Dark Cloud descends
Sony announce release date of killer PS2 RPG
Many PlayStation 2 games stood out at last year's E3, but Dark Cloud was one of the most prominent. Developed by Level-5 for Sony, the game featured a unique design style and a young hero called Toan (previously thought to be "Toran"), who flew around on a Magic Carpet. Toan's plight is an unusual one - he witnesses the world's destruction, at the hands of the "dark cloud" that lends the game its title. When he awakes after the pillage, he is visited by a mysterious figure known as the Sprit Emperor, who bestows him with the power to rescue the world. Toan has no choice but to embark upon an epic battle, rescuing townspeople, battling monsters, restoring life and faith and unlocking the secrets of the land. Well I'm glad we got that out of the way. Although a fairly unsurprising narrative, it is said to be fairly compelling to play out, with emotional events, twists, turns and a roaring conclusion brought to life by the amazing capabilities of the PlayStation 2. Seen for the first time at E3 a whole year ago, comments were very positive, and the game still looks magnificent. The style is reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII with a cartoon-like edge - the character designs even more detailed by the looks of it. In fact the level of detail in the texturing is what looks set to make a game out of Dark Cloud. There's a decent selection of media including the promo movie we saw at ECTS 2000 over at The GIA as usual. Sony's press release on the subject of Dark Cloud speaks of an innovative new gameplay mechanic called "GEORAMA". They're right about it being innovative. Dark Cloud doesn't just require Toan to explore his devastated world and magically resurrect it - the idea is that Toan helps to rebuild and customize a fully interactive, three-dimensional world, as well as roam through it in real-time. The vast lands across which Toan will travel yield clues for rebuilding the villages and unlocking hidden secrets. Hopefully these will be a bit subtler than a bit of paper with a schematic on it, but you get the picture. Predetermined objects like trees, rivers, wells, homes, staircases and hundreds of others will help Toan play his own real-life game of Sim City. By using a smattering of magical spells, keys and vehicles, Toan will reconstruct the lush landscapes of his former world and help resurrect communities and influence their progress. There's a lot of work involved in Dark Cloud by the sound of it, and where did that evil cloud buzz off to anyway? Methinks that will become something to worry about at some point. The realistic weather system and time-of-day logic built into the game will help make Dark Cloud a really exciting adventure for players by introducing obvious parameters that other RPGs might lack. For example, people are willing to help you during the day, but they like a bit of kip at night. Dark Cloud is already available in Japan, and has received critical acclaim. The game's US release is said to be even bigger than the game the Japanese received - some 30% larger according to Sony guestimates. The game is due out over there on May 29th, and depending on its success, later in the year on our shores.
