its not really in a dark atomosphere, well theres Great Hollow thats a dark village and some caves and stuff but besides that its light out most of the time. When i started playing i was lost and didnt really like the game to be honest but once you get ur characters around lvl 2-3 and
play as thomas (secret character)
. you get really into the story and characters. i think suiko III has the best story for an RPG on ps2 and practicly any other next gen console RPG.