Like I said the gameplay is a conglomeration of many games. Here is the goodies of the gameplay, the town building. Using what Sony calls a new system but we all know that Actraiser started it. When searching through the caves and other dungeons you must collect from Atlas and place the people and buildings where ever you may choose, the feeling of accomplishment by restoring all the land really made me feel like a hero. The next aspect of gameplay is the fighting which actually is weak. Toan only has a certain amount of moves and the targeting is really difficult and does not make matters better when fighting a horde of hard enemies. There is some life added a little later when five allies help out. Xiao wields slingshots and can jump large distances. Goro uses hammers and axes for attacking, perfect for smashing things. Ruby can use magic bracelets to shoot fireballs, and to open special doors. Ungaga uses fighting staffs and spears, and can use his whirlwind attack to blow away evil clouds. Finally, Osmond is one of the Moon People, who attacks with guns and lasers. Each ally is used, since there are some doors that can only open with a special ability/attack, and some bosses need you to figure out what ally to use to help defeat it.

Now on to the graphics and story. There are times when locations look simply breath taking. There is alot of variety in the locations, from the port, to the desert and forest; yes the moon too. And when placing the buildings and objects of them, they are actually shown in their excact area in real-time too, whoa! The dugeons are the only weak point of the visuals, the textures repeat and everything just looks bland. Even with this negative Dark Cloud stands tall as the best looking rpg out there, surpassing Skies of Arcadia. This is the best looking rpg until Final Fantasy X arrives. The story surprised me with some over-the-top moments that added spice to the dialouge, mainly because the graphics allow flexibility and the characters move with life, charm and grace. My kick in the nads is, hardly any story, like Vagrant Story and Evolution, the game relies mainly on exploring the depths of dungeons. Oh and music believe it or not sounds a little like Chrono Cross, which is a high compliment since Chrono Cross has what I call the greatest video game soundtrack ever. There should have been more tracks recorded for the game, since this title does go long with more than 30 hours of play.