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[Leguna]

Here's my very first ALL digital painting. Those lines were done using a Tablet PC, where I can use a pen to draw directly on the monitor. After digitally sketching it using Sketch Pro, I painted it using Photoshop. Good and bad comments are welcome. I was going for a messy style (messy lines, messy coloring).

PLAYSTATION 2:
Drakengard

PLAYTIME:
I beat the game about 2 months ago, so this review is long over due and I apologize for that, mainly because this game deserved more positive attention than what it was getting at the time. I've just been crazy busy lately, but now that I can manage my time better and the fact that I have a new Tablet PC (love it) I'm back and ready to write reviews and impressions once again with new videogame art with EVERY review from here on.

GAMEPLAY: 8 out of 10

MUSIC/SOUND: 9 out of 10

VISUALS: 9 out of 10

FINAL JUDGMENT: 8.7 out of 10
I don’t understand why this game was receiving so much negative hype. I've never seen so many misguiding reviews for a single game. It really is a solid game that has really addicting gameplay. Yes, there are flaws and it's by no means a genre defining game, but it’s definitely not an F or even a D title. Drakengard is very easy to pick up and play and that’s part of the game's appeal.

The best game to compare Drakengard to is Dynasty Warriors (ground battles) and Panzer Dragoon (air battles). I find myself arguing against people regarding this comparison most. I would take a Drakengard over the entire series of Dynasty Warriors any day and here are some reasons why:

Firstly, Dynasty Warriors' gameplay consist of only a few basic abilities: attack, block, jump, shoot arrows, musou attack and when on an animal you can run through enemies. Drakengard, on the other hand, has many more gameplay abilities: attack, block, dodge, use magic, jump, summon allies and when on the dragon you can blow fire, and use a super fire attack, as well as dodging and doing a 180 degree spin. Keep in mind also that Drakengard has more weapons (64 weapons) than Dynasty Warriors has playable characters. Caim can select any weapon at any given time from his weapon wheel; each play differently and do different things. Each weapon has its own unique magic spell as well. Then there are the air battles on the dragon that plays like Panzer Dragoon without the rails. The ground battles I always felt were much more fun (they combine both gameplays of air and ground attacks) and more fine tuned than the air battles. The air battles' lock on system got frustrating at times when you get too close to an enemy.

Secondly, Drakengard’s graphics are much better than Dynasty Warriors. Enemies in close range don’t disappear and reappear if there are too many on screen as they do in Dynasty Warriors. The environment draw distance is MUCH further away in Drakengard, however the enemies have about the same draw distance as Dynast Warriors. Not to mention that Drakengard's character animation is incredible (the coolest running animation EVER) and Dynasty Warriors' is no where near as good.

Thirdly, Drakengard's music is much better as well. The music is composed by an orchestra and re-edited (very unique sounding music, it's a style all on its own). My favorite song is the 3rd chapter song on ground; it’s very energetic and dramatic while Dynasty Warriors only has annoying rock music (I love rock, but not Dynasty Warrior’s rock).

Fourthly, the cinemas in Drakengard are incredible, while the story and the cinemas in Dynasty Warriors are very forgettable.

I’ll give that Dynasty Warriors has a 2 player mode, but that’s really the only aspect that Dynasty Warriors has over Drakengard.

The English dubbing is quite good in this game! The only possible character to complain about is the old man, but only because it sounds like he’s dying every time he talks. The dubbing is very well lip synced and acted out extremely well.

Now Drakengard does fall short in certain areas though. While the cinemas are awesome the story is some what random, but still interesting. Another problem, if you want to call it that, is that there are many weapons in Drakengard, but you’ll find yourself using the first weapon in the game more than any other your first time through. Plus the path I went in the game leads to a lame last boss, but a really good ending. This game is repititive, so if the simple, solid gameplay isn't enough to keep you glued to the game then Drakengard isn't for you; however I would say this game is less repititive than Dynasty Warriors.

LAST WORDS:
Drakengard is addicting in the same way leveling up in RPGs is addicting, that feeling of wanting to perfect a strategy, technique or a way of fighting. I must say and maybe it’s just me, but when I first played this game I felt the same way when I played Actraiser for the first time; that feeling of eccentric newness, but extremely intriguing. Then add to that it’s made by SquareEnix. I’m hoping sequels are made. I would recommend buying this game.

 

[MoxManiac]

Awesome, we haven't had a Final Judgement for far too long.

 

[Tabris]

Take out that lens flare, it so ruins an otherwise good drawing.

 

[belgurdo]

The fanart is more interesting than the game

 

[Solid]

Awesome! I'll get this game when it's cheap. I'm something of a Square-whore

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I don't usually like "fan art" but I really like your drawing.

I'm skittish on this game probably due to mag reviews, but a lot of people have said good things about it in game stores, etc.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

You rate it too highly. Or should I say I wouldn't rate it so highly, to many little flaws, too many annoying habits that the game has.

I shall take things as the ground battles and sky battles as separate things.

The ground battles worked best, imo, but they still didn't really click. Two major faults in the ground battles really bring this below the DW series. Firstly the lack of any ally units on the map. It's just Caim and a load of Empire units. Secondly the lack of dynamicism in the battles. The enemies just stood there waiting for you for the entire battle. These two combined ensured that Drakengard failed to match DW for the feeling of being on an active battlefield. In terms of moves, sure you had some dodging and stuff but for the most part these moves were useless.

