| North American Box Art | |
|---|---|
| European Box Art | Original Cover Art for Dark Cloud 2 |
| Developer | Level 5 |
| Publisher | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Release Dates |
28th November 2002 (Japan) 17th February 2003 (North America) 12th September 2003 (Europe) |
| Genre | Action Role Playing Game |
| Platforms | PlayStation 2 |
| Rating | ESRB: T |
| Sales[1] |
Japan: 260,000 North America: 380,000 Europe: 250,000 Rest of the World: 70,000 Total: 960,000 |
Dark Cloud 2 (known as Dark Chronicle in Europe and Japan) is an RPG made in 2003 by Level 5. It is the sequel to the popular PS2 game Dark Cloud. It also features many of the original game's elements, such as Georama and the Atlamillias. Instead of featuring the main character Toan, however, the game features two completely different characters, Maximillian and Monica Raybrandt. There are several characters from the original game, however. Master Utan is one of the four original characters seen in Dark Cloud 2.
Story
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
Set in 1950 The story centers around Max, a young inventor who lives in the town of Palm Brinks. Max works at Cedric's workshop, where he spends time away from his father. In the beginning of the game, Max receives a ticket to Flotsam's Circus Troupe, a circus act in Palm Brinks. While there, he overhears a conversation between Flotsam (the ringleader) and Mayor Need about the "outside world" and the Atlamillia stones, and is attacked by Flotsam's clown army. Discovering that Flotsam has been threatening and bribing the mayor, Max runs from Flotsam and his clowns who try to take the Atlamillia pendant that Max's father gave him. Max escapes, concerned about Flotsam and the mayor's conversation about the outside world, a place he previously had no knowledge of.
Max manages to get away from Flotsam's henchmen by hiding in the sewers, where he tells his friend Donny that he believes that this is the opportunity to see the outside world that he was previously ignorant of. By fighting his way through the sewers and escaping monsters, robots, and Flotsam, Max gathers together his mechanic partners and his mentor Cedric and boards a train out of Palm Brinks. Flotsam chases them down, and attempts to blow up the train, but he is stopped by a young Sixteen 16 year old girl named Monica. Monica lives 100 years ahead of Max's time, where she lives in a Kingdom as Monica. Her father, King Raybrandt was assassinated by the Dark Assassin Gaspard. She knows a lot about what is going on in the world and is able to explain to Max about the Atlamillia.
She explains to Max that there are three Atlamillia, she has a blue one, and Max has a red one. Monica is able to use her Atlamillia to travel 100 years into the past (to Max's time). Likewise, Max's Atlamillia allows him to travel 100 years into the future (to Monica's time).The last Atlamillia, the Sun Stone, is in the possession of Emperor Griffon, who is controlling time with his Atlamillia, and is attempting to destroy the world of the past so that he can rule the future.
Together, Max and Monica journey through the many villages devastated by Griffon, rebuilding each of them and ultimately restoring the future in order to defeat Griffon. The four towns that Max and Monica visit are Sindain, Balance Valley, Veniccio and Heim Rada. Each city has a dungeon, in which you defeat monsters and retrieve Georama materials from.
Max and Monica meet a Firbit tribe in Sindain. The Firbits are reluctant to let them into their house (they don't trust humans) but Monica tricks them with a promise of grape juice (which Firbits can't resist). The Firbits have an ability to create towns by building houses, trees, etc. using a machine called to Carpenterion, which is powered by Geostones. These Geostones are found in dungeons. By rebuilding the past, Monica's time is completely restored as well.
Georama System
Main article: Georama
The process of rebuilding villages throughout the game is called Georama. The player advances through dungeons, defeating monsters and collecting Geostones. Geostones allow you to build new structures, as well as give you certain conditions which must be met in order to properly rebuild the future. If Max or Monica dies it's "Game Over".
