Man, I need a sequel to this, or a spiritual successor, or something. The dungeon delving, the weapon upgrades, the townbuilding, the golf inside procedually generated zones, the fish racing... it all came together into a game where I almost never ran out of things to do.
Fun fact! Dragon Quest VIII was supposed to be Dark Cloud 3! In the files, there is leftover code referring to a DC3 and it is theorized that it was originally made to be the sequel to dark cloud 2
Great game but the game crashing camera/inventing bug is ridiculously bad. Makes trying to get item medals practically impossible without a major grind.
Fun tip if anyone decides to play this: enemies drop EXP as physical crystals to pick up and it goes to whatever weapon you killed them with. UNLESS you switch characters. So if you find one character is just a bit too weak and needs more weapon EXP, just kill enemies as one thing and switch to another to pick up the EXP, which will now apply to the new characters weapons (both of them)!
Another few tips, Always open chests from behind. If it’s a mimic it now has to turn around giving you a couple free hits. Weapons should be upgraded to at least +5 before building up. You gain 2 att until then, above +5 it’s only 1 att. Having more synthesis points is always good in the long run. So if it’s easy to get another level or two after +5 do it. Durability will increase with its levels too, so more is always better. Generally you don’t need to go past +10 on anything besides the final couple of build ups. Weapons do have stat caps, so lots of those extra points will be saved for maxing out the next build up, which even if you can immediately build up again, just wait for 7-8 levels, then build up with all the points too. Eric the Red haired guy standing near the front of the train starting chapter 2, can make you Advanced bombs, 6 at a time, max hold of 20. For levels that you are restricted to only Monica these are essential, as they will just 1-2 shot any large enemies that the ride pod would ideally fight, but isn’t available. Once you have 20 you can sell 6 to Boreo right by Eric for 900 Gilda, before stocking back up. Around chapter 5 you have an exploit for infinite Gilda (money) with the lure rod. You can synthesis almost anything but basically only use crystals as they give you an extra point which will add up over time. You can synthesis other weapons which is the most effective method. Take a classic pistol for example, make it +10 then build up. Add what’s needed for trumpet gun, but nothing else. Repeat with bell trigger build up, and so on n so forth until the grind becomes too much. Whatever gun you end up wanting to fuse onto your main one, only needs to be +5. The crystal it spectrumizes into won’t be stable otherwise, and Unstable won’t give you much of the stats. After you meet the minimum requirements to make the build up gun, with the other previous +10 form(s) points still being available. You will be able to crank whatever gun you decide is starting to take too long to grind past +5. Spectrumize that +5gun into a crystal that will give back %60 of all stats (besides att n Durability) for only 5 points since it is +5. This gives HUGE upgrades for the 5 points but takes much longer to level another weapon.
It's two years later and I feel the need to add my two cents: Use Steve. Yes, the -mech suit- Ridepod has a name. Anyway, you can easily destroy monsters with Steve by using his overpowered weaponry, and then dismount to collect all that sweet EXP for whichever character you wish. If you don't want to spread all that EXP across both of your chosen character's weapons, pay attention to how much damage Steve is doing and stop just short of ending the monster, dismount, _then_ finish them off with the weapon and character of your choice. Oh, and the final chapters of the game feature enemies so strong you'll probably be using Steve to do most of the fighting, anyway, so it's best if you get used to this tactic early. YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE YOU'RE WRONG: Consider the merits of being a filthy exploiter. If you already know about the Lure Rod exploit, you can stop reading now. Obtain the Lure (Fishing) Rod by winning Finny Frenzy once those events start happening - you can also just invent the sucker, but Lures are sold by a recruit who will join you after winning Finny Frenzy once, so you'll have to do that regardless. Obtain two of any Lure you wish. In the menu, equip the rod and one of your lures onto it. Swap to another character with R2/L2, then find your lure and mash confirm to equip it an arbitrarily large number of times to duplicate that lure. Sell the pile of lures for fat stacks of dosh, while keeping two of the lure in reserve so you can do it again. You may feel dirty afterward, that's just the natural feeling of the Gilda you've cheated yourself into weighing down your pockets as you crash the economy. It's okay. Dark Cloud 2 deserves it, for inflicting Spheda on you.
I've spent over 500 hours on this game getting all medals, photos, Max level Monster Badges and Finny Frenzy Max Rank multiple times with different fish and i was never bored. I love this game so much. Glad you covered it. A childhood favorite of mine as well.
Criminally underrated, one of the most polished and fleshed out games of its time. It tackled so many different styles of gameplay so effectively and successfully in a way that a lot of modern games could only dream of doing. The characters were fun and unique, with pretty good voice acting (one of the first games I can remember with a full voice cast). And the animation was on point for its time period.
The photography system is still, to this day, my favorite system in any game. Exploring for new things to snap and experimenting with monster movements to get the perfect picture is a game in itself, but then you also have the rest of the game to enjoy. A masterpiece.
You need to cast out it unfortunately, as Sony's recent policies caused a lot of Sony Japan's developers to leave the company, even the Bloodborne director quits too
Well there's Lost Odyssey and the Ni No Kuni series. Or probably the most well known game by some of the same team: Dragon Quest IX. None of their other games are quite like the Dark Cloud games, but you'll notice the similarities as soon as you start looking.
It's really a shame cause it's a really cool idea that clearly has heart built into it, but it takes so much freaking time to level those badges up, and it all results is something that is just so lackluster.
I went through *once* and max leveled all the monster medals. Took a few hundred hours. For anyone looking for the trophies on PSN, I recommend only upgrading the Gemron-like badge.
