Drakengard - for people who like happy endings.
Well I have finished a game instead of just adding it to my pile of the to do list.
Now you long-suffering people have to put up with a review with spoilers, although since most of you are in no way interested I'll lj-cut the damn thing.
Drakengard has two main gameplay modes, the first is a Dynasty Warriors style ground mission which it doesn't seem to do as well as Koei's title.
The second is an aerial set-up using the dragon's fireballs to kill things, this seems sluggish and unresponsive so is not up the standard of fight combat games.
There is also the option of torching people on the ground with the dragon which is easier to use but the game limits its effectiveness.
Overall it gets repetitive far more quickly than say a Dynasty Warriors title as the main jist here is just to kill anything that moves, and there is little variation in any one level.
The system for levelling is simple in this game as you level weapons by kills which increases their power, no of consecutive strikes, and sometimes their range. EXP only raises HP while dragon EXP for what she kills raises the dragon's attack power.
There are no items or such to customise the player, just different weapons which are unlocked by doing certain things as the game progresses.
Now onto the storyline, to start with it is actually fairly similar in style to an rpg where people are out to get you, your sister (who is a goddess and a magical seal) and your best friend; you pick up a ragtag bunch of misfits along the way and your best friend is turned against you.
However, normally at this point when things look their worst some sort of cliché cuts in and the heroes manage to save everyone and the world and live happily ever after. Somehow the people writing this game forgot this as no matter what the goddess will die and things go from bad to worse.
There are five possible endings, none of which can be thought of as happy, and many can be considered disturbing.
Ending 1 is probably the 'happiest' as the dragon gives up her life to become the lost seal.
Ending 2 sees all but one ally die in the build up; and the remaining one, the weakest in the game, has the power to freeze the final boss. The effect of this is the general vicinity of the boss is completely isolated and everyone there is as good as dead; but the rest of the planet is saved.
Ending 3 has the dragon turn against you and you having killed it to go out into the world to attempt the futile task of killing all the dragons which have amassed against humanity.
Ending 4 has you and the dragon follow the boss in ending 2 through time to modern day Tokyo; here it becomes a statue and after an inane button pressing sequence where if you make one wrong move at the end, where it is exceptionally fast, you have to start over; your victory is cut short as the statue crumbles and you are shot down by Japanese fighter planes.
Ending 5 has the best friend try and magically resurrect the goddess and instead bring forth a monster who after you defeat it are confronted by a sky filled with its clones out to destroy the world.
If you have played the game you may wonder why I gave the endings in the wrong order, well that was how I got them. According to guides what I described above is 1, 4, 3, 5, 2 but such guides also tend to say you can only get the endings in numerical order so that's a load of bollocks.
Now you long-suffering people have to put up with a review with spoilers, although since most of you are in no way interested I'll lj-cut the damn thing.
Drakengard has two main gameplay modes, the first is a Dynasty Warriors style ground mission which it doesn't seem to do as well as Koei's title.
The second is an aerial set-up using the dragon's fireballs to kill things, this seems sluggish and unresponsive so is not up the standard of fight combat games.
There is also the option of torching people on the ground with the dragon which is easier to use but the game limits its effectiveness.
Overall it gets repetitive far more quickly than say a Dynasty Warriors title as the main jist here is just to kill anything that moves, and there is little variation in any one level.
The system for levelling is simple in this game as you level weapons by kills which increases their power, no of consecutive strikes, and sometimes their range. EXP only raises HP while dragon EXP for what she kills raises the dragon's attack power.
There are no items or such to customise the player, just different weapons which are unlocked by doing certain things as the game progresses.
Now onto the storyline, to start with it is actually fairly similar in style to an rpg where people are out to get you, your sister (who is a goddess and a magical seal) and your best friend; you pick up a ragtag bunch of misfits along the way and your best friend is turned against you.
However, normally at this point when things look their worst some sort of cliché cuts in and the heroes manage to save everyone and the world and live happily ever after. Somehow the people writing this game forgot this as no matter what the goddess will die and things go from bad to worse.
There are five possible endings, none of which can be thought of as happy, and many can be considered disturbing.
Ending 1 is probably the 'happiest' as the dragon gives up her life to become the lost seal.
Ending 2 sees all but one ally die in the build up; and the remaining one, the weakest in the game, has the power to freeze the final boss. The effect of this is the general vicinity of the boss is completely isolated and everyone there is as good as dead; but the rest of the planet is saved.
Ending 3 has the dragon turn against you and you having killed it to go out into the world to attempt the futile task of killing all the dragons which have amassed against humanity.
Ending 4 has you and the dragon follow the boss in ending 2 through time to modern day Tokyo; here it becomes a statue and after an inane button pressing sequence where if you make one wrong move at the end, where it is exceptionally fast, you have to start over; your victory is cut short as the statue crumbles and you are shot down by Japanese fighter planes.
Ending 5 has the best friend try and magically resurrect the goddess and instead bring forth a monster who after you defeat it are confronted by a sky filled with its clones out to destroy the world.
If you have played the game you may wonder why I gave the endings in the wrong order, well that was how I got them. According to guides what I described above is 1, 4, 3, 5, 2 but such guides also tend to say you can only get the endings in numerical order so that's a load of bollocks.