Dark Cloud 2 / Dark Chronicle

- You have two player characters, each with a close range and long range weapon, as well as a ridepod (robot thing) and monster transformation. You can switch between any of these at any time.

- Monster transformation is awful, don't touch it beyond the one time you need to use it.

- The ridepod is fantastic if you can research and build good parts for it. Just don't buy the voicebox for it, trust me.

- The amulet long-range weapon isn't as pathetic as you might think, you just have to charge each shot to get the full attack power. I went a full playthrough without knowing this.

- Take photographs of everything you can, and keep trying combinations to make new inventions. Ridepod parts, especially, can be invented long before you might otherwise find them, if you can find them at all.