Dark Cloud/Norune

Game start
Start by going to the Mayor’s house which is the only building still standing. It's the barrel shaped thing on the ledge. A dialog starts when you enter.

The Mayor is thankful you survived but distressed that you and he seem to be the only ones. He asks you to contact Dran, the guardian of the village, who is to be found in the Divine Beast Cave. The Mayor gives you the Cave Key so you can enter, and a few basic supplies for your journey. After you visit the dungeon, but only up certain point in the game, he tops these off if you talk to him. Eventually he no longer does this and you’re on your own. Items replaced are Tasty Water, Bread, Repair Powder, Escape Powder, Antidote Drink. Look for a Prickly in the Mayor's closet.

Head for the cave and use the key to enter. (Press psx: S when you see the exclamation mark, then select the key.) The key disappears after use. Select the floor (there is only one choice at this point) to start exploring.

Enter dungeon first floor
A dialog starts. The Fairy King greets you and gives you information about how to get around in the dungeon and how to escape if needed. He also gives you a tutorial on weapons. Finally he reminds you about finding Atla to restore the village.

The monsters on the first level are weak, but your weapon and defense are also weak, plus your supply of healing and thirst quenching items is limited, so this may be a tough level if you can't find a spring. Open chests to find a map and if you do then look for a blue area, otherwise keep exploring. If you do find a spring then keep returning to it whenever your health or water level gets low. If not then find as much treasure and Atla as you can and use escape powder to return to the surface, there may be a spring the next time you enter the dungeon. Pay attention you your weapon's WHp since you won't be able to defeat every monster here without a repair. If you find Dran's Crest then use it to open level 2 but exit the dungeon when offered the option. In fact it's almost always a good idea to return to the surface after every level if only to save your progress. If you see a locked door with a bone-shaped keyhole then open treasure until you find a Bone key to open it.

Return to Norune with Atla
(At this point the sequence of events may change according to your actions and random factors. So this guide may differ somewhat from what actually happens in the game.)

There is a dialog where the Fairy King gives you a tutorial on rebuilding. He also gives you a player’s manual with additional details. The player’s manual is added to the main menu and also appears in your inventory. You can now start restoring the village but since there are a number of requirements you need to satisfy, and there’s no way of knowing what these requirements are at this point, it’s pointless to put much effort into it now. Which Atla you get on leach level is partially random, but it’s likely that you’ll have Macho’s House from the first level. Check in with the Mayor to top off your items, and keep doing this every time you return the the village until the Mayor tells you to stop asking. You may notice treasure chests in the village at this point. It may be better to hold off on opening these until the mayor

Completing houses
To complete a house, the first step is to release the house itself and the the people who live there from Atla. When you return to Norune, press psx: Select to switch to georama mode, then psx: T to open the menu and select Config/Assembly. Place the character icons in the corresponding slots in their house, then place the house somewhere in the village. Now cancel out of the menu and press psx: Select to return to walking mode. Locate the residents either inside their house or wandering around nearby. Talk to them once for a "good to be back" message, then talk to them again and select "What do you need for your home?". The person will answer and in this way the question marks covering the empty slots for the house are removed. Now you need to release the requested furnishings from Atla, but t's possible that you already have all the items in your inventory. If not return to the dungeon and keep releasing Atla until you do. Return the the village and open the Config/Assembly menu as before. Move the furnishings to the the corresponding slots and when everything is in place the background changes color and an event balloon appears next to the house. Knowing which item goes in which slot isn't always easy, but you can usually go by the shapes and the hints given when you highlight a slot. Switch back to walking mode and enter the house to start a cutscene and you receive a reward for completing the house. Once a house or other building has been fully assembled you can no longer remove the furnishings or people from it, you can still remove the house from the village though.

Once the house is assembled you need to find out where it should be placed. Locate the people living there again and this time select "How should I rebuild Norune?" (or whichever village). Now the person will give you a clue to where they want their house. If the house is already where they want it then you get a message thanking you instead. The georama analysis tool is useful here since it allows you to keep track of how many requests have been fulfilled.

Enter dungeon second floor
You see a stray cat who runs deeper into the dungeon.

There is no need to do a level by level description of the dungeons since the levels are mostly the same except for the monsters they contain and randomized content such as Atla and treasure. So from now on only levels where plot related events occur or special conditions hold will be mentioned.

Complete Macho’s House
Complete Macho’s House, then go inside to start a cutscene and collect your reward.

Enter dungeon third floor
A dialog with the Fairy King begins. He gives you some additional tips on fighting monsters.

Some of the monsters on this floor do heavy damage to weapons. Hopefully you will have found some additional weapons in chests so you can swap out ones needing repair. Otherwise it's possible that you will need to return to the surface for repair powder before finishing. If your weapon is low on WHp then an alternative is to throw gems or similar items at monsters, especially if it does a large amount of damage to your weapon. You don't get Abs points doing this but it can keep you fighting a bit longer if you've been lucky enough to have found some throwable items. If you do find a new weapon, it's a good idea to switch to it and avoid using the dagger unless you need to. The dagger, and base weapons in general, are much weaker that the other weapons in the game.

