Drakengard 3

[Oracle Spockanort]

I was searching online and a guy said it took him about 50 hours to get to the final boss, and he did pretty much all the sidequests and found all the treasures. I'm assuming that didn't include getting include getting all the endings. As someone who's always concerned with game length I'm pretty happy.

What? The Final Boss can only be reached in Ending D. If he did all sidequests and found all treasures, he's essentially played the game from top to bottom and has it 100%.

Events will change every time you unlock an ending. So you do Ending A and the game puts you back at a certain mission where you continue playing the game then events will have changed to fit the Ending B's storyline. Rinse, repeat for C. Each ending will naturally happen in order.

It's not like other games where certain choices will lead you to a certain ending. You just WILL get Ending A first, Ending B second, and Ending C third.

Aside from Ending D which you have to buy and upgrade all weapons, there is no possible way of NOT staying on track.

Wehrmacht told you this before.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Maybe he meant the final boss of the first ending. Or maybe he beat the whole game in 50 hours.

And I didn't know the story of the game would change when you replay it, that's diddlying cool. If only more games were like this.

 

[Silh]

I honestly think we should spread the word of this game around. Demon's Souls wasn't well known at first, but look at where the series has gotten now.

you were only ever in this for the boobs

 

[Max]

So how far back does this go since it's a prequel? Any chances of seeing a young Caim?

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

So how far back does this go since it's a prequel? Any chances of seeing a young Caim?

About a hundred years before Drakengard. Zero chance of a young Caim.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Is there going to be an award for this game? cos I still haven't gotten a single one yet.

 

[Max]

About a hundred years before Drakengard. Zero chance of a young Caim.

Ahh man. Maybe there will be a nice flash-forward at the end showing something. I know it isn't a big deal, I would just love to see something linking us to the future (or past) of the series. Maybe Angelo then, was it ever determined how old she was?

Regardless, mega-hyped for this, I remember back in the Ps2 days, before we had shiny Ps3's, doing oodles of research in hopes of turning up some news of a third entry. And if this one turns out anywhere near as good as Nier (I love Nier at least), then I will be completely satisfied.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Seems like everybody loves Nier even though it got shit reviews.

 

[Max]

Seems like everybody loves Nier even though it got shit reviews.

I never understood it. It got bad reviews almost all around, but that game was freaking solid. The soundtrack was absolutely beautiful, and while it didn't have the best graphics ever, I still thought it looked pretty decent (many reviews gave the visuals so much crap, like really?). Then when you break down its gameplay, its amount of quests and optional things to do, it's replayability (4 endings), I really don't have much bad to say about that game. Except I didn't like fishing on it. Damn, I hate fishing on games (I'm looking at you Nier/Yakuza 3)

 

[Wehrmacht]

Seems like everybody loves Nier even though it got shit reviews.

I never understood it. It got bad reviews almost all around, but that game was freaking solid. The soundtrack was absolutely beautiful, and while it didn't have the best graphics ever, I still thought it looked pretty decent (many reviews gave the visuals so much crap, like really?). Then when you break down its gameplay, its amount of quests and optional things to do, it's replayability (4 endings), I really don't have much bad to say about that game. Except I didn't like fishing on it. Damn, I hate fishing on games (I'm looking at you Nier/Yakuza 3)

The reviews were more mixed than outright bad. Some critics slammed it, others gave pretty fair reviews, some of them LOVED it.

I can understand the reception since overall NieR is a mixed bag. It's pretty much the epitome of "great, but flawed". The game's story, characters, music, localization, VA, etc are all superb, unique, and fascinating, but the gameplay just doesn't really hold up compared to other action games. Most of the sidequests are also not very fun or give you significant rewards except for the awesome banter between the characters (which is honestly a good reward if you are invested in the game's narrative). There's a general lack of polish in most areas, the game feels pretty rough around the edges. It's very obvious that it was made on a terrible budget.

However, to me NieR proves you don't necessarily need oodles of money to make an interesting game that people will want to play. The game's good points won me over REALLY hard to the point I can easily forgive the subpar gameplay and dated visuals because the overall experience was so powerful. I honestly think NieR has the strongest cast and plot of any JRPG in the last several years; its soul-crushing, emotionally draining storytelling is something we very rarely get in JRPG's, and the game used that to its fullest effect and delivered something no one was expecting at all. I'm honestly amazed at how much love was put into both the game itself and its localization (NieR is actually one of the few games where I prefer the english VA outright).

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

its localization (NieR is actually one of the few games where I prefer the english VA outright).

Which might slightly be do to the fact they did the English script & dub first and then 8-4 translated it to Japanese.

