Confident conclusions? Not so many, yet. New high-res screens and movies? Certainly...
December 15, 2000
Dark Cloud, in the months preceding its release, seemed to acquire a momentum in the minds of some well beyond the simple promise of its graphics. As far as looks go, it wasn\'t quite up there with the first rank of PS2 games - it was, and indeed is, somewhat limited technically, although it makes up for that with moments of striking visual artistry. Anyway, we were much more excited by what we might be able to do with it, than simply what we might see in the game. Demonstrations of the "geo-rama" hook added to its 3D RPG gameplay brought back happy memories of the groundbreaking sim/action hybrid ActRaiser, with the added promise of actually being able to adventure in the 3D world you created.
Now that the Japanese version of Dark Cloud has arrived, some expectations have survived, and some have not. While the game still isn\'t very visually refined compared to some others, it may be more impressive in the flesh, and the more basic elements of gameplay are balanced by a few very original ideas. If nothing else, watching the gigantic Djinn eat the hapless toady is certainly worth a look.
Graphically, Dark Cloud reminds me of something several developers have said about PlayStation 2 - that effects will mean as much or more than polygons and textures in the next generation. Some scenes in this game are great examples to support that point. While few of the character models or chunks of 3D architecture raise one\'s eyebrows (although it looks like the town you build will become quite the creation later on), the qualities of light and natural features like flowing water are occasionally breathtaking. Once you begin the game, you\'re set down in the empty valley where your village once stood, and while the main character is the only thing standing in sight, the sunset and the way it casts a dim glow over the valley is inarguably beautiful.
Of course, standing around and admiring the sky grows a little dull after a while. In the beginning, though, you have only two places to go: a small house, where you can meet your one comrade (for now) and a dungeon, where there is work to be done. The spirit sage who gives you the task of rebuilding your destroyed village greets you there with a brief explanation about what has to be done, in some amusing manga-style cutscenes. The dungeon houses artifacts, which are needed to recreate the village - thus, before the geo-rama fun can begin, you have to get your hands dirty with a little old-fashioned monster-bashing.
The dungeon sequences, so far, play like a slightly clumsy variation on Zelda 64. The X button performs a lock-on similar to the familiar Z-trigger lock, focusing your hero\'s attacks on a single opponent and allowing him to easily dodge left and right - justice is administered with his trusty sword. Dispatching enemies is easy enough in the beginning, but exploration and item-gathering is a little more complicated, especially when the nasty little poison bats are giving you a hard time (they\'re frequently well above your range of attack).
Looking around the dungeons doesn\'t add a great deal of excitement to the basic combat encounters, but every so often you come upon something that catches your eye. A pool of water fed by a small cataract is reminiscent of the excellent water effects in the earliest Dark Cloud demos. The reflections and lighting effects on its rippling surface are very well-done, as is the animation of the splashing waterfall. Torchlight on the walls is a more familiar effect, but it looks just as good. Most of the monsters you fight are a good deal less impressive, but at least one of the villains in the game is memorable - the toady-eating demon, despite his rather stiff animation, certainly sticks with you.
It will take a little more time to see if we can say the same for Dark Cloud - the dungeon-crawling gameplay may grow too repetitive for the geo-rama sequences and the game\'s graphical highlights to keep it afloat. We\'ll take a longer look in the future, particularly if an American release becomes a surer prospect.
-- David Smith
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A key element of Dark Cloud, as we\'ve known for some time, is the re-creation of a world - now things have become a little clearer with respect to why the world needs rebuilding. In the small village of Norn on the western continent of the world, a festival celebrating the stars is interrupted by the arrival of a military force from the east, with the dubious aid of a sealed demon. Colonel Flag, leader of the Lagoon Republic force, unstops the jar which contains the demon, a gigantic floating Djinn, and as its shadow blots out the sun over the festival, the demon destroys the village.
Enter our hero, with the unusual name of Toan. One of the only survivors of the village\'s destruction, he is greeted by the king of the spirits, a being who protects the western continent. From him, he receives a magical stone, one which contains the power to rebuild his home.
Toan begins the game alone, but along with the enemies he\'ll have to battle, there are several other characters to meet, interact with, and either join or antagonize throughout the game.
There are some more immediate threats to deal with, but the number one villain appears to be the demon, a towering fellow with a distinct Arabian Nights sort of cast to him. His great magical powers are guided by what seems to be a distinctly unpleasant moral character...
The king of the spirits, this wizened old staff-bearing gentleman, is the defender of the western continent and Toan\'s guide from the beginning of his quest. He lends him his wisdom and the power to rebuild his village.
Colonel Flag, leader of the eastern military force, appears to be a more immediate threat than the Demon, albeit hardly quite so impressive. He\'ll likely present a preliminary challenge before greater ones arise.
Shida is a traveling swordsman who\'s dealt with the Demon in the past, although details of his motivations and history remain uncertain. At times he\'s opposed to Toan, but he occasionally aids him as well...
Shao is a member of the supporting cast, the ubiquitous resident catgirl. She\'s described as being armed with "pachinko" (in katakana, pa-chi-n-ko), which seems to indicate that she hurls handfuls of small steel ball bearings at her opponents.
Goro is a hunter living in Matagigi, a village near the one destroyed by the Demon. As you can probably see, he does in his opponents with his giant hammer.
Ruby, who rather brings to mind Rouge from Power Stone (or any number of other character who stem from that particular archetype), is a young sorceress, armed with magic rings.
The last of the more uncertain members of the supporting cast is Ungaga, a warrior from a strong nomadic desert tribe. He\'s an expert with a spear.
Dark Cloud will be released in Japan this December, and as it approaches, we\'ll bring you any new information that comes up concerning what will likely be the PS2\'s best new role-playing game.
--David Smith
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Preview Information
When the first shots of Dark Cloud were revealed, gamers were intrigued by what they thought were pictures of the PlayStation2’s first role-playing game. Although, as more information about the game was uncovered, players learned that Dark Cloud was much more than your conventional RPG.
Dark Cloud stars a young adventuresome boy who must return a strange floating plot of land to its original place, presumably on earth (or at least a place that look just like it). He knows how to land his giant hovering island, but removing the evil kingdom that\'s uprooted and replaced his future village is more challenging than it may seem. Traveling back and forth from his island in the sky to nearby villages, the young central character trades information and gains allies in his quest.
The most intriguing aspect of the game is that it introduces a Georama land-creating system with conventional role-playing elements. To put it simply, the game allows players to build worlds from a ¾ overhead perspective and then roam through them in 3D with full real-time 360 degrees of movement.
Basically, the central character\'s \'plot in life\' if you will is to build up his island, creating a village, complete with houses, hills, churches, temples, volcanoes, streams, and even a choice of weather. Players can build paths, bridges, windmills, and other necessary structures as well, and if they\'re unhappy with them, a hammer-like tool can be used to destroy them and rebuild.
Aside from the fact that the player can build vast 3D worlds, the aspect of Dark Cloud that stands out the most is that the player can almost instantaneously switch from the world creating to the roaming. As soon as an object is created, the player can immediately interact with it in real-time. With the touch of a button, the camera zooms from the overhead view to a view in the 3D world.
Without fully playing through the game, it’s very hard to determine whether or not this title will prove to be revolutionary or just a gimmicky way to show off the real-time rendering powers of the new console. Either way, Dark Cloud is one of the most intriguing titles in the Japanese PlayStation2 software line-up.
-- David Smith & Dave Zdyrko
***THanks to ign.com for the info***
Check IGN for pics and full info!
