Chocobo's Dungeon 2

Last updated

Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Chocobo's Dungeon 2 boxart.jpg
North American version cover art
Developer(s) Square
Publisher(s) Square
Director(s) Kazuhiko Aoki
Producer(s) Hironobu Sakaguchi
Designer(s) Nobuaki Komoto
Hiroshi Takahashi
Programmer(s) Shin Kimura
Composer(s) Kenji Ito
Yasuhiro Kawakami
Tsuyoshi Sekito
Kumi Tanioka
Series Chocobo
Mystery Dungeon
Platform(s) PlayStation
Release
  • JP: December 23, 1998
  • NA: December 17, 1999 [1]
Genre(s) Role-playing game
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Chocobo's Dungeon 2 [a] is the 1998 role-playing video game by Square for the PlayStation. It is the sequel to 1997's Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon .

Contents

Gameplay

The player plays as Chocobo, navigating randomly-generated levels of mysterious dungeons to progress the story. Each time the player enters the same dungeon, the path through the maze will be different, although the same set of monsters will be encountered. [2] Chocobo may have a partner character assisting him throughout the dungeon, which typically resolves in a boss fight. There are several partner characters, most of which will be recognizable to Final Fantasy veterans, including Cid; a young white mage girl, Shiroma; and Mog, a moogle. Though the game is an isometric 2D adventure, there are occasionally 3D cutscenes. [2]

In the beginning of the game, Chocobo can only carry a few items in his inventory. If he dies in the dungeon, all items in the inventory are lost. As the game progresses, the player will be able to rent storage space in town and send extra items there. Items in storage are not lost if Chocobo dies. Deeper dungeons become more difficult and more powerful items are obtainable. [2]

Combat is conducted in a turn-based manner, with player and enemy alternating their actions. Chocobo and his partner can attack in any of eight different directions. [3] Aside from attacking, characters may also use items, spells, or character-specific abilities. [2] These actions may be augmented by feathers, which provides special abilities such as kicking items through wall, unlocking area of effect spells, and substituting the partner with powerful summon characters.

Chocobo can also equip various claws as weapons and saddles as armors. Claws and saddles may be combined in stoves to improve its statistics and with the correct combination, produce powerful effects such as the ability to attack in multiple directions or resistance to multiple status effects. Chocobo and his partner can also temporarily assume the form of some of the creatures from the game through the use of morph tonic or traps, gaining unique abilities such as flying over traps or turning enemies into toads.

After the credits run at the end of the game, the player is offered a new mode where it is possible to revisit any of the dungeons as one of Chocobo's partners. This second playthrough also has a secret dungeon with 30 levels.

Story

Characters

There are many characters in Chocobo's Dungeon 2, and each of them helps Chocobo in a different way at one point in the game. For example, Mrs. Bomb lets Chocobo stay at her house.

Some characters join Chocobo and can be controlled by a second player or the AI. These include Mog, Shiroma, and Cid. There are also characters that Chocobo can summon by collecting feathers, such as Titan, Sylph, Ramuh and Bahamut.

Setting

Chocobo's Dungeon 2 is mostly based in a village. There is a beach near the village and a vast sea. Towering over the village is a large tower covered in ivy, Cid's Tower. North of the village is a huge forest, a swamp and a looming mountain, Snow Mountain. When progressing through the game, the overworld changes a few times.

Plot

At the start of the game, Mog takes Chocobo treasure hunting. They enter a monster-filled dungeon and Mog flicks a switch that separates him from Chocobo. Chocobo then meets the white mage Shiroma. She claims she has important work to do in the dungeon and leaves. Then Chocobo enters the dungeon again and finds Shiroma again.

Shiroma decides to help Chocobo find his friend Mog. They succeed, but due to Mog's greed he ends up sinking the dungeon into the sea and destroying Shiroma's home, forcing them to go to a nearby village where Shiroma's "Aunt Bomb" lets Mog and Chocobo stay. However, Shiroma is then kidnapped and it is up to Chocobo to save her. Chocobo gets the help of the local inventor Cid after helping him clear out the imps taking over his tower.