You were absolutely right on it being a bit bloated on extra shit. As a kid, I spent most of my time raising fish, and didn't even reach the part you described as Chapter 3 lmao
I absolutely loved this review. I think you hit the nail on the head with it. It's not a game that's going to suit everyone's tastes. But for a certain kind of person, it's the best game ever made. I'm one of those kinds of people, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Love this game.
My History With Dark Cloud 2. Get a gift card to Sears for Christmas. Mind you this was the early 2000's, so they had a bit more variety, but honestly who gives a child a gift card to Sears? Were they expecting me to think ahead and do the mature and responsible thing and purchase a shovel and ice melt for the grueling winter ahead? Allowance equaled snow removal during the winter months in New England. Mind you this was also the days of the early internet and the pre smart phone era, for proof reference my brick of a Nokia cell phone that could store a whopping 50 contacts AND had the game Snake on it. It was a simpler time. Because of this though the only real exposure I had to new video games were referrals from friends on the playground or on the bus ride home, those boring trips to the supermarket with my mother and when I would beg for her to let me go next store to Barnes and Nobles so I could riffle through any gaming magazines I could find and try to make mental notes of which games I wanted to beg for the next time we went to Walmart or a holiday rolled around, or during the occasional trips to Blockbuster, remember when that was an actual thing? God I am dating myself. Sears back then, at least the one in my local mall, had a very limited video game selection, and with it being shortly after Christmas, there were very slim pickings. About to give up on my search for an interesting game and try and talk my dad into buying the gift card off of me, a glimmer of hope caught my eyes. A pink haired girl with a sword in short shorts and a goofy looking boy in overalls accompanied by a strange flying robot that looked like it was made out of junk yard material and someone's tree house graced the cover of a PS2 game in the very bottom corner of the shelf. The cell shading, the robots, the bad ass chick with the sword, I knew I had to have it. When I read the title my stomach sank, Dark Cloud 2, as in the sequel to that game that's always in the bargain bin of clearance games by the dozens at BJ's Wholesale? My expectations plummeted. I had never played the original, solely due to the fact that the cover art and the character pictured made me think of an awkwardly rendered Link and the summary to me came off as a "ripoff of Legend of Zelda", so I always passed on in. Thinking it was this or return home with nothing and try another day, I bought the game. No child wants to leave a store empty handed when they have a gift card to spend. Queue Christmas Vacation and what became a complete obsession. I was so emersed, when I was younger my dream was to be an architect and this might not have given the ability to design houses, but rather determine the look of an entire town! Couple this with the photography and inventing system, fishing mechanics, what essentially was a short round of Mario Golf at the end of each level, and battle mechanics thay were such a welcomed change to the standard turn based combat I was accustomed to with all the other RPGs I had ever played, needless to say I was hooked. And the graphics and design aesthetic of the game made me a huge sucker of Dungeon Crawlers and anything cell shaded for years to come. The entirety of that winter break I did nothing but play that game from the time I woke up till the time I went to bed. It was the first game I had ever completed 100%, after multiple restarts and save files and a little help from my good old friend Gamefaqs, yes this game led me to finding the Holy Grail for confused gamers in the early 2000's. Needless to say when I saw them port it to the PS4 I had to download it immediately and do a single run through it just for old times sakes, before getting serious and starting a fresh save file where I made it a point to max out and obtain every possible weapon, monster medal, ridepod equipment and upgrade, every type of fish, every photo, every invention, and every medal for each floor. This was a true completionist 100% run coming in at a cool 193 hours of play collectively on one save file. My god the nostalgia goggles are so thick right now. I think I may need to fire this puppy up and start another game. This video gave me the itch and now I need to scratch it ASAP! Great video my guy, just like every thing else you post. Love seeing your reactions to things and hearing your thoughts on games I have yet to play. Always have a couple of gems in the bank to try out from watching your videos. Seriously though, for anyone interested, I cant recommend this game enough! Just remember to take it for what its worth and remember that on the PS4 its not a remake and just a port, but despite the time since release i feel it has aged relatively well. If you can get past the trail and error and the "go here now there now go back again do this now do it again now change what you did the first time", that is playing this game blind without a guide or prior knowledge to the quest requirements, you will most definitely enjoy it, even if you just play it casually and do the bare minimum to progress in the story. With all that said, rant done. I just could not help myself when I saw the notification on my phone about this video and after watching it I had to rant about it. To this day I don't know many people who have played it, so I feel obligates to assist in spreading the good word about it.
I have unending fond memories for this game. You're absolutely right about the bloat, but since I've had very few games growing up this was a grand epic that lasted throughout my childhood
I personally put probably 2k hours into this game and did everything you could possibly imagine, alot of the systems and mechanics have alot of depth to them and I always enjoyed replaying it, for me it was the rugrats voice as the antagonist that I got a big kick out of but I gotta say that was one of the best games of its time and deserved all its hype, dark cloud 2 will always have a special place in my heart :)
7:28 this is why you gotta talk to Erik and get improved bombs from him for these kind of levels. if you haven't leveled up monica's sword enough then that's the only option to get through those levels in a speedy kind of way. improved bombs do lots of dmg
I love that you added the epic guitar solo from the Dark Chronicle opening theme "Time is Changing" into the background of the video towards the end. That song goes way harder than it ever needed to, and it another reason this game will forever be my all time favorite.
Max was voiced, Scott Melville, AKA Robin from Teen Titans. Cedric was voiced by Paul Eiding, AKA Grandpa Max from Ben 10. Emperor Griffon was voiced by Mark Hamill, AKA Joker. Monica was voiced by Anndi McAfee, who's had quite a VA filmography, but is decidedly the least known of the cast.
Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle will forever be my favorite games for the PS2. I was one of those insane people who went through ALL that the game had to offer, even the damn aquarium stuff and I can totally understand how it can be waaay too much for people but overall, the game is too magical to not try to do a 100% run of at least once. Thank you for covering one of my favorite games of all time
This game's sheer chonkiness kept me so busy when I could barely convince my mother to let me get new games. That said, after I shared this and final fantasy 12 with a friend, he dedicated a second monitor on his PC just to watching anime and reading manga. He was adamant on studying astrophysics until he was dragged into computer programming and now lives as a mega weeb. I feel somewhat responsible for doing this to one of my smartest friends. Eh, it was worth it. If this ever comes out on PC or switch (fat chance, I know) then at least I'll be busy for the rest of the year (being adult is sadj)
New kbash. Best birthday ever. From one Kevin to another, thank you. BTW I watched one of your KH videos last night. U said something along the lines of "the gummi ships are back and I don't even know where to start with these" so u just stopped talking about them and moved on. Brilliant
Dark cloud 1 was my first ps2 game, and i remember going through an EB games with my mom one day and seeing Dark Cloud 2 for the first time and i yelled to my mom "Look mom they made a sequel!". My mom also enjoyed playing Dark Cloud 1 so she was also joyed seeing the game.
DC2 would fit right at home in today's AAA scene of open worlds absolutely stuffed to the brim with side stuff. Spheda was my favorite system and I'm working on a magical golfing game because of it.
Also, you didn't mention how the Mayor actually rewards you stuff in exchange for the medals you won in the dungeons. Like imagine if game trophies actually did something in-game, or gave you stuff that would be mtx in today's AAA climate.
I loved this game growing up, I even got a 99% save file where I and my friend did almost everything aside from the postgame secret boss... until my friend accidentally saved over the save file, and I haven't touched it since in like 17 years. In any case, I really think something like Dark Cloud would be ripe for a sequel in today's gaming environment. The crafting and building systems in these games would mesh well with a lot of current trends and I think could benefit from "catching up" to how games handle those things today. I know White Knight Chronciles and even moreso Rogue Galaxy vfrom the same developers are spiritual successors to DC, but I'd love to see a proper DC3.
There's so much content that it's overwhelming at times. Golfing, fishing, aquariums, fish race, ridepod, monster badges and its leveling, photography, crafting, towns... ahhh...
I love this game. Would play again tbh. The Georama + time travel part was so cool as a kid. And the weapon evolution stuff too. And I do remember clipping to the floor in the beach level, oh what good fun we had. Great vid!
Oh Yeah, Dark Cloud 2 was always a personal favorite from my teenage years. I tried playing it again recently, and I quickly realized that I do not have the time to play this game anymore. THICC is definitely the best way to describe this underrated gem.
I loved Dark Cloud 2. It was so much more superior than the original game. I loved the combat, building mechanics, and the new more colorful cell shaded art style.
This is my personal favorite game of all time! I love it so much that I'm trying to cover the entire soundtrack into a Rock/Metal style (Same for Dark Cloud) :)
This game was honestly magical for me. You made quite a few jabs at the storyline and they were all valid but I genuinely loved max and Monica as a duo. Neither romantically involved, just out trying to save the world. Nothing would make me happier than seeing a Dark Cloud 3. And the “thickness” you mentioned about the game is one of the best factors. The game is such that you can choose exactly how involved you want to be. You can either pew pew your way through the entire game and just ride the storyline, or get ridiculously good at doing curved spheda trick shots and obsessively feeding a fish so that it races faster. And if you are a completionist sl*t like me, the medal grind will keep you entertained for hundreds of hours. Not a perfect game by any means, but it still gets a 10/10 from me.
I'm only 1:33 minutes in and just the fact that said Steambot Chronicles is the best game ever made almost made me shed a tear lol it's my favorite game of all time
Loved all the trumpet-gun sections literally I'm going to re-watch the video just for those bits. Great video yet again I learned about a great franchise I've never heard about and now I'm dying to try!
I regularly think of dark Chronicle, as a game I played extensively as a kid, but, with this being genuinely the first video I've ever seen that even references it, man, I felt my childhood memories come flashing back. I fucking love this game and the countless hours after school I put into it!
This game... holy crap this game. This was the only game I played for almost a full year when I was a child. We had the strategy guide and everything! I remember being like, 10 or 12 or something playing this- and spending SO MUCH time on the city building. I remember it was super hard, but I think that's because I didn't fully grasp the weapon upgrading system. I specifically remember just synthing elements to my weapons I thought would help in the dungeon I was in- not going for upgrades.
This game broke me when I was a kid. I was close to the end and while I was half asleep I deleted my save on the memory card cleaning it up and haven't picked it up since but I was SUPER into this game
This was childhood game I love it, just that woods dungeon that trap geo sphere in the other pathway that is locked until later so you don’t know who to recruit.
Never heard of you until I stumbled across your first Dark Cloud video on accident. Honestly, your videos are so high-quality, my goodness! I probably won't be able to ever play these games because of time and money restraints but it sure is fun watching/listening to you talk about these games and it really is incredible how much content was crammed into these obscure or relatively obscure titles. Speaking of obscure titles however, have you ever heard of or played any of the Klonoa games? I feel like that series is perfect for this format of video essay.