Max 'recruits' various people in Palm Brinks to join him on his journey. These people will only join you if you meet certain requirements (for example, Aunt Polly, a baker, needs you to deliver bread to a villager's house). The people you recruit can move into the houses you build. Some people want certain additions to their houses (for example, Gordon wants to live in a house next to trees, because he's a botanist). Some people are required to live in certain villages to fully rebuild the future.
The player can build the villages in any way they desire, so long as they rebuild the future enough to allow the story to progress. If the future of the village is completely restored, you'll recieve a reward, usually a new, rare weapon.
Dungeons
In order to rebuild the future, the player must collect Geostones, which are only found in dungeons. A dungeon consists of floors, or levels. With every dungeon, the number of floors increases, and the monsters become more powerful. if HP HITS 0 Its Game Over.
Every floor gives the player an opportunity to collect medals. Medals can be used to purchase special items later in the game. You can obtain these medals by clearing a floor of monsters in an alotted time, for example. Some floors allow you to fish when all monsters are defeated. If you catch a fish that exceeds a certain length (cm) you can receive a medal. Medals are also awarded for sucessfully completing a round of Spheda (which you learn to play in Chapter 3), or meeting other special conditions (clear all without healing, attack and defeat all monsters using a certain weapon, etc.). These conditions are unique to each floor.
Each floor is a randomly generated, consisting of an entrance, an exit, various monsters and treasure chests. In order to advance to the next floor, you must find the Gate Key, and the type of Gate Key is unique to each dungeon (Red Meat for Starlight Canyon, Rope for Mount Gundor, etc.). One monster on each floor holds the Gate Key, but you have to keep defeating monsters until you find it (you won't know if the monster has it until it's defeated).
Treasure chests are scattered about each floor. They can hold anything, from weapons to Georama materials. Some can also be empty. Others are disguised Mimics, which will attack you upon opening the chest in which they dwell. Mimics are usually found toward the end of a dungeon.
The last floor of every dungeon is a boss battle. Sometimes, you require certain items from the future in order to find and/or defeat this boss. The battle itself requires more skill and strategy than a battle with a dungeon-dwelling monster. Defeating this boss allows you to advance to the next chapter (village) in the story.
Weapons System
Building up your weapons is necessary to advance through dungeons. Both characters wield two weapons each: Max carries a gun and a wrench (or various hammers) while Monica carries a sword and an armband capable of producing elemental magic.
Every defeated monster drops ABS, which are experience points. The weapon that deals the final blow is the weapon that will receive the ABS (if a monster is killed using an item, like a bomb, the ABS will be split equally between both weapons). When a weapon absorbs enough ABS, it levels up.
A level up grants a weapon Synthesis Points (the amount it recieves depends on the weapon). Most items in your inventory can be spectrumized and added to the weapon to raise certain stats. A spectrumized item is called a Synth Sphere. For example, if you spectrumize Bread, it will form a Synth Sphere that, when added to a weapon with at least one Synthesis Point, will increase its Flame stat by 2.
Each weapon has statistics which can be built up: Attack, Durable, Flame, Chill, Cyclone, Lightning, Excorcism, Smash, Beast, and Scale. Each Synth Sphere can raise any of these stats by a certain amount of points. In order to build up a weapon, certain stats must be built up to a certain level (you can see which stats need to be built up by choosing Build Up and focusing on the stats in red). When these requirements are met, a weapon can build up into another weapon, which is stronger and has higher maximum stats than its predecessor.
Every enemy is affected by a certain elemental stat. For example, a Fire Gemron's weakness is cold, so a weapon with a high Chill stat will defeat it easily. A strong weapon has balanced stats which can deal a good amount of damage to all types of enemies.
Weapons have WHP (Weapon Hit Points). Every time, a weapon is used, WHP decreases. Eventually, if left unrepaired, a weapon can break and become useless. The only way to repair a weapon is by using Repair Powder. There are three different types of Repair Powder: the normal type used to repair both characters' right'hand weapons, Armband Repair Powder, and Gun Repair Powder.
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