Surprise! Drakengard 3 (aka; how to damn "nier" lose your shit about old title)

[kyuusei]

Yeah, DR (or ANY retailer) should really set a limit beforehand on how many copies of anything someone can buy. Especially if it's a limited edition.

[insertnamehere]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/10/09/drakengard-3-producer-long-taro-yoko-square-enix-can-make-drakengard/
Hm, no mention of if they'd keep doing them even if they sell below expectations, considering some of their high profile games.

[Aeolus]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/10/09/drakengard-3-producer-long-taro-yoko-square-enix-can-make-drakengard/
Hm, no mention of if they'd keep doing them even if they sell below expectations, considering some of their high profile games.

Well its not being made by a western team so its probably okay for now.

[Yggdrasil]

Preview: Drakengard 3 Eyes-On Video Impressions -- Source: DualShockers

It would be nice if SQEX releases all the stories of the novel in one book along with D3 as a special edition. That was something also they could have done with the XIII series in the West since the beginning, but for whatever reason they didn't...

[Klutz64]

So I'm kind of digging the look of this game and there aren't a whole lot of games I'm looking forward to so far next year, but... Anyone know if I'd be totally lost plot-wise if I picked this up?

[Dice]

So I'm kind of digging the look of this game and there aren't a whole lot of games I'm looking forward to so far next year, but... Anyone know if I'd be totally lost plot-wise if I picked this up?

The connection Drakengard has with NieR is somewhat minimal; the details that are given are pretty obscure and fleshed out only in the (Japan-only) World/Material Guidebook for the NieR.  The connections are quite interesting, but not necessary to understand Drakengard itself.   NieR is actually based on the "non-canon" fifth ending of the first Drakengard game.  And this is actually kind of amusing...(Drakengard1 spoilerz: )

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The fifth ending transports the game from its medieval world to the modern one!  Where you play a bad rhythm game with some horrific statue woman.  After that, you get shot down by the military.... and that's it.  What this does for NieR is the destruction and magical properties (IIRC, it's some sort of weird biological 'hocus-pocus') of the giant statue lady and your dragon cause some sort of awful disease that kills of most of the human race and leads into NieR's post-apocalyptic world.  Even if this does sound "interesting" it's barely touched on in NieR besides a piece of DLC content that barely explains the connection well and the initial setting of NieR which is more "show, don't tell".

http://youtu.be/B09qyRzXU_4
Here's that final battle in the infamous "E ending"

http://youtu.be/G80XpHACiuw
Here's the ending-ending for E Ending

 
However, the connection between Drakengard 1 and 2 was pretty strong (one of the main heroine's in the second game is a sort-of villain in the first title; and vice-versa for the lead hero of Drakengard 1)

Worst case, I recommend reading that TV Tropes website for the three games.  You'll learn all about the "crapsack world" this series takes place in.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Drakengard?from=Main.Drakengard

And if you're still a bit bummed, then NieR is less than $15 these days and playing it on easy can have you get the experience in and beaten within a week.  I do recommend this one; the music is perfect, the story is rich (and depressing) and the gameplay spoofs a lot of other major titles


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vEP2iZ52P-DWhQBQ2Is6R8Wjao99AGi0YuWShTvA-tA/mobilebasic?viewopt=127
And if you REALLY want to satisfy yourself with a good videogame-related read, there's a translated version of the Grimoire NieR (the guidebook I mentioned above).
The game series is.... average, at best, as far as gameplay, but the plot and setting for the titles are like nothing games usually expose their audiences to.  So if you want something 'completely different' then NieR's the way to go (and maybe, since it's about two generations late now, just read up on Drakengard or watch an LP).

...That's it, did I cover everything??

[Klutz64]

Yeah, Nier's still on my list of "current gen games I need to get" so I'll definitely check that out with some XMas money. And I'll also check out some of those reads, thanks a bunch Dice!

[Aeolus]

One thing that should be pointed out is that Drakengard 2 is the only game not put together by the team that made Drakengard 1, NieR, and this game soon enough. As such it's by far the weakest of the games by far in terms of writing and plot (not that Drakengard 1 was that much stronger, but it had other batshit crazy shit going on that Drakengard 2 doesn't have), although technically it is the best mechanically speaking (although NieR's still the better game due to Zelda-like > Dynasty Warrior clone).

Basically, of all the games thus far only NieR is really worth playing, but Drakengard 1 makes for a great LP read if you can find one and will probably be the most useful in getting a grasp on what's going down in Drakengard 3 (and Drakengard 2 is probably the safest to disregard).