This game is my childhood and the hours I put into this game were all worth it… from the sewers setting the tone to fighting the giant creepy clown 🤡 the weapon upgrade system was amazing and addictive, the gorgeous levels and beautiful soundtrack, story was fairytale worthy and let’s not forget the boss fights 👌 the forest level and the rainbow butterfly are truly amazing, I used to just replay those parts for the soundtrack and that scene where you finally see, and battle the rainbow butterfly after all the build up throughout chapter 2… awesome game
Boy, do I thoroughly enjoy your content. Praying to the algorithm gods that you be granted more visibility and your subscriber count grows more in line with what you deserve.
This was the breakdown I’ve always wanted for this game. I definitely am that type of guy that this was the best game of all time for LMFAO. What is nostalgia bomb
It's so interesting looking back on this era of games, great video! Would love to see you tackle the PS2 game Radiata Stories, a not-so-well known JRPG from Tri-Ace and Enix.
played this my whole secondary school years and did almost everything in the game with guide ofcourse, love it... messed up my school credits but... it's worth it
I'm assuming that he was at least aware it existed, because he did *mention* the post dungeon, but he didn't play through it. If he did, he definitely would've included footage, because in a weird way, it's one of the more significant portions of the game. Mostly in that it gives a very different end state for Monica, and it makes it clear that this game and the last are indeed in the same world.
I still have an original PS4 copy that my mom got back in 2004. And just a few years ago I got the PS4 digital port and Dark Cloud 2 is as beautiful as the day I lost it. My PS4 at the time was dead, I recently got a new PS4 for vintage sake but, Dark Cloud 2, easily is one of my most favourite games. My mom originally got stick on Chapter 3 and gave up, where I, years later continued her quest to the end. Soundtrack wise, my most favourite has to be the track used for the Gundorada Workshop. Fun fact: Max’s voice actor is well known as Robin in Teen Titans. Scott Menville I think? It’s been too long, I gotta look him up.
Man, I need a sequel to this, or a spiritual successor, or something. The dungeon delving, the weapon upgrades, the townbuilding, the golf inside procedually generated zones, the fish racing... it all came together into a game where I almost never ran out of things to do.
Single player MMOrpg experience.
Look up White Knight Chronciles and especially Rogue Galaxy. Both are by the same devs and the latter even started development as DC3.
Rogue Galaxy was made from the same developer, with same weapon progression and same ADHD feature
try "my time at portia". not a 1:1 spiritual successor, but was definitely inspired. also like the above dude said, rogue galaxy.
@@8lackz Was gonna recommend this as well its like Dark Cloud 2 but way more refined so the content is generally less tedious.
I'm one of the people that dark cloud 2 really hit home for. I'm still hoping for a dark cloud 3 someday.
So I also love dark cloud 2 but i would rather replay the 1st. We can all agree that we want a 3rd to this masterpiece of a series
Fun fact! Dragon Quest VIII was supposed to be Dark Cloud 3! In the files, there is leftover code referring to a DC3 and it is theorized that it was originally made to be the sequel to dark cloud 2
@@waffle5222 then i need a remastering of VIII
@@waffle5222 well if that's the case it explains why I like dq8 so much.
Great game but the game crashing camera/inventing bug is ridiculously bad. Makes trying to get item medals practically impossible without a major grind.
Fun tip if anyone decides to play this: enemies drop EXP as physical crystals to pick up and it goes to whatever weapon you killed them with. UNLESS you switch characters. So if you find one character is just a bit too weak and needs more weapon EXP, just kill enemies as one thing and switch to another to pick up the EXP, which will now apply to the new characters weapons (both of them)!
Another few tips, Always open chests from behind. If it’s a mimic it now has to turn around giving you a couple free hits.
Weapons should be upgraded to at least +5 before building up. You gain 2 att until then, above +5 it’s only 1 att. Having more synthesis points is always good in the long run. So if it’s easy to get another level or two after +5 do it.
Durability will increase with its levels too, so more is always better. Generally you don’t need to go past +10 on anything besides the final couple of build ups.
Weapons do have stat caps, so lots of those extra points will be saved for maxing out the next build up, which even if you can immediately build up again, just wait for 7-8 levels, then build up with all the points too.
Eric the Red haired guy standing near the front of the train starting chapter 2, can make you Advanced bombs, 6 at a time, max hold of 20.
For levels that you are restricted to only Monica these are essential, as they will just 1-2 shot any large enemies that the ride pod would ideally fight, but isn’t available.
Once you have 20 you can sell 6 to Boreo right by Eric for 900 Gilda, before stocking back up.
Around chapter 5 you have an exploit for infinite Gilda (money) with the lure rod.
You can synthesis almost anything but basically only use crystals as they give you an extra point which will add up over time.
You can synthesis other weapons which is the most effective method. Take a classic pistol for example, make it +10 then build up. Add what’s needed for trumpet gun, but nothing else. Repeat with bell trigger build up, and so on n so forth until the grind becomes too much.
Whatever gun you end up wanting to fuse onto your main one, only needs to be +5. The crystal it spectrumizes into won’t be stable otherwise, and Unstable won’t give you much of the stats.
After you meet the minimum requirements to make the build up gun, with the other previous +10 form(s) points still being available. You will be able to crank whatever gun you decide is starting to take too long to grind past +5.
Spectrumize that +5gun into a crystal that will give back %60 of all stats (besides att n Durability) for only 5 points since it is +5. This gives HUGE upgrades for the 5 points but takes much longer to level another weapon.
