I’m so glad I cleared my schedule just to spend time on Dark Cloud 2. In addition to the five-ish hours I’d played already, I also got about 10 hours of playing done yesterday and today. Right now I’m almost done (I think?) with chapter 3, with around 15 hours played. I’ve done as much of Starlight Canyon as the game will let me. Now I’m busy fulfilling the requirements to cure Lin and revive Lao Chao’s bistro and the Starlight Temple. I’d still be playing right now, but the candle puzzle in the church has me stumped, so I took a break to FAQ it. I was trying to play as FAQ-free as possible, so I hope there aren’t any more such puzzles coming up. Btw, the solution to the candle puzzle is to put off candle 1 and 5 on the right and 3 and 7 of the left, working from the door inwards.
The first few hours of the game were a bit rough, but I’ve gotten the hang of the battle system now. In fact, my cocky side is beginning to rear its ugly head. Sure it was hard going at first, when Max had 32 HP (he now has 72) and the Ridepod had 80 Fuel and they both kept getting downed all the time, but right now they’re all both unstoppable (cocky, cocky) and Monica is the only liability in the party. Apart from cutscenes and Red Seal stages, I almost never see her. Why is she in the game, again?
However the reason why I called the game “grindy” in the title isn’t because I’ve been fighting to get stronger. It’s because I spent a lot of time repeating stages so I could earn enough money to complete the Sindain Georama. Things are better in Balance Valley because the enemies are more generous with their money and the chests give lots of materials, but Rainbow Butterfly Wood was just annoying. Fight, fight, buy a couple of logs, fight, fight, buy a few more logs, build one measly house, fight some more, build another measly house, do it again and on and on for 3 or 4 hours and then finally get enough to clear the chapter. I’m a dungeon crawler veteran so I should be used to this sort of thing, but even I was getting a frustrated by the time I revived Jurak (also I’m mad the “boss” didn’t give me any EXP, grumble, grumble).
Luckily, things have been great since then. It’s too soon for me to fall all over myself praising Dark Cloud 2, but if things continue in this vein or get even better, it will be one of my top PS2 games. My only complaint, apart from the earlier grinding fiasco, is that THE DUNGEONS ARE TOO SHORT! Georama is interesting enough, but I can take it or leave it. Character recruitment I don’t really care for. Fishing is fun, but a lot of work for very little reward. But fighting, man, fighting is great!
“But you just said grinding sucked–” Yes, it does suck, in the sense that being stuck until I’ve played the same stages over and over again sucks. Playing through nearly identical stages in order to progress the story is a completely different animal, an animal that I not only put up with but actively enjoy. I also like the dungeon layouts and the chance to save or retreat after every stage. I would love to have a boss at the end of every single room, but that would be asking too much of the developers.
A word on the story, such as it is, before I go. I’ve gone on record as saying that dungeon crawlers don’t need stories, and I stand by that. Where they do have stories, these stories should be short, simple and to the point and avoid interfering with my fun. So far Dark Cloud 2 is doing very well on that score. An evil emperor wiped out the future, and we have to stop him by, essentially, building houses, planting trees and killing lots and lots of monsters. Of course there’s more to it than just that, but the finer details are quite understated. At the beginning of a chapter you get a short scene telling you your objectives, and there’s the occasional follow-up cutscene, but by and large you’re left to your own devices. It really is a game after my own heart.
All right, that’s long enough for an interim report. Now I must away, ere break of day. The sooner I sleep, the sooner I can wake up and play more Dark Cloud 2 tomorrow.