Development and release

Squaresoft announced Chocobo's Dungeon 2 in July 1998, alongside plans to release the game that December. Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon , the game's predecessor, had been released the previous year. [4] Chocobo's Dungeon 2 became the first Mystery Dungeon title released outside Japan. [5] IGN was surprised that the word "mysterious" was removed from the title, and wondered why the game was being released in America as the previous title had moderate sales in Japan, and the original had never been released at all outside Japan. [6] They also noted that it seemed to generate the least amount of "fanfare" or press attention of Square's announcements at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show. [6]

Longtime Chocobo character designer Toshiyuki Itahana made designs and models for the protagonist of Chocobo's Dungeon 2. [7] The music was composed by Kenji Ito, and was well reviewed by RPGFan, saying the music was lighthearted, enjoyable, and no tracks were "skippable". [8]

The game was released in Japan on December 23, 1998, [9] and was supposed to be released in North America on January 12, 2000, [2] before the date was pushed earlier to December 17, 1999. [10] On release, the game came packed with demos of game such as Parasite Eve or Bushido Blade 2 . [11] A version of the game was planned for the WonderSwan Color, but was never released. [12]

Reception

The game received average reviews. Chris Charla of NextGen was generally positive to the game, despite noting that the game does not bring anything new to the genre. [23] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 33 out of 40. [17]

David Zdyrko of IGN called the game "boring", and said that "it lacks just about every feature that is important in a masterful role-playing experience". [3] Andrew Vestal of GameSpot praised the Japanese import's graphical design, calling it endearing, and praising said import's replayability. [22] George Ngo of GameFan called the game "slow-paced, drab and gloomy", saying the gameplay is repetitive and boring, and describing the dungeons as mono-colored. [19] E. Coli of GamePro said that Chocobo's Dungeon 2 is primarily aimed at younger audience due to its cuteness in the game, also saying that the seasoned players would not find anything new in it. [26] [d]

Famitsu rated the game as the 53rd best PlayStation game in November 2000. [27]

Legacy

Square Enix designers considered basing Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy! , a 2019 remaster of the Wii game Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, around Chocobo's Dungeon 2, as it was cited as one of the more popular Chocobo Dungeon games in the series. [28] The enemy creature Skull Hammer was incorporated into that port. [29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon 2 (Japanese: チョコボの不思議なダンジョン2, Hepburn: Chokobo no Fushigina Danjon 2, lit. Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2).
  2. ↑ Four critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 7/10, 6/10, 7.5/10, and 3.5/10.
  3. ↑ In GameFan 's viewpoint of the game, three critics gave it each a score of 58, 67, and 71.
  4. ↑ GamePro gave the game 4.5/5 for graphics, 2.5/5 for sound, 4/5 for control, and 3/5 for fun factor.

Related Research Articles

<i>Chocobos Mysterious Dungeon</i> 1997 role-playing video game

Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon is a roguelike dungeon crawler video game developed and published by Square. A spin-off of the Final Fantasy series of role-playing video games, it was also the first entry in what would become the Chocobo series. It saw a Japan-only release on December 23, 1997, for PlayStation, and a version was released on March 4, 1999, for WonderSwan. The game was re-released in 2010 on PlayStation Network in Japan as a PSOne Classic.

<i>Chocobo Racing</i> 1999 racing video game

Chocobo Racing is a racing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation, A spin-off of the Final Fantasy series and part of the Chocobo spin-off series. It was released in Japan in March 1999, followed by North America and Europe in August and October, respectively. The game's star and namesake is the Chocobo, with other figures from the Final Fantasy series, such as Mog the Moogle, the Black Mage, and Cid being part of the cast. Most of the game's soundtrack is composed using songs from previous Final Fantasy titles. As a formulaic kart racer, Chocobo Racing is often compared to Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing.

<i>Tsugunai: Atonement</i> 2001 video game

Tsugunai: Atonement is a 2001 role-playing video game developed by Cattle Call and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It was released in North America by Atlus USA.

<i>Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse</i> 2001 video game

Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse is an action role-playing game (ARPG) developed and published by Metro3D for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) home game console.

