Dark Cloud was first released in Japan on December 14, 2000. It was localized in English and released in North America and Europe the following year and was touted by Sony as being 30% larger than the original Japanese release. The additional content included an updated battle system, extra weapons and monsters, improved AI, additional Duel battles, and a 100-floor post-game dungeon exclusive to the English-language release called the "Demon Shaft". Spoiler:Defeating the final boss of the dungeon, Black Knight Pendragon, will award the player with the sword "Chronicle 2", which can also be found in Dark Cloud 2 by building up the original Chronicle Sword into it. While the original Chronicle Sword also exists in Dark Cloud, it cannot be built up into Chronicle 2.