It's two years later and I feel the need to add my two cents:
Use Steve. Yes, the -mech suit- Ridepod has a name. Anyway, you can easily destroy monsters with Steve by using his overpowered weaponry, and then dismount to collect all that sweet EXP for whichever character you wish. If you don't want to spread all that EXP across both of your chosen character's weapons, pay attention to how much damage Steve is doing and stop just short of ending the monster, dismount, _then_ finish them off with the weapon and character of your choice.
Oh, and the final chapters of the game feature enemies so strong you'll probably be using Steve to do most of the fighting, anyway, so it's best if you get used to this tactic early.
YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE YOU'RE WRONG:
Consider the merits of being a filthy exploiter. If you already know about the Lure Rod exploit, you can stop reading now.
Obtain the Lure (Fishing) Rod by winning Finny Frenzy once those events start happening - you can also just invent the sucker, but Lures are sold by a recruit who will join you after winning Finny Frenzy once, so you'll have to do that regardless. Obtain two of any Lure you wish. In the menu, equip the rod and one of your lures onto it. Swap to another character with R2/L2, then find your lure and mash confirm to equip it an arbitrarily large number of times to duplicate that lure. Sell the pile of lures for fat stacks of dosh, while keeping two of the lure in reserve so you can do it again. You may feel dirty afterward, that's just the natural feeling of the Gilda you've cheated yourself into weighing down your pockets as you crash the economy.
It's okay. Dark Cloud 2 deserves it, for inflicting Spheda on you.
I've spent over 500 hours on this game getting all medals, photos, Max level Monster Badges and Finny Frenzy Max Rank multiple times with different fish and i was never bored. I love this game so much. Glad you covered it. A childhood favorite of mine as well.
That's nuts
"Look, a trumpet gun!"
*Baten Kaitos has entered the chat*
Man I’m overdue to replay it. I’ve still got my physical GameCube copy!
Criminally underrated, one of the most polished and fleshed out games of its time. It tackled so many different styles of gameplay so effectively and successfully in a way that a lot of modern games could only dream of doing.
The characters were fun and unique, with pretty good voice acting (one of the first games I can remember with a full voice cast). And the animation was on point for its time period.
The photography system is still, to this day, my favorite system in any game.
Exploring for new things to snap and experimenting with monster movements to get the perfect picture is a game in itself, but then you also have the rest of the game to enjoy.
A masterpiece.
Yet to be done again for level/world exploration and crafting as well!!!
Truly one of a kind
I’m replaying it right now. It really feels magical just like when it came out when
How are you replaying it?
Ps4@@ThePathOfEudaimonia
I’m still holding out hope for a dark cloud three
You need to cast out it unfortunately, as Sony's recent policies caused a lot of Sony Japan's developers to leave the company, even the Bloodborne director quits too
Well there's Lost Odyssey and the Ni No Kuni series. Or probably the most well known game by some of the same team: Dragon Quest IX.
None of their other games are quite like the Dark Cloud games, but you'll notice the similarities as soon as you start looking.
@@ohamatchhams ohhhh fuck
If you haven't played Rogue Galaxy - it's made by the same developer and feels a lot like a DC game. You could always consider it Dark Cloud:In Space.
@@michaelwilson5114 i've always been interested in rouge... i might do that FINALLY
Hands down, my favorite PS2 game. Level5 really nailed this one on the head, from gameplay to the music.
The only thing I didn't max out on this game was Monica's transformations (and anybody that's played it knows why not).
It's really a shame cause it's a really cool idea that clearly has heart built into it, but it takes so much freaking time to level those badges up, and it all results is something that is just so lackluster.
I went through *once* and max leveled all the monster medals. Took a few hundred hours. For anyone looking for the trophies on PSN, I recommend only upgrading the Gemron-like badge.
Good Concept but poor execution
Yeah, I didn’t touch most of that shit. Levelling up the ridepod was enough.
It may be nostalgia talking but this is one of the greatest games I've ever played.
You were absolutely right on it being a bit bloated on extra shit. As a kid, I spent most of my time raising fish, and didn't even reach the part you described as Chapter 3 lmao
The dead Mario with the “oof” when Griffon gets merked 😂😭☠️😂😭☠️😂😭☠️ I can’t stop laughing 😂😂
“Dino mad, Dino bad, Dino dad, Dino sad “i lost it at that point 🤣😂
I started playing this game when i was 8. Has been with me ever since.
I absolutely loved this review. I think you hit the nail on the head with it. It's not a game that's going to suit everyone's tastes. But for a certain kind of person, it's the best game ever made. I'm one of those kinds of people, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Love this game.
"Do you THINK I've even LOOKED at a golf game?!?"
That's the best stealth plug for your Ribbit King video you could've possibly done. :P
My History With Dark Cloud 2.
Get a gift card to Sears for Christmas. Mind you this was the early 2000's, so they had a bit more variety, but honestly who gives a child a gift card to Sears? Were they expecting me to think ahead and do the mature and responsible thing and purchase a shovel and ice melt for the grueling winter ahead? Allowance equaled snow removal during the winter months in New England.
Mind you this was also the days of the early internet and the pre smart phone era, for proof reference my brick of a Nokia cell phone that could store a whopping 50 contacts AND had the game Snake on it. It was a simpler time.
Because of this though the only real exposure I had to new video games were referrals from friends on the playground or on the bus ride home, those boring trips to the supermarket with my mother and when I would beg for her to let me go next store to Barnes and Nobles so I could riffle through any gaming magazines I could find and try to make mental notes of which games I wanted to beg for the next time we went to Walmart or a holiday rolled around, or during the occasional trips to Blockbuster, remember when that was an actual thing? God I am dating myself.
