Dark Cloud

For other uses, see Dark Cloud (disambiguation).

Dark Cloud
Developer(s)	Level-5
Publisher(s)	SCE
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	December 14, 2000 May 28, 2001 September 21, 2001
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single player

Dark Cloud is the first game in a series of action adventure games by Level-5 with elements of RPG and simulation games. There is currently one sequel to the game: Dark Chronicle (known as Dark Cloud 2 in the U.S.), which is also exclusively available for the PlayStation 2. The series has been compared to the action-adventure/simulation hybrids ActRaiser and Soul Blazer. Sony went on the record to state that it was a Zelda "killer". A third title, Dark Cloud 3 was announced at E3 2004, but its current status is unknown. What was originally planned as Dark Cloud 3 is speculated to have become Rogue Galaxy over the course of its development. Dark Cloud was one of a few games that was distributed in demo form bundled with the initial release of the Playstation 2.

Gameplay

Dark Cloud is a role-playing game in which the player travels around in randomly-generated dungeons, defeating monsters and collecting items. Inside these dungeons, the player also has the option, providing that the correct item and transportation gate are located, of entering a "back room". An exception to this is the Gallery of Time, which, through a programming slip, the back room key would never appear. It is somewhat similar to The Legend of Zelda Series. These special sections house stronger monsters and more valuable items.

Unlike most RPGs, the main characters do not level up, but rather their weapons do (the player characters themselves can only grow stronger with the consumption of certain foods). Weapons level up through use, but they will eventually wear out with constant usage and it is necessary to repair them lest they break. In the case that weapon breaks it is removed from their inventory, except for the starter weapon. The upgrades themselves are achieved through obtaining absorption points which are dropped by enemies. After reaching level five, a weapon can perform a "Status Break", in which it becomes an attachment that can then be equipped to other weapons for an increase in power.

Dark Cloud features six different main characters: three ranged fighters and three melee fighters. Melee characters can use many weapons, from generic swords and hammers to such unusual tools as giant cacti and frozen fish. Ranged characters can use magic rings, guns and even slingshots. To navigate the dungeons through various traps and barriers, each character's unique skills must be used at some point.

A hidden dungeon becomes available after beating the game, a 100-level tower called Demon Shaft, which reaches to outer space. An elemental shift every twenty floors. On the final floor, the player must fight the Black Knight, the hidden boss of the Demon Shaft. After defeating the Black Knight you obtain the chronicle 2 sword(the most powerful sword in the game).

A fishing mini-game is also available at four spots in the game, with "fishing points" awarded for successful catches. These points can be traded in for various supplies and equipment, some extremely valuable.

Georama Mode

A large part of Dark Cloud's gameplay involves a special type of item, collected in dungeons from holders called "Atla". These items, once removed from the dungeon, become pieces of geography (such as trees, houses and villagers) that are to be placed in their proper locations on the overworld.

Plot

Characters

Dark Cloud features several characters, many of which are playable. Like most role-playing games, the playable characters can be renamed, however they each have a default name. Each character utilizes different weapons and fighting styles as well as different abilities that aid in the exploration of dungeons. The main protagonist is a young boy named Toan. He fights with daggers, knives, and swords. Toan is from Norune Village and does not speak during the game. After the events of the prologue, he is charged with the restoration of the world by Simba, The Fairy King. Simba gives Toan the "Atlamillia", to gather and restore the scattered pieces of the world. During the course of the game, Toan meets new characters that can be chosen to explore and battle in dungeons. He normally has to accomplish certain in-game events for new characters to join. The avaible characters include Xiao, Goro, Ruby, Ungaga, and Osmond.

Xiao (Chinese: 小; lit. 'little', 'small') is the first character to join. She is a stray cat that Toan encounters in the Divine Beast Cave. Xiao later becomes a playable character after a "Changing Potion" transforms her into a catgirl. Goro is a brash, aggressive boy from Matataki village, who initially refuses to trust Toan. His father was the village's legendary warrior, but long ago he disappeared on a mission to eliminate the Killer Snake in the Wise Owl Forest. Goro joins the party after Toan defeats the Snake. Ruby is a genie from a lamp given to Toan in the seaside city of Queens. Ungaga is a young man who holds the duty of defending the ancient Sun & Moon Temple. The Dark Genie's rampage destroyed his desert village of Muska Lacka. Toan finds him at the temple, crushed at his inability to protect Muska Lacka and his girlfriend, Mikara, from their fate. When Toan rescues and revives Mikara as he has already saved many others, Ungaga's faith and confidence is restored, and he agrees to lend his considerable skills to the group. Osmond is one of the Moon People of Yellow Drops. He joins the party with Toan helps the Moon People complete a giant robot.

