It has been almost three years since Sony released the first respectable RPG on the PlayStation 2. We all remember when Dark Cloud was lauded as a Zelda-killer, but almost embarrasingly fell quite short of the mark. Still, the game was enjoyable even though it had its fair share of flaws. Not satisfied with this feedback, LEVEL-5 returned to their studio to create the next incarnation of Dark Cloud.

This past February, SCEI and LEVEL-5 proudly released Dark Cloud 2 to an eager, but skeptical American audience. Promising to improve upon every aspect of the original, the game was quickly picked up by fans and consumed with relish. Yet there remains the fringe; the collective of gamers who were burned a bit too badly by the original Dark Cloud. While curious to see if these tales of a vastly improved adventure were true, they remain on the fence to this day.

Today, we'd like to put their fears to rest as Chris H. has emerged from his blissful stint with Sony's latest RPG romp to share his experience with his review. To top it all off, Mike S. was kind enough to commemorate the event with a sizeable gallery update. So when you're done with the review, follow the link to our gallery with over 120 screenshots from the game.

• Dark Cloud 2 Editor Review
• Dark Cloud 2 Gallery Update