Sears back then, at least the one in my local mall, had a very limited video game selection, and with it being shortly after Christmas, there were very slim pickings.
About to give up on my search for an interesting game and try and talk my dad into buying the gift card off of me, a glimmer of hope caught my eyes. A pink haired girl with a sword in short shorts and a goofy looking boy in overalls accompanied by a strange flying robot that looked like it was made out of junk yard material and someone's tree house graced the cover of a PS2 game in the very bottom corner of the shelf. The cell shading, the robots, the bad ass chick with the sword, I knew I had to have it.
When I read the title my stomach sank, Dark Cloud 2, as in the sequel to that game that's always in the bargain bin of clearance games by the dozens at BJ's Wholesale? My expectations plummeted. I had never played the original, solely due to the fact that the cover art and the character pictured made me think of an awkwardly rendered Link and the summary to me came off as a "ripoff of Legend of Zelda", so I always passed on in.
Thinking it was this or return home with nothing and try another day, I bought the game. No child wants to leave a store empty handed when they have a gift card to spend.
Queue Christmas Vacation and what became a complete obsession. I was so emersed, when I was younger my dream was to be an architect and this might not have given the ability to design houses, but rather determine the look of an entire town!
Couple this with the photography and inventing system, fishing mechanics, what essentially was a short round of Mario Golf at the end of each level, and battle mechanics thay were such a welcomed change to the standard turn based combat I was accustomed to with all the other RPGs I had ever played, needless to say I was hooked. And the graphics and design aesthetic of the game made me a huge sucker of Dungeon Crawlers and anything cell shaded for years to come.
The entirety of that winter break I did nothing but play that game from the time I woke up till the time I went to bed. It was the first game I had ever completed 100%, after multiple restarts and save files and a little help from my good old friend Gamefaqs, yes this game led me to finding the Holy Grail for confused gamers in the early 2000's.
Needless to say when I saw them port it to the PS4 I had to download it immediately and do a single run through it just for old times sakes, before getting serious and starting a fresh save file where I made it a point to max out and obtain every possible weapon, monster medal, ridepod equipment and upgrade, every type of fish, every photo, every invention, and every medal for each floor. This was a true completionist 100% run coming in at a cool 193 hours of play collectively on one save file.
My god the nostalgia goggles are so thick right now. I think I may need to fire this puppy up and start another game. This video gave me the itch and now I need to scratch it ASAP!
Great video my guy, just like every thing else you post. Love seeing your reactions to things and hearing your thoughts on games I have yet to play. Always have a couple of gems in the bank to try out from watching your videos.
Seriously though, for anyone interested, I cant recommend this game enough! Just remember to take it for what its worth and remember that on the PS4 its not a remake and just a port, but despite the time since release i feel it has aged relatively well. If you can get past the trail and error and the "go here now there now go back again do this now do it again now change what you did the first time", that is playing this game blind without a guide or prior knowledge to the quest requirements, you will most definitely enjoy it, even if you just play it casually and do the bare minimum to progress in the story.
With all that said, rant done. I just could not help myself when I saw the notification on my phone about this video and after watching it I had to rant about it. To this day I don't know many people who have played it, so I feel obligates to assist in spreading the good word about it.
You objectively have the best patreon readout of any channel I watch. Only one I listen to every time.
Godspeed YEET KUN DO.
I have unending fond memories for this game. You're absolutely right about the bloat, but since I've had very few games growing up this was a grand epic that lasted throughout my childhood
I'm happy there's other people still discussing this amazing series 🌟
Love your channel
Thank you so much for the support@@jinyboi Dark Cloud fans are some.of the most passionate and dedicated out there! 🌟✌
Surprise surprise, of course you're here :P
@@moonflowerpalace3872 I can say the same about you, fancy meeting you here! 🤣
"Did you know you can raise FISH!? AND THEY HAVE STATS!!?? STOP! STOOOOOP!"
No. Keep going. Keep going forever.
I personally put probably 2k hours into this game and did everything you could possibly imagine, alot of the systems and mechanics have alot of depth to them and I always enjoyed replaying it, for me it was the rugrats voice as the antagonist that I got a big kick out of but I gotta say that was one of the best games of its time and deserved all its hype, dark cloud 2 will always have a special place in my heart :)
I love that Trumpet Gun joke. I'd like two copies in gif format please.
7:28 this is why you gotta talk to Erik and get improved bombs from him for these kind of levels. if you haven't leveled up monica's sword enough then that's the only option to get through those levels in a speedy kind of way. improved bombs do lots of dmg
'strap in and strap on' had me fucking rolling
I love that you added the epic guitar solo from the Dark Chronicle opening theme "Time is Changing" into the background of the video towards the end. That song goes way harder than it ever needed to, and it another reason this game will forever be my all time favorite.
God I love this game. I even platinumed it. It took ages lol
And the video title is perfect
Prove it
Max was voiced, Scott Melville, AKA Robin from Teen Titans. Cedric was voiced by Paul Eiding, AKA Grandpa Max from Ben 10. Emperor Griffon was voiced by Mark Hamill, AKA Joker. Monica was voiced by Anndi McAfee, who's had quite a VA filmography, but is decidedly the least known of the cast.
Dam, I KNEW Max sounded so familiar, but I couldn't pin down just where I heard his voice before. Thanks.
By the way, Griffon while he has the blue wings, is voiced by Mark Hamill
Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle will forever be my favorite games for the PS2. I was one of those insane people who went through ALL that the game had to offer, even the damn aquarium stuff and I can totally understand how it can be waaay too much for people but overall, the game is too magical to not try to do a 100% run of at least once.
