Drakengard 3 (ps3)

[Winnow]

Noticed this game pop up on the site I check for new TV episodes. Grabbed it and have been pleasantly surprised.

First and foremost, this is put out by Square Enix. I need to comment again at how fucking awful FFXIII Lightening Strikes was. God Awful.

I mention that because this game is from Square Enix and is very entertaining. The art is interesting and story, while nothing special, is funny (quotes later). I don't know what the fuck Square is doing with Final Fantasy but they can still put out fun games.

In Drakengard, you play the sixth sister (or first, zero sister) of six and you want to kill the other five sisters so there can be only one, a little highlanderish.

It's action based with combos, dodging and stuff. You have a dragon you can have do stuff and there's weapons, upgrades, etc.

At least with the pirated version, you can download a 9GB Japanese voice pack (probably included with retail) but I like the english voices because the dialog cracks me up.

Some early quotes:

my eye hurts like a bitch

How many times have I told you? Don't roll around in the fucking mud!

Quit pissing yourself and let me kill you!

Zero: Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!

Michael (dragon): Don't say that Zero. It makes my tummy queezy

Zero: Oh really? DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIEEEEEE!

Positives (early on)

-Play evil character that wants to kill everyone and likes it. No morality issues here.

-Graphics are last gen (resolution) but look nice with that in mind. (not generic and rust ugly like FFXIII Lightening Strikes, but low res textures)

-Swords and weapons are unique and cool looking. Four different types of weapons can be equipped.

-RPG elements, levels, upgrades, various sword abilities depending on what's equipped

- Nice presentation between chapters/levels. Cool way it gives overview of your past chapter, gold.items receives, exp, etc. Also nice database of people/weapons.

Negatives

- camera is a little wonky. It chases you but takes awhile to move behind you when fighting. You also have free 360 camera and motion but the fights are fast paced so can be disorienting at times.

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Not sure if the same people that developed Neir made this game but there is a downloadable Nier outfit (I suppose you purchase it or it's a bonus pre-order) There are a few outfits that give you some bonuses.


Story is funny in a bad dialogue kind of way. The blood spattering on your character is worse than Dragon Age. I thought that impossible but this lady gets drenched in blood. Blood flies all over the place in this game.

Here's a trailer for the game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DphzJNaE1Yo&hd=1

The main character has a flower sticking out of her eye. Maybe try it when it comes to PS+ or the bargain bin.

[Winnow]

more blood than Dragon Age? Kind of funny in this game as opposed to supposedly trying to be realistic in Dragon Age though.

Here's an example of the violence after the first boss fight.

They cut away but you can hear what's going on. They then cut the audio in the next part when the guy is doing his thing.

I recommend playing with English audio because the lines crack me up.

http://youtu.be/bLSTJTUDfpA?t=6m10s

I bookmarked the scene.

There's a lot of dialogue even during boss fights as Zero talks trash to her sisters or whoever the opponent happens to be.

[Animalor]

Wow those japanese covers are always pretty consistantly pervy aren't they..

[Winnow]

Wow those japanese covers are always pretty consistantly pervy aren't they..

Pretty much although this game is more about the violence.

The dragon cracks me up. His reactions to Zero's violence (and the other guy in the linked video clip).

I'm sure this has a mature rating. If not it should. So far Zero is killing with reckless abandon and her first minion seems more psychotic than she is.

[Winnow]

Son of a bitch! I can't even walk in this shit. Fucking snow!

After avalanche:

Stupid pussy snow! I wasn't yelling that loudly.

Michael (dragon): Why don't you hop on my back and I'll fly you up?

Zero: because it's cold and you smell like a dead bear's ass

Zero: damn it's cold. Here give me your clothes.

Dito: For what! You won't fit in them.

Zero: I'm going to give them to Michael and have him burn them for warmth.

I had to stop playing this game every so often or I'd puke from motion sickness. Turned off the chase cam and than helped a bit.

Zero: ug, I'm not a fan.

Dito: Of what? Heights?

Zero: No, of all of this stupid precision jumping.

Seems like the developers knew people didn't like moving target platform jumping but put it in anyway and had the character bitch about it for you. lol

While the violence is still the biggest thing to make this mature, forget what I said about the sexual stuff. It's all verbal but the potty mouths on these characters is the worst I've seen, and funny. The first minion chats on about how he was sexually abused by sister five and asks if zero and the dragon had sex. It cracks me up but if you are some sort of religious do gooder nut, I'd skip this game. The story snf dialogue is way more entertaining than FFXIII. The people that liked Nier will like this. (same developers).

The game has gotten more challenging and I still haven't even got to sister IV (working down to Sister I). I thought the game might be on the short side after getting to the first sister pretty quick but since then it's been a long road to get to the next sister.

Weapon switching in this game is great. You go into a sort of bullet time and the switch is instant after choosing your next weapon. I only have two out of four weapon types so far but the shield busting spear is needed often or you'll die from shield bearers. The fighting, while chaotic and simple to begin with, becomes quite fun. I'd recommend turning off the chase cam.

Various weapons available in each of the four categories and each weapon changes it's look as you level it up (4 levels per weapon) There's also a story to each weapon and as you level it up, you get the next part of the story. All of the weapons have different combos and special strikes.

Overall, fun game so far. Graphics are barely better than PS2 quality in game but the cut scenes are ok. The assloads of dialogue make it entertaining. Combat is fun with dodging being very useful. While the story isn't special. It's presented well. Even random minion NPCs make comments that are unique. This game would look swank with better graphics. Music is on par with the FF games.

there are three gold chests in each chapter segment. Sometimes they aren't on the main pathway. I missed one once and had to go back to get 100% completion. They're worth it as you get gold, weapon materials or an item.

Don't ignore the side quests offered. The very first one gives you an extra inventory slot for light healing potion. As the game goes on, those heals are valuable. Your bloodlust/frenzy ability will save you often as well with boss mobs and when there's tons of mobs. There are some parts where you better have your bloodlust ready or you're not going to make it.