Ramblings of a Gamer: Drakengard

Hey folks!

Today I'm hopping into the game time machine! (cue flashy lights and eerie noises)

I dove into gaming late. My brother played everything, but nothing really caught my attention until some high school friends of mine shoved Final Fantasy VII into my hands, and then I was hooked. So, for the longest, FF games were my go-to, and from there it was Square and later, Square-Enix.

DRAKENGARD was one of the first non-FF games I played. I was drawn to the gorgeous artwork and movie clips and it had dragons! And it was by Square-Enix, so I felt confident that I would love it.

And I did love it, but it was so very different from the worlds I was used to.

The game was an action-RPG, where I was used to turn-based RPGs, but I caught on quick enough. I honestly loved the weapon wheel and the ability to change weapons on the fly. My favorite weapons were the pole-arms, and that running dash that sent my enemies flying was the best. With the help of free expeditions, my body count was probably somewhere in the tens of thousands. (I liked clearing ALL the enemies from the stage, not just the targets.) Flying battles were meh, but manageable, and the few allies you could switch with came in handy from time to time.

The story was bleak. In FF's darkest moments, there was always a hint of hope, but with DRAKENGARD? Nope. Each ending grew darker and more twisted as I progressed, and I couldn't help but follow the plot down the rabbit hole. Even the histories for the weapons consisted of curses or tragic tales. This was not a happy place, y'all. But I still wanted to know more, and with each ending, a new path unlocked, and more information would be revealed about how the world worked and why the seals and the goddess were so important.

I loved and hated the multipath storyline. There was a lot of replay--for one ending, you had to collect every available weapon, so if you missed a box or didn't beat a certain level in a certain amount of time, you had to go back. Usually, there would be just enough difference to the story to keep it from being too redundant. And then, to get the very last ending, all the hack-and-slash and buttons combos go out the window to be replaced by the second-most frustrating puzzle I've ever seen in my life. A rhythm puzzle, you had three buttons that worked: the one to unleash a black ring, one to unleash a white ring, and pause. I don't know how many times I had to replay that thing before I finished the pattern--only to get yet another unhappy ending. Of course, by then, I expected it.

Some of the voice-acting in DRAKENGARD was cringe-worthy. When the main character, Caim, makes his pact with Angelus the dragon, he has to give up his voice, and to be honest, I was happy because his lines up to that point were pretty weak. I much preferred his silent glares.

It was interesting to play a game where no one was really good. Everyone had their vices and demons, and some characters were just horrible, and yet they somehow come together to fight against the monstrous future awaiting them. It was messy and definitely not uplifting, and it was the best contrast to the FF games I loved so much.