Let's Play: Dark Cloud 2 | EP1
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2025
- Dark Chronicle, released as Dark Cloud 2 in North America, is a 2002 action role-playing game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 (PS2).
A commentated play-through.
If you like my LP content, you might like my books! Check out my website for more details:
www.joshperry.ca
11:17 I'm surprised you only have one save file as a self-described "save hound." I usually have so many I run into storage problems lol.
15:30 Max would get scammed so hard in any major tourist area lol.
16:03 This one has the same trope as DC1, haha. "You seem like a good kid, go save the world."
29:47 I never noticed before how much of an anime ass opening credits sequence this was xD. IIRC, this whole game will have anime vibes?
39:35 Yup, that's how it works in DC1 too!
40:14 Yup, that's later!
42:00 A lot of the base mechanics are very similar. Goes to show what the right amount of polish and experience can do! I think it will be interesting to see which things don't bother you quite as much in this game, despite them being remarkably similar (such as the "levelling"). I wonder how much it comes down to the removal of certain painful sticking points; the main characters aren't leaky anymore and even though there is still a durability system, the weapon's aren't lost permanently (interestingly, they did *kinda* solve this problem in DC1 too, you just needed to dedicate an item slot to it--you actually had the item already in your inventory in the last episode, but I think you were so miserable by then that you didn't notice lol). I also find the difference in the weapon upgrading interesting. They are--from a big picture view--basically the same, just framed differently. I have a feeling this kind of thing will be a recurring theme with DC2's improvements (i.e. items stacking in the inventory cluing you into the idea that they can stack in your item slots too). There's also a lot to be said for the much more fluid control compared to the first game's relative clunkiness, including in the menus.
48:45 It's a great track!
While I'm sad how painful playing Dark Cloud 1 was for you, as a viewer it is much more enjoyable to watch someone having fun in a Let's Play rather than getting frustrated! I still hope you return to it some day, but only if you can find enjoyment in it lol. Ultimately, it might just not be your vibe. Like, I'm the type that enjoys micromanagement stuff (like Toan's thirst), but I absolutely understand the people that don't!
My 'save hound' logic is weird. If I am playing a game with quick saves, I'll have a bunch, often behind major choices. With a console game, Slot 1 is main file, Slot 2 is a second play through, Slot 3 is a third play through. So I more, never want to lose progress. Compared to wanting a specific save at every point. I do hate losing progress because I randomly died but forgot to save.
Max would pay 120$ for a cheap bauble from a street merchant, no doubts. lol.
I think part of the appeal for me, with Dark Cloud 2, is how strong the presentation of the story is. I feel like there is actually a world, people, stuff going on. The anime-esque nature of it certainly helps that.
Now that I am going through the sequel, but with that bit of experience with the 1st game. It will be interesting to see how things compare for sure, and I'll be constantly curious why it works for me here, but doesn't in other places. I would say I get stuck on little things pretty easily, just if they grate against me I stop enjoying myself. So something as small as, the combat just feeling really clunky in DC1, compared to how fluid it already feels in DC2. That makes a difference. The not leaking thing is also great. I think having two different weapons per character makes a big difference as well, Toen, for better or worse, felt pretty limited with only the melee weapon attack.
That was why I had to switch to DC2 though, it's not fun for anyone if I'm not enjoying the game as much and while I can see why folks could/would like DC1. I feel like I just missed that window! Alas!
@@JoshPAuthor Yeah, having anime vibes certainly isn't necessarily a bad thing! It was just funny to take note of. I said more about this in my response to your other comment, but it is fascinating how different our reactions to the presentation is. Game writing and direction is a hard job!
Haha, I suppose this was inevitable with the way the DC1 playthrough was going lol. Maybe some day you'll return? At least you played it enough to see some of the ways DC2 evolved from the first one, I suppose!
Good ol' Scott Menville voicing Max. He's one of those VAs you'll notice everywhere once you know his name and voice. He's probably best known these days for voicing Robin in anything animated (mostly Teen Titans).
I remember I just could NOT get through this opening as a kid. For whatever reason it felt like such a slog, and I wasn't vibing with the aesthetic either. Something about the setting and/or graphics style, maybe Max as a protagonist idk. Took me a few tries (over the course of years) to get over that hump, but once I did I really liked it! Edit: I find it fascinating how inverted our first experiences with these games are, despite being only two years apart in release and from the same series. I *loved* DC1 and really disliked DC2 as a kid, and you are basically the opposite! This feels like one of those things that game devs grapple with constantly lol--like, how to reconcile these different preferences in players and what makes good design, well, "good" you know? Sure, nostalgia is part of it when in hindsight, but that shouldn't matter on first playthroughs.
Yea directly comparing the openings between DC1 and 2. 1, to me, feels very random and sorta rushed. You get an intro cutscene, but no background on those characters or their real motivations. You see a military guy, but we get NO further information about his army/country/faction or what get got out of his deal with the Dark Genie. We just get, cut-scene, dancers, destruction, okay Toen go and run through these dungeons and save...this random village in the middle of nowhere.
With 2, the establishment of a grander story, seeing cities and people, having plot go on outside of myself, the voice acting itself, a IMO 'timeless' graphic style (similar to Windwaker) and more. It just instantly caught me, and made me want to learn more. Whereas with DC1, I almost instantly wanted the fairy king to stop ex-positioning at me. That said, I think DC2 is also one of the only games that handles time travel/different time periods in a way I like, which also makes it interesting right out of the gate.
One of the best things about games is how broad an experience they can support though! How many people they can cater to. So I don't think anyone is 'wrong'.
@@JoshPAuthor Re: their openings. I also find DC1's opening super rushed, but I suppose I was happy that I was at least able to play the game right away (this aspect mattered a lot more to me as a kid, I suppose). With DC2's, I think it felt like the opposite extreme for me, like you have that very short, *seemingly* irrelevant opening and then a 30 minute or more break following a much more "lame" character ("I wanted to play as that badass princess, wth!"