Knees buckle before the great expanse
The threshold of ruin overtaken
Thoughts locked into hypnagogic trance

The foundations of reality thoroughly shaken
World screams out a final anguished cry
Searing pain on a land forsaken

A corpse whimpers a final lie
Phantasmagorical tears in space time abound
Clouds frozen in the blackened sky

Trembling ceases within the ground
Destruction slows into the still then
Atmosphere pierced by the soundless sound

A people denied their sundering end
Void spaces of slumber again and again

Ninth bar.
"My, my, my", you say as you take a sip from your 300$ cup of Dom Pérignon, "what a misstep from a professional violinist that is..."
Little did you know that only a couple of minutes later you will get blown off orbit by Alfred Schnittke, inevitably staining your way-too-expansive-for-the-average-joe-huh costume.

For a (broad) genre that is so commonly associated with elitism and bourgeoisie, using atonality in classical music has always been a hell of a thing as it directly challenges orthodox forms of Western music but also goes against the conservatism way of seeing everything under the veil of """beauty""".

Most of the droning conversations surrounding Drakengard are about its janky (to say the least) gameplay and whether or not this was Yoko Taro's intent (as if meaning slipping away from the artist's hands would undermine all artistic value).
There's little to no room for discussion about these ear-scorching violins, making a soundtrack exclusively out of unapologetically aggressive sound collages in a world of grand melodramatic orchestras and nice subtle ambient tracks is a hell of a feast from Nobuyoshi Sano and Takayuki Aihara.

Heck, I'd even argue that it doesn't even serve as a mere companion piece for Drakengard, this is as much of an incredible exploration of the cycle of violence as the whole design use of detachment from death games usually provide, and both the soundtrack and the core game are much more effective at doing so than most works wearing their "so subversive" title up their sleeves I've experienced yet.

I want more abrasive and nightmarish soundscapes to drown in, this is pure hell through and through, I am crying, I am curled up in a ball, I feel like shit, I am gasping for air, I need more.

Drakengard is one of the most interesting games I have ever played. At its first glance and in its opening hours, it seems like the standard RPG affair, and it's not until after the first of the games 5 endings did the gears start turning in my head. Drakengard’s thesis statement might as well be to subvert the players expectations at every turn after that first ending, and it's honestly one of the most ethereal gaming experiences I have ever witnessed. To be honest, I’m having trouble even formulating all of my thoughts in an even slightly coherent manner, because this game is so fucking good. I think it is inevitable that in a few months I will find anything I say in this review somewhat shallow but that's the beauty of interpretive art like this. I didn't truly understand Evangelion after I first watched it at 15 and I think my Metal Gear Solid 2 review is extremely surface level now but I leave it up as a digital time capsule. Can you tell this review is going to be a lot of yapping?

