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Drakengard 3 |OT| This Silence Is Mine

If you have an hour to spare, I highly recommend Yoko's GDC presentation "Making Weird Games For Weird People" for anyone wanting to get an understanding of his unique approach to game design.

He's remarkably humble and unpretentious about what he does, but he's a genuinely interesting -and IMHO criminally underrated- creative. Some of the high-level points are just what he says in his recent "sock-puppet" promo, but there's also some terrific pragmatic advice about building drama and creating the sort of emotional impact that is his signature.
I had been wondering whether or not this would be up on the vault. Missed my chance to go to GDC this year and regretted it when I heard Yoko Taro was there. Gonna give it a listen, as I grind for gold and materials to upgrade weapons.
 

Verelios

Member
If you have an hour to spare, I highly recommend Yoko's GDC presentation "Making Weird Games For Weird People" for anyone wanting to get an understanding of his unique approach to game design.

He's remarkably humble and unpretentious about what he does, but he's a genuinely interesting -and IMHO criminally underrated- creative. Some of the high-level points are just what he says in his recent "sock-puppet" promo, but there's also some terrific pragmatic advice about building drama and creating the sort of emotional impact that is his signature.
Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

I'd love to hear more of his thoughts on Nier's side Characters, especially the sisters. That crushed me.

Although DG2 was nice emotionally too.
 

Jisgsaw

Member
So, are the J-Voices DLC working for anyone with a PAL copy of the game?

Zero's/Mikhail's/Ditto's english dubs are great, but the rest not so much (at least up to chap. 3. I'm still waiting to hear O'Brien).
 

Hellix

Member
I just finished getting Ending A. While I enjoyed the game thus far, I don't think I have the willpower to get the other endings. I am just getting tired of the gameplay, so I don't know if it is worth forcing myself through completing the other branches.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
The presentation was great, especially about shattering the 'things you can't do' wall in games. I wonder how much of D3 he had control over. He made it sound like he was kind of hands-off.
 

Yuterald

Member
God, this game is so ridiculously vulgar. Not that I'm offended or anything, it's just borderline (lol) trashy at times. The first Drakengard game were pretty serious throughout, if I recall? Of the little I've played of Drakengard 2, that game seemed pretty no-nonsense as well. This game on the other hand has slapstick/game parody-like humor in it at times...
like that Chapter 2 fake ending scene and the part when the dummy dragon blows up the bridge while Zero is on it, those free falling screams she makes...Christ =/
. NIER also took itself very seriously but it was classy as fuck. Kaine was pretty out there and dropped a few shit/fuck-bombs here and there, but it still felt WAY more restrained than the diarrhea-of-the-mouth this game has been, ha!

Regardless, I'm still fascinated by the game's world/scope and I'm really enjoying the soundtrack. It's definitely got that "gotta see the next cut-scene" hook though. Hard to put down.
 

Jisgsaw

Member
If you have an hour to spare, I highly recommend Yoko's GDC presentation "Making Weird Games For Weird People" for anyone wanting to get an understanding of his unique approach to game design.

He's remarkably humble and unpretentious about what he does, but he's a genuinely interesting -and IMHO criminally underrated- creative. Some of the high-level points are just what he says in his recent "sock-puppet" promo, but there's also some terrific pragmatic advice about building drama and creating the sort of emotional impact that is his signature.

Wow that conference was great, thanks for the link.

Perfectly explains why his games divide the opinions so much lol.
 

TnK

Member
Great to hear this game's story is int he same league as Nier. Haven't played Nier myself, but I heard really great things about it. Well, I started the game, and I am generally really liking it.

What I want to know is, the Japanese voice acting, is it worth getting, and is it better than the english?

I noticed that there is something odd with the sound where the voice acting in general is higher than the sound effects themselves.

EDIT: How long is this game?
Can anyone please answer these questions I have? Thanks =D
 
So playing One's DLC has been a way better venue for getting gold than replaying Accord Requests. Especially when after you beat it the first time gold soldiers show up at points during the missions.

And speaking of One's DLC, Gabriella is fucking awesome. She reminds me of Angelus, except a bit less hateful towards humans and much more sassy. A great addition to the cast of dragon characters in this series.
 

