In a world ravaged by endless conflict and natural disaster, a call for peace turns into a bloodbath of betrayal and deceit. Playing as a warrior riding a voracious dragon trained for deadly aerial and ground combat, and capable of scorching, clawing and smashing thousands of enemies, gamers must defeat countless armies to save a civilization. Together, the gamer and the beast will attempt to change the destiny of a world on the brink of extinction.
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drakengard for straight people
the controls for flying are awful
This could have been great. If Sony hadn't shoehorned in motion controls, this could have been an excellent new franchise for Sony. Graphics are there for a 2007 game and the story is fun. But everything else fails on a design level. Who would have thought that one of the worst examples of motion controls wouldn't be on Nintendo Wii?
As someone who only played games casually back in the early PS3 days, I never truly understood how badly this game was received back in the day. When I (somewhat) recently heard that the game got an update that added analog controls, I immediately bought an used copy and give it a try. I thought that most of the game's problems would be solved by that patch, and I would have a fun time being a badass dragon rider. Turns out, there's much more dust and dirt beneath the frame.
Before we continue, I want to say that I didn't finish the game. I have reached a bit past the halfway point, and couldn't muster the energy to keep playing it.
First off, I thought that the story and lore of the world was pretty engaging. Long lasting grudges, religious undertones, betrayals; this game has it all. It's a decent fantasy world, and it was one of the things that kept me going.
The problem is, of course, regarding the gameplay. The game's performance is simply abysmal, with screen tears and framerate drops being a normal part of the experience. Controlling the dragon can feel quite satisfying at times, but also downright infuriating as it refuses to exactly behave as you wanted. There's also these mini QTE sections where you can face off directly against an enemy dragon, and the camera will lock in to show both of you flying side by side, trying to hit one another directly. These sections are still controlled by the motion sensor, so it will inevitably cause problems.
There's also a difficulty problem, where some levels are much harder than the other ones. It's not even the good kind of difficulty (challenging enemies or bosses, etc), it's mostly because the objectives are obtuse and the game doesn't tell you exactly what needs to be done. This is worsened by the horrible controls.
Still, there are a few good parts in this game. The soundtrack is very underrated, and I would recommend you to listen to it on your own. There's also a couple missions that are just so close to becoming great, but held back by the game's problems. There's this one level early on, where you attack a huge mountain fortress. This level nails the atmosphere of a huge battle in the middle of a thunderous storm, and it is one of few times in this game where I was just having fun without being frustrated at something.
At its best, this game simply makes me sad, because the game itself hinted at how good it would have been if the game didn't have so many fatal flaws. At its worst, it is a strong fuel for anger, the kind that is simply unhealthy for the human body.
Before we continue, I want to say that I didn't finish the game. I have reached a bit past the halfway point, and couldn't muster the energy to keep playing it.
First off, I thought that the story and lore of the world was pretty engaging. Long lasting grudges, religious undertones, betrayals; this game has it all. It's a decent fantasy world, and it was one of the things that kept me going.
The problem is, of course, regarding the gameplay. The game's performance is simply abysmal, with screen tears and framerate drops being a normal part of the experience. Controlling the dragon can feel quite satisfying at times, but also downright infuriating as it refuses to exactly behave as you wanted. There's also these mini QTE sections where you can face off directly against an enemy dragon, and the camera will lock in to show both of you flying side by side, trying to hit one another directly. These sections are still controlled by the motion sensor, so it will inevitably cause problems.
There's also a difficulty problem, where some levels are much harder than the other ones. It's not even the good kind of difficulty (challenging enemies or bosses, etc), it's mostly because the objectives are obtuse and the game doesn't tell you exactly what needs to be done. This is worsened by the horrible controls.
Still, there are a few good parts in this game. The soundtrack is very underrated, and I would recommend you to listen to it on your own. There's also a couple missions that are just so close to becoming great, but held back by the game's problems. There's this one level early on, where you attack a huge mountain fortress. This level nails the atmosphere of a huge battle in the middle of a thunderous storm, and it is one of few times in this game where I was just having fun without being frustrated at something.
At its best, this game simply makes me sad, because the game itself hinted at how good it would have been if the game didn't have so many fatal flaws. At its worst, it is a strong fuel for anger, the kind that is simply unhealthy for the human body.
Babba bia che dispiacere.