Dark Cloud 2000

Is it still worth playing?

Level-5's 2000 action role playing game for the PlayStation 2, which combines action role playing with city building. The Dark Genie destroys villages, and parts of each village are sealed into rocks called Atla. You play Toan, a young adventurer who receives a stone that opens Atla and restores villages. Dungeons are randomly generated, with real time hack and slash combat, occasional duels that ask for a sequence of button presses, and a thirst meter that empties as you explore and is refilled with water. Weapons level up, not characters: each has hit points that decrease with use, and when they reach zero it breaks and is lost for good. In Georama mode you rebuild villages by placing the houses and shops recovered from Atla. A weapon that can break for good still makes every dungeon something you plan.