Does Drakengard 2 Laugh Too?

Is it possible for an entry in a contentious series like Drakengard to be considered contentious? Drakengard 2 carries this ignomious mantle, often overlooked because of its reputation as less taboo and dark than its predecessor and Yoko Taro not having a directorial role in the game. Creative differences and a mandate to make the game accessible to more people in terms of theme. So the question is whether or not all of this makes Drakengard 2 a more or less playable entry in the series.

Drakengard 2 is the last in the series (currently) that I had to play. I wrote about my journey through the first game in 2018 and my impressions for this game will be presented similarly. Be warmed that while I will try to be nonspecific as much as possible, there will be spoilers below.

Gameplay

Drakengard 2 follows many of the same beats as the original game, with certain refinements and changes in place. The ground missions are still largely Musou inspired hack and slash against hundreds of enemy knights. You can still hop on your partner Dragon at will in most outside sections to wreak havoc. There is still magic tied to each specific weapon.

However, Drak 2 changes things up a little. Instead of finishers at various points in a combo chain, there are specific combos you learn for each weapon as they level up. While attack power is probably the stat you will be most immediately drawn to, the available spell and combos of a particular weapon might prompt you to keep it in your loadout regardless. Each weapon type is tied to a specific character with their own advantages and health bars, but this also means that if a character isn’t currently in your party then you don’t have access to those weapons.

• Nowe has access to Swords and Long Swords, which are decently powerful and quick, with useful combos. Strong against human knights.
• Eris has spears, which are strong against the undead. The basic swing has pathetic range, but some of the unlockable combos are really good. Great with the thrust attack (forward+triangle).
• Manah has Rods, which are strong against mages and have access to powerful spells. Her combos lean towards the acrobatic.
• Urick has axes and is strong against most monsters. Axes have wide sweeping attacks and a variety of sweep and rush down combos.

It’s important to know which combos are useful and where to execute them from. For many of them, the wind-up is so involved that if you try doing them near enemies you’re going to get hit while your character is twirling about. Enemies seem to have an incredible ability to stop just short of your range and then prepare a big attack of their own while you’re locked into an animation.

In general, the ground missions are better than the first game as they’re not as drawn out and – while not saving it entirely – the character variety encourages you to use multiple weapons and it keeps it a little fresher. Interior levels fare better than Drakengard 1, as well. Where Drakengard 1 would often populate rooms and corridors with 40 of the same enemy, Drakengard 2 seems to like placing enemies in positions of advantage and surprise. Sometimes. It’s a little more metered overall.

The Dragon, Legna, also plays a considerable role. He easily overwhelms most ground troops and he has his own flight levels. In air missions, Legna can fire powerful untargeted fireballs or weaker targeted fireballs. Using untargeted shots to destroy an enemy will make them drop a Breath Sphere, special attacks that grow in variety as you progress through the game.

Drakengard 2 is pretty easy, though difficulty usually spikes when you fight a boss. Nowe and his group also have the ability to purchase restoratives and accessories at designated towns throughout the game, an addition to this game. Accessories that almost halve the damage you take from ranged attacks severely neuter the flying sections, for instance, so decide if you want to take advantage of that or not on your first playthrough.

Regarding playthroughs, Drakengard 2 requires you to play the game through three times with increasing difficulty culminating in Extreme Mode – if you want to see everything, that is. The narrative implications of this will be explained in the section below, but these accessories become much more useful when enemies start doing much more damage. On Extreme Mode, I felt like I often started playing this game cautiously because it’s so easy for you to get knocked out of a combo at that point.

Sometimes enemies will just stand there. Other times they will gain hyper armour and begin a combo that most attacks won’t knock them out of. Parrying is an option, of course, but risky if you’re mobbed. You will appreciate the natural defense characters have against certain enemy types, and you will begin to favour certain combos and magics.

In general, there are a lot of improvements mechanically speaking from Drakengard 1.

Story and Characterization

Drakengard 1 had its share of mechanical issues, though the narrative beats and characterization made it interesting and memorable. The series is known for touching on the taboo, and whether that’s something you’re comfortable to experience or not it’s a hallmark of the series. Drakengard 2 is widely considered to have had its wings clipped in comparison to the first game. But the strangeness is still there. The taboo is still suggested in places. There are still interesting story beats. And there are still memorable and even touching dialog exchanges. It’s just muted.

