Dark Cloud Review
Greg Woodruff | Staff Writer

Even though I just recently got my Playstation 2 and Dark Cloud is the only PS2 RPG that I have played, I have to say that it has to be one of the greatest PS2 RPGs. Actually, I find it to be one of the greatest RPGs that I have played. I have been playing RPGs constantly for about a year now, mostly the Final Fantasy series, so I have gotten used to RPGs and I could assume that I am a credible source when it comes to RPGs. Since I have been playing Dark Cloud a lot lately, I thought I would review it. I do not plan to spoil the story for anyone, although there is not too much that I could spoil because I have not beaten the game yet.

Basically the story starts out with the resurrection of the Dark Genie. The Dark Genie is a very large pink ogre looking monster that was sealed away hundreds of years ago after almost destroying the world. He has been resurrected thanks to a general who is trying to destroy the world. Luckily for the world, the Fairy King has sealed away parts of villages to prevent them from being destroyed. The pieces of villages are stored away in globe-like objects and can be found in dungeons around the world.

The main character in the game is Toan. He is a young boy that has been given power from the Fairy King in order to restore the world. At first you must restore your own village and to do so you must fight monsters in a local dungeon and collect the pieces of your village that have been sealed away in protection thanks to the Fairy King. As you progress, the story unfolds and the Fairy King becomes your tutor. You will meet many interesting characters on the way and some of them will join you in your quest to restore the world and defeat the Dark Genie.

In Dark Cloud, characters do not level up as they do in other games. In this game, you have many different weapons, which level up as you use them. When defeating enemies, they gain points which can be used to build up the weapon. Weapons can take on special abilities and magic properties. Also, these weapons take damage from use and must be repaired or they will break and be extremely weak.

Armor in the game is very basic. You just get some kind of default armor that suits your character and it's strength can be raised with special items, which will just increase your defense.

As with most RPGs, characters start out with a certain amount of hit points. These hit points are your health. When you get hit, they will decrease until you replenish them or until your character dies. If your character dies, you can revive him or her, but only if you have a certain item called Revival Powder.

Along with general health and hit points, you have to worry about thirst. Your character will get thirsty and you will need to give him or her some water to replenish his or her thirst points If these points reach zero then your general health will decrease until your thirst points are replenished.

The graphics in the game are really good, but that can be expected with a PS2. Everything is 3D and you can change the camera view around. Also, the music is somewhat typical of a RPG, but that does not mean that it is not good. The music is cool and very fitting to the situation or the place that you are in.

Overall, Dark Cloud is a great game. It is fun to fight in the dungeons, build up weapons to create more, go fishing (which is kind of a side quest), build up villages, and talking to different characters. I find it to be a great game and I highly recommend it.