Thank you for covering one of my favorite games of all time
This game's sheer chonkiness kept me so busy when I could barely convince my mother to let me get new games. That said, after I shared this and final fantasy 12 with a friend, he dedicated a second monitor on his PC just to watching anime and reading manga. He was adamant on studying astrophysics until he was dragged into computer programming and now lives as a mega weeb. I feel somewhat responsible for doing this to one of my smartest friends.
Eh, it was worth it. If this ever comes out on PC or switch (fat chance, I know) then at least I'll be busy for the rest of the year (being adult is sadj)
You really think that sharing DC2 and FFXII with your friend made him a megaweeb?
I'm sure there were other causes for that upbringing lol
New kbash. Best birthday ever. From one Kevin to another, thank you. BTW I watched one of your KH videos last night. U said something along the lines of "the gummi ships are back and I don't even know where to start with these" so u just stopped talking about them and moved on. Brilliant
Happy birthday, g.
Happy birthday
Happy birthday fellow kbasher
Dark cloud 1 was my first ps2 game, and i remember going through an EB games with my mom one day and seeing Dark Cloud 2 for the first time and i yelled to my mom "Look mom they made a sequel!". My mom also enjoyed playing Dark Cloud 1 so she was also joyed seeing the game.
DC2 would fit right at home in today's AAA scene of open worlds absolutely stuffed to the brim with side stuff. Spheda was my favorite system and I'm working on a magical golfing game because of it.
What the hell you uploaded this just as I had a Hit of nostalgia?? This timing is unreal.
Also, you didn't mention how the Mayor actually rewards you stuff in exchange for the medals you won in the dungeons. Like imagine if game trophies actually did something in-game, or gave you stuff that would be mtx in today's AAA climate.
I loved this game growing up, I even got a 99% save file where I and my friend did almost everything aside from the postgame secret boss... until my friend accidentally saved over the save file, and I haven't touched it since in like 17 years. In any case, I really think something like Dark Cloud would be ripe for a sequel in today's gaming environment. The crafting and building systems in these games would mesh well with a lot of current trends and I think could benefit from "catching up" to how games handle those things today. I know White Knight Chronciles and even moreso Rogue Galaxy vfrom the same developers are spiritual successors to DC, but I'd love to see a proper DC3.
I know at least one Gamefaqs guide says someone who did do 100% every medal and whatnot; nothing hidden unfortunatley.
The trumpet gun noise cracks me up every time in this video. xD
I am a person who really did grow up with these games alot of people ik dont even know what dark cloud is
a few days ago i was talking about how i wanted to replay this game. interesting timing. It's making me want to do that right now.
There's so much content that it's overwhelming at times. Golfing, fishing, aquariums, fish race, ridepod, monster badges and its leveling, photography, crafting, towns... ahhh...
Yes! Glad you came back to play 2
I live for you saying "simp GOD" at the end of every video. Whichever one of your patrons that is, they rule.
I love this game. Would play again tbh. The Georama + time travel part was so cool as a kid. And the weapon evolution stuff too.
And I do remember clipping to the floor in the beach level, oh what good fun we had.
Great vid!
I guess Im the only one in existence who never had this happen... Weird!
Possibly still my favorite jrpg, glad to see KBASH covering it like this
Oh Yeah, Dark Cloud 2 was always a personal favorite from my teenage years. I tried playing it again recently, and I quickly realized that I do not have the time to play this game anymore. THICC is definitely the best way to describe this underrated gem.
9:55 to be fair as far as monika was concerned clown was a random dude Gaspard Murderized her father hell yeah she'd want him dead
So this is the game that Square used to get Level5 on board to make Dragon Quest VIII... can definitely see some of the influences.
I got dq8 for 3ds
I wouldnt go back especially after playing dq11s
I loved Dark Cloud 2. It was so much more superior than the original game. I loved the combat, building mechanics, and the new more colorful cell shaded art style.
This is my personal favorite game of all time! I love it so much that I'm trying to cover the entire soundtrack into a Rock/Metal style (Same for Dark Cloud) :)
Hey just wanted to come in and say this iteration of the thumbnail is my fav, drive you asked about it a few weeks ago.
Great video as always 😊
This game was honestly magical for me. You made quite a few jabs at the storyline and they were all valid but I genuinely loved max and Monica as a duo. Neither romantically involved, just out trying to save the world. Nothing would make me happier than seeing a Dark Cloud 3. And the “thickness” you mentioned about the game is one of the best factors. The game is such that you can choose exactly how involved you want to be. You can either pew pew your way through the entire game and just ride the storyline, or get ridiculously good at doing curved spheda trick shots and obsessively feeding a fish so that it races faster. And if you are a completionist sl*t like me, the medal grind will keep you entertained for hundreds of hours. Not a perfect game by any means, but it still gets a 10/10 from me.
I love this game so much
I have NEVER seen the dungeon glitch out like that in 10:36 , and I’ve played the game multiple times on both the PS2 and the PS4 versions.
I am obsessed with this Trumpet Gun gag 🤣
Oh man I totally forgot how the main character is voiced by Robin.
THANK YOU! I was going insane trying to remember where I heard this voice from.
@@dexterdreams8521 Also Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia!
I heard kevin french from mission hill lol
I'm only 1:33 minutes in and just the fact that said Steambot Chronicles is the best game ever made almost made me shed a tear lol it's my favorite game of all time
Same! I cried when the sequel was canceled...maybe someday... ;_;
The invention system was the absolute best part about this entire game.
