Dark Cloud 2 : Beating EVERY PS2 Game #45
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- I loved playing this game, but is it too ambitious? Are there just too many mechanics to deal with? Maybe, but there are many different things to get excited for in this game. On Beating EVERY PS2 Game, I take on Dark Cloud 2 and beat game #45!
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#collection #games #nostalgia #ps2 #gaming #retrogaming #playstation2
Game has more dungeon variety than Starfield.
Daaaaaamn shots fired!
But you be strong asfnif u make the end, @@PS2orDie but im biased
This game is one of my all time favorites, and I enjoyed the variety of mechanics personally. The weapon upgrade system is sooooo satisfying! I've always been addicted to Spheda even though I'm awful at it.
I do like the weapon upgrades too! I only wish it had more info on what you were upgrading to. Spheda is soooo hard dude, I’m awful too
@@PS2orDie Spheda's awesome, imo. The thing that kills me about this game is the Monster Transformation system. There's way too many possible upgrade paths, and they take way too damn much exp to level up.
This probably one of my top 5 favourite games of all times. I 100% the game during a really bad time in my life and still have fond memories.
I’m glad you have those fond memories, I can relate. 100% though!? Respect
"The Game With Too Many Mechanics!?" I get it...because the protagonist is a mechanic. Very punny.
Did you think I had a choice once I noticed? No! I was ensnared by the pun…
No no no. There are still MORE mechanics.
Costumes: You can unlock/invent clothes for Max and Monica (they are just cosmetic) so you can customize them.
Scoops: One NPC will ask you to take pictures of some specific event or enemy's attack as a bounty reward. (Also these also count as photo ideas.)
Monster Evolutions: Not only do you get to transform into monsters, but they have different evolutions when you level them up.
(Also yeah that post-game dungeon.)
How the frick frack?! That’s crazy man. I wonder if any of the monster upgrades are decent
@@PS2orDie The monster system has been something I have been avoiding as it really not worth it for the main game. In previous play-throughs, it has not actually yielded an upgrade that's usable lol. It's arduous to actually use. But this game has me hooked so I will be trying to complete it. Definitely using a guide lol
RUclips randomly recommended this but I'm very intrigued by the idea of playing every PS2 game.
If you can, try to go into Drakengard with little to no expectations, or spoilers.
I have heard people going in with extremely high expectations after playing it's sequels NieR replicant and automata and hating it.
I went into it with extremely low expectations and it is now my favorite piece of fiction.
Ooohhh yes I’ve heard the same, I will! Sounds fun
this is my top favourite game growing up. The music just brings back a lot of childhood memories.
It’s a really fun game, glad it has so much nostalgia for everyone!
Looooove this game! Played it constantly as a kid and still return to it every now and then to this day. Spheda was so much fun as long as you played enough of it though the real grind was maxing the levels for your monster badges. Good grief that took forever!
Ah a spheda master! Were the rewards worth it to play? Man I never leveled any of the monster badges, did you like them enough for the grind?
@@PS2orDie Definitely! You gained a variety of prizes like special powders (revive, lvl up, etc) special gems/crystals, power up items and lots more! There was the occasional common item which was a bummer but once you get used to bouncing the ball around, Spheda can be quite fun!
The Monster Badges grind was... painful. Not sure I'd use the monsters in big fights.. BUT the final form of many of the monsters looked suuuper badass and it felt cool to roam around as a monster and literally speak to other monster of the same species.
I suppose since Spheda isn't necessary that's a great way to handle it. The monster badges sound cool, maybe I'll one day go back through and try them!@@tomtomthedino
There aren't many RPGs today that offer much variety like Dark Cloud 2. When do you play Skyrim, slay monsters, then play golf so that you can slay more monsters with better weapons? Plus playing golf literally fixes the space time continuum from falling apart. It's just such a cool concept that keeps the game play fresh. It's not just go here and kill X monster, then come back. Spheda actually requires some skill to boot. You can easily sink 100s of hours into Dark Cloud 2. Sure you could ignore spheda and fishing but that's missing out on a big part of the game. Let me tell you, I loved every second of those 100s of hours spent.
