4. Dark Cloud 2/Dark Chronicle (PlayStation 2)
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Dark Cloud 2 follows our heroes Max, a young inventor, and Monica, a girl from the future, travel through time to stop the evil Emperor Griffin from being evil and stuff.

Both of your heroes have two types of weapons, long and short range. Short range weapons can be used by pressing X and long ranged can be used by pressing L1+X. The characters don't level up, but you can find treasures to increase their health and defense. Weapons can be improved and also evolve in to new weapons if certain requirements are fulfilled. Weapons also have WHP, and unlike in the previous Dark Cloud, they will not break if they reach zero, but they will be unusable. Monica can also transform in to monster, which will allow her to talk to other monsters of the same type. Max can control the Ridepod, which can be used for stronger monsters, although it has fuel that needs to be replenished. Dungeon floors also have medals for completing certain tasks which can be redeemed for items. A guest character can accompany the party for added benefits. Like the previous Dark Cloud game, world building is a big part of the game. You'll obtain geostones which contain things like houses and buildings and you can move people in to them, although some are picky about what type of house they'll live in. Most towns are made this way, making them very customizable, although certain conditions will need to be fulfilled.


General impressions:
Dark Cloud 2 is a big step up from Dark Cloud. It improved things like the thirst bar, the weapons breaking, and the characterization. There are far less characters now, which I don't like, but the two heroes are likeable and have good development. Even the guest characters are sometimes well fleshed out. The world building is much more flexible and fun, although the actual areas are less interesting to me. I like the time travel aspect, but they didn't do much with the future, which was a shame. The story is campy but interesting and it has some very touching and engaging moments. It has a ton of fun stuff to do, like photography and inventing and Spheda in the levels that don't make you want to break stuff. When I was younger I used to take pictures and pretend I was writing an in game newspaper with it. It was just a lot of fun.

Story:
The story as I mentioned is pretty campy and it has enough plot holes to look like Swiss cheese, but it was still interesting to me. I always enjoy seeing what happens next, and even if its not the strongest story, I find it's beautifully told. Later in the game it gets even better when we find out (SPOILER)the almighty Emperor Griffin is one of the cute little moon bunnies. But somehow it comes off as even creepier and scarier. There were some genuinely touching moments, like Shingala and Max and his mother.


Gameplay:
The gameplay is a lot of fun and there's always something to do if you want a break from the main story. Build up your weapons, take pictures, invent, go fishing, see what funny things the monsters have to say, customize your ridepod, spheda, collecting medals, customizing your towns, recruiting new people, and so on. There's just so much fun stuff to do. And the main game is fun, the battles are easy to get in to. The monster badges are painful to grow but fun if you just use them to talk to monsters. There's a lot more freedom to the world building which I thought was a huge improvement too.


World:
The world is very pretty and has some great areas and dungeons. Palm Brinks is lively and beautiful, and there's enough diversity in how the areas look to make them all feel fresh and new. The future was kind of a wasted opportunity and I didn't enjoy those areas nearly as much as the regular world. My favourite place was Veniccio because of its gorgeous spot on the beach, and its future version, Luna Lab, has some of the best music in the game.


Characters:
Although I'm not a fan of so few playable characters, I found them very well written and likeable. Both main characters were fun to use and I liked both of their personalities and what they brought to the table. There were so many interesting guest characters that it made me actually care about finding and making the right home for them. So while it wasn't the strong point of the game for me, it was still a positive.

Overall, fun gameplay, a ton of stuff to do, likeable characters, customizable world, and some wonderfully touching moments. One of my favourite games to play. And different outfits are always a plus.


So tomorrow we end this list with my top 3 favourite games of all time ever. I have my number 3 review written up already, but my top 2 are special to me so I'm going to write the reviews as I post them up for a change. That means they will be long and less coherent than usual, but I hope you'll all still enjoy it. I'm a bit sad and happy that this list is ending, it's been much fun.

See you tomorrow for our big finale!