dark chronicle A WORK OF ART!!, 16 Mar 2004

A key part of the game is the story which all credit to the designers is superbly written, if a little bit unoriginal but you can not pick holes in this masterpiece. Another injoyable bit of the game is the Georama which allows you to create sprawling villages, which changes the future as you build. Although this sounds complicated it is simply done and you feel really feel proud of your achievements.

Although the game is fantastic throughout there is some tiny niggles, the dungeons although huge are slightly tedious as it turns into a regular hack and slash in the Diablo 2 build, this does slightly grate but the story is that good you want to carry on through the dungeons to progress the story. the weopon building system is very deep and intricate, which is good for people who like games with depth, this game certainily gives you value for money!!!.

Its easy to lose hours on the side quests on this game as they are very fun to play. Spheda the golf game is VERY hard but it rewards you well for your efforts and fishing is expertly done and provides you with real satisfication as you land the big one!!

So all in all i recommend every one to buy this game as it is one of the most original games to come out for a long time and after the final fantasy series i would class it as one of the best RPGs ever and the game designers should be proud of this oustanding achievement.

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PlayStation 2's first AAA of 2003..., 27 May 2003

Dark Chronicle is the sequel to 2001's Dark Cloud, a fairly basic but engaging action-RPG with a unique "Diorama" village-building system. The sequel enhances this aspect to near-perfection, aslo inmproving weapon upgrading. A great new innovation of this game is the invention process - you can take pictures of various objects, combine images to create an idea, then the invention develops from thsi idea. It can get complex, but it is highly engrossing.

Combat is real-time, swords and sorcery affair, similar to The Legend of Zelda but with some magic. Combat is fluid, with a nice range of moves - also it can get repetitive at times, but like Kingdom Hearts, there's enough variety to keep you going.

Graphically, developer Level-5 have excelled themselves...Dark Chronicle is stunning, one of the best looking games of this current generation. It uses the oh-so-popular cel-shaded technique, but it works extremely well.

Dark Chronicle is a wonderful game, one of the best RPGs available for this generation of consoles. Level-5 have done a great job of improving the original concept to near perfection. Roll on Dark Cloud 3!!!

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