While one half of the gameplay is hack-and-slash, the other half are the shooting sequences where you ride on Mikhail and traverse between areas. Sometimes the stages are ‘rails-on’ sequences and other times you have free movement and must eliminate key targets before advancing. You can target multiple enemies and shoot them all at once or focus on smaller numbers of enemies for greater damage. You can also unleash a devastating burst style attack once you’ve built enough magic meter by eliminating foes. One might think that wielding the awesome power of an ancient creature, or the reincarnation of such, would be a thrilling experience, but, once again, the gameplay disappoints. Mikhail is weak and all too vulnerable, and, while a challenge is appreciated, one can’t help but wonder why it is that what should be the coolest part of the game is so underwhelming. I should look forward to riding a dragon, but, every time one of these sequences came up, I prepared for an exercise in agony, and my expectations were met more often than not. Luckily, some of the boss encounters during the Mikhail sequences were more imaginative than expected.
So, with all this said, why is Drakengard 3 worth your time? Why trudge through average, sometimes boring and often frustrating mechanics? Because, dear readers, of everything else. From the story to the world, the character designs to the relationship dynamics, the superb voice work (both English and Japanese) to the wonderful and, oftentimes, haunting soundtrack by Keiiji Okabe (who showed tremendous musical prowess on Nier, a game that is part of the Drakengard universe), this game is brimming with artistic brilliance in so many places that it helps the experience rise above the limitations. It’s almost guaranteed you’ve never played a game like Drakengard 3 before, even if you’ve played previous entries in the series.
At the beginning of this review, I said that this was one of the most courageous games I’ve every played. It achieves this by not only defying genre conventions, but in challenging them in its aesthetics, narrative, art direction and overall presentation. The story, with all of its branching paths and realities, becomes more twisted as you play, and you gradually find yourself coming to understand the discord to the point where nothing, and I mean nothing, seems unusual by the end. The characters and the setting they inhabit are broken in the most gloriously apocalyptic way. The world is wrong and so is nearly everything and everyone in it. The dialogue seems mean spirited at times, but this is deliberate on director and writer Yoko Taro’s part. In another game, the character Dito might be portrayed as the young and innocent companion who doesn’t understand the world and is in need of maturation. In Drakengard 3, he doesn’t sympathize with you in the least and is a closet freak who becomes aroused by violent and grotesque things. In some other story, Decadus would be the somber and composed member of the group who always says the right things to keep everyone on track. In Drakengard 3, he’s such an obsessive masochist that even the thought of being tortured or humiliated reduces him to incoherent moaning and shuddering. And Octa, the wizened old pervert in other games and stories, can actually back up his claims; he really is the best at ‘that thing’ and he’s not afraid to brag about his skills or endowment.
And, if you’re finding that Drakengard 3 is your kind of game after spending some time in its chaotic confines, the DLC bonus chapters where you can play as the other sisters in side campaigns reward you with further insight into their personalities and motivations. You’ll have to max their levels to read all of their journal entries, but who are we kidding? If you’ve downloaded the DLC chapters, it means you’ve been absorbed by this game’s strangeness and will happily repeat levels to get the whole story. Further DLC also allows you to obtain additional costumes, each with their own abilities and enhancements, as well as weapons from previous entries in the series and from Nier.
I believe Drakengard 3 is worth your time. The game is uneven because of its underwhelming mechanics and lack of overall polish, but it more than makes up for it in imagination, unconventionality and flat out weirdness. And, when you’re done with Branch D (the final reality branch of the game) — if you’re skilled enough to overcome it — you’ll sit back, take a deep breath and stay quiet for a long while. And, when you finally begin to contemplate Drakengard 3 in fullness, you’ll wonder what the heck you just finished playing. And it’s one of the best feelings any creative endeavor can leave you with.
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| Overall |   |