Enter dungeon fourth floor
There is a set battle here. First three Skelton Soldiers attack, followed by dual with a Master Jacket. This is the first dual in the game and the Fairy King appears momentarily to explain the mechanics. Basically ignore the battle itself and concentrate on the grey strip with symbols on it. Press the controller button matching the symbol when it reaches the hot zone on the left. The reward for winning is a chest with Dran’s Crest and another with an Undead buster. Once cleared, this level is empty when you return.

Enter dungeon fifth floor
Another dialog with the Fairy King begins. This is the third and final installment of his lessons on battle and weapon.

Enter dungeon sixth floor
You see the cat again and she disappears deeper into the dungeon as before.

Mimics inhabit this floor. They are impossible to tell apart from treasure chests so be prepared for attack when you open a chest.

Complete Claude’s House
Complete Claude's House then enter to start a dialog with Claude in the bath. (If you enter at dusk then Claude will be sleeping and you'll have to come back later.) He gives you Soap and Cheese in return for finishing the house.

Enter dungeon seventh floor
Yet another dialog with Fairy King begins. This time he talks about limited zones and back sections in dungeons.

This floor is a limited zone. In this case the Abs that would normally be gained by a weapon here is deducted instead. One way you can avoid this is to switch to a weapon whose Abs is already 0 (or close to it). The Abs can't go below zero so the negative Abs has no effect, though you still won't gain Abs. Note that you must change weapons before you enter the floor for this to work.

Complete Gaffer’s Buggy
Complete Gaffer’s Buggy and talk to Odd Gaffer standing in front of it for a dialog. He’s putting the final touches on the sign and announces that the shop is open. You don't get a reward for this other than being able to shop at his store now. You can now stock up on staples such as Bread, Regular Water and Repair Powder, so in theory you shouldn't no longer have to leave a dungeon because you're out of supplies. On the other hand, at this point the village Mayor stops giving you items for free and you now have to start paying for your supplies. Nearly all of the items you have been using the most are still pretty inexpensive so you're actually better off with the shop. The one item that may give you sticker shock is Antidote Drink, but your chances of being poisoned are going to drop soon. Start checking for treasure in the village now since it appears in various locations as you progress.

Enter dungeon eighth floor
There is a dialog with a magician you may remember from the opening cut scene hiding in the shadows when the dark genie was released. He wants the Atlamallia to defeat the genie and because he considers you unworthy of it. You refuse and a dual starts, the second dual of the game, but this is mostly a test of strength. When the dual is over he throws a final energy blast at you which you fail to dodge. At first he thinks it’s because you’re too slow but then he realizes it was to protect the stray cat that wandered into the battle area. As he leaves he tosses you Changing Potion, hinting that it’s for the cat. The cat is turned to Atla, collect this and use the menu to return to the surface since you can’t go any farther here until Xiao joins your party.

Complete My House
Complete My House, this can only be done after getting the Stray Cat in the eighth floor of the dungeon. Enter the upper level to start a dialog with Renee, Toan's mother. She is with the stray cat who is very friendly. You can change the cat's name from the default, Xiao, here. When the dialog is over the game returns you outside.

Go back into the house and up the stairs to find Xiao on the bed. Approach her and use the changing potion to turn her into a cat girl. Another dialog starts where joins your party.

You briefly visit the Fairy King who tells you a bit about allies. You can now switch to Xiao in dungeons.

Enter dungeon eighth floor with Xiao
Switch to Xiao and stand next to the moat that blocks the way. Look for the post in the middle and you should see a exclamation icon. Press psx: X and Xiao will jump over using a post as a stepping stone. From this level on this type of barrier, which only Xiao can cross, will appear randomly. Get Dran’s crest from the chest and continue.

Complete Paige’s House
Complete Paige’s House and enter the to start a dialog. Paige calls you upstairs, she thanks you for completing her house and gives you an extra pocket. You can now carry an additional 10 items for a total of 60. (In this case Paige "installs" the pocket for you. You get additional pockets as you progress in the game but you must give the pocket to Toan in the item screen for it to take effect.) Later in the game you will tend to run out of pocket space, so additional pockets are more useful than they may seem at the moment.

Dungeon eleventh floor
This is a restricted zone where you must play as Xiao. Xiao excels at flying monsters such as Cave Bats and is relatively weak against other types. But there are some tough monsters here and there is a good chance that you won't have found a better weapon for Xiao than her default. It may be a good idea to repeat levels 9 and 10 until you get a better slingshot. In any case, stock up on repair powder because you may have to do repairs several times here. The good news here is there is no Atla to find so you only need to find Dran's Crest to move on to the next floor.