The game is a deconstruction of RPG and general fantasy tropes in such a brilliant way, at first seeming to give into them. However, as you go on and dig under the surface of these characters and realize their complexities you start to understand and appreciate Drakengard that much more. Caim at first looks the part of your standard pure of heart RPG protagonist, even going mute at the very beginning of the game to mimic this. However, you very quickly realize that Caim is an absolutely bloodthirsty maniac. He is purely fueled by blind rage and bloodlust, yet will still protect his sister because he knows he's supposed to care for her. The game calls you out on this constantly but you must continue the bloodshed in order to press on with the game…
His sister Furiae seems to be your standard pure and innocent “damsel in distress” character, but this presentation of her character early on is almost like a red herring of sorts. Her lack of development is a critique of that archetype in and of itself. She purposefully keeps the less savory parts of her locked away, and it's not until the end that it's revealed more. Her feelings for Caim are just subtly incestuous which serve to drive home the point that despite her surface level appearance as your standard pure damsel in distress, that's really not what she is. Every character is like this really, Verdelet constantly accosts Caim for his bloodshed yet he is the one that drives him to action most often and routinely benefits from it. Inuart seems like the standard best friend character but gets consumed by jealousy and a pursuit of power to protect his lover, almost acting like the protagonist of a story that's not his. The greatest thing about the complexities of these characters is that it's never too particularly in your face about it either. I absolutely love how this game urges you to dig deeper into its themes. Other than the deconstructive elements of the plot, I feel like Drakengard is a story about hatred, revenge, the things we lose, the importance of love and what a lack of love can do, and the inherent faults of humans. In endings A B and C, Caim loses those closest to him due to his endless conquest of bloodshed. He ends with less things than he started. Ending A he not only loses Furiae and Inuart, but Angelus as well. Ending B he loses not just the three mentioned but the world is doomed and it seems like whatever battle that comes next won't be one Caim survives. Ending B in particular really brings things full circle for Furiae to me as well. After an entire game where she gets minimal screen time or development, the world is filled with grotesque clones of her that doom the world. She no longer has any love for Inuart or even Caim, after Inuart obsesses over protecting her. In Ending C Caim is forced to kill Angelus with his own two hands, the final price of his senseless killing is killing one who he holds the most dear. In each of these first three endings Caim is explicitly punished for his bloodshed. None of these endings are happy, and when I was playing I thought that surely endings B and C would be happier endings than ending A. However, Drakengard does not feel compelled to do this and each ending gets even more bleak than the last. You could take this as the game just being edgy, but I think to do so would be to blindly deny the game of its narrative qualities. Ending D sees the world caught in a permanently frozen state, but not before Caim dies in the end. It's so bleak and just so ethereal. Ending E is the most out of left field one. Caim and Angelus end up in fucking Shinjuku where they play a rhythm game to beat the final boss before being shot down by two missles from the Japanese defense force. The atmosphere is just so chilling and the imagery of Angelus being impaled on top of Tokyo Tower is one of the coolest things ever. The point I'm really trying to make here though is that every ending ends in varying degrees of misfortune for Caim as a result of his blind rage. Even in D and E where he tries to save the world and do a good deed he is punished with death. In attempting to save the world he also dooms it. Another core theme I find with this game is love. You see this a lot with Manah, who is seemingly manipulated by The Watchers/The Gods into thinking she is loved by them, as she received no love from her own mother and was abused by her. This sends her on a path to creating the apocalyptic scenarios that appear in basically every ending. In the end of ending A, she begs for death from Caim yet neither of them think she deserves such a release. She ends with no one left to give her love, not even The Gods. Inuart constantly tries to look for love from Furiae, completely misunderstanding her at every turn, eventually blaming Caim for his own infidelity and seeking revenge on him. These two themes come together to show that the world is this way because of the faults of mankind. Caim is only a coldblooded killer because of his parents death during the war and the attempted reconstruction of the world is due to the easily manipulated nature of humans especially those that are young and not cared for. In the more abstract, things are this way because of the genre that this story is. There is war, there is untold amounts of bloodshed because this is a fantasy RPG. Caim kills because he needs to level up and continue with the story. Which brings me to the gameplay.

The way people talk about the combat of this game makes it seem like the biggest piece of dogshit ever crafted, but really it's not that bad. The systems present in this game are fine enough and far from what I would call bad. However, the combat in Drakengard IS monotonous, but I think this serves a thematic purpose. You’re not meant to enjoy all the senseless killing, and as I said earlier Caim is punished for the indiscriminate bloodshed. However, this is a video game and you must do what the game says to keep going. You must kill even when you don't want to, to continue the game. It's a commentary on the genre in the sense that in RPGs and most video games in general you are rewarded for bloodshed. You are rewarded for killing senselessly and are never called out on it simply because it's a video game. Drakengard breaks this mold and goes as far to try and make the killing itself unenjoyable. I think it’s a really cool aspect of the game that gets overlooked by some because they simply write the combat off as bad and don't interact with it in a ludonarrative sense. The flying missions are awesome though I cant lie. They do also get a bit grueling at times so the ludonarrative cohesion remains intact but they’re definitely more fun than the ground missions.

The last thing I really want to talk about is the music in this game. Drakengard has the most interesting soundtracks in any game I've ever played. It has the sound of what you would expect from a high fantasy game, except it doesn't. Every song in the game uses samples from famous composers in really interesting ways. From Mozart to Tchaikovsky to Holst, you're bound to recognize some of these composers when you see them in the credits but it's doubtful that you'll actually recognize the songs as they appear in game. The game will often loop the same very short sample over and over to create songs that sound traditionally orchestrated but still have a distinct electronic feel to them. I’ve never heard anything like it— I wouldn't necessarily say that the songs are good in a traditional sense but as far as experimental music goes it's really unique and fun to listen to. The best of these songs is the ending B credits theme, “Growing Wings”. Give it a listen if you'd like to see an example of what I'm talking about.