 

[Max]

You know, while we're on the topic, there was only one thing about Nier that really bugged me, and wasn't even really a flaw of the game itself... But I wanted Nier Replicant. Was it just me? I kind of wished they would have handled Nier's release here the same way they did in Japan. I can see some disagreeing if they prefer the Nier Gestalt version's protag, but I just didn't like the fact that we all got handed the XBAX360 version regardless of console choice even though they made them different for a reason

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

You know, while we're on the topic, there was only one thing about Nier that really bugged me, and wasn't even really a flaw of the game itself... But I wanted Nier Replicant. Was it just me? I kind of wished they would have handled Nier's release here the same way they did in Japan. I can see some disagreeing if they prefer the Nier Gestalt version's protag, but I just didn't like the fact that we all got handed the XBAX360 version regardless of console choice even though they made them different for a reason

Well...their rationale was that the West would enjoy an older, gritty Nier over a young, pretty Nier which appealed to Japan. I do agree, though. I'd have loved the choice, or even the ability to choose in-game which Nier to play as. It's clear from the artwork for the Drakengard anniversary they find RepliCant Nier to be their choice Nier, so it is definitely a bit of a shame that we "missed out" on him in a way.

 

[Max]

Well...their rationale was that the West would enjoy an older, gritty Nier over a young, pretty Nier which appealed to Japan. I do agree, though. I'd have loved the choice, or even the ability to choose in-game which Nier to play as. It's clear from the artwork for the Drakengard anniversary they find RepliCant Nier to be their choice Nier, so it is definitely a bit of a shame that we "missed out" on him in a way.

That's kind of funny, considering on many Nier message boards I saw a good deal of people just either importing Replicant, or shunning the game altogether (a few people's reasonings were questionable... Don't buy the game because we don't like the ugly old man was a common mentality. Hmm.)

And I'm not surprised they made Replicant their choice Nier. I would assume that just considering the fact that he was the Ps3 version anyway, I mean they have always seemed to favor Playstation over Xbax, makes sense to give Sony their favorite.

Oh well, I suppose with region-free capabilities, importing is always an oprion if we want to experience the other side of Nier, at least in a way we can have both on one console. I guess there is the DLC as well, that was kind of nice even to play as young Nier in that (though I have to admit I was disappointed to find out the alternate costume choice wasn't young Nier)

 

[Wehrmacht]

And I'm not surprised they made Replicant their choice Nier. I would assume that just considering the fact that he was the Ps3 version anyway, I mean they have always seemed to favor Playstation over Xbax, makes sense to give Sony their favorite.

It's just moreso the fact that brother NieR was the original conception of the character. From the early stages of the game, back when it was called "echo", the idea was to have a young protagonist. SE NA thought that wouldn't go over as well in the west, so dad nier was conceptualized from that perception.

It's not just the drakengard series artwork either. The majority of the stories in Grimoire NieR are written with brother nier in mind. As far as Japan is concerned, he's the "canon" version of the character. There are some things in the game itself that work better with brother NieR, like the timeskip. Father Nier changes, but it's a lot more subtle than the drastic shift in personality brother nier undergoes. The kid went completely bananas and has a Guts level of rage and psychosis as a result.

It's funny because most western fans (particularly the older/more jaded ones) seem to prefer father NieR anyway, but not necessarily just because he's big and muscular. The commonly cited reason is that having older protagonists is very unusual in JRPG's, so he brings with him a unique perspective that you don't really get very often in japanese media, where most of the characters are very young adults or teenagers. On top of that, the fact that he's Yonah's father rather than her brother makes their relationship feel more genuine and sympathetic, and gives you a stronger motivation to save her.

 

[Max]

It is certainly true that there is a cry for "older, more mature" protagonists in rpg's. Not by everyone, but I know even many Persona fans have been wanting to get out of that high school setting and into a more adult setting.

I don't necessarily think that father Nier's relationship with his daughter feels more 'genuine' than brother Nier's though. She is the last family brother Nier has left, just like the father, and also just like the father, brother Nier goes through drastic changes in his attempt to do anything to save her.I think while each of their relationships certainly feel different, I wouldn't say I sympathize with one over the other, and I think they feel equally genuine

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Next preorder bonus gets revealed tomorrow. Btw can someone link me to where I can read the backstories on all the characters? Don't wanna forget to read that before I play the game.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Drakengard 3 second pre-order bonus and novella announced, Shiba video interview inside | VG247

 

[Max]

I love me some alternate costumes

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

They've put the novella on the website but it looks like it's missing a page.

EDIT: looks like they fixed it.