things. You know that feeling when you've just leveled up that bad-assMore repetitive than watching the tour de France. Serious collision detection issues, boring enemies, cheap attacks, no ability to buy items until portions of the village have been set down, no interesting characters, no continuity, poor camera, useless item breaking system, tedious town re-building, and many other things. You know that feeling when you've just leveled up that bad-ass sword forever and it suddenly breaks in combat? That is essentially what describes the reaction I have to most of this game. Its bland, the environments are repetitive, the combat is boring and it uses those methods to elongate a game that has essentially no story line. I thought things would change up when I was about half-way though the game- but they stayed exactly the same. Although the one positive thing that happened- they made a sequel that fixed a lot of these problems that I still haven't picked up, but I will. Since what I liked in this game I did actually like a lot- its just disappointing that they made so many mistakes the first time.… Expand
  10. LopsterPopster
    Sep 26, 2012
    5
    This game at first felt like a blatant Zelda ripoff, then I picked it up again a couple years later to try it out again. I thought I might have judged it too quickly.
    Nope. This game is just not that fun. What is the point of having my weapons break every five minutes if the game doesn't give me the availability of the repair powder? You have to find the shop in the dungeons before you    This game at first felt like a blatant Zelda ripoff, then I picked it up again a couple years later to try it out again. I thought I might have judged it too quickly.
    Nope. This game is just not that fun. What is the point of having my weapons break every five minutes if the game doesn't give me the availability of the repair powder? You have to find the shop in the dungeons before you can buy anything, which means no help in getting healing and repair supplies. The game is also very tedious. Why did Sony think it was a good idea to have randomly generated dungeons? Overall, very monotonous, story doesn't make much sense to me, gameplay is aggravating and the controls are awkward.    … Expand
  11. Nexus-Del-Morte
    Aug 7, 2013
    6
    when i was much younger, this game pretty much was my child hood. but looking back on it now it is not really as amazing as i thought.
    don't get me wrong, it's still a wonderful game with great graphics, memorable characters and an interesting story. but the writing is a bit iffy, the gameplay can become rather dull and there are some game breaking glitches that cause major problems.    when i was much younger, this game pretty much was my child hood. but looking back on it now it is not really as amazing as i thought.
    don't get me wrong, it's still a wonderful game with great graphics, memorable characters and an interesting story. but the writing is a bit iffy, the gameplay can become rather dull and there are some game breaking glitches that cause major problems.

    while it was not as super amazing as i thought when i was little. returning to it still left a smile on my face during the experience    … Expand
  12. DanielN.
    Dec 30, 2001
    10
    Dark Cloud can be described in two words: IT RULES! It has pretty good sound, It's graphics are great, and I love the new weapons system. It gives a great thrill to RPG gamers. I've played Zelda, Final Fantasy IV-X, Legend of the Dragoon, etc., but none of 'em have this good graphics or gameplay. In the end Dark Cloud is one heck of an RPG!
  13. JustinJ.
    Oct 24, 2001
    10
    This game rockz!! The weapons are great, the graphics are sweet, and instead of having all that hard rock stuff, there's just sum mellow music u can chill out to!!:)
  14. [Anonymous]
    Jul 9, 2001
    8
    It is a great role-playing game.
  15. AmyW.
    Apr 6, 2002
    10
    I love this game. It's the best. I've played Zelda before and when I heard this was similar, I manged to get a demo. The demo is great and I'm quite sure the real game will be even better!!!
  16. CamK.
    Apr 9, 2002
    8
    The gameplay was great at first, but got a little monotonous. It was still pretty fun, though, with the georama stuff and the weapon buildup options. Overall, a great game worth the money.
  17. ThomasK.
    Jul 4, 2002
    9
    Challenging but exciting.
  18. NaomiM.
    Nov 4, 2004
    10
    Its great!!! I love rebuilding the villages! I just wish they talked!
  19. AllenP.
    Oct 10, 2001
    10
    Great graphics and the style of play is much more realistic than Zelda.
  20. KevinL.
    Dec 30, 2001
    10
    This game is GREAT!!!!!! The only problem with it is that me and my brother fight over who gets to play! Great graphics, and a good gaming format.
  21. TomJ.
    Jun 30, 2001
    10
    I love this game because you have a variety of characters, abilities, and magic. Sometimes the game is boring like when you have to go through 18 levels in one dungeon, but its worth the score of a ten.
  22. [Anonymous]
    Jan 7, 2002
    10
    It is one of the best games I have ever played. It is a lot like Zelda and kind of like Final Fantasy Games as far as the story.
  23. Frisco
    Apr 2, 2002
    9
    This is an excellent game, it's VERY addictive and the city building and fishing are really cool, but as much as I love this game, I've gotta chip off 1 point for repetitiveness and well...CRAPPY MUSIC! Good graphics though.
  24. BobB.
    Jul 12, 2001
    9
    Great!, Fantastic! but a little repetitive. Overall the game has very few weak points and tons of strong points such as stunning weapons, terrific allies, village assembly, and the graphics. Its like "Dundgeons & Dragons" + "Sim City 2000." Very Cool!
  25. KouisG.
    Jul 23, 2001
    10
    Great, fantastic. It's the best game I ever played. It's like Zelda and Zoe put together.
  26. ChrisM.
    Oct 12, 2002
    9
    It's a really good game, but the battle areas, dungeons, never get much different and get boring. I like the upgrade deal that you can do with your weapons and the status break, it helps you to improve your skills and strengths. But, I don't like when you break your weapon and lose all your progress on it. All in all I give this game a rating of 9.
  27. MegV.
    Jul 29, 2002
    10
    Got the demo in the mail. I think it is great like Zelda in the combat system. Building the towns is fun, and I like the dungeons. The whole idea of saving the world is kinda repetitive in games, if they just didn't do it so ... differently. I hope to get this game for X-mas, because its just lovely!
  28. RyanM.
    Feb 22, 2003
    10
    Masterpiece!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just plain fun.
  29. MangaWasabi
    May 3, 2011
    9
    This is my favorite game of all time. I got back when i was a kid during the early 2000s. I still play it quite frequently to this day. This is one of the only games I've done that with! The plot, is great...but it only gets very interesting near the end. The combat isn't very complex but i find it enjoyable. The music can be great, but some songs are way too overused. The game has flaws,This is my favorite game of all time. I got back when i was a kid during the early 2000s. I still play it quite frequently to this day. This is one of the only games I've done that with! The plot, is great...but it only gets very interesting near the end. The combat isn't very complex but i find it enjoyable. The music can be great, but some songs are way too overused. The game has flaws, but it's still amazing.… Expand
  30. Tirekyll
    Dec 21, 2012
    10
    Once upon a time, this game was possibly the best I had ever played. Many fond memories of the characters, the towns, the weapon system, and even the enormously lengthly and tall Demon Shaft to get the Chronicle 2 sword(the best sword in the game). Of course I couldn't go back to it today, however I still say this was one of the best games I've played to date that could keep me entertainedOnce upon a time, this game was possibly the best I had ever played. Many fond memories of the characters, the towns, the weapon system, and even the enormously lengthly and tall Demon Shaft to get the Chronicle 2 sword(the best sword in the game). Of course I couldn't go back to it today, however I still say this was one of the best games I've played to date that could keep me entertained for such a long period of time. For the memories alone I give this game a 10/10. Dark Cloud was amazing and always will be in the hearts of those who enjoyed it.

    To those in 2008 and later, do keep in mind this game is very old and shouldn't be compared to what we have today.    … Expand
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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

Critic Reviews

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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
  1. 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.
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  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.
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  3. 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.
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