I think that's about all I have to say about the game at this time. This is a serious contender for one of my favorite games of all time and I implore you to play it if you haven't. This probably isn't the case if you read this spoiler tagged review but the point still stands. This game is a masterpiece

If you enjoyed this game you're a psychopath. I did.

This story revolves around a group of awful people, a murderer, cannibal, pedophile, a guy that sings wonderwall, every person here has its faults and they're not good people. Killing shouldn't be fun, at some point you just drag-on on these kills looking for a happy ending for these characters... but why? they really deserve it?

No, they don't, we don't even know if a lot of the things that happened actually did because just like certain stories, there are different points of views of these things, and just like the description of the first verse from the last chapter, maybe Seere will tell your story, with every chapter having different pages and even different verses with mixed events. We can look for an ultimate truth, but would it change something?

Just like Caim, we can try different things but it would make things worse, or it would loop back to other things, sometimes you just don't deserve a happy ending.

Idk I enjoyed this game and I think that says more about me than the game itself XD

No this game can actually go fuck itself fuck the boring combat and fuck the shitty music i am not sitting through another piece of shit yoko taro whatever the fuck his name is game collect the 50 knick knacks to get all 10 endings after 2000 hours of bashing my head against a wall pretentious, corny ass story i WILL NOT be giving a single fuck about

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Fool me three times lock me in a white room with a stray jacket and throw the key away

feels almost evangelion in its confidence in weird esoteric plot points, and is able to juggle a dark fantasy setting with a level of self-aware genre critique that manages to hold up twenty or so years later. drakengard paints a picture of a godless world that refuses to give you the time to wash your hands of blood. like taro's other works, this game is rebellious, irreverent, and subversive in ways that transform what could have been a generic musou into an exploration of our relationship with fictional violence and agency in video games.

“Are you ready for your lessons on how to not suck ass?"

RDR2 gulps

NieR Automata breathes heavily

God of War(2018) nods nervously

The Last of Us sighs

“Yes, Drakengard" they say in unison

This is gonna be a conflicting one.

In 2021, I first saw the trailer for NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139. I was a huge fan of Automata and had also played a bit of Gestalt before dropping it, so I was no stranger to the series. I wanted to play Replicant but also wanted to play every prior game beforehand. Alongside going back to Gestalt and finally beating that, I also decided to buy both Drakengard and Drakengard 3 since I knew they were connected to the series somehow. Fast forward to 2022, I randomly decide to finally dive into the Drakengard games. I play up until like chapter 3 or 4 I think and drop the game due to a skill issue. What did I think of it? I thought it was shit! Not only did I not like the gameplay, which most people don't ofc, I also just thought the story was super boring up to that point. The story was the main reason you'd be playing the game, so for me to not be into the characters or story at all, I just wasn't motivated to continue playing it. Fast forward to present day, fellow user Lemonstrade eggs me on to play it as a joke. Well I didn't back down and decided to beat it this time. The first mission or two, I immediately thought "yup this is still shit". But then I remembered some of the gameplay mechanics that made the game more tolerable and bada bing, I started to enjoy myself more.

So let's get into the absolute most contentious aspect of the game, the gameplay. The biggest issue I had with it, and it's still its biggest issue now, is it doesn't flow the best due to the camera. It's a fixed camera depending on what way you're facing and the right stick only tilts the screen a bit and goes back in place when you let go of it. If there's an enemy behind you, this can be really clunky feeling as you manually have to face the enemy before you can see them in front of you. I got used to this pretty quickly but this is the only major issue I had with the gameplay tbh. Otherwise, it's just a perfectly fine hack and slash/musou game. The actual gameplay, not including camera issues, is perfectly serviceable I felt. It actually does get satisfying killing hoardes of enemies while the side characters talk about how brutal Caim is. That plus there's combos that can knock enemies down which makes the gameplay more tolerable, there's summonable characters that can just mow down hoardes of enemies like nothing and the magic that changes depending on what weapon you're using. The combat is surprisingly more in depth than you'd think, and that's not even getting into the air combat. I found that more enjoyable from the start tho that can be even more frustrating than the ground combat at points just because how slow it is to aim sometimes. That's only an issue with later encounters and bosses but either way, the combat in this game? Not bad honestly, it's not great ofc but in the end I found it a lot enjoyable than when I played the game initially.