Astarte

Member
So playing One's DLC has been a way better venue for getting gold than replaying Accord Requests. Especially when after you beat it the first time gold soldiers show up at points during the missions.

And speaking of One's DLC, Gabriella is fucking awesome. She reminds me of Angelus, except a bit less hateful towards humans and much more sassy. A great addition to the cast of dragon characters in this series.

I really wish meaningful sister backstory wasn't tied to paid DLC, but what're you gonna do. The thing that infuriated me about the story was the fact that character backstory was barely touched upon if your name wasn't Zero. The salt flows forever.
 
After a busy week I'm finally getting a chance to play this. From what others have said, and having played the previous Drakengard games and Nier, I'm both excited and intrigued to see how this connects to everything.


Speak not the Watchers,
Draw not the Watchers,
Write not the Watchers,
Sculpt not the Watchers,
Sing not the Watchers,
Call not the Watchers' name.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
After a busy week I'm finally getting a chance to play this. From what others have said, and having played the previous Drakengard games and Nier, I'm both excited and intrigued to see how this connects to everything.


Speak not the Watchers,
Draw not the Watchers,
Write not the Watchers,
Sculpt not the Watchers,
Sing not the Watchers,
Call not the Watchers' name.

if you are hoping for things to be connectex much to the other titles get ready to be let down. seriously for the most part they could have called this something else and it wouldnt have made much of a diff.

the 2 spinoff mangas that came out after do a far better job of capturing the essence of the series. esp the more serious one. dont go looking for them till you clear the game though as one is most def considered spoilers. the other is about the sisters when they were younger. no idea if its trying to be canon or not
 
Holy fuck that rolling around in the mud scene has me dying of laughter.
if you are hoping for things to be connectex much to the other titles get ready to be let down. seriously for the most part they could have called this something else and it wouldnt have made much of a diff.

the 2 spinoff mangas that came out after do a far better job of capturing the essence of the series. esp the more serious one. dont go looking for them till you clear the game though as one is most def considered spoilers. the other is about the sisters when they were younger. no idea if its trying to be canon or not
:/

I'll definitely check out the mangas then.
 

DVCY201

Member
if you are hoping for things to be connectex much to the other titles get ready to be let down. seriously for the most part they could have called this something else and it wouldnt have made much of a diff.

the 2 spinoff mangas that came out after do a far better job of capturing the essence of the series. esp the more serious one. dont go looking for them till you clear the game though as one is most def considered spoilers. the other is about the sisters when they were younger. no idea if its trying to be canon or not

Shi Ni Itaru Aka? I've only read a bit of it, but it's very good. It's a different author I think, one that hasn't directly worked on the games. Who wrote the story for Drakengard 3?

Don't even Google this manga unless you want spoilers, just an FYI
 

DVCY201

Member
That and if you can't handle extreme violence and rape. Some stuff in there...shit gets way nastier than any of the worst stuff in these games, I feel.

It's quite graphic, I agree.

Gah, really? The only person I've positively identified was Liam O'Brien (for obvious reasons). I wish the credits actually had the English VAs =/

I recognize most of the VA's, although a few I'm not familiar with. All great voice actors though!
 
I recognize most of the VA's, although a few I'm not familiar with. All great voice actors though!
I always forget her name, but the VA for Four I could immediately recognize because she also voices Noel in Blazblue and Compa in Neptunia.

One voice that actually took me a while to figure out was Decadus. Didn't expect it to be Cam Clarke, and realizing that made me a tad disappointed he did not go more hammy with his performance (granted his character didn't really give him room to sound like Liquid, but what can you do).
 

DVCY201

Member
I always forget her name, but the VA for Four I could immediately recognize because she also voices Noel in Blazblue and Compa in Neptunia.

One voice that actually took me a while to figure out was Decadus. Didn't expect it to be Cam Clarke, and realizing that made me a tad disappointed he did not go more hammy with his performance (granted his character didn't really give him room to sound like Liquid, but what can you do).

Aha, the very first line: "Yup, that's Noel!" You hear her so much in BlazBlue that it's hard NOT to hear her.

