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Repetitive, but nonetheless fun, action

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: March 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

A big criticism of this game is how repetitive the gameplay is. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the gameplay in all RPG's the same? Don't you basically use the same tactics in every battle? I don't really get the repetitive argument, especially when the actual gameplay itself isn't bad. If the game had been just Caim on the ground killing thousands of enemies(I'm up to 19,000), then the game wouldn't have been nearly as good. If the game had been only Caim on his dragon, flying through aerial missions against other dragons, griffons, and assorted targets, then the game would not have been nearly as good. But the fact that these two aspects of the game were combined into one game makes it well worth the purchase. The story and characters are also unlike most anything you'll find on the videogame market. It's ashame the game isn't more popular, but then again it's premise pretty much guaranteed it to have a niche role, the same as the two games that spawned it; Dynasty Warriors and Panzer Dragoon. The game can simply be described as a no-bull action game that delivers where it counts.

Great Fusion of RPG and Strategy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: March 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Drakengard is sort of a fusion of Dynasty Warriors and Final Fantasy with some dragons thrown in for good measure.

From a RPGers point of view, this game has it all. The orphaned hero. The strong, beautiful sister who is kept apart from the man who loves her. The need for revenge, and the hard choice to pair up with a sworn enemy. You build up skills as you go, learning more about your enemy and finding ways to defeat them.

From a strategy point of view, the game is amazing. It's based on the Dynasty Warriors gameplay which is brilliant. The use of maps, of health information, and gathering new weapons and powers is very similar. I've always loved the Dynasty Warriors map, with the way it lays out the enemy locations, your location and your objectives.

The graphics are quite nice - the textured grass, shading on rocks, details on the bodies all draw you into the world you're inhabiting. The sounds are good as well. Even the voices are rather good, making you feel the emotions of the characters.

There's really something to be said for being able to leap on a dragon, fly up into the sky, and then let loose a flame barrage on your enemies!

I highly recommend this if you're into RPGs and strategy gaming - it brings the two worlds together quite nicely!

An interesting game...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: March 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just bought this game today, and at first I wasn't all that impressed with it. But after playing it for a while, I began to see it's potential. Drakengard has a load of gameplay that will be moderately entertaining most of the time. Although the FMV's and character designs are great, the detail in the area's you fight in are done in a very poor fashion. However, Drakengard makes up for it in it with everything else. It's a solid game, and I recommend it to anyone who's a Dynasty Warriors fan.

"Gard" against monotony...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: March 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

"Drakengard" is what happens when you take "Draken: The Ancients' Gates," mix it liberally with "Dynasty Warriors" and "Panzer Dragoon," and throw in an anmie copy of the plot for the film "Dragonheart." It offers a fun diversion in short spurts, but gulp down too much at a time and you're sure to be hit by the numbing repetition of it all.

You're cast as Caim, a wounded hero who makes a pact with a wounded dragon and ultimately sets out to rescue his sister, the goddess Furiae. Does that mean Caim is a god himself? Apparently not. And who captured Furiae? A nameless Empire with secret intentions that ultimately translate into "ruling the world." Some other characters come into the mix, but few of them (despite their extensive biographies in the instruction manual) play into the events of the game in any way that justifies their inclusion. In other words, if you're seeking a game with a good story, "Drakengard" is perhaps the last place you should look. Despite this, it doggedly attempts to tell a story in long, painfully written cut-scenes that ultimately prove incoherent. At least the rendered movies make for some spectacular eye candy, even if they fail to shed any light on the unintelligible plot. The opening cinematic is sure to fire your blood and whet your appetite for the game that follows...

...And the game that follows starts out at a rapid clip, thrusting you into the thick of a siege. You'll wonder almost immediately why you're the only warrior fighting against the Empire even as beleaguered (and apparently invisible) soldiers cry out for assistance. For a game that wants so desperately to stick you square in the middle of a battle royale fantasy style, the lack of allies is a glaring omission. Even if battling comrades were nothing save window dressing, it would have helped to immerse you. As it stands, the action is still furious and fairly engaging. Blood spurts are satisfying, but more so the way your weapons send your enemies soaring in waves (like Sauron in the opening of Peter Jackson's take on "The Fellowship of the Ring"). You only have a few moves at your disposal, so like everything in "Drakengard" it eventually wears thin, but it's good fun for a while.

