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very good game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I will admit that I have never played the first one but I must say that this one is by far in the top ten best games I have EVER played and believe me thats a lot of games. The characters are interesting and the fighting i like even more but heres an over view of it

PROS:
Good battle
intersting characters
awesome weapons with interesting backrounds
non predictable storyline

Cons:
One character leaves too early the other dies before you get any good weapons for them
long waits between scenes
some enemies that are just way too hard no matter what level you are

Criminally Underrated...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

EDIT:Umm...there should be 5 stars up there for overall...must be a site glitch.

The first Drakengard was an interesting deviation from Square Enix's strict regimen of traditional RPG's. The concept was intriguing: try to spice up Dynasty Warriors type action and add on a story to actually make it all drive towards SOMETHING. The result was a very addictive but mixed effort. A friend once told me, "it's a horrible game and I've beaten it 3 times". While that's a bit strong, it portrays well that the game suck you in for longer than you intended to play. The story was reasonably compelling, but towards the end, it completely loses cohesion and sanity.

Enter Drakengard 2. Fans of the first game were disappointed that the number of endings had been reduced and that there weren't really any extra chapters of gameplay. Everything else about the game has been greatly improved. All in all, Drakengard is just as oddly addicting as the first game and the package as a whole feels more complete.

Music: Drakengard featured a rather dissonant but enjoyable soundtrack. The soundtrack here is more melodic and even beautiful at points. It well performs of elevating the atmosphere for the game's large battles.

Story: I highly recommend playing the first Drakengard before playing the sequel. While the story in the first is disjointed, playing to at least the first ending makes events in the sequel meaningful. Drakengard 2's story is one of the big forces that keep the gamer playing "just one more level." Definitely a plus.

Graphics: definitely improved a bit from the first. Some of the combos (especially with one of the female characters) are simply spectacular. Many review sites bemoaned the "dated graphics", but I'm not sure what they're complaining about- I was quite pleased.

Gameplay: The gameplay in D2 is a nice improvement and offers up some missing variety. The first game was partly addicting because of its weapon system. Many scores of weapons could be found hidden in the game's many levels. Each weapon could then be leveled up to increase both its attributes and the power/effect of its magic attack. D2 keeps this system but also adds on items and accessories- You'll need them. On the challenging difficulty and any difficulty up, D2 can be a bit of a challenge. This all becomes quite rewarding when you master some of the new combat additions. Different weapons can now unlock different combos. In addition, a much needed parry system has been introduced. Finally, the game has 4 playable characters and give good reason to switch between them. It's true that much of the time you'll be mashing the square button, but that's not the full story. To beat the game on any difficulty other than normal, you'll need skill.

Drakengard 2 may not be cutting edge, but for anybody who liked the first Drakengard, this is a must buy. Action game fans should give it a try- they might just find themselves sucked in.

Amazing game!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you are looking for a game that will wrap you inside it this is the game. The graphics are fantastic and the storyline is great!!

Drakengard 2= Drakengard + 1

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: September 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

this game here has what drakengard should've got. First off....that thing about allies only being out for a certian amount of time is finish (thank god) now all u have to do is switch to the allies weapon to change to him/her. And thank you...no creepy music. Instead, the music is a lot more cheery and story is kind of the same thing....but a lot more conspiracy related. which i think makes u think more about what is happening. ok...to the gameplay, basically same thing...smash that square button and hope for the best right? WRONG! they've twisted it a little...now u use the triangle for a nice little upper cut slice giving u an opprutunity to finish a baddy in the air! and that circle for the weapons...that now includes potions and crystals and stuff for ur enjoyment. well...basically...this game is Drakengard + 1!

Fun at first, but later aggravating for the casual gamer

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: September 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I picked up Drakengard 2 for $20 since I was wanting something of a medieval vein and RPG-like without the classic RPG combat interface that is about as menu-heavy as doing your taxes. At first, Drakengard filled this niche. Most of the other reviews have covered the general pros and cons of the game. It has full voiceover, which is typically nicely done, though the British accents are a little hammy. For sword-swinging mindless fun, it's pretty good at first. It does get pretty repetitive, though.

The real problem starts when you discover that there are 3 different endings. You must play the game through on Hard mode to get the second ending, and Extreme mode for the final and supposedly best ending. For the casual gamer, Normal mode will prove slightly challenging, but not really frustratingly so. Hard mode will step things up a bit, mostly in the form of enemies having more hit points and doing significantly more damage to your characters.

