You can call this one a case of having a game on the shelves for years. Unfortunately for me, during those years I missed out on a very incredible gaming experience. Dark Cloud is undoubtedly the most fun game I have played recently. It follows the tale of a young Toan whose village was destroyed by an evil being known as the Dark Genie. The Fairy King comes to him and tells him that before the village was destroyed completely, everything was sealed away in mysterious orbs called Atla, and he gives Toan the power of the Atlamillia, a gem that can unlock the items in those Atla. Toan's task then is to go around the world and unlock the Atla, which contain items, homes and people, and rebuild the world. Once that is accomplished, he must defeat the Dark Genie and restore the world to peace once and for all.

The game sounds tough, and at first I was a mite intimidated. But really, it's the most fun game ever. It's a mix of dungeon crawler, action RPG, and something like Civilization. You grab Atla from the dungeons as you defeat enemies, and in the villages or towns you use those Atla to recreate the world the way you want. You'll learn that some of the citizens have requests as to where or how their place is built, and if you satisfy all of the requests, you get hugely rewarded, so experimentation and talking to every person in the town is key to finishing the reconstruction. While in the dungeons, you run around hacking away at the monsters, going from floor to floor and unlocking Atla. Along the way, there are chests to open and loot to collect from slain monsters. You can also fish in the ponds around town to collect Fishing Points, which can be exchanged for precious items such as gems and status-healing objects. At the end of the road, on the final floor of the dungeon, you must fight a boss to then progress to the next town. In each town, you acquire a new party member-each of whom has their own special ability to get past certain obstacles in a dungeon. More of the story unfolds as you proceed, and the culmination of events at the end brings the game to a nice close. After you defeat the Genie, you are awarded with a 100-floor dungeon, packed with the toughest monsters out there, at the end of which you are awarded with the best sword in the game. From there, you can pretty much defeat anything with one blow, and the Genie himself can be defeated again in just a few swings.

Which brings me to the best element about Dark Cloud: the weapon system. As you kill a monster, your weapon absorbs energy from it. When your absorption meter is full, you can upgrade your weapon to the next level. There are attachments that can be put into the weapon as well to increase its base stats, magic power or strength against a certain type of enemy. Any attachments you include in a weapon as you upgrade it are engraved into the weapon forever. For example, if you put an Attack +3 attachment in the weapon and upgrade it, your weapon forever has +3 on attack until you either change weapons or break it. If you upgrade it enough times that your stats and powers are above a certain level, you can build up the weapon into a new, more powerful version of that weapon. Build it up enough and you will eventually obtain the character's ultimate weapon.

Dark Cloud is definitely a great game for being one of the first RPGs on the PS2 console. The music is completely off the charts-the tunes still stick to my head today, and I find myself whistling or humming them when I'm in the oddest places. The graphics are surprisingly smooth, and the gameplay is really easy. The sound effects are solid, and you can feel every slash or magic burst strike your foes. The only downside to this game is that there are no voices except the yelling of the characters as they battle in the dungeons. I think talking characters would have vastly improved this game, and since that is an improvement they made in the sequel, I am anxious to start playing it.

Seriously, Dark Cloud is a great game to play if you're looking for something different and compelling. I invested over 50 hours into this game, and not one of them was wasted. If hack-and-slash is your thing, then this game will appeal to you. If building and customizing are your happiness, then you will love this game. Most of all, though, if you're just in it to have fun and immerse yourself in a good game-playing experience, then do yourself a favor and pick up Dark Cloud right away. This one is a must-purchase.

Jan 16, 2006 | 5 comments
Matt Karam