Looking for a certain type of game.

Limond · October 2010

Hello there, I figured I would ask this here. I am looking for any games that are similar to Dark Cloud (original). I really love town/city building and love that as you do things in game the world changes around it.

I like the world visually changing. Not the Fallout type stuff where they just say things get better but it doesn't look like it.

For example you repopulate a rundown town by bringing settlers there. The town will grow to look like its lived in (building/built new houses etc.)

If anyone has recommendations that would be awesome.

Note P.C preference, but can be on DS or 360.

SirUltimos · October 2010

Viva Pinata might be a good choice. It's for both the 360 and the DS and PC. As you grow your garden things will visually change and you'll see it get to be much more alive. It's kinda small scale, but it should work.

The Dude With Herpes · October 2010

Yeah I can't think of anything that does the Dark Cloud thing very well except Dark Cloud 2 which still is an amazing game.

Fable 2/3 does it to a very limited degree. There's Legend of Mana for the PS1, which wasn't on your list of included platforms.

Other than that all I can think of are super complex 4x games like Civ and whatnot. I guess Civilization Revolution would be a more "mild" game, its on the PC, 360 and DS.

It's a very untapped subgenre, a game that mixes that sort of world building with adventure. It's just not done.

EDIT: I need to play Viva Pinata again. I played the loving shit out of the demo when I first got my 360, then bought the game and promptly never played it.

It was a lot of fun. Maybe its something I can put time into after I finish fable 3 and fallout nv.

Limond · October 2010

Fable didn't do it nearly enough for me. And Dark Cloud 2 I don't want to talk about. Chair pumpkin belt is obviously an invention! Though I do love the Civ games its not quite what im looking for.

A question about Viva. Do you control the whole world, or are parts of it unable to be changed?

Kami · October 2010

My favorite part of Assassin's Creed 2 was rebuilding a city to its formal glory.

Plus, the rest of AC2 is pretty badass anyway, so I'd recommend that! Also,

for Dark Cloud as well.

RoyceSraphim · October 2010

I thought one of the dragon quest games let you build a village and recuit people to live there.

There are also some fallout 3 mods that let you build your own town and do some very cosmetic stuff to it.

Drake · October 2010

Perhaps Mount & Blade may interest you? You can become a Lord and control lands and improve villages and stuff. I always do the roaming mercenary Captain bit, and shy away from too much responsibility, but you can also like run villages and build shit and defend your lands and mete out justice (after you progress to a certain point {well, there is always a lot justice meted around all over the place}). Tons of mods are available too, more for the first game the last time I bothered to look, but Warbands boasts many improvements right out of the gate, including a pretty intense multiplayer mode.

Skexis · October 2010

Black & White 1 & 2 sound like they have the visual aspect you're going for. They're both more of an RTS/Virtual Pet type of game, but I always found it fascinating how the town and your animal avatar would change based on your actions.

Kristmas Kthulhu · October 2010

I was also going to suggest Secret of Mana, a game I just recently started playing. I had (and still have) no idea what the hell I'm supposed to be doing in a greater sense, but until I figure it out, I'm having quite a bit of fun meeting people and crafting musical instruments (I don't have a clue what the fuck they're for).

It's an interesting game that immediately made me think of Dark Cloud, with a tone that alternates between being genuinely funny and light-hearted and kinda dark.

The Dude With Herpes · October 2010

Secret of mana doesn't have the city building aspect of Dark Cloud at all. Its a straight up, pretty linear, action/rpg. It's a great game, sure, but not what he's asking about.

Also liking Dark Cloud over Dark Cloud 2 is so bizarre that I don't even know how to respond to it. 2 was so infinitely better in every aspect man...I just don't even know.

Xagarath · October 2010

It's not on any console you said, but Little King's Story fits the bill by a mile.
Worth owing a Wii just for it, too.

Kristmas Kthulhu · October 2010

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

Secret of mana doesn't have the city building aspect of Dark Cloud at all. Its a straight up, pretty linear, action/rpg. It's a great game, sure, but not what he's asking about.

Also liking Dark Cloud over Dark Cloud 2 is so bizarre that I don't even know how to respond to it. 2 was so infinitely better in every aspect man...I just don't even know.

Whoops, I meant Legend of Mana. Like I said, I just started it and didn't know which "of Mana" game it was. It's the same one you recommended earlier.

