Dark Chronicle (ダーククロニクル) (released as Dark Cloud 2 in North America) is a console role-playing game developed by Level-5 and released by Sony Computer Entertainment on November 28, 2002 in Japan, February 17, 2003 in North America, September 10, 2003 in Europe and September 12, 2003 in the United Kingdom. It is the sequel to the game Dark Cloud, and features some of the same world-building mechanics. New to Dark Chronicle is the concept of time travel. Players control two main characters, Max and Monica, who come from the present and future, respectively, to foil the plot of Emperor Griffon.
The core gameplay of Dark Chronicle is an action RPG with some elements from dungeon crawl games. The player proceeds through a series of randomly created dungeon rooms, which are periodically interrupted by set rooms where they either witness a cutscene or fight a boss. In the dungeons the player will find various materials to use in item construction and Geostones, which are necessary for the Georama.
Outside of dungeons the main focus is the Georama system, where the player is tasked with rebuilding certain locations in order to restore the future. By retrieving Geostones from the dungeons the player is given guidelines for the town as well as plans to make objects (such as houses, bridges and shops) required for filling said guidelines. Along with rebuilding the infrastructure, the town must be populated with inhabitants from Max's home town of Palm Brinks.
The goal for each Georama map is to complete as many of the ten objectives for each map as possible. While some objectives are requisite for advancing the plot, most are optional and provide bonus items when completed. The theme of rebuilding a decimated world is carried over from Dark Cloud, although this time using a large machine named the 'Carpenterion'. Completion of each Georama map in the present repairs the future, unlocking new items and cut scenes which help with the overall gameplay.
Three of the features of Dark Chronicle are fishing, Spheda, and the Georama. Players can eat the fish they catch, or bring them in to weigh-in contests, or raise them in a fully-fledged "fish tank" feature and enter them in races. Spheda is the name of Dark Chronicle's version of golf. Other features include NPC recruiting, photography, an invention system, and a powerful and customizable robot that can be used for a limited amount of time in battle. In the game, the robot is referred to as the "Ridepod".
Another notable feature of Dark Chronicle is the focus upon weapon growth instead of the traditional focus on character growth. When monsters are defeated, they drop absorption points (ABS), which, when collected, raise the experience of the weapon that dealt the final blow. When a weapon accumulates enough ABS, it will level up and gain Synthesis Points. Synthesis Points are used to infuse a weapon with an item that has been "spectrumized," which results in the weapon gaining specific stats depending upon the item(s) that were spectrumized. Almost every item in the game can be spectrumized and synthesized to weaponry. Weapons themselves can also be spectrumized, but the resulting spectrumized weapon will not carry over much of its stats unless it is level five or higher. Weapons also have the capability to be "built-up." In order to be built-up, a weapon must meet certain criteria. In most cases, a weapon needs to have at least a certain number of several stats in order to be built-up, though some weapons also require the player to have defeated certain types of enemies. Some weapons can be built-up into more than one new weapon. When a weapon is built-up, it gains strength and starts over at level one. Built-up weapons are much stronger than weapons that have not been built-up, and tend to earn more synthesis points when they level up.
Weapons also have durability. Every time a melee weapon hits a monster, or every time a ranged weapon is fired, the durability of the weapon decreases. If it reaches zero, then the player can no longer use the weapon until it is repaired.
Max and Monica, the protagonists of the series, can recruit non-player characters into their team by performing certain tasks in Palm Brinks. The characters are not controllable and do not appear on the battlefield, but through the 'Characters' portion of the menu, the player can access a party member's special abilities. Some party members also have an influence on the battle, for example increasing certain drops or adjusting enemy behavior. Outside of dungeons (in the train and in Georama locations), some of these characters sell items.
Characters
Maximillian
- Max (ユリス Yurisu?, Uris in the Japanese version) (voiced by Scott Menville) - A young inventor living with only his father (his mother disappeared when he was young) in the "present". Max comes from a wealthy family, but has no interest in privileged living amongst the bourgeoisie, preferring instead to work with an elderly friend, Cedric, in his mechanic shop. After a chance encounter, he overhears Flotsam - a homicidal circus ringmaster - pressuring the town mayor to produce a certain item. Soon Max is caught up in a conflict of epic proportions, spanning both time and space. Working with Monica and other characters, Max must "rebuild" the past to ensure a prosperous future. His weapons of choice are various wrenches, hammers, and hand-held guns. He also has the ability to pilot the Ridepod, a steampunk-inspired mech named "Steve". Max has one of three special amulets (Red Atlamillia) that enable travel through time, his allowing movement from the past into the future.