The music is honestly super fitting and also really experimental and out there. A big chunk of the songs sound like looping messes. It kind of sounds shit at first, and look I aint listening to the OST outside of the game, but it really is memorable. Playing this 2 years later, I still remembered all the early game songs. I wouldn't say I actually "like" the ost, except for maybe a couple of the more comprehensible songs, but it's still a good ost since the game is trying to drive you crazy.

Diving right into the story, I'm gonna just say it. I didn't think it was mind-blowing at all or even that amazing. My issue with not caring about the story or the characters still applied to a good chunk of my playtime here. It wasn't until like the last third, and all the endings, where I was actually interested. I really really enjoyed how crazy it got near the end, and I really loved the dark fantasy elements. I just wish more of the game was like that, and that the earlier chapters weren't so boring. But I also think that was the whole point, it was to subvert expectations and make you think it'll just be a boring fantasy game only to surprise you with all that craziness in the endgame. It also wasn't until post ending A, where you got cutscenes with all the side characters. Those were entertaining every once in a while but I just did not care about the cast in this game. Even Caim, who has an iconic design (which may have been caused by a very iconic user on this site) I just didn't like as much as I should've. I know the whole point of him not speaking is for the characters to describe how awful his slaughtering is and for you the player to basically take his role. That's a cool concept but it just made me not care about his character. It's funny how I'm more positive on the overall gameplay than the story, but the peaks of the endgame story cutscenes overshadow everything else at least. I just wish there was more idk. Also, that final boss, holy shit idk how you're supposed to do that without the pause trick or looking up inputs. I had to do both cuz otherwise I would've just not beaten the game lol.

Additionally, I may not really care about the cast in this game, but I can't deny the voice acting is actually surprisingly good. It's a mix of British and American voice actors but it works surprisingly well, especially for a game from 2003. Aroch, specifically when you summon her and she screams "WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN", holy crap is it satisfying. Idk who voices her but that voice actress was cooking.

So yeah, like I said, it's a very conflicting game for me. Usually you see people either loving or hating this one but I just personally think it's a decent little game that does some really unique things. I'm glad to finally have beaten this as a huge NieR fan and I'm glad I did end up enjoying this one overall. Excited to play 3 in the future, tho I also own that physically too and idk if I'm ready for the framerate lol.

6.5/10

An ambiguous story that flips a lot of the hero-dependent narratives of the period on their head. I get the whole Yoko Taro story structure thing has been done to death now that we live in a post-Nier world, but it's pretty fresh here. I dig this.

Playing this game will kind of make you want to die, but honestly it's pretty disorienting in the most captivating way possible.

I see a lot of people form the conclusion that this game is "bad on purpose" but I sort of resent the implication of that. I feel like this game was good on purpose. Often games are reduced to being either "fun" or "not fun" and that's so boring. Let a game make you feel like shit once or twice, you'll be better for it (and cooler, more badass etc. etc.)

ABSURDAMENTE BOM (só pela lore, porque o resto..)

Drakengard não falha em NADA na história, a forma de contar é objetiva e fácil de entender e cada vez mais que você vai avançando os capítulos mais você fica perplexo com a estranheza aterrorizante do mundo que o jogo nos coloca.

Sua atmosfera é pesada, o clima das batalhas é pesado e as músicas que correm em cada capítulo deste livro ajuda a criar a tensão em cada cenário de guerra. Você vai sentir medo uma hora mesmo que o jogo nem seja de terror, um desconforto pode tomar conta de sua cabeça se você se encontrar perdido e rodeado de inimigos a sua volta, e isso é incrível.

Agora indo pra parte de gameplay que é o que realmente faz a gente se divertir com o jogo, bom.. ela é mais ou menos pra hoje em dia. Muitas das vezes ela é repetitiva e entediante, papo de tu jogar ali por umas 2 ou 1 hora e já sentir aquele cansaço aquela gastura sabe. então eu aconselho jogar Drakengard sempre com um jogo a mais ai pra tu ir passando o tempo quando a gameplay dele já tiver cansativa.

E claro, é um jogo Musou, pra quem não conhece o gênero é do estilo de Dynasty Warriors só que umas pessoas experientes nesse tipo de jogo, disseram que o Drakengard é bem diferente e apresenta mecânicas interessantes, eu mesmo nunca joguei nenhum Musou então não posso opinar sobre isso

Pra mim essa foi uma experiência muito boa e acho que vale a pena irem dar uma zoiada no Drakengard hoje em dia, jogar um pouco ali pra ver se gosta porque realmente a Lore disso aqui é algo de se aplaudir e eu diria até essencial na vida de todos os gamers (eu odeio esse termo parece que to em 2010)

ESP/ENG

ENG:
Honestly, fuck you. This game is, in fact, well designed.

