Dark Cloud 2 (PlayStation 4) Review

The short answer to the intro's question is yes, yes it does. Following the story of Max, a rich-boy inventor whose mother has gone missing and his father has just gifted him a mysterious red stone, and Monica, a princess from the future embroiled in a war against a being known as 'Emperor Griffon,' Dark Cloud 2 (known as Dark Chronicle in Europe) hits every single right note possible for what it has to offer. Griffon has come to realize something.

Battling the resistance is not easy as they have a tendency to… resist, so, instead of fighting them all head-on, why not just go back in time and destroy everything they could possibly utilize before it even gets made? It's a plan beautiful in its simplicity and, worst of all, it is working. Monica and her allies are losing, yet she holds a blue stone called an 'Atlamillia' that allows her to travel back in time where she meets Max who holds an Atlamillia as well, this one allowing travel forwards into the future. Thusly, their adventure begins.

There is so much to talk about here, that, honestly, writing a review for this is difficult simply due to the sheer variety. For starters, the combat is quite varied. Max deals in wrenches, hammers, and guns, which tend to do well against armoured foes and flying opponents, while Monica, who wielding swords and magic, tends to do better against unarmoured, as well as magical foes - and becoming great playing this requires knowing how to alternate between them to make the most of their strengths.

Even more, Max can pilot a large robot in combat called The Ridepod, which is fully customizable with a multitude of weapons ranging from mighty fists to guns while Monica can outright turn into monsters to both fight against, and potentially receive aid from, any monsters on the field. Additionally she can gather and store magical blasts from foes to use later on, as well as be able to quickly slash while guarding, and has fairly fast attack combos compared to Max's slower and… well… see why it's so hard? All these without even getting into the nitty gritty details.

If there was one word that could really summarize Dark Cloud 2, however, that would be 'variety,' and it shows big-time. For instance, each level in a dungeon is randomized in its layout, and changes each time it's revisited. So, replaying them can yield a very different experience. Furthermore, they hold various mini-challenges, such as "defeat all monsters without healing," resulting in making each one even more varied. Then, upon completion, there is a mini-game in which the player can outright play golf in the dungeon they just cleared, and it pays out well too! That's not to mention potentially fishing in at least some other dungeons, as well and other things.

Max can also invent various items, and, in order to do so, he has to go around and take photographs of a bunch of things - and there are a ton of those, as well, with more being added additionally by having some photos only being obtainable when a foe does something particular. Therefore, while finding a hoe to take a picture of it can be easy, catching a rampaging elephant the moment its foot stamps down to attack can be much harder. Once the photos are obtained there are a bunch of potential items to make as well with multitudes to invent. Exploring all the options of both photos and inventions can take a long time and is challenging in its own right.

Then there is building up entire towns. As Griffon wiped out a lot of places in his attempts to stop the future from happening, towns need to be rebuilt, and there are a lot of options on how to do so. Some things may be set in stone, such as ensuring four platforms that shift when too much weight is put on one remain, but, otherwise, the players have a large range of options on just how to build the towns they want, and who they want to move in on them.

Things like this are why the game has held up so well. Instead of relying on visuals and the like (though they are good), much of what makes it so entertaining is simply the variety of things that can be done, as well as the meaning behind them. It's entirely possible to go through this adventure with almost no pictures or inventions, but delving into them can result in some very strong items and weapons and ways to earn money early on. There is no reason to focus heavily on the golf mini-game, but doing so can yield many rare gems useful in taking a weapon and making it turn out exactly the way desired. Even some things that would not likely be thought of, such as there being ghosts that can only be seen when the camera flashes, are present.

The combat is fairly robust and enjoyable as well. While it's not as deep as expected, the many tools provided from which to approach each situation, combined with a focus more on dungeon exploration than monster combat, helps keep it firm and enjoyable without becoming stale despite the straight-forward manner in which to approach it. There are a few shortcomings, though. Firstly, as this is a port, there are some graphical issues. The screen size appears to be fixed, which may be an issue on a larger TV, as only about half of the screen is actually being used while the rest may be just black.

Likewise, the emulator seems to have an issue with occasionally having quick, though small, bursts of static shoot across the screen. Most of all, however, is that the graphics are noticeably dated. While the cel-shading and art-style hide it from a visual perspective, the fairly stiff and clearly pre-programmed manner characters move and act are evident. That, however, doesn't change the fact that it's possible to fight a clown car with a machine gun firing at a train while leaping around with comically oversized hands by throwing bombs at it either, which is a lot more interesting than some games nowadays can claim visually.