Having heard a lot of hype for Nier: Automata, I decided to check out it's origins with it's rooted series, Drakengard. Drakengard is kinda regarded as a hot mess due to graphics, controls, and otherwise mechanics being awful for what the story actually tries to do, and well, yeah...exactly.
While I don't remember too much about the game, the fact that it ended facing a giant child with immense powers was certainly a twist that feels very on par with the writer of this game, Yoko Taro. Most of the game though takes place in rather generic settings that just leave little to the imagination, and make me tired just thinking about it. Rest assured that there is still charm in the original Drakengard, but it's just not shown as much compared to the rest of the series. A lot of the game is played completely straight, and while that is usually fine for series that do a lot of twist and turn stuff, the first playthrough just feels like a generic adventure till near the end.
I'd like to say the gameplay is better, but it's really not. Not till Nier did this series get any considerable recognition, and for good reason. A lot of the game focuses on hack and slashing enemies with like 1 combo, and the game can't render a lot of enemies at once which means you have to do more of that hack and slash combo over and over again. To say this game is repetitive is giving the game too much credit. It's honestly a bland-less mess of combat that really should have been worked better to provide anything interesting. It's cool that we get to ride a dragon, but it's novelty wears out immediately as the Dragon combat doesn't add anything more than just a different kinda of repetition. Playing through this game feels awful, it plays awful, and honestly you just feel like you want everything to be over soon.
While I can give credit to the Drakengard starting a lot of what made Yoko Taro a more household name today, the fact is that this game rarely dives into anything interesting both story and gameplay wise. It's not completely devoid of interesting ideas or twisted mishaps, but it's largely just not worth your time to see how twisted this game can be.
While I don't remember too much about the game, the fact that it ended facing a giant child with immense powers was certainly a twist that feels very on par with the writer of this game, Yoko Taro. Most of the game though takes place in rather generic settings that just leave little to the imagination, and make me tired just thinking about it. Rest assured that there is still charm in the original Drakengard, but it's just not shown as much compared to the rest of the series. A lot of the game is played completely straight, and while that is usually fine for series that do a lot of twist and turn stuff, the first playthrough just feels like a generic adventure till near the end.
I'd like to say the gameplay is better, but it's really not. Not till Nier did this series get any considerable recognition, and for good reason. A lot of the game focuses on hack and slashing enemies with like 1 combo, and the game can't render a lot of enemies at once which means you have to do more of that hack and slash combo over and over again. To say this game is repetitive is giving the game too much credit. It's honestly a bland-less mess of combat that really should have been worked better to provide anything interesting. It's cool that we get to ride a dragon, but it's novelty wears out immediately as the Dragon combat doesn't add anything more than just a different kinda of repetition. Playing through this game feels awful, it plays awful, and honestly you just feel like you want everything to be over soon.
While I can give credit to the Drakengard starting a lot of what made Yoko Taro a more household name today, the fact is that this game rarely dives into anything interesting both story and gameplay wise. It's not completely devoid of interesting ideas or twisted mishaps, but it's largely just not worth your time to see how twisted this game can be.