Join us in this dark fantasy that will follow a group of broken, flawed and horrible people (and one pretty chill priest) on their way to save the world (or commit genocide, it's the same thing).

Our protagonist, Caim (who has done absolutely nothing wrong), has his heart chained to the hatred that the war waged on his world caused him, a hatred that can only be satisfied with the blood of his enemies.

"𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙖𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 (𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩)."

Drakengard is a game about breaking cycles of hate. In the end, this conflict was caused by a girl who was also a victim of them. Which as punishment by our favorite murderer, was ironically condemned to live miserably.

In the deepest darkness is where the embers of light shine brightest. Who knew that, of all beings, the dragon who hated humans would not only sacrifice himself to save them, but would also restore what little humanity Caim had left, showing him that crying was something that their pact and this world had not been taken from him

FORGIVE ME FOR EVERYTHING YOKOTARO

ESP:
Honestamente, jodanse. Este juego está, de hecho, bien diseñado.

Acompáñanos en esta fantasía oscura que seguirá a un grupo de personas rotas, deficiente y espantosas (y a un sacerdote bastante chill) en su camino para salvar al mundo (o cometer genocidio, es lo mismo).

Nuestro protagonista, Caim (quien no ha hecho absolutamente nada malo), tiene su corazón encadenado al odio que la guerra librada en su mundo le causó, un odio que solo puede ser saciado con la sangre de sus enemigos.

"𝙀𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙤 𝙙𝙚 𝙡𝙖 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙖, 𝙡𝙖 𝙞𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚 𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙖 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙖 𝙙𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙤𝙨 𝙙𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙚 𝙪𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙖 𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙤́𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙤 𝙮 𝙪𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤́𝙣 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙞́𝙖 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙯𝙖 𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙤 (𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙚𝙯 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙞́𝙖 𝙖 𝙤𝙩𝙧𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚)."

Drakengard es un juego sobre romper los ciclos de odio. Al final, este conflicto fue causado por una niña que también fue víctima de ellos. La cual como castigo por parte de nuestro asesino favorito, fue ironicamente condenada a vivir miserablemente.

En la más profunda oscuridad es donde más brillan las ascuas de luz. Quién diría que, entre todos los seres, el dragón que odiaba a los humanos no solo se sacrificaría para salvarlos, sino que también le devolvería lo poco de humanidad que le quedaba a Caim, mostrándole que llorar era algo que su pacto y este mundo no le habían arrebatado

PERDONAME POR TODO YOKOTARO

after drakengard 3 I was really excited to try the game that started it all and I'm pretty sure that was a fucking mistake guys

as you can already see from my rating I actually enjoyed this quite a lot but I'm pretty sure the conception of a game like this can be done only by someone clinically schizophrenic and after playing every drakengard/nier apart from 2 I'm pretty sure yokotaro is the most famous patient in the psychiatric ward of Tokyo or wherever the fuck he lives roppongi kichijouji whatever you get my point

the overall synopsis of the game is there's caim who's a fucking war criminal and the lord of a land and to this point im kind of confused to why he actually fights they get to defend some seals and make a really bad job for it because they get fucking destroyed by the end of the game and nobody knows why or how because caim is just too occupied slaughtering people or dwarfs or the undead thats so fucked up to a point that I don't understand whether you can even call him the protagonist because why would you get into the shoes of a genocider but I guess the point of it all is seeing caim killing everything that breathes and being absolutely dumbfounded by his blood thirst its an incredible thing to see when every other character is asking him to stop for the love of everything worthy in life

introducing the other character of the game angelus which I was convinced was a boy because I played it with the japanese voice over and its pretty confusing understanding their gender but in the English dub they just went and put a very feminine voice so that's how I discovered it I would've just thought she was a man so since the game is called drakengard or if youre japanese drag on dragoon whatever THAT fucking means people and yeah so she is the dragon and she takes caim ability to speak in exchange for his pact with her and thats the way to make a silent protagonist if you ask me

main personality of this dragon ? she's fucking done with humanity hates life hates everything that moves and wants to just get out of this fucked up world . can you even blame her ? no this world SUCKS in the best way possible it has a medieval aesthetic there's some lands that you don't even know the names of because caim isn't doing anything burocratic noooooo he's on the field front line by himself killing all that has a brain

