Drakengard 2

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

But the thing is,

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If Inuart is dead, his dragon must be dead as well, since they're pact partners. Unless it turns out he's still alive...

Spoiler:

1. Dragons can break pacts. Angelus did that in one of the extra endings in D1 when she faught Caim.
2. Inuart may not be dead, he may just be reformed with Furiae into Nowe through the use of the bone casket, which allowed for the birth of the new breed and Nowe's ability to talk to the dragon without being a pact partner.

How ya doing, buddy?

Quote:

Spoiler:

1. Dragons can break pacts. Angelus did that in one of the extra endings in D1 when she faught Caim.

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I don't think Angelus was the one to break the pact in the ending, rather it happened due to the world screwing up and the dragons taking over. I don't think the beasts can willingly break the pacts they make with humans. Consider when Leonard was going to sacrifice himself, and his fairy tried to talk him out of it, saying that he (that fairy was a male, right? I couldn't tell) would die if Leonard died. He wouldn't try convincing Leonard to live if he could just break the pact and fly out of there.

I guess it's all just speculation. Unless they make a Drakengard 3 anyway.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Spoiler:

I said dragons for a reason. There are two very important species. Gods (the Watchers), and Dragons. You may not be able to break a pact with a golem or fairy, but Dragons are powerful beings, able to evolve at will, destroy the earth, challenge gods, etc...
I agree that there is a bit of speculation involved in Drakengard's storyline, but there are simple connections between the two games that I feel the designers wanted us to pick up on. Nowe isn't just any man, he is highly connected to the previous game's main characters. Legna isn't just any dragon, he is the black arch-rival to Angelus (even his name is Angel backwards). Little details like how Inuart's sword, when equipped during the Caim battle, does a lot more damage to Caim than your other weapons, make this game still about the characters from D1.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Spoiler:

So basically Inuart and Furiae didn't "get it on"? Had something to do with Legna or Inuart using the bone casket. Ok, that makes a lot more sense.

I still don't know if I buy the dragons being able to break a pact yet. The only time we've seen it done is in an ending that didn't even happen according to the storyline.

How ya doing, buddy?

In my opinion, Drakengard 2 is a heavily underrated game. Sure, the graphics are not that great and one could say that Drakengard 2 is more like a Drakengard 1.5, but overall, there's a lot of action, a nice story and a great soundtrack. I had the possibility to play it at a friend of mine and was quite pleased, until I got home just to see that almost all videogame review sites gave it quite weak scores =/

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I wanted to add one more thing about the dragon-pact debate that I just recalled.

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In ending A, before Angelus becomes the seal, she could've ended the pact with Caim, giving him back his voice. Otherwise, why keep the pact between them if she was going to be sealed? Also, don't forget near the beginning, when she lectures Caim about their lives both being in danger if he dies. It just feels to me that if dragons could end their pacts at any time, they wouldn't devote so much time to protecting their human partners.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

I wanted to add one more thing about the dragon-pact debate that I just recalled.

Spoiler:

In ending A, before Angelus becomes the seal, she could've ended the pact with Caim, giving him back his voice. Otherwise, why keep the pact between them if she was going to be sealed? Also, don't forget near the beginning, when she lectures Caim about their lives both being in danger if he dies. It just feels to me that if dragons could end their pacts at any time, they wouldn't devote so much time to protecting their human partners.

Spoiler:

About this whole pact-partner breaking thing, there's evidence both ways, but it's not necessary for it to be true/false for Legna to be Inuart's black dragon.

There were the two possibilities, that either Legna broke his pact with Inuart or that Inuart was merged with Furiae and became Nowe.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

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Wouldn't Nowe have died after killing Legna, then?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Generic Badass

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Wouldn't Nowe have died after killing Legna, then?

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I'm not saying the pact stayed with Nowe. It's obvious that he gained certain powers from becoming a New Breed. If anything, the merging in the bone casket probably altered Legna as well, hence the new look. The pact was able to be changed.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Spoiler:

Legna said that his new look came from the New Breed awakening, though. If the pact was changed through the bone casket, there would have been no way to tell through looks.

I see the logic behind the bone casket fucking up the pact in a big way, but it would seem that if the person "Inuart" ceased to exist, so should his pact-partner.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I've beat Drakengard and I soon hope to get Drakengard 2.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Pardon my attempt to dig up any interest on the DoD line around here, as I seem to be the only vocal supporter at GFF. I'm currently working on my third time through the game in it's hardest difficulty setting, have logged in nearly 90 hours, and I'm still loving most everything about this game. After going back and comparing this title with the first one, the fluidity of battle along with most other gameplay aspects are clearly improved upon to a degree that almost makes DoD1 unbearable to play again.

How the story would turn out left me a bit nervous in the first few hours. In DoD1, much like a game in the same ilk as Xenogears, the story and it's world was the reason to put up with the gameplay itself. But my fears were alleviated more and more as I progressed. There is a wonderful blending with the old and the new, and while I wouldn't go as far to say that there's complexity behind many events and motivations, there is some rich subtext sprinkled about.

