RPG games are incredibly unforgiving. If there are any small problems with the game, then this can turn all but the most astute RPG gamers away from it. However, an RPG done well can easily become a best-selling title, and have unanimous praise from casuals and hardcore gamers alike.

The original Dark Cloud was released in May 2001 in the US, amidst a storm of confusion about which genre the game belonged to. The first playable demos of the game showed off the Georama element (more on this later), yet Sony promised an RPG. Gamers all over the world pondered about how the “Georama” element of the game slotted into an RPG, and the cloud of confusion lifted with the release of the game. And here is developer Level5’s second attempt at expanding the franchise.

The sequel has shunned the original’s characters and plot in favour of an entirely new world, with a fresh new main character, a young boy named Maximilian (or Max, for short) in the quiet town of Palm Brinks. The plot begins with Max overhearing a conversation between the mayor of Palm Brinks’, and the town’s circus ringleader named Flotsam. It first appears that Flotsam is looking for a red crystal and, by some coincidence, our main character Max has just been given a red crystal by his father. However, this is just the beginning, as Flotsam is a henchman for an evil being from the past, called Griffon, who is erasing key characters' Origin Points, which stop them existing in the future. So, naturally, part of the game takes the form of the player recreating these Origin Points, so that the story can progress by restoring the past, and therefore preserving the world of the future. One more playable character comes into play later, in the form of Monica – a warrior from the future to help Max on his quest.

This is where the Georama sections come into play. To restore the future, certain key buildings need to be recreated in the past. For example, one of the first tasks the player has to undertake is to restore an Elder, named Jurak. The tasks to perform are given to the player, which never leaves the player stuck as what to do to restore these Origin Points. They typically involve creating a certain set of buildings/scenery, and populating these buildings with NPCs from around the world. However, to recreate the worlds, you need materials. This is one place where Dark Cloud 2 falls down, and it falls far. There are two ways of gaining materials: the first is to buy them with money obtained from dungeons. The second is to obtain it from chests, or fallen enemies. However, both methods involve a visit to the games worst facet: the dungeons.

The game is split into chapters, with each chapter including a dungeon. The dungeon is split into many floors. By the later chapters, the number of floors rises almost exponentially, and the pathway branches throughout the dungeon. This would not be a problem, if it were not for the fact that the dungeons are (sadly) mutton dressed as lamb. They look nice, and Level5 has successfully managed to make each dungeon have its own personality but, by the later chapters, fighting through 25 floors is plain monotony.

Many of these problems stem from the implementation of the random dungeons. Level5 tried their best to break this almost endless cycle of tedious combat, and at least they have attempted to break them up as much as possible by adding a cut-scene in between each floor, but this cut-scene does not make an appearance if you are returning to a floor just to gain materials or money. So if you are the type of player who cannot stand “levelling up” in your RPG, then stay well away. This reviewer in particular considers this to be terrible design, and a fruitless exercise.

Dark Cloud 2 introduces you to “Steve”, also called the Ridepod. In essence this is just a DIY mecha and is used to take down the strongest enemies and bosses found during the player's travels. Steve starts off with no weapons, bar his (albeit powerful) bare fists (although, like many entities in this game, they can be upgraded). The upgrades that can be used on the Ridepod unbalance the game somewhat. It only takes until the second chapter to gain the cannon upgrade, and stroll through the dungeons firing left, right and centre without taking a single point of damage. However, the developers added a few enemies into the dungeons that can only be killed by Steve. Since to successfully complete a dungeon floor you have to obtain a gate key from one of the enemies, this leaves an interesting situation: if Steve is disabled, and an enemy which only Steve can kill holds the key, how can the player progress? Sadly, the answer is to leave the floor, taking half of your gold with you, and coming back when Steve is repaired. Yet another design flaw, and one that will leave the player incredibly frustrated when this happens.

Another bugbear is the difficulty of these random dungeons. Since the enemies are randomly determined, the number of “ridepod defeatable only” enemies can sometimes be incredibly high, which will leave the player with an impossible floor to complete, and yet another trip to obtain some more items.

The combat system is an interesting cross between Devil May Cry and Zelda, successfully encompassing the best features of each. It employs the lock on system that became standard after games such as Zelda: Ocarina of Time implemented it so successfully. After locking on to the enemy, mashing the X button will dish out a combo, R1 parries, and holding the L1 button and subsequently pressing the X button uses the characters ranged weapon. Also like Zelda, the character can perform a backflip, and a lunge by pressing up and X, although it seems a little hit or miss whether this move is pulled off successfully or not. Sadly, throughout the game there are never any new moves to learn, nor spells to master, and a noticeable lack of variety in the combat. A new skill can be learnt in the form of absorbing enemy attacks, and unleashing them again, but that is all.

Another new feature in the sequel is that the weapons are no longer rendered useless after breaking, and only need a quick repair. You can now breathe a sigh of relief after losing your most powerful weapon to this odd feature in the original title.

Possibly the most appealing feature of the game is the Invention System. Around the world Max will find notes, listing the “ingredients” required to create a new invention. All that must be done is to find these ingredients, and take a snapshot of them. Once the ingredients are found, and mixed, then the item can be made. The inventions range from simple status recovery, to powerful upgrades to the Ridepod. Thankfully, the items to create are fairly logically implemented, so even without the list of ingredients (and with a small amount of savvy), a gamer can come up with a few interesting items.

After defeating an enemy in one of the many random dungeons, they vanish in a particle system very reminiscent of the deaths in Final Fantasy X, leaving behind money, occasionally an item, and also some blue crystals called ABS (EXP to everyone else). Now this may seem like a small inclusion, but it leaves a very interesting solution to many RPG games’ critical flaw. If a character is not used often, they can be left behind in terms of skill, and end up being so underpowered that it is a futile exercise trying to get them experience due to their weakness. This system neatly sidesteps the problem, as a strong character could defeat an enemy, and can switch to the weaker character to pick up the ABS. However, some of the dungeons introduce a Seal, of which there are three types. The White Seal stops the player from healing, and the other two seals essentially knock one of the characters out of play, so only the other can be used. So if you have a character with low experience, then this can become incredibly frustrating.

One fantastic facet of the game is the weapon upgrade system. Each weapon has a list of elements, such as Attack, Cyclone, Fire etc., and can be upgraded as and when the player chooses. The effects present are subtle, yet intensely satisfying. For example, after obtaining the Smash Hammer, add a small amount of lightning to it. With each solid hit, a torrent of lighting bolts will surround the enemy inflicting a huge amount of damage. These effects just get better and better as the weapons' attributes increase.

There has been a torrent of cel-shaded games released in the wake of Jet Set Radio’s stylish entrance into the videogame arena. However, it has to be said that Dark Cloud 2’s advanced cel-shading technique is light years ahead of the gaudy efforts of Zelda, Jet Set Radio, and Auto Modellista. It employs a gritty, almost graphic novel appearance instead of opting for the garish primary colour technique of the aforementioned titles. Animation is also top quality, and for once the facial animation actually works to a good degree. Unfortunately, the voice acting is cringe-worthy. For a supposedly adult title, this feature is incredibly child-like. And Cedric’s coarse, husky voice is just laughable.

A game that requires 60-plus hours of play must be enjoyable throughout, as any tedium will most likely render the game untouchable. Sadly, Dark Cloud 2’s shining moments are outweighed by the mediocre inclusion of the random dungeon, and the tragic design decisions the developers chose to implement. The frustration apparent after finding out that a dungeon is now impossible to complete, or more materials are needed to finish off your village, can be unbearable. Dark Cloud 2 can only really be recommended to fans of the original, or RPG completists.