The monotony of ground combat is broken up by... well, the monotony of aerial combat. This is, in my opinion, the weakest aspect of the game. Caim battles a host of foes from astride his fire-breathing dragon, but the dragon's limited abilities and some poor camera work ultimately weaken the experience. On top of that, the enemies displayed in this mode make no logical sense. It's hard to get excited about frying giant bats and winged chests-of-drawers with the same molten breath over and over and over again. Boss battles, at least, liven things up - and all of them take place in the sky.

"Drakengard" claims to be an RPG, but there's no actual roleplaying. The stats included are useless and amount to nothing, which is just fine since this is clearly an action game - but why the false claims? I don't know. Ignore them. "Drakengard" is as deep as kiddy pool, but it's good for a splash every now and again. Missions objectives are never diverse enough to make one mission feel any different from the last. The scenery changes, but the graphics (all but the main character models) are bland as dirty dishwater, and scenery "pop in" is a noticeable (and laughable) issue. The game's soundtrack is certainly different, but it tends to perfectly mimic a cat being repeatedly slammed against a pole while Gregorian monks chant in the background. This is not helped by the constant babbling of your "companions," who consistently spout misplaced and distracting anti-wisdom when you'd rather focus on the task at hand.

All in all, it's worth playing if you don't ask too much from your gaming - but wait until it goes down in price before you invest.

Final Score: C

Swords and Dragons and Warriors, Oh My!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: September 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Well, first off, this game ain't for kids under.....Aw hell, this game just aint for little kids. Anyway, if you're buying this game thinking it'd be sort of a medevil version of Final Fantasy, you couldn't be more wrong. First of all, almost all of the FF games are strategic games. This, however, is an all out rampage game. I'll go through why you should and shouldn't buy this game.
WHY YOU SHOULD
The storyline is clever.
The CG cutscenes are incredible.
The gameplay is great.
The fact that you can RIDE A DRAGON! is unique.
Melee mode is also superb.
There is mor than 1 ending to the game.
It's just great. trust me.
WHY YOU SHOULDN'T
If you don't like games with blood and gore, either just turn off the blood in the options, or just forget it, cause theres gonna be blood in the CG movies anyway.
If you just hate it when you just press the same button over and over again, than sorry, this game makes you do that.
If you're expecting this is Eragon as a game, then you're dead wrong.
You might get pissed when your dragon insults you.
Some of the exra endings are bad.
Well, you judge for yourself whether to get this or not.

Simply the best!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: January 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game is originally Japanese released called Drag-on Dragoon. Some of the gameplay is copied from Panzer Dragoon, which was made by Sega for Sega Saturn. Square-enix intend to make this game to be the combination of Panzer Dragoon and Final Fantasy(VIII).

The game offers three battle modes: you can either fight air battles high in the sky, mid-air battles during which you strike at enemy forces on the ground from above and last but not least hand-to-hand ground combat.

It will be released three months from now. Enjoy it!

Drakengard! can't put it down. for about an hour than it goes down!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've read the reviews of this game and seen how it has been brutally slashed and burned! however, i see this game as a hell of alot of fun. that may be because i don't mind just hacking and slashing my way through endless armies but heck! smashing the square button is fun. IN addition, the story is thick and rich and the movies look spectacular! However, the in game music is slightly disturbing and the endless button smashing does get dull after awhile. Also, that dragon hurt my feelings!!!!! the big jerk does nothing more than burn things and then insult u! i can get that from my school hallway!! i dont need it in a game! Sure u laugh about it at first but it gets to u after a while!
On the brighter side this game is fun! if u enjoy a time of magic and racist dragons! this game is for u!