<i>SaGa Frontier 2</i> 1999 video game

SaGa Frontier 2 is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation. It is the eighth original game in the SaGa series. Initially released in Japan in April 1999, an English version was made available in North America in February 2000 by Square Electronic Arts and in PAL regions the following March by Square. Development for the title was headed by series creator Akitoshi Kawazu, with music by Masashi Hamauzu. The game features an art style unique to the series at the time it was released, utilizing hand-painted watercolor backdrops and characters to give the game a storybook feel. Like other SaGa games, gameplay is largely non-linear, giving the player multiple paths to follow in order to complete the game.

<i>Torneko: The Last Hope</i> 1999 video game

Torneko: The Last Hope is a 1999 role-playing video game for the PlayStation. The game was co-developed by Chunsoft and Matrix Software and published by Enix. In Japan, the game was ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2001.

<i>Azure Dreams</i> 1997 video game

Azure Dreams is a roguelike role-playing video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami for the PlayStation. A Game Boy Color game with the same name was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya and released two years later. A spiritual sequel, Tao's Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal, was released on the Nintendo DS in 2005.

<i>Alundra 2</i> 1999 video game

Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins is an action role-playing game developed by Matrix Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan in 1999 and internationally by Activision in 2000. It was produced by Contrail.

<i>Blue Dragon</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Blue Dragon is a role-playing video game developed by Mistwalker and Artoon in collaboration with Microsoft Game Studios Japan and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. Blue Dragon is based on a design by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, who also supervised development and wrote the plot. It is both Mistwalker's debut title and the first title to be helmed by Sakaguchi outside of Square Enix.

<i>EverGrace</i> 2000 video game

EverGrace is a 2000 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 2 (PS2). It was released in Japan in April 2000 by FromSoftware, North America by Agetec in October 2000 as a launch title for the PS2 in the region and PAL territories in January 2001 by Ubi Soft and Crave Entertainment.

Mystery Dungeon, known in Japan as Fushigi no Dungeon, is a series of roguelike role-playing video games. Most were developed by Chunsoft, now Spike Chunsoft since the merging in 2012, and select games were developed by other companies with Chunsoft's permission. The series began when co–creator of Dragon Quest, Koichi Nakamura, was inspired by Seiichiro Nagahata's experience with Rogue, who is also a fellow developer from the company, and a desire to create an original series. It began on the Super Famicom, progressing to almost all of Nintendo's and Sony's home and handheld consoles, WonderSwan, Dreamcast, Windows, and mobile devices.

<i>Dark Cloud</i> 2000 video game

Dark Cloud is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Originally intended as a launch title for the system in March 2000, the game was eventually released in Japan in December 2000, in North America in May 2001, and in Europe in September. A spiritual sequel, Dark Chronicle, was released in Japan in 2002 and worldwide the following year.

<i>Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobos Dungeon</i> 2007 video game

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon is a 2007 role-playing video game published by Square Enix for the Wii. It is an installment in the Chocobo series that focuses on Chocobo and his quest to free a town lost in time from eternal forgetfulness. It is a loose sequel to Chocobo's Dungeon 2 on the PlayStation.

<i>The Adventures of Cookie & Cream</i> 2000 video game

The Adventures of Cookie & Cream, known as Kuri Kuri Mix in Japan and Europe, is an action-adventure video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 2 released in 2000. In 2007, it was ported to the Nintendo DS as Cookie & Cream.

<i>MySims Kingdom</i> 2008 video game

MySims Kingdom is a video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts as a spin-off to Maxis' The Sims franchise for the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2008. MySims Kingdom is a follow-up to MySims, which was released in 2007 and was followed by MySims Party, MySims Racing, MySims Agents and MySims SkyHeroes.

<i>Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts</i> 2007 video game

Dungeon Explorer: Meiyaku no Tobira and Dungeon Explorer: Jashin no Ryōiki are a pair of action role-playing video game for the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS, respectively. Both games were localized and released as Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts in the United States and as Dungeon Explorer in Europe. The games are related to the PC Engine game Dungeon Explorer. Both are action role-playing games. They feature wireless connectivity to allow multiple players to connect to each other, and Jashin no Ryouiki also allows for online play using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection on the Nintendo DS.

