PS2 Game Review: Dark Cloud

 Dark Cloud is a game that had two iterations on the PS2 (this and Dark Cloud 2, also noted Dark Chronicles overseas) and this game can be noted as a city building, dungeon conquering RPG.  It came out In December 2000 in Japan, while coming out in 2001 for North America and Europe. It sold initially poorly in Japan, but had a much better selling record in the Americas and in Europe.  It is a game that I never played until 2024.  How did I like this game? Was there anything I think that they should have improved on? All that and more below!

Positives:

1. Graphics are fantastic in this game.  This was near the start of the PS2 system so it was going to be a step up but this game done by Level 5 deserves high remarks for their graphics work.  This game is very well done graphically.

2. City building is necessary, but it's entirely optional how you want to do it. I love that the game gives you the freedom to be able to do things the way you want, while instituting what you should do for something (IE: making sure a pond connects fully to a waterway) but the scale of it is you should be able to be randomized with where you put things and that is good with me.

3. I like most of the partners you get in this game.  They have a very unique skillset and one that makes sense overall.  A lot of them are very unique to overcoming trials of the dungeon that they are affiliated with. 

4. Music is also a really good positive to this game, I feel that they did really well for the soundtracks of really anywhere and it was really well done I feel overall.

5. I honestly loved the story towards the end of it.  It provides twists and turns with all the dungeons but also a story of the final dungeon and what needed to happen was simply fantastic.  I thought they did really well explaining the full story in details throughout the entirety of the game.

6. It's a great final boss.  Like any final boss, multiple forms but a great duel.  Overall thought it was a very good final boss and one most people would enjoy

Negatives:

1. The combat is so repetitive and that really drags the game down. It is really easy to figure out the bosses and what to do.  It also makes it kind of a lot longer on the fights than they need to, because it's just a lot of switching characters and utilizing the others.  

2. Some of the mandatory characters of the dungeon levels are a bit much.  Mainly because most of them have such a limited skillset to try to find the dungeon level key or main thing to advance the level.. which brings me to.

3. Why is Osborn the last guy to get? It just feels forced (Sorry if spoiler as well) but it just feels so forced to put him in when.. there arguably didn't need to be a reason.

Rating:

Overall, Dark Cloud deserves a 8 out of 10.  I didn't mind the repetitive nature of the dungeons too much, but the characters being forced in is something rough. However the combat is the main thing that makes it go to an 8 instead of higher.  Had they figured out not to make combat for both regular enemies plus bosses not as repetitive and redundant, this would be a lot higher ranked game.  Still a good playthrough and should be given a chance for anyone.

PS2 Game Review: Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

 Dirge of Cerberus follows the Final Fantasy VII timeline of following FF7: Advent Children, which follows the original FF7, which followed.... you get the point.  Anyway, Dirge of Cerberus plays a far different role than that of the other games and movie.  This follows around Vincent Valentine, that vampire looking guy that was a Turk that joined the party from the OG game that you barely cared about (unless you used him extensively because good on you.) This game showcases him as he faces.. let's just say his past and helps him gain into the future? Yeah, let's go with that.  Let's see what this game does well, not well and what I would rate it.

Positives:

1. Vincent's backstory is key here.  THANK GOD they FINALLY told something of the guy from prior to joining the party in the OG game. The backstory of his leads into the current present, but its so good to see Vincent FINALLY get something for what fans probably clamored for for years (at least that's what I thought when this game came out in 2006.)

2. Graphics and music are good in this game. It's a good combination overall. It's a good look into what the PS2 could do, especially with a lot of the pre-rendered materials that they use in this game.  Something that Sony kinda struggles with today honestly.

3. It's a quick enough story.  It's filled with action, but there's more honestly a straight forward story of what you need to do and I appreciated that for a game that is more or less an extension of preceding factors in the FF7 story.

Negatives:

1. The lock-on and combat are miserable in this game.  The lock on is not a good one, and the combat is subpar at best.  All it is is Vincent just running around and hoping that he gets the aim correct or morphs into his galian beast to help him overall.  It's just honestly below average on all accords.

2. While the story is straight forward, a lot of the missions are just.. confusing and again lackluster.  It's just eh at best and the story also paints a very much different picture of Lucrecia (while continuing to revile Hojo) and you have nothing but to feel for Vincent on this accord. It's not his fault or anything he did wrong, it's something that happened to him.

3. It just feels like this could have been explained in full with his part of the story but added the game after but that's just me.  A lot of his backstory doesn't take long to talk about, and in fact just covers small parts of the game itself.  The other part of this game is the fact that so many other characters like Reeve just feel so forced to be in the game.  It just feels awkward overall. 

Rating:

At best this game is a 6 out of 10.  It doesn't wow you which a Final Fantasy should at least do that. It has a good story, but is put back by the missions being lackluster.  Vincent's story overall is good, but is offset by how bad Hojo and Lucrecia are.  It just felt like more could have been done here.