Better than what You've been Hearing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Jeez. I'm surprised that a lot of these reviews are horrible. Honestly, they're not giving this game enough credit. Yes, like, every game, it has it's faults. But the pros ultimately overwiegh the cons by a longshot, in this action RPG. To make it easier, I'll just separate everything into categories.

---Plot: The plot for this game is unique. No one can deny the game that. I've never seen a game so original in quite some time. There aren't any overused cliches here, if you're worried about that. Hey, it's SquareEnix-when was the last time they failed to deliver in that aspect? It's mysterious, and every event, every movie sequence leaves you wanting to know more. There are many twists and turns, leaving the story one of the main reasons for wanting to beat this game.

---Characters: Same goes for this category as well. The characters, while lacking super-extensive backgrounds, are intriguing, interesting, all with their own personalities that complement the story well. They aren't your cookie-cutter fictional characters. They're troubled, angsty, full of hate (this doesn't count for all of them), very well done. You don't get to know them as well as you would in a Final Fantasy game, but that isn't fair. What you do get to see leaves you wanting more; all of their personal stories are out of the ordinary, and captivating. This is a sure-fire sign that Square has suceeded in this department.

---Graphics: Okay, I've noticed that people have had some problems with the graphics. Why? No, the ENVIRONMENTS aren't the most diverse you've ever seen, but that does not mean that what's there isn't beautiful. Square has always been one step ahead of the others in graphics, and this game isn't any different. Nothing is blocky, or course, the movements are very fluid, there's nothing wrong here. And the CG...are, bluntly, to die for. They're absolutely gorgeous. Nothing more to say.

---Action: This is where the game could fall short for SOME. Yes, leveling up both yourself and weapons takes time, and patience, but is very rewarding. Every weapon has a back story, which gives you more motivation to level up the weapon to the max to see it. It's repetitive, yes. But what game isn't, in that sense? There's different magic with every weapon, different finishing blows, different stragies you have to use to defeat certain enemies easier...come on! In fact, I even enjoy the 'repetitiveness' of the game. Being able to call upon your dragon at any time makes it even more interesting, not just to attack, but s a (much) faster means of transportation. Honestly, this part of the game isn't half as bad as what some make it out to be.

---Voice Acting/Sound/Music: One word for the voice-acting:WOW. It is superb. They all have authentic (sounding, at least) english accents that fit well for the characters. Personally, I love Caim (for the bit that he does talk), Inuart (full of madness, sorrow, despair-lovely), and Leonard's, which is deep, musical, very pleasing to the ears. Not that the others are bad, but those are my absolutely favorites. The sound of the game is fairly good. ALthough some of the weapons sound more like thumping on the ground, the rest sound unique. The footfalls, though not perfectly timed, sound good as well. Now music. Excellent. Is there a sound track? Because I would lvoe to buy it. It's all orchestrated, not midi, or mp3. There are a number of songs, all fitting for the mood. One of the more well-done soundtracks to a video game, in my opinion.

---Last one, Replayability: Very good, ALthough there isn't any need to 'replay' the game to get all 5 endings. After you get the first one, new branches to story open up, and continue from there. So there isn't any replaying of anything-it's all new, which is very nice, since there is a lot to do in this game. Getting all of the allies (which are actually VERY useful), all the weapons, unlocking more hidden verses...this game doesn't fall short in that aspect.

If you were able to get through all that, I pat you on the back. I was more than a little upset that no one seemed to be doing this game any justice. I think it was only because people were expecting another game of the quality of Final Fantasy. But htis game, for once not aiming for mainstream, and big sales---they wanted to be creative, and that they were. Drakengard is a unique, original game that is well worth your time.

Mixed feelings

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Well, I'm close to the end, with two endings left to view, which means I've gotten an idea of what the game has to offer (finally).

Initially I enjoyed running around in massive battlefields hacking enemies into pieces, or flying on the dragon and using her fire breath to wipe out large groups of the bad guys at once. Then that got old (and the game got difficult) so I got tired of it and put it away.

