Dark Cloud 2 is easily regarded as one of, if not, the best Playstation 2 adventure RPG ever made. Some people have even called it Sony’s Ocarina of Time with liberal 9s and 10s across every reputable review source. Those people are wrong. I should preface that I’m not an Ocarina of Time fan boy, but I even recognize the impact that it had on this genre of gaming and it was a technical and creative marvel. Dark Cloud 2 is nothing like OoT, both in form and function. Between the broken animation, ugly, fake cell shaded art style, unresponsive and sluggish controls, the awful, AWFUL voice acting, and the rapid fire back and forth between drawn out cut scenes, Dark Cloud was only marvelous to me in that it was so bad, yet was rated so high.

I had the fortune of playing this title outside of the hype around its release and could only see a broken mess and after an hour of what looked like first time indie grade developed exposition, I was thoroughly over the whole experience and quit during the first actual level of the game.

I wanted to love this game, but it was clear to me that there was little to no love and care in the development of Dark Cloud 2 and every creative and technical aspect suffered for it.

It is possible that I might not be the target audience for this game, but games can easily transcend personal preference with an engaging story and polished, fun mechanics. So I honestly don’t think I’m to blame. I was so let down by my experience with what has been proclaimed as a pinnacle of Playstation 2 gaming. Definitely a case, in my opinion, of influential hype over actual good gaming.

Watch our video review for more details:

About The Author

Retro-Inactive

Broke gamerdad, playing the old games because all my gaming budget is going to Pampers and Barney DVDs. Love retrogames and playing PS2 for the first time in 2013. I make review videos with my cute hyper daughter. I try to exposit sound critique while she derails my train of thought with her cuteness. We also review kids games and talk about if they are good for your kids.

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  • Rizzard Core

    This is probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

  • I think it’s smart to involve your daughter in your projects, I have a daughter myself whose 6 and loves video games, and what I do, and it always bothers me I haven’t fit her in to at least one of my projects. I’m the idiot missing out. You’re a great dad :)

  • Thank you very much. I can tell you the process is difficult. we shoot any where from 30 to 50 minutes trying to get the footage. So many funny things happen and the challenge is to cut it all down, and have it be a concise review too. Thanks for the encouragement. I really appreciate the kind words.

  • Thank you so much. She makes this whole thing special and worth doing. we play these gams together so she can have a grasp and contribute, but mostly make silly faces and interrupt my train of thought.

  • My daughter and I used to play video games alot together, but as I got deeper and deeper into projects, I hadn’t been able to make time, that and there were some times here and there I had to take them away as punishment. Now she’s hooked on the ipad, but for her their doesn’t seem to be a preference on what she plays, she likes what she likes. Plus if it weren’t for me, she would have never fell in love with Sonic, she’s been obsessed with him since she was 3 or 4. Out of everything she’s got bored with, Sonic remains her favorite.

  • This was beautiful man. You really have a special bond with your daughter. Well done video as well. And congrats, you are now on the front page :D

  • Jared Waldo

    This is fantastic. I don’t even know what to say. It’s cute, funny, and the fact that you’re involving your daughter just to have some fun…man, that’s pretty A+ in my books.

    Definitely subscribing based on this alone. Look forward to checking out more of your work. Respect.

  • I can’t seem to reply individually so here goes:

    Arkonvoix – It’s a great bonding time with my kids, games can easily take me away from focusing on family, so I made sure to really involve them and my wife so that it’s not this private thing for me. I’m sure you’ll make more time. Awesome job getting her hooked on Sonic!

    Aggro Sky – Thank you. and THANK YOU for the front page treatment. So awesome of you guys!

    Jared – Thank you so much. BTW I love your retrospective pieces on YT. I Would love to see more