I play Dark cloud and Dark Cloud 2 at least once or twice a year!
Loved all the trumpet-gun sections literally I'm going to re-watch the video just for those bits. Great video yet again I learned about a great franchise I've never heard about and now I'm dying to try!
And now I have to watch the rest of your content.
Thanks a lot.
I regularly think of dark Chronicle, as a game I played extensively as a kid, but, with this being genuinely the first video I've ever seen that even references it, man, I felt my childhood memories come flashing back. I fucking love this game and the countless hours after school I put into it!
This video genuinely made me laugh multiple times.
I very much enjoy your humor.
I was excited when you did a dark could video, hoping you'd do this one. Im subscribing for this video and not skipping ads. Thank you!
my favorite game from my childhood and honestly into the modern day. I LOVE this game
Went searching for a video of this game a few weeks ago, love to do it all over again
This game... holy crap this game. This was the only game I played for almost a full year when I was a child. We had the strategy guide and everything! I remember being like, 10 or 12 or something playing this- and spending SO MUCH time on the city building. I remember it was super hard, but I think that's because I didn't fully grasp the weapon upgrading system. I specifically remember just synthing elements to my weapons I thought would help in the dungeon I was in- not going for upgrades.
This game broke me when I was a kid. I was close to the end and while I was half asleep I deleted my save on the memory card cleaning it up and haven't picked it up since but I was SUPER into this game
Level-5, for a very very long time, were one of the greatest video game developers in the world.
This was childhood game I love it, just that woods dungeon that trap geo sphere in the other pathway that is locked until later so you don’t know who to recruit.
Love this game played ot as a kid was a huge part of my childhood also super glad someone else mentions this in 2022
Never heard of you until I stumbled across your first Dark Cloud video on accident. Honestly, your videos are so high-quality, my goodness! I probably won't be able to ever play these games because of time and money restraints but it sure is fun watching/listening to you talk about these games and it really is incredible how much content was crammed into these obscure or relatively obscure titles. Speaking of obscure titles however, have you ever heard of or played any of the Klonoa games? I feel like that series is perfect for this format of video essay.
The greatest RPG of all time and I stand by that
6:37 Every time the damn trumpet gun clip comes up I giggle.
Yet another great game I spent months playing when I was younger. And now I have to play it again.
My teenage coomer ass played a LOT of the golf minigame to get enough medals to see Monica in a skimpy bikini
Been playing through this on PlayStation Now and having a nostalgia blast
Love this game to death
DC2 has mood and atomsphere for days, and the relaxed mood of most of the areas is delightful.
The golf minigame will give you a stroke.
Yeah f*** spjeda
This game is my childhood and the hours I put into this game were all worth it… from the sewers setting the tone to fighting the giant creepy clown 🤡 the weapon upgrade system was amazing and addictive, the gorgeous levels and beautiful soundtrack, story was fairytale worthy and let’s not forget the boss fights 👌 the forest level and the rainbow butterfly are truly amazing, I used to just replay those parts for the soundtrack and that scene where you finally see, and battle the rainbow butterfly after all the build up throughout chapter 2… awesome game
Level-5 took story to next level (hehe) with the time travel stuff.
Honestly, if I were a teen playing it, it'd have blown my mind.
Boy, do I thoroughly enjoy your content. Praying to the algorithm gods that you be granted more visibility and your subscriber count grows more in line with what you deserve.
This was the breakdown I’ve always wanted for this game. I definitely am that type of guy that this was the best game of all time for LMFAO. What is nostalgia bomb
It's so interesting looking back on this era of games, great video! Would love to see you tackle the PS2 game Radiata Stories, a not-so-well known JRPG from Tri-Ace and Enix.
played this my whole secondary school years and did almost everything in the game with guide ofcourse, love it... messed up my school credits but... it's worth it
This game stuck with me for my entire life :')
Did ya know that monica comes back from the future and you get an extra dungeon to do after you beat the game? Love the dark cloud videos so far!
I'm assuming that he was at least aware it existed, because he did *mention* the post dungeon, but he didn't play through it.
If he did, he definitely would've included footage, because in a weird way, it's one of the more significant portions of the game. Mostly in that it gives a very different end state for Monica, and it makes it clear that this game and the last are indeed in the same world.
@@SaberToothPortilla I already figured that was the case because Osmond is in both games
16:08 moon rabbit jumpscare
One of the best games to just dig into when u got a chunk of free time coming ur way
I absolutely adored this soundtrack as a kid.
You're right. I still remember this game to this day. One of the best games ever!
I remember playing this so much with my friend long time ago. Good times.
I still have an original PS4 copy that my mom got back in 2004. And just a few years ago I got the PS4 digital port and Dark Cloud 2 is as beautiful as the day I lost it. My PS4 at the time was dead, I recently got a new PS4 for vintage sake but, Dark Cloud 2, easily is one of my most favourite games. My mom originally got stick on Chapter 3 and gave up, where I, years later continued her quest to the end.
Soundtrack wise, my most favourite has to be the track used for the Gundorada Workshop.
Fun fact: Max’s voice actor is well known as Robin in Teen Titans. Scott Menville I think? It’s been too long, I gotta look him up.
I love this game.
Trumpet gun
For when you meant to listen to the gunshot version of Sweet Caroline but accidentally listen to the normal version instead
Wait, this is the game I had very foggy memories of as a kid, I cant believe I randomly got a recommended video for it
Ah boy, here we go!
I completed this game back in the day and let me tell you, that 135 hours to completion? Thats a DAMN LIE!