Dark Chronicle | |
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European cover art
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Developer(s) | Level-5 |
Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
Director(s) | Akihiro Hino |
Producer(s) |
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Designer(s) |
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Programmer(s) | Kenji Matsusue |
Artist(s) |
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Writer(s) | Akihiro Hino |
Composer(s) | Tomohito Nishiura |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
Release date(s) | |
Genre(s) | Action role-playing game |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Aggregate score | |
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Aggregator | Score |
Metacritic | 87/100 |
Review scores | |
Publication | Score |
Eurogamer | 9/10 |
Famitsu | 35/40 |
Game Revolution | B |
GameSpot | 9/10 |
GameSpy | |
GameZone | 8.4/10 |
IGN | 9/10 |
OPM (US) |
Awards | |
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Publication | Award |
GameSpot | Best PlayStation 2 Game (2003) |
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences | Console Role Playing Game of the Year (2003) |
1st British Academy Games Awards | Best Adventure Game (nominated) |
Dark Chronicle (Japanese: ダーククロニクル Hepburn: Dāku Kuronikuru?), released as Dark Cloud 2 in North America, is an action role-playing game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan in November 2002, in North America in February 2003, and in Europe in September 2003. The game is a spiritual sequel to the 2000 game Dark Cloud, with the same basic game mechanics - action role-playing combined with elements of city-building games - but features mainly different characters and an unrelated plot.
Players control two main protagonists, Max and Monica, who come from the present and future, respectively. They must work together to stop the game's main antagonist, Emperor Griffon, who wishes to destroy the present from deep in the past.
The game was met with positive reviews from critics, who praised the improvements over the first game, particularly the graphics and variety of gameplay types available. Some reviewers, however, were critical of the storyline. The game went on to win several gaming awards, and sold almost a quarter of a million copies in Japan in its first four weeks of release. In January 2016, an emulated version of the game was made available for the PlayStation 4 through the PlayStation Network.