I was more surprised by the fact that Cam Clarke was still doing voice work. I thought he left! The last role I remember was Tales of Vesperia. He does those sensual grunts so well in this role though haha.
 
Aha, the very first line: "Yup, that's Noel!" You hear her so much in BlazBlue that it's hard NOT to hear her.

I was more surprised by the fact that Cam Clarke was still doing voice work. I thought he left! The last role I remember was Tales of Vesperia. He does those sensual grunts so well in this role though haha.
Indeed, that voice is unmistakable.

Also another voice I think I figured out (not sure, haven't found any info to prove it) but Gabriella in the DLC I THINK is Mona Marshall, who was the voice of Angelus in Drakengard 1.

That would make so much fucking sense if it were so. Got huge Angelus vibes from listening to Gabriella.

Man, I loved spears in Nier....but in this game....nope. At least the first one you get from Dito. Nope nope nope.
I like the spears so long as I'm using one that lets me mash triangle to rapidly stab. The charge ones don't suit me.

Though if you want a weapon with an attack that you can abuse all the way, equip a sword that doesn't make you do a downward attack when pressing triangle in the air. Air dash followed by triangle, deal damage and avoid most on the ground.
 

Astarte

Member
Man, I loved spears in Nier....but in this game....nope. At least the first one you get from Dito. Nope nope nope.

Are you real? Spears are hilariously overpowered. Remember the basics of action games, dash cancelling exists! The two tactics I used to absolutely WRECK the game (used a heavy spear)

1. Use the multiple stabbing attack which happens after one square and mashing on triangle. Will interrupt most enemy attack animations and can last as long as you have stamina. This is singlehandedly the most damaging thing you can do in this game.

2. Dash forward, use heavy attack (the slam), cancel dash forward to end the animation, repeat. You can alternate between that and the tactic of slamming, dashing backwards and slamming (which propels you forward)

Spears aren't as autowin in D3 as they are in Nier, but damn they are STRONG. Who needs swords or chakrams when you have an autowin weapon right there? Gauntlets are fine, they're great travel tools.
 
This spear just seems extremely slow to me, like if I start mashing square it feels like I'm stuck in one direction, unable to change which way I'm going and leaves me open to their attacks. Same with holding down triangle.

Looks like I'll try to get used to it. Do spears come in different "sizes" like swords, S, M, L?
 

Astarte

Member
This spear just seems extremely slow to me, like if I start mashing square it feels like I'm stuck in one direction, unable to change which way I'm going and leaves me open to their attacks. Same with holding down triangle.

Looks like I'll try to get used to it. Do spears come in different "sizes" like swords, S, M, L?

Yep. I find that L spears are better because of the ability to dash cancel the big hits. You don't want to spam square or triangle with spears, instead you take advantage of the jank battle system and stun lock everything by dash cancel slamming.
 
So after beating my head against the final arena challenge and not completing all ten rounds, I decided "Fuck it, I'll go ahead and finish Branch D."
I'll admit though, I kinda cheated (if it really matters) because I had this synced up with the battle and was able to get it first try, even though I was scared thinking that I'd screw up at some point and have to restart. My mind probably made it seem worse than it actually was because I still clearly remember struggling through Drakengard 1's final boss, and this looked way more fucked up.

But, I finished it, and now I feel good about putting the game down for a while, as those final Accord Requests and survival mission were driving me so goddamn crazy. Give me some time to put together what I think about the whole game (mostly pertaining to story and character stuff).
 
The game is easy enough that the spears aren't really that overpowered. There are better weapons for large groups, and the blood meter goes up so quickly that stronger single enemies can be taken care of with intoner mode. Not that it matters because the big enemies have stupidly easy patterns to exploit. And most bosses are done riding a dragon.
 

Astarte

Member
So after beating my head against the final arena challenge and not completing all ten rounds, I decided "Fuck it, I'll go ahead and finish Branch D."
I'll admit though, I kinda cheated (if it really matters) because I had this synced up with the battle and was able to get it first try, even though I was scared thinking that I'd screw up at some point and have to restart. My mind probably made it seem worse than it actually was because I still clearly remember struggling through Drakengard 1's final boss, and this looked way more fucked up.