The main antagonist is the Dark Genie, an evil genie that was released by Colonel Flag. Colonel Flag is a military commander seeking to conquer the world. Other characters include Seda, a former ruler of a great kingdom, and Dran, the God of all beasts. Se da made a contract with the devil to kill his enemies during a war. When his fiancé, Sophia, was murdered, his hatred gave birth to the Dark Genie. Dran is the guardian of Norune Village and is first met in the Divine Beast cave while in control by the Dark Genie. He makes another appearance later in the game, when the group goes to the Dark Heaven Castle.

Story

The game begins with a group of militants, led by Colonel Flag performing a ceremony of to release the "Dark Genie". Colonel Flag plans to use the Dark Genie strictly for military conquest. While the common folk of Norune Village are celebrating a festival for the bountiful harvest, the Dark Genie starts a rampage to destroy the village. The Fairy King casts a protective spell around the village as well as other locations of the world. This spell causes the buildings, objects, and people to be only scattered by the Dark Genie's attack. Toan, a resident of Norune village, is bestowed a stone of Atlamillia from the Fairy King and learns that he must travel through dungeons searching for the scattered people and objects in the form of floating orbs called Atla. Toan then goes to the Divine Beast Cave and journeys through it and collects the Norune Village Atla. When Toan approaches a certain floor, a mysterious white-haired man called Seda, challenges him to a duel. Toan loses and notices a little cat on the ground, which he attempts to protect. The white-haired man throws him a changing potion and tells him to allow the cat to drink from it.

Toan gives the potion to the cat, which causes the cat to change into a half-human/half-cat form. He eventually reaches the bottom of the Divine Beast Cave where he meets Dran, the God of all beasts. Dran is under control of the Dark Genie and attacks Toan. Defeating Dran released him from the genie's control. Dran tells Toan to find the Moon People, and directs him to a giant tree called the Great Treant in Brownboo Village, found deep in the Matataki forests. While entering the village Toan is challenged by a robust, hotheaded boy called Goro. After defeating Goro, he runs back up to his tree house and drops magical earrings which allows Toan to understand the creatures of the forest, including the Great Treant. Goro eventually joins Toan's.

After speaking with Treant, Toan fights his way to the final area of the forest. There he faces the giant primate called Master Utan, who was also once the guardian of the forest. After defeating Master Utan and freeing him from the same control as Dran, Toan makes his way to Brownboo Village. The village residents are the magical Moon People tribe that he is looking for but ends up captured by them. After learning of the Dark Genie, they release Toan and devise a plan on how to defeat the Dark Genie’s magic permanently. The Moon People plan to call the Moon Ship using the Moon Orb. In order to find the orb Toan must travel to the seaside village of Queens.

Toan arrives at Queens and finds a sole merchant remaining. After questioning the merchant he learns of a Shipwreck (the next dungeon) whose sunken treasures may contain the Moon Orb. When Toan restores a mansion of one of the Queen's wealthy residents he gets the ally addition of Ruby, whose abilities include being able to shoot magic blasts by the bands on her forearms and opening doors with magic gems embedded in them. Toan continues to collect the necessary Atla to restore Queens, and learns in between, a tale about a bride of the village who was left waiting for eternity unintentionally at the altar by her love, along with a rumored orb that grants eternal life for the holder in exchange for their most treasured possession. These tales and the necessary items needed to access the final floor connect when Toan gains a key to a music box and triggers the spawning of the bride’s lonely altar. With anger at her tragic past the bride lashes out at Toan and becomes La Saia, the boss of the Shipwreck. After defeating La Saia her sadness is finally left to rest as her love, who turns out to be the lone merchant at the beginning of the Queens level who lost La Saia in his deal for eternal life with the orb, keeps his promise and finally arrives at the altar, Toan is able to gain the Moon Orb.

Toan returns to Brownboo Village but the Moon People, even with the aid of the Moon Orb, are unable to summon the Moon Ship. To find out what might be stalling the ship from appearing they ask Toan to next travel to the desert village of Muska Racka and journey through the Sun and Moon Temple dungeon to locate the ship.

