Just picked up Dark Cloud....
 

I finally grabbed this game last night without really knowing ANYTHING about it. I know its an RPG, and you have to rebuild towns...I think :) Anyways, just wondering what other people think of the game, I have yet to pop it in and try it. I figured I couldnt go wrong for $12.

Well, finally got a chance to play it tonight. Seems pretty good. I really dislike RPGs for the most part, but at least this is more of an action rpg, as opposed to the dreadful turn based ones. Looks like I'll play this one through, then try out part 2 :)

I was really looking forward to Dark Cloud - even before the PS2 came out - and when it finally came out I had mixed feelings. The idea of the world building and the action rpg elements are really good ideas but the repetitive (play it for a couple of week and you'll see what i mean) dungeons just grated on me after a while. I finally finished the game and while not living up to my expectations (however inflated they might have been) it was a decent game and I will be getting the second one in hopes that the execution now matches the expectations. All in all, it's good that you bought the game with no expectations.

I got Dark Cloud used for like $12 right before it became a greatest hit title. This was way after the hype during the PS2 launch, so I didn't go in with a lot of expectations. But overall, I enjoyed the Dark Cloud experience. There are different things to do besides the hack and slash in the dungeons. I think most people's gripe is that the randomly generated dungeons are just too generic, and it becomes quiet repetitive and you continue on to the next "level".

Basically, if you just want to cruise along with the storyline, this game would probably take 30 to 40 hours. However, your characters and weapons will be under-developed and it would be tough to beat the end bosses. But, if you want to work on fully upgrading the characters' weapons, this is where it gets tedious and takes a long time. Because you'll have to re-visit dungeons to gain exp and weapons, as well as hunt for gems and attachments. The backside of dungeons usually contain 1 or more gems, but the majority of the gems will have to be earned from the fishing game.

I am probably in the minority here, but I actually like the weapon upgrading aspect of the game. It does require careful calculations and estimates to lvl up the weapons and not waste precious gems and attachments. The downside is that it will require a lot of repetitive killing to earn the exp and weapons.

When you rebuild towns, make sure you get 100% everything to earn the special bonus. Each town will give you something different. Also, learn to fish for Marden Garayan and the Barons at Muska Lacka, you get the most fish points from these two.

PAL

i still gotta find a fishing pole, and figure out what all these gems do. And what do the magical crystals (i think thats what they are called) do?

is the sequel out yet?

sequel is not out yet.

I think I finally got the hang of this though, made it to the bottom of the first dungeon area, and rebuilt the 1st town. Just gotta get past this last big flying guy :)

Yeah I got my butt handed to me by Dran the first time out. Then I went and upgraded my weapons and used the appropriate attributes and kicked his tail. I enjoy the leveling of the weapons a lot - even though it does get trying at times to find the one attachment you need to upgrade to the next level. Still, to me it's a fun, addictive game - the kind I just say "Ok, just have to do this one thing" and by then it's 2am and I need to get up for work at 6am....

i actually did beat him, and havent touched the game since...too much other stuff to play, i lose interest fast unless i beat the game quickly, or its amazing

Well I completed town #2, and beat the boss - not too hard when the weapons are nice and levelled up. I don't know how much more there is to go but should be an interesting ride.