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: )
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.DrakengardAnd 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=127And 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??