Many would love all of the different mechanics in this game! As you said, it’s much different from the kinds of side or main content in games today. While I think it may have too many, I hoped that it would mostly just shed light on what the game has to offer so new players could get excited!
Subscribed, let it be known, this was the video that onboarded me and will send me down a PS2 rabbit hole!
It was the original Dark Cloud (1), that I obsessed over, speed running the PS2 demo disk seeing how far I could get on the included content. Only as an adult was I able to compete my childhood hidden gem.
That’s so cool! How far were you able to make it in the demo?
@@PS2orDie you were limited to the first village/Dragon Boss. The self imposed goal was to try and compete as much of the village building as possible (similar to that shown here).
Max's 2nd Weapon (gun) is OP if you focus on upgrading it. It has durability issues early in the game, but it ultimately becomes able to devastate everything fast.
Daaaaamn well now I want to see it in action! Shows me for coasting on the ride pod
@@PS2orDie One of the last upgrade branches turns it into a laser. I only discovered it when I was in that post game chapter, sadly. But once I knew it existed, it wasn't too hard to make one during another play through. This was almost 20 years ago now though, so I can't remember a lot of the details.
Yup! The laser gun was my favorite also but it's important to remember that all weapons are apart of a evolution tree. Max's gun had I believe, 3 final form types? Grenade Launcher, Laser Gun and Machine Gun. If I recall, the evolution tree is shared by all other weapons minus a few unique exceptions like Max's hammer.
@@tomtomthedino Each weapon slot had its own evolution tree.
Wrench/Hammer were in the same tree. Guns. Swords. Bracelets.
AHHH that sounds so cool! I guess I'll have to eventually play that 8th chapter and try to upgrade them @@tomtomthedino
I saw your san andreas video, clicked on your channel, and this was the first thing on the for you section, with kh2 right next to it, both some of my most dear childhood games.
I dont know how, but youtube know what I want. Subbed.
That’s fantastic! I share those childhood games with you, and I couldn’t think of a better way of honoring these games than beating them all. Welcome along for the crazy ride!
the huge amount of features really make this game value for the purchased price. I really enjoyed the golf after clearing some challenging levels!
There is a lot to do! Absolutely worth it
imagine if some random indie dev starts publishing more PS2 games just to make this series last longer / to get free exposure
I suppose it’s possible! I’d be ok with it as I would probably stick with the last release in 2014, but I would still add them to the for fun and science list
I know you have your hands full with over 4000 games but the extra chapter is an epilogue to the story with no georama and loads of floors to clear. I recommend coming back and beating it when you've conquered Dark Cloud.
Ah ok, yeah I’ll come back after the first game!
I like how going trough the 3 dungeon crawler-rpg from Level5 you can see the evolution of the technique and of what worked.
this game is in the same world of dark cloud (and the few reappearing characters and repeated storybits really makes it feel a sequel, rather than a completely separated thing) and keeps many of the old functions, but condensed the characters in 2-and-a-half from the 5 man band of the original, and how the smooth "this magic stones allows you to place buildings" to the "big machine rips stuff off the ground and smash them back in", the steamlining of the weapon damages (and the removal of heightened condition beaker creatures), the dropping of the thirst meter, the few retuning faces and the re-touched monsters.
they really took everything they learned from the first title and optimized for this, that's for sure, but the levels really feels like they go on for too long, and the dungeon-specific mechanics feels weaker, but the whole thing is less same-y as a package, and less clunky in general (the wheels for example would have never been possible in the first title). too bad that the overwhelming amount of possibilities
now, I'm curious how you'll approach Rogue galaxy, when it's time will come, that game also have a lot that came out of here (like entire minigames that doesn't interact with the main story), and a lot that's worth on it's own
Oh wow, I did play dark cloud back in the day but I don’t remember much from it. I’m excited to play through now and compare!
