The first of a series of three role-playing simulation games, Dark Cloud involves fighting your way through randomly-generated dungeons, obtaining various items and using those items to plan and build cities. It was released for the PlayStation 2 to generally positive reviews on May 28, 2001, receiving an aggregate score of 80% from Metacritic.Metacritic: Dark Cloud Reviews

1. Entertaining gameplayPlanet PS2: Dark Cloud Review (June 4, 2001)
2. Interesting, highly detailed charactersPlanet PS2: Dark Cloud Review (June 4, 2001)
3. Well planned, easy to use menu systemIGN: Dark Cloud Review (May 3, 2001)
4. Great artistic designIGN: Dark Cloud Review (May 3, 2001)
5. Soothing background musicIGN: Dark Cloud Review (May 3, 2001)
6. Should take over 30 hours to playIGN: Dark Cloud Review (May 3, 2001)

1. Mediocre graphics and soundPlanet PS2: Dark Cloud Review (June 4, 2001)
2. Repetitive dungeon battlesPlanet PS2: Dark Cloud Review (June 4, 2001)
3. Blurry backgroundsIGN: Dark Cloud Review (May 3, 2001)
4. Soundtrack could use more varietyIGN: Dark Cloud Review (May 3, 2001)