Drakengard 1 & 2 (This does contain simple spoilers but no specifi

[Filipe]

This series has been one I have enjoyed, and I do recall playing through the first game many times before moving on to something else when it came along. It was a good game, though the storyline, and some of the things going on I found to be rather creepy or at the very least somewhat disturbing. I found the game to be a rather typical hack and slash game, with an interesting story despite it's shall we say quirks, but the overall gameplay going with the hack n' slash was very good all around. It had character leveling, though not in the typical rpg sense, it even had leveling for the weapons done through constant fighting. I am not really sure if a thread was done on this game so really I am adding this into it. For those who have played it feel free to post your comments about this game as well, though it wont be the focus of my thread. If anyone out there is looking for a good hack and slash game, with an "interesting" story this would be good for you.

Now in terms of it's sequel I have been playing this game for a week now, and it is a huge advancement from the previous game in how it goes about the story. The gameplay for all intents and purposes is pretty much the same as it's predeccessor just with better graphics, and better mechanics to the fight system. The story doesnt follow the prior game at all, but at times it does tie in here and there in rather obvious points, which if you had played through the first game you could see from a mile away. They go about the romance aspect of the game pretty well, though the love triangle they seem to insinuate is a rather tired cliche if you ask me. It has only been out for a short time, and if people wish me to elaborate on the game more, it would have more spoilers.

So please feel free to comment on the two games if any of you have played them. I will give it a week or two, before I post a more thorough critique of the games.
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[Arenegeth]

I played the original and looking forward to playing the sequel.

I really liked the creepy weird story of the first game; it was original at least for any action RPG hybrid I played before.

Every weapon in Drakengard had its own story, some times sad, most times weird, and maybe funny, that made level up every single weapon, by literally obliterating thousands of enemies, I must have slain more than 10000 in the first game.

It was also fun getting to the next ending, when I got the first ending which could be classified as bad since someone dies, I thought that eventually I would reach the "best" ending, how little did I know...

Each ending had more death than the last, but again that is something original so I liked it from that point of view, though the extra final "Boss" was very irritating, if you have played it you would know why.

I have already been spoiled from someone about the sequel, hehe I'll describe my spoils: SPOILER START Mana the "bad guy" from the original is one of the good guys this time and a lot older, Cain returns and so does Angelus, apparently, the first ending of the first game is the one that counts, and Angelus gives herself for the seal, Cain loses his one eye, but somehow Angelus becomes a Zombie Dragon and destroys everything, very powerful, I have been informed of a sad scene between Cain and Angelus, probably when they both die, I don't know that I'm guessing and if you are reading that it means you either played the game or don't care about spoilers.SPOILER END.

I can't wait for the sequel to get a PAL release, hopefully it will soon enough.
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"I am ye who walks his own path and thus I walk alone"

[Scrooge McDuck]

Isn't the PAL version has already been released?

Drakengard is one of may favorite games because of the way it presents it story. Though I admit that some elements and executions of the story are too much for me. I mean...

[SPOILER="highlight to read"]Giant babies? Giant Mana? Giant pregnant woman? Japan Self-Defense Force? Those are unexpected, and I don't mean unexpected in a good way; there is no build-up in the story that prepared me to witness those... monstrousity....[/END OF SPOILER]
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[Leb]

The second one's much more sedated. No dimensional rifts or weird shit, which is sad in a way.

[Arenegeth]

[Scrooge McDuck]

Finally somebody who knows Don Rosa! Yes, they are indeed his art, taken from "the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" compilation. Excellent stuff.

On topic:
I heard that the second installment is more "pop", meaning that there are less disturbing plot and images. Can somebody confirms this? Also, can we select chapters just like the first Drakengard?
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[Arenegeth]

I asked the one who spoiled part of the game for me and he said that you don't get to choose chapters at any point, some other missions are available for training and such, also you buy weapons this time from money the enemies drop, you start a new game plus with all your power from the final boss, and though my informant wasn't 100% sure you get to choose what character to use second time around.

OT:
Of course I know of Don, I'm a big fan of Disney particularly Duck comics, I've read most of Carl Bark's classics and Don's "The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck", though it's been a while and I'm still looking for some of the lost chapters.
I'm also a fan of the Italian school, but eh, I was going to make a topic about Disney comics at some point but I thought no one would be interested besides me, and now you...
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"I am ye who walks his own path and thus I walk alone"

[Scrooge McDuck]

I have finally finished Drakengard 2 tonight. The story is good, but definitely not as bizzare as the first installment. I only got the first ending though, so I can't really say for sure. Unlike the first, to get the other endings you have to play it all the way from the first stage again and I am not quite ready to begin my second playthrough right away.
Oh, and yes, you get to play as all of the characters the second time around.

OT:
I have the trade paperback of "The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck" including the "in-between" chapters not included in the original. I really long to buy the Carl Barks Classic Collection, but even the sight of the price is choking me.
Sometimes it is kind of weird to read Don Rosa's story which supposedly happened in the sixties, and then read the mega-modern version of Duckburg of the Intalian school...
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