Played on RPCS3 at 4k 60fps, so no performance issues on my end.
The gameplay's better than Drakengard 1, for sure. The lock-on is more competent, but because of the increased size and movement of enemies, and the way they're mixed and match, you'll probably have a harder time seeing. There's the addition of a perfect-block, and certain encounters basically force it to be mandatory (which is good). A regular block drains your stamina-meter which is also used for "special" attacks. Bosses won't sit still for your combos without doing stunning them with perfect-blocks, and perfect-blocks instantly put an end to the ridiculous poise and defense-buffs possessed enemies get. Normal combat escalates quite a bit in difficulty, which was surprising as there are no difficulty-settings in Drakengard 3. The side-missions unlocked in branch D all but necessitate the infinite blood outfit (which in turn gives you infinite use of the game's powered up mode which speeds you up, slows everyone down, and increases your attack quite a bit).
There's a bit of platforming, and a tiny learning-curve of trial-and-erroring which ledges can be grabbed and thinking to do a special attack in midair to extend a jump slightly. There are jumps you cannot make otherwise.
The weapon system returns, but getting them is quite easy this time. Instead of having to hit arbitrary and cryptic sub-mission goals, they're in chests lying around in missions, given for side-missions, or bought in the store. The game makes it easy to track down chests as it shows which chests have been grabbed already in order of appearance, so you can replay specific verses to pick up something if you miss it. Upgrading weapons is a monstrous chore though. Instead of it just being based on kill count, it requires an unnaturally high amount of gold. Both to buy them, and to buy all the upgrade materials you need. You will be grinding for a long time if you want this done.
Dragon combat, I'd say, is a downgrade. Instead of the flight-simish combat of Drakengard 1, you're either in basic rail-shooter stages or in simplistic action stages where most attacks are guided by a generous lock-on.
The story, once again for a Taro game, reveals itself as secretly interesting if you can stick it out. The first branch was rather miserable to me as it was just antisocial anime-dialogue getting spewed by a bunch of stupid people for hours. It made me appreciate the dull medieval fantasy storytelling of the first game in hindsight. Eventually, you find out a weird robot can manifest hypothetical branches where things turn out differently, and this robot basically trial-and-errors you into branch D so you can actually succeed with your goal. This kinda meta-storytelling renders every ending equally valid in a way other "open to interpretation" stories don't by highlighting the divergences so literally. This robot also steps out of its meta observational role to help you directly in branch D, which fits with NieR's tradition of self-sacrifice to make the ending happen.
I did want to go over the rhythm section that closes off Branch D. It's weird to compare it to the similar section that ended Drakengard 1. It's "easier" as far as the patterns go, but it's grueling as far as its length and timing those inputs. I thought it was pretty fun, but I like rhythm games a lot. YMMV
I don't think it gets interesting enough to justify the curious, but that's from the perspective of someone who played Drakengard 1 and both NieR games. This game would be wild to someone who hadn't seen a narrative like it before, but I can't really judge it from that perspective now.
2/5
The gameplay's better than Drakengard 1, for sure. The lock-on is more competent, but because of the increased size and movement of enemies, and the way they're mixed and match, you'll probably have a harder time seeing. There's the addition of a perfect-block, and certain encounters basically force it to be mandatory (which is good). A regular block drains your stamina-meter which is also used for "special" attacks. Bosses won't sit still for your combos without doing stunning them with perfect-blocks, and perfect-blocks instantly put an end to the ridiculous poise and defense-buffs possessed enemies get. Normal combat escalates quite a bit in difficulty, which was surprising as there are no difficulty-settings in Drakengard 3. The side-missions unlocked in branch D all but necessitate the infinite blood outfit (which in turn gives you infinite use of the game's powered up mode which speeds you up, slows everyone down, and increases your attack quite a bit).
There's a bit of platforming, and a tiny learning-curve of trial-and-erroring which ledges can be grabbed and thinking to do a special attack in midair to extend a jump slightly. There are jumps you cannot make otherwise.
The weapon system returns, but getting them is quite easy this time. Instead of having to hit arbitrary and cryptic sub-mission goals, they're in chests lying around in missions, given for side-missions, or bought in the store. The game makes it easy to track down chests as it shows which chests have been grabbed already in order of appearance, so you can replay specific verses to pick up something if you miss it. Upgrading weapons is a monstrous chore though. Instead of it just being based on kill count, it requires an unnaturally high amount of gold. Both to buy them, and to buy all the upgrade materials you need. You will be grinding for a long time if you want this done.
Dragon combat, I'd say, is a downgrade. Instead of the flight-simish combat of Drakengard 1, you're either in basic rail-shooter stages or in simplistic action stages where most attacks are guided by a generous lock-on.
The story, once again for a Taro game, reveals itself as secretly interesting if you can stick it out. The first branch was rather miserable to me as it was just antisocial anime-dialogue getting spewed by a bunch of stupid people for hours. It made me appreciate the dull medieval fantasy storytelling of the first game in hindsight. Eventually, you find out a weird robot can manifest hypothetical branches where things turn out differently, and this robot basically trial-and-errors you into branch D so you can actually succeed with your goal. This kinda meta-storytelling renders every ending equally valid in a way other "open to interpretation" stories don't by highlighting the divergences so literally. This robot also steps out of its meta observational role to help you directly in branch D, which fits with NieR's tradition of self-sacrifice to make the ending happen.
I did want to go over the rhythm section that closes off Branch D. It's weird to compare it to the similar section that ended Drakengard 1. It's "easier" as far as the patterns go, but it's grueling as far as its length and timing those inputs. I thought it was pretty fun, but I like rhythm games a lot. YMMV
I don't think it gets interesting enough to justify the curious, but that's from the perspective of someone who played Drakengard 1 and both NieR games. This game would be wild to someone who hadn't seen a narrative like it before, but I can't really judge it from that perspective now.
2/5