Drakengard 2

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Slipstream
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Drakengard 2

Post by Slipstream »

I just wanted to take a break and talk about a game I have been playing for about two weeks. Drakengard 2 recieved abissmal reviews over the press but I doubt it really has been given a chance. Let me take a moment to reflect...

The original Drakengard combined Panzer Dragon elements with Dynasty Warriors. The later gathered more comparisons. Where Drakengard only had one character with many weapons, Dynasty Warriors had 40 characters with one weapon each. But Drakengard had something Dynasty Warriors lacked...plot. Drakengard had a story. Sure it also involved hittin' the X button repeatedly...but do did Dynasty Warriors. Drakengard had characters that developed in XP and in story.

Of course...it was depraved.

Drakengard's main character, Caim, was revenge-driven, partially insane, and had an unhealhty attraction to his sister. His pact partner dragon was arrogant, uncarring, and carried an almost overwhelming hatred of mankind. Caim's best friend turned traitor. Oh there were other characters. You also got control of the pyschotic elf that killed children, the depressed blind guy whose pact partner was a fairy that constantly berrated him. And oh yes...then there was the 6 year old child. That last one wasn't that bad until you consider his twin sister was one of the most evil characters in the game and is sole responsible for the apocalypse. Pleasent, no?

Okay, so by the end, the Dragon respects life, Caim (your character) lets go of his revenge and the world is saved. This is only of five endings the game presents. The remaining ones became more and more depressed. The second one has dragons rising up to wipe out mankind. The third ending had demons emerging to do likewise. In all these variations, Caim's sister, who life is precious and is the only pure good character in the game, dies. No matter what you do, you can never save her. She either dies by someone else's hands or by her own. Oh and the 3rd endings, those demons are really replications of her. This leads to the fourth (the fifth is really just one more battle). This ending closes up all the character arcs and answers all the questions and resolves all of the variant storylines...

....but every characters dies...

Couple this with SquareEnix cinematics and you have a very good value game (you could find it as cheap as 9$ now). The Sequel...is...well...nicer. The characters are not evil. The dragon isn't...AS arrogant. And the evil 6 year old girl from the last game is here trying to redemm herself. So the story is not as dark, sure....but the game is better now. For one they made the combat easier and made the gameplay tigher. You can do more and weild more. Plus, and this is a selling point, everytime you die, it is not a waste. Every time you die, you can restart the level, keeping all the experience you gleemed up until that point. This means no matter how often you die trying to complete a level, its never a waste of time. There are dozens of weapons scattered over four characters, all of which are useful. Each weapon carries four levels of power. Not only does each level offer more combos and super moves, but it also reveals more and more of a little story snippet on that weapon....and every weapon has a story. Talk about detail.

Multiple endings...oh yes. This game only has three but it lets you keep every single thing you acquired from the previous game, going into the next one. It also cranks up the difficulty a notch to make things a tad bit more tricky. The game, running about 15-20 hours per play, now triples in order to view these three variant endings. Yes, the games lack of budget shows in comparison to the first Drakengard. Sqaure's super high quality movies were everywhere in the first game. Here they are more sparse. Many game engine movies are really just freeze frames with drawn heads talking. However, I looked past it because it carried a good story with an ending that didn't feel like a waste of time.

I think this game has gotten a bad wrap and I wish those out there reading this might take a moment to give it another chance.
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Post by sonic »

Belated reply, but hey...
Drakengard's main character, Caim, was revenge-driven, partially insane, and had an unhealhty attraction to his sister. His pact partner dragon was arrogant, uncarring, and carried an almost overwhelming hatred of mankind.
Umm... Did you say you were trying to sell people on this game? Because that sounds likely to put me off, really...

It looked interesting when it came out, but then I heard nothing about it. But it is by Square, and I like Square a lot. So tell me, is it more Final Fantasy RPG-style (doesn't sound like it from the depressingness of it that you described), or is it more like one of those hard-to-place, almost strategy game-like "go around collecting warriors" kind of RPGs? Oh, I don't know if that was said very clearly; you know what I mean though, right? Is it the kind of RPG that makes you want to buy the music and collect the action figures and trading cards and has you reliving your favourite moments and places in it forever; or is it kind of more for the normal, "grown-up" PC game-esque generation, with a hint of darkness?
In all these variations, Caim's sister, who life is precious and is the only pure good character in the game, dies. No matter what you do, you can never save her.
You... uh... just spoilt the ending?
Slipstream
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Post by Slipstream »

I am selling on the Sequel. I didn't say anthing about the sequel. Thats why the post is called Drakengard 2. Drakengard 1 is what I was talking about. :) Yeah...it was a dark game with dark characters. I enjoyed it for that. I would have liked to have saved her though...
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Post by sonic »

But... I would not play the sequel before playing the first one!
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