As for rogue galaxy, I hear it’s pretty crazy. Good, but crazy. I’ll give everything a go and see what works
You think this has too many mechanics? You haven't player Rogue Galaxy yet, huh?
It’s always been on my to do list, but this scares me. Did you suffer long?
@@PS2orDie I got into the smithing in Legend of Mana. Comparatively, not too bad really.
It's really just: If you have a guide, you're good. If you don't, it can be easy to fuk up. There are ways to miss things for sure.
Kind of like Suikoden games. Luckily Suikoden 3 & 4 are the most forgiving of the bunch.
Rogue Galaxy does not have all that many mechanics. They just take literal ages to complete. Especially the hunting record (some monsters like Shadow Wood and Piranhger have abysmal encounter rates) and insectron (catching and raising different bugs is just so damn slow and time consuming process)
Just finished the video, and I didn't remember how mechanically dense this game is until now, also didn't know about l canceling. Now I feel like I want to play it over.
I do have a bit of a work around for one of your issues, that im not sure you know about, I didn't until my second play-through, even though the help menu mentions it . If you level a weapon to +5 or more you can spectrumize it and the resultant will pass down all of it stats (except durability), with the cost of the crystal being the weapon's level. So if, for example, you take a starter weapon to a mid level dungeon, level it by using what ever version of it you have on hand (like using max's main hand, then switching to a copy of the starter wrench after killing an enemy to power level it) you can dump what ever crystals into the starter weapon that you need to level what you want to level at the time. I kind of consider it a way of compressing synth crystals. Because with 5 level the battle wrench for example will get 15 sp, but when you spectrumize it, it will only cost 5 sp to use.
There are a few things to cap it, weapons have a cap of how high their numbers can go for example, but I remember after I figured it out I abused it, I never put a crystal into my main weapons again, it was always weapons.
Damn, that’s super smart and I wasn’t exactly aware that’s how it worked! I’ll have to keep that in mind
Hmm first time seeing you...I'm invested in the journey! Can't wait to see you blow up for all your hard work!!
Thanks! It’s been really fun so if that happens, I’d welcome it
“Can I offer you a nice game mechanic in this trying time?”
“Darkcloud 2, this is the third time you’ve brought a new game mechanic for show and tell!”
Dark Cloud 2, put the mechanics away or I’ll have to take them
Dark Cloud 1 and 2 are two of my favorite games of all time. And yeah, DC2 is a LOT to finish lol
Haha yes! It was really fun though so worth it. It’ll be interesting to go backwards from here and see how dc 1 holds up!
My favorite part is the photos and inventions.
@@KorawichKavee I do like those features. They could have been the main focus and expanded upon all by themselves! I wonder if there’s a similar game
Ill watch this once I beat this game . I loved the first Dark cloud but haven't beaten the 2nd yet
No worries! It’s totally worth the play through
Flotsam (clown) shows up in the post story dungeon. Which also has the end boss from the first game.
Whaaaaaaaat that’s interesting! I might have to play that chapter
I have no idea who you are and I haven't even watched the video (i don't have that kind of energy rn) but I'm subscribed BC I have to see how this goes. And also potentially find more games I like along the way lol.
Haha thanks! Oh we are all definitely finding some sweet new games. Next year I’m starting to play a few Japanese titles to see what cool gashes we are missing
your narration is so funny
Haha thanks!
Just found your channel, tjat is one hell of a goal! Keep at it!
That game has real potential if they scraped or prioritize some mechanics.
The Monster Transformation and Golf one is absolutely unneeded as ingame mechanics but would be funnier as Minigames in some town to earn money or items.