In Extreme mode, the difficulty steps up exponentially. Bosses can kill you in 1 hit no matter how high your levelled up. Your strongest swords will do fair damage to enemies, but you'll still be bashing each one 3, 4, or 5 times to take them down. Throw a couple hundred enemies into the fray, and that's a LOT of button mashing. As a result, you have to go through the game 3 times with increasingly frustrating difficulty levels. If you're one of those folks that likes to get all characters maxed out, and see having "1337" gaming skills as a major life accomplishment, you'll have no problem. If you are just a casual gamer, however, you'll start to question if the repeated playthrough and aggravation are worth seeing a varied ending and slightly different end level.

The real headache comes in the form of the final boss on Extreme mode. This boss is harder than anything else you will encounter in the game. I grappled with this same level for 3 hours straight for 3 days before deciding to invest the time in levelling up my character to max. At present, I can't tell you if that will have helped significantly. I still haven't beaten the game.

If you're a casual gamer that likes to swing a sword for an hour or so in the evening and not worry about maxing out a character just to have a sporting chance, this game is probably not for you. If you're willing to have a go at Normal mode and not worry about the endings for Hard and Extreme modes, you'll probably be okay. But if you're the type (like me) that figures you paid for the game, you might as well see what there is to see, stay away. The drive to see the final ending versus the frustration of the final boss is about like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer for fun.

Oh, I should mention there are NO CHEATS out there like health or god mode that can help you tackle the parts where you feel the difficulty factor outweighs the fun factor. I personally hate it when developers don't make such concessions to those of us that don't spend every waking moment playing video games.

I gave the game 3 stars for fun, because it is a fairly decent game at first. But I gave it a 1 overall because the frustration factor far overshadows anything out there. I might also mention the music is pretty grating. I shut it off and used the soundtrack to "King Arthur" and the Lord of the Rings soundtracks to provide ambience. The problem is the cutscenes' volume is controlled by the music volume, so you have to make sure to leave it on at least 1 so you can turn the TV up to hear the cutscenes.

Interesting yet...oddly difficult.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The graphics and storyline are amazing, there's no doubt about that. The only issue about this game is that it's sometimes too difficult to obtain money to upgrade weapons or even get recovery potions.

What makes it even weirder is, that when you use different kinds of weapons, you sometimes get the same combo attacks. As it stands, Eris and Ulrick are the strongest characters, but you lose them early in the game to have them really be effective (except Eris, you do regain her later in the game). Manah is strong, really strong, especially with her staves and combos -- this also includes her magic attacks that obliterate the enemies. My one gripe is the main character himself (who surprisingly, I can't even remember the name). Not strong weapons and not strong magic attacks to boot. He's like, some kind of hybrid; a magic user and a melee user. This sucks even more when you're completely by yourself in around chapter 11 and have to obtain money to fight crazy Manahs.

Other than getting a minor HP boost, there really is no point in actually leveling. The only thing that really matters is leveling your weapons, which can be tedious or fast -- depending on the weapon. In the story, merchants say "this so and so weapon has magical powers and is super duper strong!" (obviously not with that wording) but it comes with some of the lowest attack power you've ever seen. How will you beat bosses with such a low attack power and a weapon that takes forever to level?

All in all, it's an okay game. I mean, if I had a gameshark, I'd probably use it so I wouldn't be bored trying to level my weapons or get infinite gold so I wouldn't have to go mission through mission just to help pay for potions.

So boring

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: August 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Just giving people a warning here. This game is very dull. The voice acting is poor, the dialogue is juvenile, and you can complete the game using a couple of buttons (just keep trying to hit something, maybe move around a little and eventually you'll kill it). Also, I have no idea why it is rated M. I wasn't looking for a gore fest or anything like that but this game would really be ok for a 12 year old (or younger) to play. Don't waste your money, please.

A vast improvement

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: July 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

As a pretty big fan of the first "Drakengard," I did my best to approach this sequel with some objectivity. I expected nothing more and nothing less than what its predecessor delivered.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, by the vast improvements Square-Enix et. al., made with this game. If you've played the first installment, then you are definitely familiar with the mind-numbingly repetitive music that seemed composed of only two or three different measures of music. This second game, however, has a much more varied soundtrack, and the music is far more lush and pleasing (as opposed to the harsh synthesizer music of the first).

They tweaked the way you use the additional characters as well. Instead of a limited "summon" of a character with even further limited attacks, they have allowed you to use all other playable characters whenever you want for as long as you want (as long as they are still in your party and you have at least one of their weapons equipped on the weapon wheel). This, to me, was a huge step in the right direction. Manah's magic is stupdendous. Urick's attacks are brutally strong, and Nowe is like the "Mario" of the group with his all-purpose talents, and "decent" skill level in everything. Although the gameplay CAN be repetitive, levelling up your various weapons and various characters may soothe any irritations you have over this repetition. If, however, the redundant repititious repeating (ha ha!) of the battles gets to you, then feel free to blast away at whatever targets there are and breeze through the levels.