you also get to know a priest who cannot shut the fuck up a pedophile another pedophile who eats babies a baby the end this is the cast of this game believe it or not these other characters are kind of side y content unless you want to do ending D and forth but the priest oooooo the priest he is going to cry and talk and shout and whatever the ENTIRE game you go through idk how many missions and I mean since he's your buddy or whatever I guess he should be accustomed to caims murderous needs but nooooo every mission he's like "caim pleaaaaaaaaase some mercy for thy foes nooooo God is crying over those dead corpses" shut the FUCK UP OH GOD ARENT YOU USED TO THIS and when he's not crying he's like "caim ….. the seal has been broken" grazie a 'sto cazzo coglione what do you think

then theres caims sister who is kinda in love with caim which is already kinda weird also kinda incestuous also kinda blasphemous because she's also called the goddess and I guess she's the trope of "fragile girl grown in a castle secluded from the world" or something and she touches herself thinking about her brother can you even believe that I mean I kinda vibe with her because she wants to fuck a mass murderer I don't really wanna fuck a mass murderer but a rough man can be a good compromise that being said there's also inuart I fucking hate inuart he sucks ass like I can excuse manslaughter but rape ? SPOILER with a dead fucking body ? no ma'am . no ma'am plus he's ugly plus he's fucking disgusting I hate him like I hate everyone in this game

also this game has some serious art direction problems the models are pretty fine if you ask me but people the little portraits ? or like every single UI ever in this game ? I mean I saw some bad stuff but this is very below decent and still I love it anyway call me sick

I didnt talk about the gameplay because the gameplay can be reviewed in some few lines this is a hack and slash you get to swing your swords with a lot of enemies in missions that feel like they're 40 minutes long and sometimes take 40+ minutes long you get some different weapons that can be upgraded if you use them but if youre me you're not even gonna pick them up and just use caims sword

you can fill a meter and do a big special move apart from that ? that's the fucking end of the ground gameplay then you also get some spice in the dragon mission which are fucking hideous if you ask me the dragon controls like dick and the aiming system is broken the fucking end

and thats what you're gonna do for like 15 hours more or less just swing sword swing sword swing sword special move swing sword again again again again

now this sucks but also I cannot fucking tell you how much I did not mind this ? I actually got into a trance-like state of some sort and the incredible amount of absolutely nothing you're gonna do for the entirety of the game like idle clicking like those smartphone stupid games thats what you're gonna do and everything happens while some psychotic man pushes random buttons in the soundboard and makes some repetitive ass music that smashes your eardrums till blood flows out

no actually let's talk about the music and how this is the most normal one of the bunch and after this you get a repetitive fucking mess chaos of instruments beats incredibly screwed and twisted melodies a fuckton of noise and honestly ? I fucking love this soundtrack and it absolutely encapsulates caims madness in this fucked up world like this is the first thing you hear on land incredibly enough everything is crafted to the point that it gets some incredible soundscapes that really drive the entirety of the games atmosphere home this games world is in ruin and the music wants YOU to know it this one's also fucking insane AND a favorite OH AND ALSO this one's fucking incredible if you ask me honestly this is some of the most sickeningly insane beats you will ever listen to in your entire life and honestly if you listen to the entirety of the ost you're gonna need a psychiatric expertise this one actually gives you 2 seconds of release and then delves again into madness you got 0 chill in this game I swear to fucking god I mean let's just stop but you get my point im gonna listen to the entire ost someday and add it to my videogame music playlist so yeah

and guys

that's it

now I do enjoy caim being just fucking angry I can vibe with that but the lengths he goes ? maybe im not that mentally ill yet

SPOILERISH STORY TERRITORY

this is the game that started the different ending structure of the drakenier series and I'm pretty fucking sure this was a mistake

I forgot to tell that there's mana which is the high priestess of the cult of the watchers and if you ask what the watchers are well …….

ending A is possibly the most plainly executed and one that actually gave a good conclusion to this fucked story you destroy mana and angelus becomes the seal and she uses her last breath to tell caim her name and thats pretty fucking sad if you ask me I could cry they loved each other

angelus hAs a pussy?/10 rating

ending B us inuart revives furies with some wicca stuff and he wants to bang the fuck out of her until she becomes kind of an angel and you gonna beat the shit out of her until she's dead (again) and caim gets her back