The Inventing one should get more priority, make story-related key items, build parts for the town building, for the ridepod, etc in all timelines making Maximillian maybe the person who acually invented crucial tech for people of all timelines, like the ridepod.
Fucking brilliant ideas! I agree, there were a lot of missed opportunities, probably from how much they put in the game, and this would have helped a lot. I mean, it was still fun but yeah, a much tighter experience was possible
gonna have a fun time with the spiritual sequel, then @@PS2orDie
played this front to back for the first time this year. and completed the bonus dungeon. it was quite the experience.
i enjoyed dark cloud 2 but i also was tired by the end. i felt like my power was all over the place, and enemies had super inflated health. i also expected more of a big, wide world to explore but it was just a ton of smaller zones. it still was really fun to poke around and see everything in the game though. and i absolutely was addicted to the gameplay loop. there are so many weapons to level up and i love to grind, and if you enjoy that you'll enjoy this game. use a guide for items and inventions though. i do wish max got as many weapons as monica, but max does have the ridepod, which completely breaks the game at some parts.
the story is very cheesy, and the ending and bonus ending even kinda pissed me off lol. i would play this game again though. memorable music, areas, mechanics, and all that jazz makes it so fun despite the flaws.
Well said! What an interesting game, so you weren’t sure about the 8th chapter. I wonder why they included it?
I literally have no idea either.. It was fun making my way through it, albeit with cheat codes near the end since it was quite impossible to finish, but man, the final boss and bonus ending cutscene had no meaning or purpose. It just frustrated me after I got through it all, but in the best way only games like this can.
*spoilers here*
Also the fact that the game ends with them losing their atlamillia powers, but then Monica just comes back for the last dungeon just for funsies. I was like....FOR WHY DC2?!?! FOR WHY!?!? lol @@PS2orDie
Honestly you should try some of the side activities on a more casual playthrough in the future. Fishing is tied to two other games, fishing contest and finny frenzy. Theres rewards for both, finny frenzy I believe is the better payout and is a lot more controllable as you just need specific baits to buff up your fish. It also leads to a companion, Olivie, which is the key to a money glitch (lure glitch) if you dont feel like grinding out money for crystals and georama mats.
Edit: yeah monster transformation suuuucks lol
@@USNJackman Interesting, I did some of these years ago but obviously now it’s harder when I’m on time constraints! But yeah I intend to revisit some of the past games and give things a try!
@@PS2orDie Yeah, I figured since you're doing such a time consuming series revolving around older video games, I'd imagine that relaxing involves pretty much anything other than more old games hah.
The infinite money glitch isn't even possible til late chapter 4 though despite what some guides will say, as you need Olivie to buy 2 lures to start it out. I'm feeding up fish on my playthrough to get there.
Last fun fact: the best method for upgrading weapons in DC2 is actually to use plain old battle wrenches, leveling them up with Cedric in the party and built into true battle wrench, then drill wrench (for late game possibly beyond, for even more point-efficient stars) and synthesize them at +5. Synth spheres cost points based on its current level, so a +5 wrench synth sphere costs 5 points, where a +8 wrench costs 8. I'm wording this poorly but it's hyper point-efficient, and you can use your main weapon to kill and switch to the fodder wrench to absorb the experience. Even in chapter 4 it doesn't take long to get a basic battle wrench to a +5 drill wrench with hard capped stats on everything but attack (which would be a waste anyways).
This channel rocks!
I really appreciate it!
This is damn good content man, you are doing gods work💯✊🏼
@@JeffyJ30 haha thanks! I hope you don’t mind this content coming out for the next 60 YEARS
@@PS2orDie so much nostalgia I can’t not watch haha I wish I would’ve thought of that idea! This channel is destined to pop 1 million subs
dale yeah i rly liked having a longer vid every now and again
There’s a few long ones coming up!
Can't wait for spartan total warfare lol, that game was such a hidden gem
Also stuntman
Yes! I know I already own stuntman, so I’ll get on that soon!