Speaking of breezing through the levels, in Drakengard 2, you actually have that option in many of the air levels (which you NEVER had in the first one). Don't want to fight those obnoxious planes or griffins? Just fly straight to the target! Of course, this isn't available in every air mission, but still...!

The story line picks up eighteen years after the first game ended. It's an intriguing continuation on the original story, and my only complaint is that in a few cases, the character's actions were a bit contrived. Manah's reunion with her long-estranged brother Seere? Yeah...Not believable at all. Nowe and Manah's refusal to hear Seere out until after it's too late, and then they are (for seemingly no reason) adamant about finding him and hearing what he has to say? Silly...but necessary for plot development, perhaps? Nevertheless, I've seen many games with far worse flubs in storyline, so I overlooked this.

Basically, "Drakengard 2" is, as my title clearly states, a vast improvement over "Drakengard." More weapons than you can shake a stick at, TONS more super attacks (overdrive) for your dragon (you can EAT PEOPLE!), playable characters you can use for more than, like, thirty seconds (as in the first one) with weapons specific to them, incredible new spells, killer movie scenes, HEALTH AND MAGIC POTIONS YOU CAN BUY AND USE DURING BATTLE, and an interesting-enough story line make for a great game. I recommend this game to almost everyone.

Just FYI, too...try and get your combat chain up to 1,000...it's so cool!

Was this sequel necessary?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: May 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I confess - I never played Drakengard. It seemed interesting enough, with a character wiping out loads of monsters DW3-like, and occasionally flying on a dragon to - wipe more monsters out. Ultimately, though, my lack of fiscal security kept me from purchasing the game.

However, it's 2006, and I have a high-paying job as a professor! Now, I have disposable income coming out my ears! So, enter Drakengard 2. And after playing it for a couple of days, I am left to wonder - why all the hubbub? The sequel is bad-to-mediocre, so either the original was great and they're milking the cash cow, or the original was just as bad and they're...milking the cash cow?

The fact is, this game is clunky, with controls that just plain stink. Thankfully, none of that matters, as the monsters fall easy enough, but with the incredible number of games in this genre out there (I can think of about 10 Dynasty Warrior titles, e.g.), you'd think they would do a better job. Plot? Not much to talk about here - you pretty much can get the gist of it from the back of the box. Action? Quite a bit, but it's really boring (IMHO)...

This game might have been OK had I got it for $19.99, but at the price it's going for, save your money.

very fun, a little lacking...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

where to start, where to start... ok, I randomly bought this game because i had nothing else to do. I have enjoyed it pretty thoroughly from the beginning to end for the most part... there are a few drawbacks and a few boost ups so ill get to those...

STORY - this game takes place 18 years after the first one (which i never played, but will buy now). If you havent played the first one yet, you will be a little confused at first, but eventually you will piece everything together. The storyline in this one is really great. the cinematics are magnificent! some of the dialogue is retarded, but for the most part when they talk, its worth listening to. There are 5 characters to play as(Nowe, Legna, Eris, Manah, Urick), and a WHOOOOLE bundle of weapons to buy/pickup.

WEAPONS - There are ALOT of weapons to choose from, some of the damage amounts that it states are deceiving, but for the most part its all right. the cool thing about this game is that you dont only level up your character, you ALSO level up the weapons! each weapon has magic powers to it, trying each magic out is a blast, and leveling up each weapon also raises the attack power/size of the magic.

CHARACTERS - Each character has a different use (IE Urick is good against monsters, Manah is good against magicians). So its not just one of those games where you choose one person and play and play and play with them... well, you could, but it would take you FOREVER. AND you get a dragon to fly around on, on top of all this, now how cool is that?!

COMPLAINTS - ok, so i do indeed have a few of these... first off, the game gets VEEEEEERY repetative. For the first 10 chapters or so you are playing OVER AND OVER in the SAME levels... its very annoying... THEN, of course, the enemies you fight are the same ones OVER AND OVER, too! eventually they figured out during the making "wow, this is dumb, lets make some new enemies"... and they very retardedly came up with the same enemies, but they hang from the ceiling like podpeople or something and when you walk under them they fall and attack (their attack and defense is stronger)... oh, and did i mention they just changed their color to ALL green... its dumb... then, the suspense... i hate it, you beat SOOOOOo many bosses that SHOULD be the final boss, but nooooooo!!! oh well, its worth it in the end...

OVERALL RATING - so, overall, im giving this gamea 4... i gave it a 5 for fun because i had a blast learning all of the combos for all of the weapons (especially Manahs "dance move" combos, those were fantastic!). And the storyline was wonderful, to me at least. the game gets a 4 overall though, because it got a little boring after awhile with the same scenery and the same enemies over and over again... still, i would suggest this game to anyone, its a blast!!!

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