The Chocobo series is part of the Final Fantasy franchise owned by Square Enix. A spin-off series meant to have more child and casual gamer appeal than the main games, it spans multiple genres, beginning with Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon in 1997. It features a recurring cast of characters designed by Toshiyuki Itahana and rendered in a more chibi style than traditional Final Fantasy games. They include Chocobo, the protagonist and a member of the fictional chocobo species of flightless birds; Mog, a moogle who is Chocobo's friend, Shirma, a white mage, and Croma, a black mage, among other recurring series characters. One of the most major genres within the series are Mystery Dungeon games, while it has also branched off into tabletop games. Its most recent entry is Chocobo GP, a kart racing game released in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.

References

  1. ↑ Kennedy, Sam (December 17, 1999). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2 Released". GameSpot . Fandom. Archived from the original on March 2, 2000. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Perry, Douglass C. (December 14, 1999). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2 (Preview)". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Zdyrko, David (January 24, 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  4. ↑ Ohbuchi, Yutaka (July 15, 1998). "Square Revives Chocobo". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on March 7, 2000. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  5. ↑ "History Lesson #45: Shiren the Wanderer". NGamer. No. 48. April 2020. p. 99.
  6. 1 2 Kaufmann, Andrew (September 9, 1999). "What's in the Cards for Square?". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ Ding, Lowey (March 20, 2019). "Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy! Out Today, Character Designer Art Showcase". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  8. ↑ Gann, Patrick (October 15, 2000). "Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2 Original Soundtrack". RPGFan. Emerald Shield Media LLC. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ IGN staff (December 11, 1998). "Chocobo Brings Surprise Extras". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  10. ↑ IGN staff (December 17, 1999). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2 Ships Early". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Pero Quien Es Este Pequeno Chocobo?". Revisita Loading (in Spanish). August 1999. pp. 56–57.
  12. ↑ Sato, Yukiyoshi Ike (December 1, 1999). "Square WonderSwan games update". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on March 4, 2000. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Chocobo's Dungeon 2 for PlayStation". GameRankings . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019.
  14. ↑ Ottoson, Joe. "Chocobo's Dungeon 2 - Review". AllGame . All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  15. ↑ Chou, Che; Smith, Shawn; Johnston, Chris; Hsu, Dan "Shoe" (February 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 127. Ziff Davis. p. 180. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  16. ↑ Lopez, Miguel (February 16, 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2". The Electric Playground . Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on March 30, 2003. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  17. 1 2 "チョコボの不思議なダンジョン2". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  18. ↑ Reppen, Erik (January 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2". Game Informer . No. 81. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on May 22, 2000. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  19. 1 2 Ngo, George "Eggo" (February 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2". GameFan . Vol. 8, no. 2. Shinno Media. p. 31. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  20. ↑ Mylonas, Eric "ECM"; Weitzner, Jason "Fury"; Rodriguez, Tyrone "Cerberus" (February 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 2. Shinno Media. p. 12. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  21. ↑ Liu, Johnny (January 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2 Review". GameRevolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  22. 1 2 Vestal, Andrew (February 11, 1999). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2 Review [JP Import]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  23. 1 2 Charla, Chris (February 2000). "Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2 [sic]". NextGen . No. 62. Imagine Media. p. 96. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  24. ↑ MacDonald, Mark (February 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine . Vol. 3, no. 5. Ziff Davis. p. 96. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  25. ↑ Tan, Jeremy (December 25, 1999). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2". RPGFan. Emerald Shield Media LLC. Archived from the original on October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  26. ↑ E. Coli (February 2000). "Chocobo's Dungeon 2" (PDF). GamePro . No. 137. IDG. p. 122. Archived from the original on December 20, 2004. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  27. ↑ IGN staff (November 20, 2000). "Famitsu Weekly PlayStation Top 100". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 27, 2001. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  28. ↑ Wong, Alastair (February 23, 2019). "Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy Removes Pop-Up Duels, Romantic Phrases". Siliconera. Gamurs. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  29. ↑ Ding, Lowey (March 20, 2019). "Celebrate the PS4 launch of Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy! with these stunning pieces of art". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.