Curiosity got the best of me, however, and I picked it up again later and learned that I was supposed to be finding weapons, 64 in total, on many of the levels I had previously just rushed through. I searched while leveling up my character and weapons, discovered places where the plot branched and two chapters that I previously had missed. Suddenly I discovered that the game had more depth, and that there certainly was a plot going on, which kept me going through the slightly repetitive hack and slash.

At certain points in the game, there are levels that you can see, but are 'locked'. Selecting the levels will tell you what you have to do to unlock them, usually completing another level in a certain amount of time, or doing another mission elsewhere. Early in the game, the un-lockable levels are events/movies that show you encountering a character and then you have the choice of following that character, leading to a new chapter that focuses on that character's experiences with your party prior to where the main plot picks up. For example, the first time you play a chapter, you are heading to an elf village, but discover that the village is destroyed and some elves were taken prisoner. Your party goes onto a desert area, and that seems just fine and dandy. However, when you go back to the locked mission, you see a scene where you meet a man named Leonard, and he leads you through a quest to rid the area of the Empire (the bad guys). Then, after this, everyone decides, based on events in the forest, to go to the desert. The locked quest in the desert involves finding one of the imprisoned elves, who also has a chapter that you can go through, after which the plot continues as it normally would have had you not done the desert chapter. This adds an interesting depth to the game. Usually optional quests either don't follow the events of the plot (and therefore can be done at anytime) or must be done at a certain time.

When you reach the first ending, you have several paths open to you. The first covers events right before going to the Imperial capital, and you meet a character significant to the plot and hear some revealing things about the villain. Another choice focus's on one of Caim's friend's making some bad choices, and leads to two separate endings, each based upon slightly different events at the very end of the game. Each features a very difficult final battle, and ends the game well (although not always happily).

Despite my initial dislike of many aspects of this game, I have been very pleased with the depth of play that it can offer in terms of storyline and character (and weapon) building. This is a good bargain bin title to pick up, although if you're looking for the best RPGs and don't care about cost, you're best off looking at other fine titles by Square-Enix, Monolith Soft, or Nippon Ichi.

A Fast, Bloody, and Very Different Game from SquareEnix

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: March 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love the majority of games that Square has put out there, and it is very refreshing to see them do something totally new and different from their usual RPG/Adventure/Strategy games. Drakengard is essentially a straight-forward hack n slash game, with some typical Square complexity thrown in.
The gameplay itself is very fun. I personally found the ground missions to be much more fun than the sky missions, but it's still nice to have the variety. I heard that this game had really bland environments, and that the world it took place in wasn't very interesting. However, I found there to be quite a large variety of places to go, from castles to forests to canyonlands and even floating sky and ocean palaces. You also have total freedom over where to go, and you can replay any level at any time, which I thought really added a feel of freedom to the game despite the rather linear storyline.
The story itself is very good, and the game is stuffed full of beautiful Square quality CG scenes.
Playing as the blood thirsty Caim was very fun as well. He was a very violent, bloodthirsty, and fun protagonist to play, in contrast to many of Squares main characters, which are often kind of weak and feminine.
The inclusion of experience is excellent in this game, and keeps up your desire to slaughter hundreds of more soldiers. Everything in this game can level up...you, your dragon, and even your weapons.
The weapons are probably my favorite part of the game. There are 65 total, most of which are hidden cleverly throughout the game. Each one has a unique look, feel, name, and magic. The magic powers up as the weapon levels up. Each weapon can go up to level 4 (the maximum), and the appearance of the weapon even changes as it becomes more powerful, which is really cool. As icing on the cake, you unlock a story of the weapons history as you level it up, which is really fun and interesting. It serves no real purpose in the game...it's just one of those great details that Square includes just for the sake of it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game. I had a little over 40 hours into it when I beat it, though I suppose if you wanted to you could whip through it much faster. It all depends on how you play. Furthermore, I look forward to picking it up again, maybe in a couple monthes, to play through it again and continue powering up my weapons. It has definite replay value and is highly recommended to fans of action/adventure games.

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