Wow!!! It is not often in any media, whether game or movie, that a sequal outshines the original, but Dark Cloud 2 is leaps and bounds better than Dark Cloud. It has been reworked graphically and many of the little annoyances of the original are long gone.

I liked this game so much that I actually bought it for my collection. The only games that I have ever paid full price for are this, GT3, and SSX Tricky. So that should indicate something.

Basically, its the amazing story of a boy, Maximallian, that is looking to explore the world but only after he realizes that something isn't quite right. As best we can tell, other than style and gameplay there is almost nothing else in common with Dark Cloud (the original). But Final Fantasy does it all the time, so why not Dark Cloud?

Graphically, I've never played such a vibrant game. The levels are 3D and well drawn, but the characters, as I understand it, are drawn 2D over top of the scenery. But the characters appearance changes based on angle, this coupled with cell-shading makes the characters appear 3D. Who cares, you ask? Well the advantage of this, is that the CG scenes change based on what the character has equipped. So if you have a wrench and a red shirt, you have them in any CG scenes as well. If you have a blue shirt and a hammer, guess what, those will be in the movie. This is a much better idea then games with premade CG scenes with predifined appearances and such.

As much as I'd like to thump everything the controls could have been better. There are a lot of things that your characters can accomplish and the controls to do them aren't the best, good, but not the best. I often found myself frustrated over exactly how I was supposed to add something to my weapon or even switch to a different weapon (until I realized that my character wasn't allowed to use that weapon).

All in all, this is a fantastic game! I can't stress enough how good it is. If you ever get a chance to play it, definately give it a run, you won't be dissapointed. Kudos to Sony on having improved the series so well.