I don't condone necromancy or necrophilia But I guess a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do/10

ending C angelus becomes a cursed dragon breaks the pact with caim and so caim gets his speech back and you won't believe what groundbreaking tearjerking words he says as soon as he can speak again that's right "I am caim" and whatever he fucks angelus up real bad

300 languages and caim deCided to speak in the language of truth/10

ending D babies come down from the sky and eat people plus their mother womb shit also comes down and just vibes her pussy out everyones dead times stopped I hate this game

yokotaro what kinda aciDs did you do to think about this because I want some/10

ending E angelus and caim battle head on with the mother beast queen something baby whatever and she gets into some space time dimensional drift and you get teleported in fucking modern day 2003 Japan Tokyo ? then you get to do some rhythm game war flashbacks to the fucking drakengard 3 final boss ? then caim and angelus are killed by a fighter jet ? honestly most normal ending till now

you laugh at this joke ending until you realise this is the canon ending that flows into nier and the ashEs of the Queen are the word-disease this game is not real/10

absolutely one of a kind experience I cannot believe yokotaro got the opportunity to make a game like this because if it were me I would've laughed and shut down the project and to think this is the starting point that escalated up to nier automata what a fucking world we live in I love this game

the box art is insane so great

Todo mundo já sabe né, o jogo que é famoso por ser uma merda e ser muito bom ao mesmo tempo.

Demorei muito pra jogar esse pela fake news de que pra pegar todos os finais você precisava upar todas as armas do jogo pro nível máximo, vi isso até em reviews de pessoas que disseram jogar o jogo, mas é MENTIRA, efeito balela. Sabendo disso, resolvi desperdiçar minha vida 100porcentando esse jogo feito com a bunda.

O taro realmente odiava a ideia de você se divertir com esse jogo, POR QUE FAZER INIMIGOS IMUNE A MÁGICA? Maior parte do conteúdo tá nas 64 armas e suas diferentes magias... btw esse jogo devia ter investido muito mais nas sessões aéreas, apesar de no começo ser bem difícil de controlar, você se acostuma e se torna a parte mais divertida do jogo, praticamente todas as boss fights são no ar, inclusive aquela famosinha (apesar de que nessa o jogo muda totalmente).

E que partyzinha viu.. só os imperdoaveis.

Meu favorito do Yoko Taro.
Drakengard me deixou com um buraco peito. Uma das experiências sensoriais e mecânicas mais deslumbrantes que a mídia pode oferecer. Tipo de jogo que muda um cabrunco. Toda miséria e perturbo aqui exposto ficará permanentemente marcado em minha pessoa.
Rivotril dos games. Vontade de chorar.

Ps: Minha trilha sonora favorita da mídia. O trabalho de samples é surreal.

Drakengard is what a never-ending post-nut clarity would feel like. It’s quite (not) literally a brain rot. Not in the usual “hyperfixation” sense, it’s more of a “going down into a hole of insanity and despair” kind of thing.

To be honest, these devs got lucky. Some of the decisions made here make them seem inexperienced at best, even for 2003 standards. But for some reason the writers decided it was a good time to unleash their accumulated anger and frustrations all at once into a project and ended up with a story as bizarre and deranged as it is dark and despairing; a subversion of every videogame trope poured into a long road of loss and defeat.

The result is a game that intentionally and unintentionally excels in making you feel like shit. In an unprecedented move for its medium, it paints the idea of not being either fun or a gratifying experience as its main goal.

It’s hell, but it’s refreshing.

The cast is pretty much the antithesis of the usual playable crew. The protagonist is a bloodlust-filled maniac driven solely by revenge and an incestuous lust for his own sister, and is accompanied by: a human-loathing, hypocritical dragon; a bossy, self-centered and racist priest; a blind, self-loathing pedophile that for some reason is probably the most empathizing of the bunch; and a cannibalistic elven woman driven to madness by the loss of her own children, with a sweet tooth for little kids.

Ballsy and edgy, and not in the greatest of ways, but it just fits this pit of madness; you get so numb to it that it doesn’t even feel like it’s trying too hard.

Now when it comes to the combat, they didn’t really try that hard; in fact, I don’t think they even tried. I mean, they probably wanted it to be good, but it landed right on the other side of the spectrum. And for some reason that works better here.

