Reviews from

in the past


Good start to this story I love so much, but really bad gameplay and game design overall sadly...

Ninth bar.
"My, my, my", you say as you take a sip from your 300$ cup of Dom Pérignon, "what a misstep from a professional violinist that is..."
Little did you know that only a couple of minutes later you will get blown off orbit by Alfred Schnittke, inevitably staining your way-too-expansive-for-the-average-joe-huh costume.

For a (broad) genre that is so commonly associated with elitism and bourgeoisie, using atonality in classical music has always been a hell of a thing as it directly challenges orthodox forms of Western music but also goes against the conservatism way of seeing everything under the veil of """beauty""".

Most of the droning conversations surrounding Drakengard are about its janky (to say the least) gameplay and whether or not this was Yoko Taro's intent (as if meaning slipping away from the artist's hands would undermine all artistic value).
There's little to no room for discussion about these ear-scorching violins, making a soundtrack exclusively out of unapologetically aggressive sound collages in a world of grand melodramatic orchestras and nice subtle ambient tracks is a hell of a feast from Nobuyoshi Sano and Takayuki Aihara.

Heck, I'd even argue that it doesn't even serve as a mere companion piece for Drakengard, this is as much of an incredible exploration of the cycle of violence as the whole design use of detachment from death games usually provide, and both the soundtrack and the core game are much more effective at doing so than most works wearing their "so subversive" title up their sleeves I've experienced yet.

I want more abrasive and nightmarish soundscapes to drown in, this is pure hell through and through, I am crying, I am curled up in a ball, I feel like shit, I am gasping for air, I need more.

This is one of those game that would greatly benefit with a proper remake. Having completed this game 100% I have to say that I can't recommend this game to the casual player. The depressing story about characters that are morally gray is the best part of this game. The gameplay leaves a bitter-sweet taste. The aerial missions are the highlight of the gameplay, being fun and interesting, but the ground missions become tiresome when the only thing you do is killing the same enemies using the same boring movements over and over again, and it doesn't feel satisfactory at all. In order to get the 100% completion of the game, you have to find all the 64 hidden weapons, and this can get incredibly tiresome and not fun at all (Like waiting for 25 minutes in a certain stage). And finally, the final secret mission in the game is going to give you nightmares. Again, if you are interested only in the story, do not play this game. Watch the cutscenes on YouTube or something.