Add to this the crappy radar that doesn't seem to have been thought through at all and the constant interruptions from the characters talking at you, which brought up subtitle which took up nearly a quarter of the screen.

The air battles. Not even close to Panzer Dragon. They would throw far too many enemies at you, which didn't make it more difficult, just more annoying, as you fly towards them, get as many lock-ons as possible do a 180, get a bit of a distance, 180, back towards trying to lock on to as many again, rinse and repeat. It made using the magic attacks less about strategy and more about killing as much as possible as quickly as possible without getting too bored.

And lets not even get into the story. It's like they gave up after the first ending and just though 'fuck it, we'll throw in any old shit'.

 

[Lyte Edge]

The fanart is more interesting than the game

:lol Yep. I do like Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex (Same developers) though. They learned from their mistake called "Drag-On Dragoon/Drakengard."

I have to say one bad thing about that drawing, which has already been said: Lose the lens flare. Doesn't seem to look right, especially right on his balls. Also I think it would be cool if his sword blade (and only the sword blade) looked a bit more detailed/realistic looking.

 

[Leguna]

TO ALL:
OOPS!!! Forgot to change the score. When I first thought about the score for gameplay it was a 9, but remembering the only decent dragon parts that annoyed me at times had me lower it to an 8. The final judgment on the game is an 8.7.

MoxManiac:
Truly it has been too long.

Tabris:
I have the same pic without it. I tried to be really subtle with the lens flare so it would look less chessy; maybe not subtle enough.

belgurdo:
lol

Deepthroat:
It's already pretty cheap.

Musashi Wins!
Rent it and find out if it's for you.

Die Squirrel Die:
My 9 for gameplay was a mistake, I meant to change that to an 8 (i remember that it was floating between a 9 and an 8 for gameplay). I really didn't enjoy the dragon parts because it delayed me from playing the ground battles.

"Firstly the lack of any ally units on the map." - True, that probably would have added to the game.

"The enemies just stood there waiting for you for the entire battle" - They really don't just sit there waiting for you, in fact they attack right away once in close enough range; it's just that they can't block your incoming attacks (at least the weaking enemies can't).

"sure you had some dodging and stuff but for the most part these moves were useless. " - I'd say every move comes in handy at some point regardless of how rarely you might use one. But true, some moves are hardly needed at all such as jumping. Some weapons are just down right useless in battle.

I do agree on the air battles, they weren't design to well. While not terrible, there just wasn't enough to them or better ways to kill enemies up close.

The story is random and very strange at times, but had great quality cinemas to back it up which made it enjoyable just for the eye candy.

 

[teiresias]

I have to agree with getting rid of the lens flare.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

"The enemies just stood there waiting for you for the entire battle" - They really don't just sit there waiting for you, in fact they attack right away once in close enough range; it's just that they can't block your incoming attacks (at least the weaking enemies can't).

The story is random and very strange at times, but had great quality cinemas to back it up which made it enjoyable just for the eye candy.

Just the two things I want to reply to.

While I know that the enemies move when you are near them, I'm talking about moving in relation to the whole stage. So say there's a unit on the main map (representing 8 enemies) to the left of the castle entrance on the first stage. It doesn't matter at what stage in the battle I engage them, 5 minutes in, 15 minutes, 30 minutes in, they will still be in that same position. The units in the southern most section will never move across the bridge and start attacking the castle.

Of course without any allies there's not much point in them moving, which is why I say it's the combination that makes DW a better game, for giving you a dynamic battlefield.

As for the cinemas, I find out and out eye candy less appealing I suppose. I want at least a semi-decent coherent storyline to justify their existance.

 

[Leguna]

Die Squirrel Die:
Dynasty Warrior's battle field is more dynamic, but it's still a worse game as whole in comparision to Drakengard.

"As for the cinemas, I find out and out eye candy less appealing I suppose." - I'm still trying to figure out what you were trying to say here. Yes, the story in Drakengard is random, but it does have some coherency in the storyline; Dynasty Warrior's story is just a snore fest.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Die Squirrel Die:
Dynasty Warrior's battle field is more dynamic, but it's still a worse game as whole in comparision to Drakengard..

:lol How would you know? You've barely ever played a DW game before. You've never even found a new weapon or item in those games, for that matter.

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

Hmm, I haven't played the game but the story was what interested me, I heard that there was all kinds of cool fucked-up shit involved. Is the story not as fucked-up as I was led to believe or do you guys just not like that kind of story?

Also

The music is composed by an orchestra

That's an innovative approach to music composition.

 

[Leguna]

Lyte Edge:
I used to play the game quite a bit, but it just bored me.

Bizarro Sun Yat-sen:
The story is pretty depressing and unique in a different kind of way.

 

[Doom_Bringer]

really awesome artwork man!! Worth saving! Oh and I will get the game once its really cheap!

 

[Great Wasabi Man]

AHHH! Attack of the Photoshop fliters!!!

 

[impirius]

AHHH! Attack of the Photoshop fliters!!!

Drakengard
From the people that brought you Amped