HOLY SHIT THIS EXISTS
 

Cloudy

Banned
I got this only game because I liked the music in the trailer. I know nothing about the series. The reviews have been so mediocre that I'm having 2nd thoughts. Someone convince me to open it..
 

koutoru

Member
I got this only game because I liked the music in the trailer. I know nothing about the series. The reviews have been so mediocre that I'm having 2nd thoughts. Someone convince me to open it..

Excellent characters and story (The dialogue can be both hilarious and dark in nature)
Multi-weapon system adds interesting combat possibilities
Excellent soundtrack

Obviously, I have no idea how much you personally will take to the game but these are the highlights.
 
So, I'm near the end I believe and I'm going through the part where I need to kill a specific amount of soldiers to continue up. I'm on I think the second room or something and one guy just keeps getting stuck all the way outside the map, any help or fixes or....anything? I'm going to be pissed if this basically makes my entire play through null.
 

Hellix

Member
I'll admit though, I kinda cheated (if it really matters) because I had this synced up with the battle and was able to get it first try, even though I was scared thinking that I'd screw up at some point and have to restart. My mind probably made it seem worse than it actually was because I still clearly remember struggling through Drakengard 1's final boss, and this looked way more fucked up.

Decided to just go ahead and do Branch D. This is a godsend.
 

george_us

Member
Only the Japanese can get away with creating a technical disaster like this that's still highly enjoyable. Seriously, this is one of the ugliest, jankiest games I've ever played yet I'm having a blast. The characters are interesting, the dialog is hysterical, and the story itself is pretty fucking dope so far. Not to mention the combat is shockingly fun.

I also love how Zero's personality is the polar opposite of her character design. From the art you'd expect her to be the quiet, kindhearted mysterious girl who's formed an unbreakable bond with her pet dragon. Instead she's a psychotic murderous lunatic with a foul mouth who routinely verbally abuses her adolescent pet dragon.
 

DPtheGod

Member
Great to hear this game's story is int he same league as Nier. Haven't played Nier myself, but I heard really great things about it. Well, I started the game, and I am generally really liking it.

What I want to know is, the Japanese voice acting, is it worth getting, and is it better than the english?

I noticed that there is something odd with the sound where the voice acting in general is higher than the sound effects themselves.

EDIT: How long is this game?

Japanese voices are far better than English, imo, and is well worth the $5 and 10GB download.

Some people are reporting different amounts for the game, but I have seen as low as 30 hrs to plat, and as high as 100.

And, fwiw, Nier is the shit.

Have to say this is pretty good, too.
 
Japanese voices are far better than English, imo, and is well worth the $5 and 10GB download.

Some people are reporting different amounts for the game, but I have seen as low as 30 hrs to plat, and as high as 100.

And, fwiw, Nier is the shit.

Have to say this is pretty good, too.
Unless you spend 60 hours trying to beat the final boss, I'm not even sure how 100 hours is even possible.
 
Why did I get this? I don't know. But it's fun!

Graphics look like an upscaled Ps2 game, LoL!

The combat is light years better than the first two games.

It's not a bad game at all. It's kind of fun.

I kind of wish the visuals were better but I think the devs captured the right art style to accomodate for the lack of advanced graphics.
 
I don't think the graphics are a complete abomination taken on their own, it's combined with the worst performance on the system AND screen tearing that it becomes nauseating. The last area of Chapter 3 for example looks totally decent. Weirdly inconsistent.

And I like the English voices so far, very anime but they're hilarious.
 

MilkBeard

Member
I don't think the graphics are a complete abomination taken on their own, it's combined with the worst performance on the system AND screen tearing that it becomes nauseating. The last area of Chapter 3 for example looks totally decent. Weirdly inconsistent.

And I like the English voices so far, very anime but they're hilarious.

Yeah, the character models looks nice, and are what save the graphics for me.

---

Also, about the Mikhail flying sections: For anyone that hasn't figured it out yet, the L1 lock works here too and makes them pretty easy to manage. I saw people complaining about the sections a while back, but once you lock on it's not a problem to hit targets and maneuver.
 
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