[Dice]

One thing that should be pointed out is that Drakengard 2 is the only game not put together by the team that made Drakengard 1, NieR, and this game soon enough. As such it's by far the weakest of the games by far in terms of writing and plot (not that Drakengard 1 was that much stronger, but it had other batshit crazy shit going on that Drakengard 2 doesn't have), although technically it is the best mechanically speaking (although NieR's still the better game due to Zelda-like > Dynasty Warrior clone).

Basically, of all the games thus far only NieR is really worth playing, but Drakengard 1 makes for a great LP read if you can find one and will probably be the most useful in getting a grasp on what's going down in Drakengard 3 (and Drakengard 2 is probably the safest to disregard).

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I kinda liked Drakengard 2 more, plot-wise.  I admire D1 for setting the world up -- but fuck!! 

When things take a turn for the worst they turn into shitty, fucky, ninth circle of hell BAD.  As if the fact you're fighting to rescue your SISTER who's in LOVE with you wasn't "icky" enough to deal with (only to end in a Nightmarish version of 'Romeo and Juliet'), but you later go full-crazy with giant babies trying to eat you with a full set of molars, hysteric Goddesses, deranged party members, and a game where the "best" ending is merely 'bittersweet' at best.

Sure, few games ever venture to the same level of 'twisted', evil-Mothergoose story telling... but for me, once was enough, I have no desire to revisit that.  I thought, for the most part, D2 was a much more positive experience.

[ferretwraith]

I bought Nier in a stack during a buy 2 get 1 free used game sale a couple months ago.  It was the cheapest game in the pile ($11/free).  It was one of the first games I played due to hearing that it was short, and if was truly only worth $11, I wanted to get that garbage out of my backlog ASAP.

I ended up playing it for ~33? hours, replaying it for all 4 endings.  Something about this series of games calls up my inner 12 year old, making me believe that I must be playing the coolest thing the world has ever created.  I wish one of them could just be objectively good, not kinda-maybe-tolerable-in-a-way if you want to check out some weird shit, so that the rest of the world could see the glimmer of brilliance that my previously mentioned inner 12 year old sees.  Sadly, what has been shown for Drakengard 3 doesn't lead me to believe that this is the one that's going to break the trend set by the previous games.

[Aeolus]

http://gematsu.com/2013/11/clear-side-quests-earn-rewards-drakengard-3

I see that side-quests are back. I wonder how many of them exist solely to troll the player this time around?

[Cyril]

One of what I believe is the ending themes is out now.  It's a 7 minute monster called This Silence is Mine, by Chihiro Onitsuka. If you're not into non-traditional J-pop, you might better know her as the woman who sang Breath of Fire V's ending theme (which is a beauty).

[Dice]

And the theme song for Ronin!  I love her voice. 

As sad as it is to spoil a game, I can't wait to see someone post an ending or two...  I'd be surprised if there's a happy ending at first that you didn't have to work for

[Cyril]

There's a movie with the ending D boss fight out already.  It's really neat.  I didn't watch the endings myself because I prefer to keep spoiler-free, but. . .

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The Final D ending boss fight has one of Emi Evans' songs, and each attack is seemingly done to the music.
It looked like a rhythm game, almost.

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGD4FEu02oM

Also, not really spoilers, but this is something that should be known before playing the game:

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Apparently, the sisters have no character development in-game.  You really need to read the promotional material and books on
them to understand their motives and personalities.

[Dice]

There's a movie with the ending D boss fight out already.  It's really neat.  I didn't watch the endings myself because I prefer to keep spoiler-free, but. . .

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The Final D ending boss fight has one of Emi Evans' songs, and each attack is seemingly done to the music.
It looked like a rhythm game, almost.

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGD4FEu02oM

Also, not really spoilers, but this is something that should be known before playing the game:

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Apparently, the sisters have no character development in-game.  You really need to read the promotional material and books on
them to understand their motives and personalities.

Haha apparently the camera does that on purpose to make things harder at the end.
Loved the song, certainly that final boss[?] seems very spoiler-y.... couldn't resist a chance to hear Emi's music again though -- you're right, it does really work there.

I'd like to sit here and think, till I know better, that the series will end with blue skies and rainbows......aaaah.

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Meanwhile, it seems that fact One looks like Manna/Seere is also relevant to the plot and "the Watchers Cult" as well... but I understand that part of D3's story as much as I understood it back in D1's, so.... eh, whatev.

Does the fucken Dragon talk like an 8 year old in this one or am I just hearing some other voice?  .....BRrrrrRrrrrr.....