7.5 out of 10? How dare you...
Kidding aside, loved this game it was flawless imho. The monster badges though were entirely useless. It like, "let's give Max a giant robot and Monica.... hmmmm... she can transform into the weakest monsters."
Haha yes, but 7.5 for me is a solid game. I always recommend it!
And yeah it’s sad they added the monster transform and just didn’t put much effort into balancing it. Honestly they should have just done the same thing as the mech, let us build a monster from parts and let her transform and use up one resource. I don’t know, something like that
Aww too bad you didn’t play chapter 8. It’s the best one. Really hard enemies and only dungeon, zero building. Also it’s really worth getting good at Spheda, you can get some really good rewards
Haha I still may come back to it in the future! I was wondering if it was worth it to play spheda, maybe when we revisit I’ll give it another go too
this video popped up maybe a month after i dug up my old dusty ps2 and started dark cloud and let me say that i agree this game is too much i have no idea how my like 11 year old self managed. spheda is so hard and i was good at it then but not anymore. im only up to the coast bit of the vid so idk if you mention it but do you know about the name change glitch? its the funniest bug in a videogame in my opinion
Name change glitch? I had no clue! I just looked it up and my jar dropped. How freaking cool! Thanks for mentioning it.
So I've played Dark Cloud for the PS1 (i think, played it on PS4) and after a few hours it was just too repetitive even though I liked the general concept. Have you played the first one? If so, would you think they got better at variation etc?
I played it quite some time ago. I know the first one has less mechanics and is more repetitive. This game always has something interesting to do so you’ll probably find it less repetitive
@PS2orDie Thanks for the reply, I will gonna check it out some time. And I'm going to join your journey.. it's a massive hill to climb and it seems to be a lot of work you put into this, so I hope you'll get the deserving attention.
ps2, dark cloud was one of the early post-launch game for ps2
Bro.
Eat fruit veg and workout as you are in this for the long term!
Bro
I promise I will, I have to beat this challenge!
Idk. Doesn’t GTA V have like 100 different mechanics they teach you in the first 5 hours? That game tends to get a pass but games like Dark Cloud or DK64 are shunned 😢
I’m only 13 minutes into your review rn. Just had to pause cus my break is ending. I will be finishing this video for sure tho and commenting when I’m done. 👍🏽 13:20
Oh for sure it has a ton of mechanics. I do feel some mechanical fatigue especially in open world games now a days. It doesn’t get a pass for me!
Loved the review! I hope you come back someday to finish Chapter 8, but heck most people don’t even finish the base game. (If ps4’s trophy data is accurate anyways.)
Good on you for giving it a fair shot. Glad you enjoyed what you did enjoy. And look forward for seeing you beat the other 4000+ games on your list. 🎉
Back in the day I loved the Dark Cloud game and was looking forward to Dark Cloud 2 but when it came out but found it was just way to convoluted and trying to do too much that it took away from the fun so I didn't enjoy it
It’s crazy how much they packed into the game after the first! It was basically a tutorial for 5 hours, and then you didn’t even need some of it!
Sucks that speed runner came in and ruined combat for you.
“Ah, push this button and stun lock almost every enemy including minibosses. Now do that to thousands of enemies for hours and hours with no challenge or risk from them left” 🤢
Idk why you’d pass it along.
It’s like putting an infinite money glitch in your overview of an rpg. Leave that for people specifically seeking it out to google, speedrunners or I suppose people struggling so much they’d quit otherwise.
Well, it’s not fool proof, I still died to mistakes in using it and just in general, so I wouldn’t say it’s that bad. I passed it along because it’s something interesting in the game I learned and my hope is to have lots of fun ps2 knowledge. I accept some people won’t like these things, but for me it made the game even more fun
how are you playing all of the games are you using an emulator?
There are only a few games I use an emulator for, otherwise real hardware!
It was all explained in the intro starting at 0:04