Dark Chronicle (PS2) - Let's Play 1001 Games - Episode 605
8Killin' clowns in the sewers
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I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, fan of retro games, and determined optimist... Join me in this series while I try out EACH of the video games in the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE, before I die. The game review for each game will focus on the question of whether you MUST play this game before you die. But to be honest, the game review parts are just for fun, and are not meant to be definitive, in depth reviews; this series is more about the YouTube gamer journey itself. From Mario games to the Halo series, from arcade games to Commodore 64, PC games to the NES and Sega Genesis, Playstation to the Xbox, let's play those classic retro games that we grew up with, have fond memories of, or heard of but never got a chance to try! And with that said, the game review for today is...
Dark Chronicle
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Chronicle
Dark Chronicle,[a] released as Dark Cloud 2 in North America and South Korea,[3] is an action role-playing game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 (PS2). It was released in Japan in November 2002, in North America in February 2003, and in Europe in September 2003. In January 2016, an emulated version of the game was made available for the PlayStation 4 through the PlayStation Network.
The game is a spiritual sequel to Dark Cloud (2000), with which it shares the same basic game mechanics, but features new characters and plot. Players control two main protagonists, Max and Monica, who must work together to stop the game's main antagonist, Emperor Griffon, from destroying the world. The game features themes of time traveling, with Max and Monica trying to prevent Griffon's destruction by altering the past to change the future.
The game was met with positive reviews from critics, who praised the improvements over Dark Cloud, in particular the graphics and variety of gameplay styles, while some criticism went towards the plot. Dark Chronicle won several awards, and sold almost 250,000 copies in Japan within a month.
Rumors about Dark Chronicle first appeared on April 9, 2002, when Level-5 Inc. updated its website with an image of a silhouette from its newest game, although no other details were made available at the time.[17] The game was officially announced on May 16, when Level-5 launched a full website that revealed the new game would include Dark Cloud's Georama mode and had more features than its predecessor. The site also demonstrated the cel-shaded graphics and featured pictures of the two protagonists.
More information was revealed at E3 later in May, when Sony Computer Entertainment announced the game would be released in Japan and Europe as Dark Chronicle and in North America as Dark Cloud 2, with a release date of late 2002 to early 2003.[20] The invention system, which according to Sony would feature over 100 hours of gameplay, was also demonstrated for the first time.[21] IGN and GameSpot both featured previews of the game based on the E3 demo; IGN focused on the improved Georama system and praised the cel-shaded graphics,[22] and GameSpot looked at the dungeons, finding the combat improved from the first game.
The visual style of Dark Chronicle departs from that of Dark Cloud by using cel shading. Level-5 referred to the graphic style as "tonal rendering"; the main characters have a smooth, shaded look and the backgrounds have detailed textures and lighting.[19] The main characters have a higher polygon count than the supporting characters and are composed of 2,500 to 3,000 polygons. Supporting characters are composed of 1,500 to 2,000 polygons. The game's graphics were created with Softimage 3D. Cutscenes use the models that are used in normal gameplay, both of which are generated in real-time, thus costume changes are carried over from gameplay to cutscenes. Akihiro Hino, the game's writer, director, designer and producer, said that "smooth transitions between gameplay and event scenes help increase the empathy for the game." Soft textures were used to create a uniform feel for the visuals and to minimize the computer-generated appearance of the cel shading. Texture mapping was used occasionally to emulate lighting. The game's production took almost two years; the CG production and game development occurred simultaneously.