Drakengard 2

"Sometimes Improvements Create Problems"

I'm just not sure about this game. I can't tell you how many times I forced myself to play this because I thought to myself, "You've got a new Square-Enix game, now become obsessed like you always do." This will be a review that remarks on both the good and the bad. Before I begin I did not beat this game like most of the games I review. I didn't even really make it that far, so to the game's credit I didn't try hard enough to see all of what it had to offer. I made it about a 1/4 of the way through.

Graphics: 7.5/10

This is by far the best improvement of all, because the original Drakengard looked like an N64 game. The graphics have been improved upon in every regard from the movies, to the in game graphics on foot and on dragon, the special effects and the presentation. The level designs have been improved upon and actually consist of labyrinths that have to be explored, not just ran through. The variation in enemy type has also been dramatically upgraded and the large amount of enemies in the game dwarf its predecessor. I loved the graphics immediately and after plowing through the first game's lackluster look, I felt immediately rewarded visually for my time spent on the original. The environments are full of details and the flames and fumes all look pretty good. The look isn't mind blowing but it's an improvement upon the original that it's beyond noticeable. The character models are better, the weapons look better, the dragon segments look better, less draw distance, everything has been improved upon. The character design is also better with the unchanging Caim had little difference to his counterparts. In this one the new each character has a distinct look and feel.

Music and Sound Effects: 8/10

There are a few great songs in Drakengard 2. The soundtrack is light years beyond the last game. The sound effects library has also been upgraded and there are more than two types of "shield block" sounds, thank god. The voice acting though doesn't stick out to me as much as the first. The dragon's commentary in the first game was spectacular and the voice acting was what pulled it off. It also helped that Caim lost his voice so you weren't fatigued with the annoying whining of your protagonist.
This game failed to grab

Gameplay: 5/10

Now it's not the like the original was the most innovative game in the world. Near the end of Drakengard 1 estimated I had hit the Square and Triangle button over 200,000 times...and this depressed me. This game is no different and the combos are limited to combos you have performed in every game of this type. Some are exceedingly difficult to pull off and you will most likely stick to 3-4 different ones. The main change in this game is that you HAVE to switch characters. In the first game you could only play characters on their specific levels or as a limited "power up" during regular levels. In this game switching weapons means switching characters. This is definitely an improvement upon the original unless you don't want to switch characters, and in that case you are going to be destroyed. The controls on the Dragon have thankfully been vastly improved upon and feel more natural and diverse. The ground level controls also feel improved upon. The new failures in the game come about from the improvements though. Due to the new level design there is now something annoying - 3-D Platform jumping. I can't tell you how much I hate 3-D platform jumping. In fact, when the original 3-D games arrived on the Playstation and N64, I hated them because you couldn't just jump like you did in the old days; you either made it or fell; now you have to control the camera as well. So it's jump, switch camera, move, switch camera, adjust camera, jump, fall, repeat. It's hyper-frustrating and on a few of the levels I just would want to quit playing, which brings me to the new problem/improvement. Which reminds me, the camera sucks in this game, it didn't matter so much in Drakengard 1 because the levels were expansive and you could go in any direction. Corridors and bad cameras equals staring at the wall and getting hit in the back.

Improvements Equal Problems
Now upon dying you have the option to either quit, or keep playing with the experience points you earned not lost. In concept that sounds great and is nice for power leveling and not feeling like the last hour playing a level was a total waste. This became a huge problem for me because one specific level I kept replaying. I seriously must've kept dying, due to my own fault of not switching characters when I should have, but I must've played the same level for 2 hours, leveling up 3 or 4 levels, eventually I got tired of the game and wanted to quit, but the problem is you can't save your progress until you beat the level. So those two hours were a total waste, because it was time to go to sleep and I don't keep my system on all night. It was upon this day that decided I was done playing this game and I didn't care about following the storyline or beating all the enemies. Honestly the storyline of the first game kept me plugging away at it, it had the most interesting and underestimated storyline I've seen for a while, minus Blood Will Tell. The sequel though felt forced and rather boring. I felt like I was playing Rayman meets Koei. It just didn't have that intrigue or interesting "Pact" element that made the first game. I understand if you want to completely dismiss my review because I didn't finish the game, but I always wait a few weeks or months to review a game so that I'm not caught up by all the hype or newness. It's hard to tell how truly good a game is until after you've either beaten it or after a few months have gone by. If you miss the game and desire to play it again that says something, if you never want to return to the repetitive world again, you have a game like Drakengard 2.

In Closing:

I really wanted to love Drakengard 2. I tried too hard to get into the game. Too many things about this game frustrated me or bored me to death. I obviously saw the improvements made upon the first, but I couldn't get into this game. Maybe my experience will be truly different than yours and perhaps I just didn't try hard enough. To me a game should invite you in and make you want to return over and over again, but this game made me feel like I was dreading going to school or church. I wanted to beat it but didn't have the commitment or interest. Blame me or blame the designers but to me the game is completely average.

We can only hope that the "Kill One Million Enemies" type of game is coming to a close..with Dynasty Warriors series reaching the 11th Sequel and spin-offs getting average reviews, even the best game in this genre can only reach the highest score of above average.

Overall Score: 5/10

Recommendation: I would say rental but a game like this takes scores of time to complete. But I wouldn't recommend buying it. If you think Drakengard 1 was the best game you ever played you might rent it first. All I know is that it says Ubisoft on the cover, which to me says something to the quality of the product if Square wasn't involved in every stage of development from production to distribution.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/07