(AfroGamers.com) I’ve been enjoying Dark Cloud lately. It’s an action RPG that was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2000 and in the West in 2001. I’d put it down as a cult classic of the early 2000s.
It isn’t an underrated game as it and the sequel have both gotten a lot of praise. However, it never got the shine it should’ve gotten. Seriously, this should still be an ongoing series today.
Originally, I wasn’t going to do an article on the game but just in playing the first town of Norune, I’ve found that Toan either grew up around jerks or attracts them.
Let’s just look at the five jerks you’ll run into and rank them from least jerkface to peak jerkface.
Seda
Honestly, Seda isn’t that bad of a guy. He’s just overly aggressive for seemingly no reason at first until you advance in the game and find out why he attacks you and attempts to take your Atlamillia, an orb/gem that allows the main character—Toan—to rebuild the world after the Dark Genie wrecks it.
He’s basically Dr. Freeze from Batman: a guy who does bad in an attempt to save his fiancée and your Atlamillia would allow him to travel back in time to do so.
Oh yeah, he is also the creator of the Dark Genie, so even though he isn’t just evil at heart, he had a role in creating the greatest evil force the world has ever dealt with—thus making your job difficult.
He stays on the list but honestly, he’s the least offensive jerk here by three country miles. Everyone else listed are real pieces of work and three of the next entries are villagers!
Claude
This guy is a villager of Norune whom Toan saves after finding his orb in the dungeon. He’s described as kind-hearted but slothful, preferring to spend his days lazing about and eating. He’s actually a pretty chill guy.
So why is he on the list? After you find all the parts for his house and finish putting it together, he offers you a piece of his cheese—which is just laying out on the table uncovered.
His lack of food safety isn’t the problem here, the cheese looks delicious regardless. No, he makes sure to tell you to only get “one piece of cheese”.
The utter audacity!
Before the player dives into the dungeon to save his fellow villagers, they were all trapped in Atla—orbs that can be opened with your Atlamillia—and so was every house in Norune beside the mayor’s house. If Toan wants all the cheese he should be able to take all of the cheese!
Oh, and before that he rewards you with a bar of soap while he’s in the shower. The nerve of this guy. While I like the character, I was so annoyed by that “one piece of cheese” request that I instantly took the miracle chests around his house moved his house away from the “smell of food” which is his placement request.
Was I being petty? Definitely! However, sometimes the little extra on dialogue in this game float between being a backhanded compliment and just condescending.
Both of those are things you want to avoid doing when someone not only saves you from your imprisonment, not only brings your entire house back, but takes the time to fix it how you like it.
Toan can’t get out of this village soon enough. Claude made it seem like either he thinks Toan has sticky fingers or he’s dealt with cheese thieves before—and that’s an even bigger issue.
It’s not as big an issue as him offering you soap for putting his house back in order but it’s still big if true.
Odd Gaffer
Now, this guy is slick. See, this geezer is the town’s merchant and can’t sell you anything until his cart/stand is completed. Normally, when you complete a villager’s building by putting all parts into the proper slot, you get some reward.
For instance, childhood Paige makes Toan a new pouch that can hold more items as thanks for completing the house that she and her father Pike live in. That’s an awesome reward.
Odd Gaffer rewards you by opening his shop and allowing you spend money—which is hard to come by early on unless you’re selling fishing bait.
What in the blue hell? If a character is a merchant and you manage to save them and get their business open, them offering to do commerce with you is not a reward. It’s them doing their job.
That’s like saving a Burger King worker’s life during a holdup and as a reward they continue serving customers, and allow you to buy a Whopper at full price during business but only after you move up in line!
It made me wonder if the developers Level-5 have ever received a reward. I’m sure they’ve gotten plenty of awards because they deliver the goods on RPGs but half of these rewards don’t seem like worth the effort, honestly.
The Odd Gaffer’s “reward” doesn’t even register. It’s just a continuation of disrupted service.
King Mimic and the Normal Mimics
Actually, this could be two separate entries but they’re the same enemy type. Mimics are monster with large teeth that disguise themselves as treasure chests. They feed on adventurers who simply must open a chest that doesn’t belong to them but is discarded in a cave.
That’s another article for another time, folks. Anyway, these enemies are annoying as hell because they don’t show up on the map as a red dot nor do they pop up on screen. After you run into one mimic, you’re going to be extremely cautious of opening any chests on that floor.
Trust me, I thought my system of only opening chests with the opening facing walls would work until I got surprised by a damn mimic! King Mimics are the same but they’re disguised as the large treasure chests that have the good stuff in them.
Mimics aren’t the hardest thing to fight, they’re just annoying to fight early on because they will block and they’re ambush enemies.
Originally, I was going to add the cave bats to the list because sometimes they might just swoop in and attack. Other times, they will swoop in and poison you. That’s annoying but they have a tell where they will squeak before you get close to them or they close in on you.
Meanwhile, the mimics just get the drop on you and drag you into an annoying, mildly lengthy fight. They’re even worse when you think “I’m just gonna check this chest really quick” and try to run away. You know, get the goods and go without bothering with unnecessary fights.
Only, it’s a mimic and the enemies are closing in on you. It’s all annoying and the King Mimic is even worse. Both of them just kills the innocence of raiding a chest for goods left behind by a failed adventurer.
As bad as the mimics are, they’ve got nothing on the biggest jerkface in Dark Cloud.
The Biggest Jerk in Dark Cloud: The Mayor of Norune
I tend to keep things at least somewhat clean when going into classic and retro games here on AfroGamers but the mayor of Norune goes beyond being a jerk. This guy is an asshole.
The thing about this is that he has a slow-burn heel turn on young Toan—the hero of the game. Initially, it’s just you to in Norune and he sends you—a teenager—into an unusually hostile training cave to rescue everyone.
He’s the leader and adult here but the game wouldn’t have as fun if you were playing as the geezer mayor. So, he does what he can and helps you by replenishing your supplies before you dive into the dungeon.
The Fairy King even tells you that the mayor has tons of items and give you food, water, antidotes, and weapon repair kits as many times as you need. It’s true! He has an endless supply of these things and continues to help you in your quest.
Until Odd Gaffer gets his store back up and running. Then he tells you to buy your supplies from that old scammer. Alright, cool. You’ve got some scratch now. It would’ve been nice if he continued giving you these basic supplies—which he only gives one of each—but no problem.
Then he adds “I can’t rely on me forever.” Hold up, jabroni. The mayor says this—the one who sent a child into a dungeon teeming with enemies with a crappy dagger and enough supplies for one meal.
The meal was just bread and water! Seriously, this guy is peak audacity, folks! I don’t how one small village can have a jerk, a scammer, and Greedy Gus when the population isn’t even that high to start.
That last part from the mayor wasn’t even necessary! He could’ve just left it at asking the player to buy from Odd Gaffer. Nah, he threw in that last part as if he’s doing the dangerous work.
Even a villager noted how lazy the mayor was and that’s telling. I’ve run into main character and NPCs who have annoying dialogue before but the mayor of Norune is a top fiver.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.