DLC for Drakengard 3
Play as Zero's Sister Four, in this additional level. A prequel to the main chapters of the game about the story of Four. Control Four and find out about her past episodes. (Acquire Ending A to access this DLC).
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The humor of this dlc was significantly more amusing, and revealed a little about the character beyond offensively shallow tropes. Gameplay wise, the gauntlet combat is also a lot more fun than being relegated to the spear. Desert mission was a little obnoxious, but the rest of the missions were passable, with the copy-and-paste you expect from these. Last mission was fun, but also easy.
So after playing the first of these DLCs, I had my expectations appropriately lowered as to what kind of experiences I was in for. The "lore" I got from Five's Prologue was that Five chose her domain of The Land of Seas because she thought the ocean was pretty. Neat. Drakengard 3: Four's Prologue pleasantly surprised me by having some actual recontextualization for its titular sister.
Four's Prologue was the first time in Drakengard 3 that I felt I was playing anything at all resembling the original Drakengard. We hop on a dragon and do some ol' fashioned senseless genocide - while the dragon says how terrible we are for telling her to do the thing that she is not at all resisting doing. And you know, that works for me a lot better when the murderous psychopath enjoying the bloodbath is a wannabe animu waifu rather than a self-serious Western-styled strong and silent protagonist type. Because there's no depth to be had in shaming the player for engaging with a game in the only way the game's mechanics will let them progress. Trying to dress up that mean-spirited nonsense is a waste of time - I much prefer the game being in on the absurdity with me.
I almost caught myself writing about the plot, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that more than Five's Prologue, Four's Prologe has coherence to the range of flavors that are in the base game of Drakengard 3. While Five's Prologue was hampered by having the most one note character to work with, Four's Prologue has just enough subversion to convey the same feeling, the same theming as the first game. Four pretends to be a good person because she likes the veneer of the moral high ground. She espouses valuing chastity only as a means of controlling her subordinate, who has developed a humiliation kink to compensate for the fact that, (and this is canon in the main game), he sucks at fucking and is insecure about it.
In the main game, the protagonist, Zero, makes fun of Four for being a virgin, as if that defines her personality. It's played for a joke because Zero is being insensitive and cruel, when Four seems like an earnest person who wants to avoid conflict. This DLC flips that on its head to prove that Zero was right, actually! Four's professed values are nonsense, and her getting flustered at Zero's prodding are not because she is shy, but because she doesn't want the facade to drop. A bit she's so comitted to she dies for it, a twist in contextual understanding that is so dumb and petty as to wrap around into being amazing.
But as DLC, as a real thing I had to pay money for, like, in no way, shape, or form was this worth it. (Her unlockable weapon for Zero sucks!) If a couple of the levels had been in the game proper, like, maybe that would have been neat! But for how much context there is to be stretched over four levels, with character dynamics so shallow they can't sustain more than one or two conversation patterns ... ugh.
Next!
Four's Prologue was the first time in Drakengard 3 that I felt I was playing anything at all resembling the original Drakengard. We hop on a dragon and do some ol' fashioned senseless genocide - while the dragon says how terrible we are for telling her to do the thing that she is not at all resisting doing. And you know, that works for me a lot better when the murderous psychopath enjoying the bloodbath is a wannabe animu waifu rather than a self-serious Western-styled strong and silent protagonist type. Because there's no depth to be had in shaming the player for engaging with a game in the only way the game's mechanics will let them progress. Trying to dress up that mean-spirited nonsense is a waste of time - I much prefer the game being in on the absurdity with me.
I almost caught myself writing about the plot, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that more than Five's Prologue, Four's Prologe has coherence to the range of flavors that are in the base game of Drakengard 3. While Five's Prologue was hampered by having the most one note character to work with, Four's Prologue has just enough subversion to convey the same feeling, the same theming as the first game. Four pretends to be a good person because she likes the veneer of the moral high ground. She espouses valuing chastity only as a means of controlling her subordinate, who has developed a humiliation kink to compensate for the fact that, (and this is canon in the main game), he sucks at fucking and is insecure about it.
In the main game, the protagonist, Zero, makes fun of Four for being a virgin, as if that defines her personality. It's played for a joke because Zero is being insensitive and cruel, when Four seems like an earnest person who wants to avoid conflict. This DLC flips that on its head to prove that Zero was right, actually! Four's professed values are nonsense, and her getting flustered at Zero's prodding are not because she is shy, but because she doesn't want the facade to drop. A bit she's so comitted to she dies for it, a twist in contextual understanding that is so dumb and petty as to wrap around into being amazing.
But as DLC, as a real thing I had to pay money for, like, in no way, shape, or form was this worth it. (Her unlockable weapon for Zero sucks!) If a couple of the levels had been in the game proper, like, maybe that would have been neat! But for how much context there is to be stretched over four levels, with character dynamics so shallow they can't sustain more than one or two conversation patterns ... ugh.