In Drakengard 2 you play primarily as Nowe, a purported “savior” that was raised by a black dragon, Legna. Unlike Caim and Angelus in Drakengard, Nowe sees Legna as a father figure and they collaborate without the need for a pact. Nowe is an archetypical righteous indignation protagonist. Some may assume I dislike Nowe because he’s so far removed from the typical broken Drakengard character. But that’s the thing – this kind of character is so different than what I expected that it should have worked brilliantly. Someone who wants to be a righteous hero being challenged and coming to terms with the reality of this world and the consequences of his actions. But it doesn’t happen.

The three other characters, Eris, Manah, and Urick have character arcs. They are challenged by events in the story and from their past and for better or worse they change. (Spoilers, somewhat) I felt Nowe was the opposite. He remained whiny and loud throughout most of the game, his moral trajectory was rarely challenged and some of the consequences of his actions never come back on him. Of course he has a character arc, and secrets, and lore. I can’t get into great detail here because if you’re interested in the story you should pursue that yourself. And you might be a lot more agreeable towards Nowe. (/Spoilers, somewhat)

Many of the events of Drakengard 2 relate to Drakengard 1, which takes places 18 years before this game. The events of that game (in a near timeline continuation to Ending A) deeply effect the factions and people of Drakengard 2. The seals are intact, and are once again at risk of being broken. Early in the story Nowe meets Manah, and the direction of his life changes forever. The Knights of the Seal are shown to be fanatical, and the former citizens of the Empire are shown to be subjugated and exploited. It’s a more immediate good versus corruption story, at least from the onset.

Each District and Seal is guarded by a General, and therein lies one of the biggest missteps in this game. Each of the District Generals have a Pact. A Pact is an agreement between a powerful beast and an individual. They give up something important to them, and in exchange they gain power. We barely get to see how the Pact has effected these Generals. There are faint sniffs of it. But we see most of them so briefly that the Pact aspect is squandered. It’s too bad as this had a lot of potential for interesting exchanges.

The strangeness exists, however, especially in the final acts of the game. It never gets as wild as 1 or 3, but it’s there. And the final quarter of the game feels more like what I expected. Not always satisfactory, but there’s interesting viduals and concepts. This is where the dialog is at its best and some of the writing is again – touching. It’s a payoff for fans of the first game and perhaps a pleasant surprise for people who have only played this title. While most of the game is fairly by the numbers and generic, it gets a few of its teeth back towards the end.

Here’s the kicker, however. If you will recall I mentioned that to see everything this game has to offer you will need to play it all the way through three times. Where other Drakengard titles have breaching paths, the B and C routes in Drakengard 2 are the final Chapter on Hard and Extreme. So in order to see a different ending, you need to replay everything twice more (or watch a video. I suppose). You skip some of the tutorials at the start, and have access to all of the characters at once, but otherwise the playthroughs are nearly the same until the end.

Playthroughs 2 and 3 also unlock a few new Free Expeditions, free play missions for experience, money, and weapons. However, there is sometimes actual lore hidden within these missions – including about the Generals! It’s a shame they’re hidden in later playthroughs, though I suppose only people interested in finding out more will be replaying the game in the first place.

And as a note – Weapon Stories are back and they’re still interesting to read.

Conclusion

Drakengard 2 improves on Drakengard 1’s gameplay in many ways, though falls short narratively. I wish I had played these games as they came out. My opinion about Drakengard 2 is influences by playing 1, 3, NieR, and Automata before it. My experience with the series absolutely has an impact on reception and expectations. But I think it would still feel like something is missing here.

Although I have been critical, I had fun playing through this game and I did enjoy seeing the direction they tried taking it. It’s playable, but I don’t believe it plays well enough to stand out among other hack and slashes on the platform if you simply want it for the gameplay experience. The interesting draw is its place in the series, canon notwithstanding, and I can only recommend it to people who are already curious about Drakengard and NieR.

That’s largely why I played it. Drakengard 2 nowadays has a reputation of being a departure towards a more mainstream appeal. It’s not difficult to play through Route A and experience some of the better aspects of the game towards the end. It’s very telling that the some of the best parts of this game are those that directly relate to the first. And if you loved the first, you may want to play just for the context and gravity of these scenes.

Even then, I don’t recommend taking it on three times.