Monica
- Monica (モニカ Monika?) (voiced by Anndi McAfee) - A young princess, adept at both swordsmanship and magic, who hails from 100 years in the future. After the murder of her father at the hands of an enigmatic figure named Gaspard, she sets out on a journey through time to uncover a grim conspiracy. Her travels take her into the past, where she helps Max in a battle against the evil clown Flotsam, who, like her nemesis Gaspard, is a servant of Emperor Griffon. Afterwards she joins Max on the quest to rebuild time and put an end to Griffon's scheme. Her weapons of choice are various swords and special bracelets that enable her to use elemental magic. She also has the unusual ability to change into monsters, which avails her new combat options, as well as enabling her to talk to other monsters of the same "type". Monica has one of three special amulets (Blue Atlamillia) that enable travel through time, hers allowing movement from the future back into the past.
Plot
The story centers around Max, a young inventor who lives in the town of Palm Brinks. Max works at Cedric's workshop where he spends time away from his father when he receives a ticket to the carnival. While at the carnival, he is attacked by the ringleader, Flotsam, after overhearing a conversation between him and the mayor about the "outside world" and the Atlamillia stones. Discovering that Flotsam has been threatening and bribing the mayor, Max runs from Flotsam and his clowns who try to take the Atlamillia pendant that Max has with him. Max escapes, concerned about Flotsam and the mayor's conversation about the outside world, a place he previously had no knowledge of. Max manages to get away from Flotsam's henchmen by hiding in the sewers, where he tells his friend Donny that he believes that this is the opportunity to see the outside world that he was previously ignorant of. By fighting his way through the sewers and escaping monsters, Flotsam's circus troops, and a huge robot named Halloween, Max quickly gathers together his mechanic partners and his mentor Cedric and boards a train out of Palm Brinks. Flotsam chases them down, and attempts to blow up the train, but he is almost killed by a young girl called Monica. Princess Monica Raybrandt travelled back through time when her father, King Raybrandt was assassinated by the Dark Assassin Gaspard. Monica is much more informed of the situation than the less-worldly Max is at that time. She tells Max that an evil emperor is controlling time by using his Atlamelia, the Sun Stone, and is also attempting to destroy the world of the past so that he can rule the future. Together, they journey through many worlds, rebuilding each of them and ultimately restoring the past in order to defeat Griffon. There are four worlds: Sindain, Balance Valley, Veniccio, and Mount Gundor. Each city has a dungeon that the player must defeat and retrieve stones from. Once all of the stones have been collected, Max and Monica form a Chrono Union at Kazarov Stonehedge to bring Moon Flower Palace (Griffon's residence) to the present.
Griffon can summon the Star of Oblivion when he has accquired the Sun Stone ((which he already possesses) the Earth Stone (Max's Atlamelia) and the Moon Stone (Monica's Atlemelia). The Sun Stone is much more powerful than the Earth and Moon Stones, as it can travel 10,000 years into the past and future, while the Max and Monica's stones each travel 100 years into the future or past, respectively.
Upon defeating him, it is revealed that Griffon is in fact a young moon person named Sirus, who has been possessed by the Dark Element. Max and Monica are able to retrieve the pendant, defeat Dark Element, and deflect the meteor in time to save the world. The defeat of the dark element also unlocks the spheda practice area, and several other extras.
After completing the main game, a bonus chapter appears. Max, initially without the aid of Monica, enters the Zelmite mines in Palm Brinks. After a short interval, Max and Monica meet again, and fight several bosses (including Metal Flotsam). The bonus chapter concludes with a battle against the Dark Genie itself, and the expansion of the Blackstone Railroad.
Audio
The 2-disc Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2) soundtrack, composed by Tomohito Nishiura, was released to the Japanese public in late 2003. In 2004, a remix album was made, "Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange", consisting of remixes of some of the more famous tracks from the game by various other composers.
Development
Graphically, Dark Chronicle departs from the style of Dark Cloud completely by using cel-shading. Though the main characters had a higher polygon count than the supporting characters; 2500 to 3000 polygons as opposed to 1500 to 2000. The game's graphics were created with Softimage 3D. Event scenes utilized the same models that were used in the normal gameplay, both of which were generated in real time. Because of this, even costume changes could be carried over from gameplay to events. Akihiro Hino, a Level-5 producer, stated 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 minimize the computer generated appearance of the cel-shading. Texturing was also occasionally used to emulate lighting. The game's production took almost two years. The CG production and game development occurred concurrently.[1]
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Chronicle
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