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A 3D Real Time Rogue-Like for the PS2.
First thing to get out of the way is that Dark Cloud is nothing at all like Zelda. Zelda isn't even an RPG, it's an action-adventure game, Dark Cloud is much more like Diablo or Phantasy Star Online. Dark Cloud is basically a Rogue-Like.

A big rule of Rogue-Likes is randomization and Dark Cloud secures this, random dungeons, random items, random enemies and random rewards. Also in most Rogue-Likes there are really two areas of gameplay, the Town and the Dungeon. The Town is the safe zone where the player will purchase items, obtain quests, manage facilities and so forth. The Dungeon on the other hand is purely combat focussed and the player must delve deeper and further away from the town into ever more difficult areas. The only thing keeping Dark Cloud from being a pure Rogue-Like is that it is played in Real-time and is in 3D but really these things do not omit it from being like a Rogue-Like. It should also be noted that while Dark Cloud lacks permanent death found in most Rogue-likes it does have permanent weapon destruction which is perhaps just as lethal!

Dark Cloud also adds it's own innovations to the sub genre, such as interchangeable characters, a town design system and a Pa-Rappa esque duel mini-game. The game however is not without its faults, for one the graphics are very 'Post N64' era, the initial dungeon has a rather dreary & repetitious tileset and the battle music is rather minimal. However despite these faults the game's quality is far above average and the amount of detail and variety is rather refreshing compared to the army of Final Fantasy Clones.

That really is the deal breaker, if you don't at all like Rogue-Likes or think you don't then you will probably not like Dark Cloud. If however you do like them or games like PSO or Diablo then I think you owe it to yourself to play it.

Awsome Game
It was a blast from the past. It was awsome. Its a little frustrationg but thats what I remembered from it.

OK
Dark Cloud is fun, but it is a little more challenging than Dark Cloud 2. If you are a serious RPG fan and love challenges then this game is right up your lane! But don't expect first person shoot ups and high tech graphics. This is an intellectual game with challenging puzzles and teamwork.

Dark Cloud is a great game
This game has everything you want from a retro game. Customization of weapons and that RPG element that is so fun in an action game. Long story short: buy this greatest hits game.

Great For Kids
OK, so I bought this game on a whim, my collection was getting boring. I put the game in, played for a little while and thought the game was alright. I can't tell you too much of the story, but the object of the game is to go into these dungons, fight monsters, get the items in the sphere things, leave the dungon and rebuild the town that you are in. The first town and dungon is pretty fun. You are able to rebuild the town anyway you'd like. However, if you listen to the townspeople when ever you start to rebuild, they will give you hints on where to put things. OK, so I finished the first town and went on to the second. That's were it became repetitios. Same old thing, just in a different town. Go into dungon, fight monsters, get items to rebuild town... BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.

What makes it even worse is that when you are in the dungon, you have to keep an eye on your water supply. When you run out of water, you start to lose health. And, your weapons only have a few attacks before breaking. Keep an eye on your weapon also, when it's about to break, you have to use a Weapon Recovery to fix it. If you're too late and it breaks, your SOL.

The characters in the game are rather annoying. Especially the main guy, whom you can name whatever you'd like. He doesn't talk which I don't like. And has anyone else noticed he looks just like the main character from Dragon Quest VIII? I know the two games are from the same company, Level 5 I believe, but come on, show some originality.

Anyway, this is a game that kids will really enjoy. There is nothing complicated to it, just really repetitious.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. When you are in the dungons and you decide to leave with out killings all the monsters, you'll lose half your money. Same thing happens when you die in the dungon. That really is lame.