Xaviar · October 2010

Limond wrote: »

Fable didn't do it nearly enough for me. And Dark Cloud 2 I don't want to talk about. Chair pumpkin belt is obviously an invention! Though I do love the Civ games its not quite what im looking for.

A question about Viva. Do you control the whole world, or are parts of it unable to be changed?

In Viva Piñata you control your entire world. Which is just a garden. Which sounds admittedly small, though it gets larger as you progress, and ends up quite large indeed.

It's actually fairly close to what you're looking for, though pretty light on the adventure. It's basically a super fleshed out city mode from dark cloud, minus the dungeons.

Magic Pink · October 2010

You may want to look into the Harvest Moon games on the DS. And White Knight Chronicles but I think that's PS3 only. You build your whole town in that; it's done by the Dark Cloud team. It's just not... well... just read some reviews first.

Magitek · October 2010

Would Azure dreams be too much of a stretch for this? I recall putting money into the city between tower dives. It's less direct, but I think it covers what you're after. You'll need a way to play PSX1 games, though its not hard to get a decent setup on pc these days.

"For example you repopulate a rundown town by bringing settlers there. The town will grow to look like its lived in (building/built new houses etc.)"

back of the box:

Magic Pink · October 2010

Magitek wrote: »

Would Azure dreams be too much of a stretch for this? I recall putting money into the city between tower dives. It's less direct, but I think it covers what you're after. You'll need a way to play PSX1 games, though its not hard to get a decent setup on pc these days.

"For example you repopulate a rundown town by bringing settlers there. The town will grow to look like its lived in (building/built new houses etc.)"

back of the box:

Oh hell yeah. It's a PS1 game but it's pretty much the same thing. A roguelike with town building. You don;t get to choose where to put the buildings but you DO build them.

Man I've been working on that game off and on since it was released and I STILL haven't finished it.

Dhalphir · October 2010

Kami wrote: »

My favorite part of Assassin's Creed 2 was rebuilding a city to its formal glory.

Plus, the rest of AC2 is pretty badass anyway, so I'd recommend that! Also, for Dark Cloud as well.

as fun as it was, it wasn't particularly deep, it just sort of happened as you played the game.

RoyceSraphim · October 2010

Wow, thats exactly what i would like to play, a roguelike with a village building aspect.

edit: I actually would enjoy a game like this where you are the town doctor and as the town grows bigger, you have bigger and bigger "battles" with multiple "enemies".

Limond · October 2010

Little King's Story seems pretty close. Alas on the Wii. Ill have to give Harvest Moon a look. And regarding Dark Cloud over Dark Cloud 2. I might just be looking at it through rose colored glasses. I played Dark Cloud probably 4 or 5 times and I can't really recall anything about Dark Cloud 2 except for golf and inventions.

Magic Pink · October 2010

Limond wrote: »

Little King's Story seems pretty close. Alas on the Wii. Ill have to give Harvest Moon a look. And regarding Dark Cloud over Dark Cloud 2. I might just be looking at it through rose colored glasses. I played Dark Cloud probably 4 or 5 times and I can't really recall anything about Dark Cloud 2 except for golf and inventions.

Dark Cloud 2 takes a LONG time to get to the city building. Keep at it, it's much better then 1. But 1 is still great.

Opium · October 2010

Little King's Story is pretty much exactly what you are looking for.

cwoac · November 2010

RoyceSraphim wrote: »

Wow, thats exactly what i would like to play, a roguelike with a village building aspect.

edit: I actually would enjoy a game like this where you are the town doctor and as the town grows bigger, you have bigger and bigger "battles" with multiple "enemies".

hmmm. like if there was away to switch between adventurer and fortress modes on DF... Now that would be awesome.

Slime Quest Adventures had the city being rebuilt, but you had basically no control over it.

a little tenous, but the overall description sounds somewhat reminiscent of xcom...

CygnusZ · November 2010

Ever think of just playing Simcity?

Dhalphir · November 2010

or MineCraft?

seabass · November 2010

RoyceSraphim wrote: »

Wow, thats exactly what i would like to play, a roguelike with a village building aspect.

Dwarf fortress has a city building mode and a roguelike mode, you might try that.

Cherrn · November 2010

Hinterland is a somewhat overlooked RPG/city building hybrid. It's not a fantastic game, but it is fairly cheap on Steam.

Also go back and play Soulblazer. That game still holds up.

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