Hotsuma's Reviews: Drakengard

[~~~~Closed~~~~]

Title: Drakengard
Developer: Enix

Gamepaly: Enix just tried to do too much on Drakengard. Mixing Panzer Dragoon and Dynasty Warriors might seem like a good idea in theory, it doesn't come to reality too well. the on-dragon segments just don't control well, and the controls are sluggish to respond. the targeting system is just plain...bad, it's hard to tell if your even locked on...and even yough you can charge your attacks, it's nigh impossible to tell how much you've charged up. not to mention the camera has a tendancy to focus right up the dragon's ass, and also gets stuck making it impossible to control. the on-foot segments aren't too great either. even though you can fight tons of enemies at a time, they're all as dumb as rocks and just stand around so you can kill them. there's a ton of weapons you can choose from...but aside from their range there aren't any real differences between them. did I mention that you randomly heal? yeah, you'll be running around killing dudes...then your life re-fills for no reason. despite it's flaws, the gameplay is probally the best part of the game. 12/20
Graphics: They aren't actually all that bad actually. the graphics are a bit grainy, and un detailed...but they're aren't the worst I've seen. the character design isn't the best either. 11/20
Story: the second best part, the story is actually fairly...acceptable, it has revenge, and war, and love, and...stuff...the kind of stuff you'd expect from an RPG, not an action game. there are a grand total of 5 endings though, which isn't too shabby, and adds a pants load of replay value. 12/20
Sound: ugh... this is definetly the WORST part of the game. the VO is enough to make one run from the room screaming. random accents tossed in here and there. more bad lines than Yuna in a porn flick, and the dragon just sounds so stupid it lowered my IQ by about 6 points. 4/20

Score: 39/80
Pros: Lots of ending, weapons, and enemies to kill
Cons: piss poor sound, not that good of gameplay, not much reason to use other weapons

Final Verdict
I can't help but get the feeling, that if the developers had just focused on making a Panzer Dragoon clone, the game would have been better. it's not the worst game I've ever played, but not good enough to be qualified as good. my advise...steer clear, but if your still interested, rent it before buying.

[MedeoPlusPlus]

more bad lines than Yuna in a porn flick

    Very well put.

And I agree, 5 endings = good. Not as much replay value as, say, Chrono Trigger (13 endings)- which isn't to say that Drakengard could compare to a great classic like CT anyway- but it's still a definite plus.

If I had to choose the overall worst business deal in the VG industry for the last year, it would be a toss-up between Nintendo selling out Rareware to Mikrosoft, and Square merging with Enix. Squaresoft was a highly respected company that had been consistently turning out popular, high-quality games since the original Final Fantasy came out in '87. Enix was not nearly as great, with a few marginally successful franchises like the Dragon Warrior and Soul Blazer series. Square-Enix, therefore, is only half-legendary, and I can't shake this nagging feeling that the latter part is only going to continue to keep the former from its original glory. It started with Final Fantasy X-2 (which was a good game overall, but sort of disappointing when set against the series' exceptional track record) and I can only see it going downhill from here (witness Drakengard, and the horrid abortion known as Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles).

Either Enix had better get its act together, or Square had better commandeer more of the artistic control- otherwise, I can see a future for this merger that looks rather like a zoom-in on a dragon's ass.

[Z³]

If I remember correctly, I think all or most of the people on the original squaresoft team got dropped after the merger, the square half of the name is really only a marketing ploy.

[MedeoPlusPlus]

Ooh! An interesting trivium I forgot to mention- the merger officially occured on April 1 of last year, so a lot of people thought it was just an elaborate April Fools' joke. (Though now, they may not have been too far off).

Just thought I'd point that out.

[CannedLizard]

Mmm, Yuna...in porn....

Err, what? Oh right, I disagree! I have no idea what game this is, or what it's like but I'm sure to disagree!  :P

[~~~~Closed~~~~]

actually, enix had nothing to do with FFX-2, the only reason the Squenix logo is on there is because it was released in america after the merger. the japanese version has the squaresoft logo.

[MedeoPlusPlus]

enix had nothing to do with FFX-2

See, that's probably why it didn't totally suck ass (QED).

[Lister]

actually, enix had nothing to do with FFX-2

But I guess the Yuna-fetish you guys have has everything to do with FFX-2...
I didn't play FFX-2 since I don't like the princess-dress-me-up part...
In FFX Yuna was far less appealing than Rikku, so it must come from FFX-2...

[CannedLizard]

But I guess the Yuna-fetish you guys have has everything to do with FFX-2...
I didn't play FFX-2 since I don't like the princess-dress-me-up part...
In FFX Yuna was far less appealing than Rikku, so it must come from FFX-2...

Rikku is in FFX-2 as well! Since all the characters are wearing less, and Rikku wasn't very well-covered in the first place, they decided to just go with a swim-suit.

They also included a goth girl, so EVERYONE can be happy!

[~~~~Closed~~~~]

They also included a goth girl, so EVERYONE can be happy!

too bad she looks like Elvis...that's a slightly too specific fetish that Squenix was trying to appeal to.

[~~~~Closed~~~~]

actually, enix had nothing to do with FFX-2

But I guess the Yuna-fetish you guys have has everything to do with FFX-2...
I didn't play FFX-2 since I don't like the princess-dress-me-up part...
In FFX Yuna was far less appealing than Rikku, so it must come from FFX-2...

What Yuna fetish?

it's odd that people diddn't play this game because of the whole "change jobs" aspect of it, yet they like FF:Tactics. it's the same damn thing people. you can always disable the job-change animation too.

[Lister]

It's not the job-change that's bugging people (FFV had plenty of job-changes), it's the fact that the game is too girly in general...
It's not a matter of content, it's a matter of presentation...

"Well, of course the game is girly, but at least you get to see rikku in a swimsuit."

I'm old enough to watch real porn...

"If you look past the girly stuff, then there's a really cool game underneath."

Quite possible, but there are other cool games where you don't have to look past stuff to see that it's cool.

"Why don't you like girly stuff, are you a homophobe?  A closet case?"

I don't like it because I don't like it.
If a girl doesn't like to watch "Big Trouble In Little China" 10 times in a row followed by 15 sittings of "Army Of Darkness", does that make her a closet-lesbian?
Closets are not my thing, I prefer a basket...

[archPope Rocket P Llama]

I can't comprehend how anyone can have a Yuna fettish. She's really dull, and not that bright. Rikku on the other hand....I'm going to Gen-Con as FFX-2 ManRikku! :-D Been assempling the costume already begun hath. yessss.

FFX-2 is good, but it's no FF6. I wish they'd remake 6, then we could have the entire score orchestrated, the Opera Scene done with full voice, and finally get to see how Celes SHOULD look.