There’s both hack-and-slashy grounded combat segments inspired by Dynasty Warriors AND flying segments reminiscent of Panzer Dragoon and Ace Combat. Neither are very good; the former lacks impact, precision and for some reason both the player character’s actions and the camera move in respect to a close-but-otherwise-arbitrarily-chosen enemy, while the latter is as imprecise as its counterpart while having just an odd difficulty balance, and controls that in and of themselves are a challenge. It just makes the whole experience loathsome, which wasn’t the point. Wasn’t.

The soundtrack is just very… insane. I’ve seen people describe it as schizo music, and while I won’t comment on the ableism ingrained in that sentence, the sentiment behind it is quite… accurate. It’s the musical equivalent of putting your brain in a blender. Which is quite ironic given how it samples classical pieces and puts THEM in a musical blender.

It’s all just very odd, that given the story direction the game’s shortcomings work in its favor. This is the kind of game that is unique from its conception to its legacy, there’s nothing really like it, in a way that is even hard to explain.

It makes me question what makes a good game or a bad game, or even if there are games that fall out of that spectrum and belong somewhere different entirely. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but was it a bad one?

I mean, it was worth it, and it made me feel things no other game did, no other ANYTHING did. It was not fun, it was not entertaining; it was miserable. But it was worth it.

And THAT is the game’s statement. Games don’t need to be fun, or beautiful, or entertaining, or just centered around giving the player a gratifying experience. They CAN, sure, but not as a rule. They can be more than that. Art is more than that.


[Edit: I’ve come to realize that while it’s implied, I’m not sure if the romantic love between Caim and Furiae goes both ways. {SPOILERS} Furiae definitively kills herself because of her not wanting her feelings exposed by Manah, but all that really entails is that he doesn’t (or she thinks he doesn’t) know about it, not really that it isn’t reciprocal. I’ve come to expect this kind of vagueness from Taro’s work, but I’ll still keep it written that he lusts for her because shock value; yes, I’m just like that.]

This is the worst game I have ever played. But also the game that reminds me games are art and they are experiences as much as any other art form. Weird comment right? It's weird but this game uses it's faults to it's advantage knowingly or not knowingly, maybe subconsciously? This is also a game that impossible to get rereleased in this "modern", "sensitive" times with it's grotesque/violent/disgusting content. Let me explain:

This game have the worst broken combat mechanics in the square enix catalog(I mean from what I played from them this is the worst one). I mean the ground combat part. Not the dragon riding part(there is a ace combat like free dragon riding missions that actually works). Ground combat is broken because: There is a guard button for example, it's also a lock on button and it's just doesn't work and does it's own mind and keep changing it's locked enemy itself without your request??, there is a dodge button and it's satanicly designed to change your camera view without your request and destroy your flow!?. Attacks are boring and repetitive with there is only one 3x combo with optional explosion attack at the end. Also there is magic that does a room kill move or a protection buff(depending on your weapon). There is multiple weapons and playable characters that feel the same with only difference is their range, magic and damage values. Also not just that, you can't play on easy to cheese the game if you want to get all the endings, because last ending is exclusive to side content completion that can only be done on normal difficulty. Do you want to know what is side content completion? Getting all the weapons in the entire game that have satanistic requirements like, do this mission but on 2 minutes! Or kill 500 enemies in 50 minute. Or find that hidden enemy in the shitty arena that is impossible without a guide. Sounds fun? No. It's not.

But also story is genius with going insane with the same pace as the player, you go insane as the story go insane. You do messed up shit, as the story does messed up shit. You somehow connect to characters in a spiritual level? Now for those who don't know, this game have probably the darkest characters and the darkest story Yoko Taro wrote in gaming (actually mangas are on another level to the point of torture p#rn but that's beside the point). To explain myself, I want to give the beginning of the story.

Game starts as the main character fights against an evil empire to protect his sister, but gets injured and finds a injured dragon like himself. To live, he does a pact(something like sharing life force I guess?) with the racist dragon that hates humans but wants to live as well. Then after we continue slaughtering the enemies and arrive at our sister's place. Then we get a cutscene that shows the main character Caim stabs a soldier over and over and over again even tho soldier is dead already. Then we realize, the character we play as isn't sinless as the enemies we fight. He is a pyschopath.

And the story continues. You go insane, characters you play go insane, story goes insane, enemies become more grotesque, hope disapears, despair inflicts and you start to connect with the game. A cycle that goes to infinitum. A repetition that never ends. Characters that are maniacs. Disgusting violent actions you take to progress.

And in the end, you just want characters to kill more and more. Because you are a psychopath yourself now aren't you?

Because. You. Are. Insane.