An awesome action RPG
DC2 has some great mini-games that were definitely not present in DC1, and I was certainly enjoying the two main characters, Max and Monica having a short-range and long-range weapon, cutting the cast of characters from six to two. Arguably, however, one is definitely not needed. I can play through an entire game using only Monica (except for two points in the game where you can only use Max, and for one of them, you could use the Ridepod the whole time). But you get to a point where both characters have grown on you, and I like to use them both.
The weapon progression system is still preasent and in many ways, far more improved from DC1. The different monster-slaying attatchments have been elimenated, favouring instead different elemental spheres. However, you don't have to only use weapons attatchments to upgrade your weapon. If you're short on elemental spheres, you can break down almost any item in your inventory (barring only items that are required to advance the story)!
The georama system has also been improved for the second installment of the Dark Cloud series. Now, instead of finding parts, people, etc. and reconstructing them, you find geostones scattered through the dungeons that contain georama parts. You can construct as many of them as desired and you can place them wherever you want, but since you're restoring the world to restore the future, certain requirements are set in place. Certain people have to live in certain georamas, and sometimes, requirements are set for a georama itself (such as in Gundor, you have to use houses that can't be burnt down, and at Veniccio, you need to set a certain amount of piers and metal houses that need to be painted certain colours). The restrictions only add to the reconstruction, presenting a little challenge, especially when it comes to the certain people who need to live in certain places.
The story is simply amazing and the graphics are stunning. You'll follow Max and Monica through a world rich with unique characters and breathtaking locales in order to defeat the evil overlord Griffon, who is systematically destroying the future from the past!
As in Dark Cloud, there's a bonus dungeon that is unlocked after the completion of the game. It's not quite as long as Dark Cloud's demon shaft, but it's just as challenging with an array of different powerful monsters.
Dark Cloud 2 is a game you can play over and over when the fancy strikes you, and I've played games coming close to 100 hours. You can spend time obtaining each final evolution for every weapon, and completing the challenges for each floor of the dungeon.
The mini-games are also worth playing. There's spheda, which is similar to golf, where you have a peice of a time distortion called a sphere that you must hit back into the distortion. The catch is that the sphere needs to be the opposite colour of the distortion. So if the distortion is red, the sphere needs to be blue in order for you to repair the distortion. As in the first game, there's fishing, and the most unique aspect of the game is the invention process.
Using photographs taken with Max's camera, you can compile ideas and turn them into inventions. You can create a great range of useful items, but you have to have the pictures and materials for them. There are also special photos called 'scoops' which you can collect to get prizes from Donny, including a cute explorer outfit for Max.
Each floor of the dungeons has challenges, dictating how you should defeat an enemy, to completing a floor without healing. Completion of the challenges awards medals, which you can exchange to Mayor Need in place of prizes.
The game is definitely worth playing.