I never really played Dark Cloud 1 other than a demo, but I own and have completed Dark Cloud 2 and it's a great game. I guess you can kinda compare it to Zelda because it's action/adventure/RPG and it also has dungeons (although there are lots more in DC2, and there's more action and not really that much puzzle solving). Level-5 is a great team, and I'd also like to play Rogue Galaxy some day.

Anyway, it's a brilliant game that'll keep you playing for hours on end.