While journeying through the dungeon to collect Atla to restore the village and locate the ship, Toan befriends a desert warrior called Ungaga. Once Ungaga regains his confidence, he becomes an ally of Toan whose abilities include the use of various staffs and creating mini-cyclones to blow away dark mists and thick fog. Ungaga’s abilities come in especially handy when Toan reaches the final floor and faces a boss, that appears as a thick man-shaped fog, known as The King’s Curse.

Once Toan is able to defeat the King’s Curse a passage opens up that leads to the Moon Ship. Toan goes through many leaps and jumps in order to reach the ship safely. With the help of the Moon People the ship is finally able to be activated with the Moon Orb and they set their destination for the moon city of Yellow Drops.

When Toan makes it to Yellow Drops he meets a Moon person called Osmond. Osmond explains to Toan that this time around the Atla he will be collecting would be used to restore their giant battle robot. With the use of the robot the Moon People believe they can destroy the Dark Genie for good. Osmond also decides to join Toan as an ally whose abilities include the use of a helicopter hover pack that allows him to float over chasms and gun/laser weaponry.

Toan makes his way through the Moon Sea (the dungeon for Yellow Drops) and collects Atla to restore the giant battle robot called the Sun Giant. The last piece Toan requires to finish rebuilding the robot is called the Sun Sphere. To obtain the Sun Sphere Toan faces a giant Minotaur called Minotaur Joe in a coliseum-like battle. After Toan defeats Minotaur Joe he receives the Sun Sphere as a prize and gives it to Osmond to complete the building of the Sun Giant. Toan along with Osmond and his crew man the Sun Giant and sets its course to the location of Dark Heaven Castle, where the Dark Genie now resides.

They immediately launch their first strike as the Dark Genie appears in front of the castle. Though the battle at first seems victorious, the Dark Genie that had been present throughout the entire game was revealed to be a rat who had been sealed away with the real genie and had absorbed some of its powers. The real Dark Genie, who does not appear to have his own physical form and uses the possessed Colonel Flag, destroys the Sun Giant in one blast. After he finishes off their battle robot, the Dark Genie abandons Colonel Flags body, as it could not handle the energies of the Genies blast and began to fail. As Toan pursues the Dark Genie and enters the castle he meets the mysterious Seda again. Seda explains how he was the careless king who, hundreds of years ago, welcomed dark powers into his body to win a war, powers that eventually manifested as the Dark Genie. He urges that Toan must collect Atla which hold fragments of his memory. According to Seda, if Toan can collect enough memories to find out what lead to the event of the creation of the Dark Genie he can enter the time stream to rewrite the past and prevent it from ever happening again.

Seda opens up a portal to the next dungeon called the Gallery of Time to allow Toan to find the Atla which contain the memories. When the Genie reappears, wishing to reunite with Sedas body, Seda commits suicide to bar the Genie from his power. Toan goes through the years of the Gallery of Time and collects and views the fragmented memories contained in the Atla. When Toan approaches 400 years into the past (the final floor), he sees the event that birthed the Genie; Sedas love, Sophia, was killed when she gave her life to foil an attempt upon Sedas life. The grief he felt manifested itself as the Dark Genie. Toan faces the true form of the Dark Genie in order to save the world from his terrible destructive power. After Toan becomes victorious over the Dark Genie, the Fairy King informs him that if he is willing to let the Atlamillia be destroyed in the process, he can use it to reunite Sophias soul with her body. Toan does this, and by resurrecting Sophia, prevents Sedas spawning of the Dark Genie.

Development

The other distinction between the Japanese and American versions of Dark Cloud is the Demon Shaft; this location does not appear in the Japanese version.

Audio

See also: Dark Cloud Official Soundtrack

Reception

Dark Cloud is known for its innovative boss-defeating tactics. There are several "bosses" in Dark Cloud, the first one being the winged-beast named Dran. As you progress through the game, different playable characters and their weapons will give you a necessary advantage to defeating bosses. Usually, more then one character is needed to defeat a boss.

Dark Cloud is notable for having relatively bad Japanese translation. Many of the monster's names are put together (Masterutan, Kingprickly, etc.), as well as many items, such as georama parts (Anticurseamulet, Leaningtower). Some names and items are even misspelled (Corsae, Auntie Medu).

External links

• RPGClassics' Dark Cloud Shrine
• Dark Cloud at MobyGames