Next!
gaslight gatekeep girlboss ✨💅
gabriella and decadus are probably the best non-zero characters in the game. four is annoying and not even in a funny way she needs to shut up
[reviewing this after finishing branch A and branch B but also before reviewing the entirety of drakengard 3 but I will post this after finishing all the reviews damn this is a stupid remark]
second DLC of the bunch starring four and decadus
I explained how these DLC kinda work in the first expansion review so let's get to business
four was a character that in the main game I actually thought was nice among the 6 sisters but as every single person in this game is either psychotic and sociopathic OR dead I had to expect what was coming for me
I came here with the impression that four is just a wild simple flower in the wind and that she actually cares for her sisters
what this means tho is that she's actually the worst fucking bitch of the bunch she makes me sick she's possibly the most inhumane kind of person that could exist in this world
she actually can look quite generous and caring on a first glance but hidden here there's the most hideous evil in the entirety of the cast she's actually self centered hypocritical envious absolutely pathetic
now umh she shows some kind of care for zero in the main game and seeks one's praise more than anything but still she is a war criminal like every other sister so she won't be able to get my sympathy anytime soon plus she's a virgin never fucking trust a virgin (im a virgin)
if you even read the memoirs of intoners all she does is insult her sisters and just shows how much of an inferiority complex she got
do I hate her ? yes
do I think this is symptom of a great writing behind her character ? possibly, I just hate her
she's cute tho
as for decadus he's the same as always big strong beefy man who just gets pegged by the entire cast of the game and is masochistic as shit that would make people who made the BDSM test blush
ideally I would love decadus also because she's my kind of (fictional) man . strong arms very tall blondie masc and somewhat of a dummy I do not enjoy people who are exceedingly masochistic because that's already me there can't be 2 of the same kind in a relationship am I right folks
I'm sorry decadus you really would've been a great husband material for me but that cannot happen in this timeline I prefer my short king dito zzzzzzz 本当にごめんなさい
they're relationship is kinda weird tho four is absolutely searching for approval from any single character existing and also she just hides behind her actual massacres in some hypocrisy and also they're actually a match made in heaven since she would just neglect decadus entirely and he would cum in his pants every time . honestly I won't even elaborate on that
the star of the show ? GABRIELLAAAAAA WOOOOOOOO GABRIELLA I FUCKING LOVE YOUUUUUUU
this girl . being the only sane person in this game I know of for now . sees clearly through fours facade and just speaks in the only language she knows: the truth
gabriella is so fun people you don't understand she's great I needed her throughout the main game too
also shes incredibly humane for a dragon like the fact that she was actually trying to stop four from her manslaughter while absolutely annihilating every innocent living thing in front of her ? gabriella sweetie I will protect you till the end
so whatever again the levels were recycled and playing as four is not entirely enjoyable (read as: I don't like bracers) but still I am enjoying these DLCs a lot since they give the characters more depth
right eeeeeeeeee three soon
and her little portrait is cute
second DLC of the bunch starring four and decadus
I explained how these DLC kinda work in the first expansion review so let's get to business
four was a character that in the main game I actually thought was nice among the 6 sisters but as every single person in this game is either psychotic and sociopathic OR dead I had to expect what was coming for me
I came here with the impression that four is just a wild simple flower in the wind and that she actually cares for her sisters
what this means tho is that she's actually the worst fucking bitch of the bunch she makes me sick she's possibly the most inhumane kind of person that could exist in this world
she actually can look quite generous and caring on a first glance but hidden here there's the most hideous evil in the entirety of the cast she's actually self centered hypocritical envious absolutely pathetic
now umh she shows some kind of care for zero in the main game and seeks one's praise more than anything but still she is a war criminal like every other sister so she won't be able to get my sympathy anytime soon plus she's a virgin never fucking trust a virgin (im a virgin)
if you even read the memoirs of intoners all she does is insult her sisters and just shows how much of an inferiority complex she got
do I hate her ? yes
do I think this is symptom of a great writing behind her character ? possibly, I just hate her
she's cute tho
as for decadus he's the same as always big strong beefy man who just gets pegged by the entire cast of the game and is masochistic as shit that would make people who made the BDSM test blush
ideally I would love decadus also because she's my kind of (fictional) man . strong arms very tall blondie masc and somewhat of a dummy I do not enjoy people who are exceedingly masochistic because that's already me there can't be 2 of the same kind in a relationship am I right folks
I'm sorry decadus you really would've been a great husband material for me but that cannot happen in this timeline I prefer my short king dito zzzzzzz 本当にごめんなさい
they're relationship is kinda weird tho four is absolutely searching for approval from any single character existing and also she just hides behind her actual massacres in some hypocrisy and also they're actually a match made in heaven since she would just neglect decadus entirely and he would cum in his pants every time . honestly I won't even elaborate on that
the star of the show ? GABRIELLAAAAAA WOOOOOOOO GABRIELLA I FUCKING LOVE YOUUUUUUU
this girl . being the only sane person in this game I know of for now . sees clearly through fours facade and just speaks in the only language she knows: the truth
gabriella is so fun people you don't understand she's great I needed her throughout the main game too
also shes incredibly humane for a dragon like the fact that she was actually trying to stop four from her manslaughter while absolutely annihilating every innocent living thing in front of her ? gabriella sweetie I will protect you till the end
so whatever again the levels were recycled and playing as four is not entirely enjoyable (read as: I don't like bracers) but still I am enjoying these DLCs a lot since they give the characters more depth
right eeeeeeeeee three soon
and her little portrait is cute
It was interesting enough with Gabriella and stuff and seeing Four be a pompous bitch was cool but it didn't have much substance.