Dark Cloud/YMMV


 * Alas, Poor Villain: Gaspard and Griffon from the second game.
 * Character Tiers: In the first game, Toan and Ruby are obviously the best characters in the game. Toan has the most weapon selection, a really good glitch, and Ruby has the best range and damage to boot. Xiao is...okay but it takes a bit of time before she gets really good. It's easy to let her fall behind because Ruby can just be that much better with less effort. Ungaga and Osmond can also be pretty good too, but by the time they join, Toan and Ruby can pretty much be destroying all the enemies with little need for them. Goro...forget it. Slow attacker, has some powerful weapons but having a powerful weapon doesn't help if you can't combo at melee range or you have an incredibly inaccurate attack. He is useful for a boss fight, but you don't even need him for that...
 * Nevertheless, the other characters in the first game do have their strengths. What Xiao has over Ruby is that her shots move faster and she can take off her elemental attributes, which Ruby can't. Osmond hits with a machine gun and is able to move while attacking, and Ungaga has a wide attack range.
 * You have to build them all up regardless, as when you start going  Which can really suck.
 * Complete Monster: The Evil Clown Flotsam in Dark Cloud 2, despite being Laughably Evil. He doesn't need any influence from Emperor Griffin to be evil, he's rotten on his own.
 * Dark Element was a literal example of this.
 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: Paznos shooting down the Moon Flower Palace, and then catching it before it falls on Palm Brinks.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Occasionally in the first game, and frequently in the second.
 * The Opening/Main Theme of the first game.
 * The theme that plays when you're in the Flower Garden in Dark Cloud 2.
 * Demonic Spiders: Any enemy in Cloud with unblockable attacks that knocked you down. Arthurs, Crescent Barons, the Golem's model swaps...
 * Disappointing Last Level: That stupid dream stairway that comes between the second-to-last final boss and the final boss in Dark Chronicle. Fortunately, with properly leveled up weapons, it shouldn't take long. Still, it pretty much stalls what was up until then a very intense climax in the game.
 * Fan Dumb: When the first game was being advertised, PlayStation 2 fans took the "Zelda Killer" angle and milked it for all it was worth in several take thats directed at the Nintendo's rival series, The Legend of Zelda. Needless to say, they ate crow when Dark Cloud only did mildly well and Zelda retained its crown.
 * Goddamned Bats: The dragon enemies that shoot fireballs from a distance, and tackle you when close, causing Stop status. Also, in 2, the literal goddamned bats...at least when you are required to use your melee weapon on them or Item attacks.
 * Les Yay: In Chronicle, if Monica talks to Claire before she joins the party, Claire sort of crushes on her.
 * Sidetracked By City-Building
 * Dark Cloud is only a minor example with the city building (and there's not really much to do with it after you get 100% for that town) and fishing.
 * Dark Chronicle takes it Up to Eleven by adding more freedom to the city building (you can make tons of items to decorate the houses or the areas around them, you can move in more people even after getting 100% completion if you want, etc.), adding more depth to the fishing (leveling up your fishing poles, and a fishing contest that gives prizes for the largest fish), an aquarium where you can feed and breed your fish to prepare them for the Fish Race, a golf-like mini-game (Spheda) that can net you some awesome prizes on some floors, medal collecting, photography, and Item Crafting.
 * Chronicle also has three different types of guns for Max (regular gun, grenade launcher, ray gun) for compulsive completionists to build up.
 * Squick: In the first game, "Pumpkin Panty Fortune Telling". There are no words to describe it.
 * And Monica's default costume has a piece called Pumpkin Shorts. Is she related?
 * Also, in the first game, they actually drew Dran's butthole.
 * The first game also had a graphic death scene when fighting the Killer Snake. Both your death and the snake's.
 * Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Obviously, Dark Chronicle.
 * That One Boss: LA SAIA, YOU BITCH!
 * That One Sidequest: Use "Items Only" to defeat enemies. Especially when the level is populated with high-flying Goddamn Bats, and items are expensive.
 * Tier-Induced Scrappy: Goro in the first game. He's slow, has a terrible attack range, only hits once, and is most likely knocked back if you try to use charged attacks. He's more or less why you need bombs in the game.
 * Monica can become this in the second game. Max may be much slower than Monica, but he can take enemies out in three hits, whereas Monica can take them out in one or two combos. Did we also mention that Max gets a weapon that can carry him through the game with its evolutions, and is strong to start out with, whereas Monica's ranged attack is Cherry Tapping unless you have the patience of a saint and build it up? Plus, M Ax has access to the ridepod which is much better than Monster Transformation, and you're required to use the Ridepod way more than Monster Transformation.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Arguably Seda in the first game; very, very specifically Sirus and Gaspard in the second.