The plot and character development is helped along by the very solid voice acting. Any cringeworthy lines or deliveries are few and far between. It's not exactly a masterpiece of translation, nor does it have the unique distorted sanity of the first title, but it never gets in the way (as long as you don't mind everyone being British).

Overshadowing the capable voice acting in the sound department, though, is one of my personal favorite game OSTs of all time. The first installment featured it's own brand of originality, sacrificing the traditional pleasure of standard melody for a sound that infused the game with madness. It fit the game perfectly and I was a fan of it, but was certainly an acquired taste. Gone is the short looping bursts of powerful orchestration replaced by a more traditional sound, but the quality here is top notch, the work is just sublime. And again, it suits the game and even serves as a compliment to the previous title, turning darker as plot elements that tie into Caim's story are introduced later in the game.

Not everything comes off as an improvement, though. The auto save feature is gone, as is the ability to play any previously completed story mission at any time. There are no more branching paths. There are multiple endings, but to few them the game forces you to play through from the beginning to the end in a new game+ with increased difficulty. It hardly seems worth at as the endings are short and there are minimal changes otherwise. But if you like the series like I do, you'll probably invest the time.

I wholeheartedly recommend this game to any sort of gamer who loves a strong story, lots and lotsa hack and slash action, and who can forgive a certain amount of flaws. Anyone else have any opinions on the game?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Dr. Uzuki

-snip-

To avoid confusion, this above comment was merged into this thread.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Whoops, sorry about that. Didn't think to look in the rpg forum seeing how the game's a Sony exclusive and hardly an action rpg. Anyways,

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It only makes sense that Legna is Inuart's black dragon. "There the black dragon gains enlightenment." Black dragon sees the two go in, black dragon sees Nowe come out. To suggest that he was not Legna would be to say that he abandoned Nowe after gaining enlightenment and Legna just happened to stroll by a shortwhile after. I look at the pact aspect like this. Inuart did not die, but then again, Nowe isn't Inuart. He was changed and fused. The pact became nullified. "This goes against the natural order." Dead goddess + dragon pact partner + the gods only know what (literally) plays havoc on any known rules of order.

Whether or not dragons can brake a pact by there own will, I don't see why Caim and Angel would of released each other going by ending A. Who do either of them have left, and what does Caim have left to say?

The game is not entirely baby free. Level up Broken Iron for some disturbing imagery.

The only question I have about the game's story is what is the deal with Nowe's scar?

FELIPE NO

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The only question I have about the game's story is what is the deal with Nowe's scar?

If you enter one of the towns shortly after Manah joins you, you get the explanation for it.

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He got it from a training session where his partner went a little overboard. He also mentions how it's strange that it's the only wound that never fully healed.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Spoiler:

He got it from a training session where his partner went a little overboard. He also mentions how it's strange that it's the only wound that never fully healed.

I think he was asking if there was anything more to it than just an odd coincidence. Usually, things like that happen for a reason in video games.

Most amazing jew boots

Might be the same reason as in the Kenshin OAVs. Where they say a cut gotten from someone who really hates you never truly heals. Might be showing how much Nowe was disliked due to the being called a savior and all. A long shot I know, but thought I'd take a stab at it.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yes, they went out of the way to bring attention to it as an oddity.

Spoiler:

At first, I thought that Inuart must of had the same scar, but upon checking the his artwork, he has nothing of the sort. It's even excessively bloody on the box art. I guess if there's not a word or hint of it elsewhere, it must be exactly as it's explained in that short scene.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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(after acquiring the first game, I can confirm, at the moment, that this game remains “baby free”)

ROFL. Yeah, those things creeped my shit right out.



WHAT THE FUCK. You know, I actually had a real nightmare with those babies in it. Damn, that sucked.

I'm a huge fan of the original DoD, especially the incredible soundtrack (one of my favorites), and I seriously considered buying DoD2 when I saw it at circuit city, but I decided to buy a pair of headphones instead. Oh well, I'll just have to get it next time I'm up there. I know the soundtrack is great, and I had no problems with the original's gameplay (leveling up the weapons made it much more fun, especially nice ones like Hymir's Finger or Kingsblood), so I should be fine with the second game's as well. There's nothing quite as fun as dropping 40 or 50 enemies all at once with an large area of effect attack such as the spells for Fheng's Glaive or Reaper's Scythe.

Personally, while playing the first game, I always felt very sorry for Manah. Knowing her past, how could you really be angry with her?

Anyway, I really just can't wait to get this game. I just have to wait for my new check card to arrive in the mail.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Hated those babies. What freaked me out the most was that they had full sets of teeth. Those things were hard to kill too. Though it was worth it just to see Arioch's reaction.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek

ROFL. Yeah, those things creeped my shit right out.



WHAT THE FUCK. You know, I actually had a real nightmare with those babies in it. Damn, that sucked.

I'm a huge fan of the original DoD, especially the incredible soundtrack (one of my favorites), and I seriously considered buying DoD2 when I saw it at circuit city, but I decided to buy a pair of headphones instead. Oh well, I'll just have to get it next time I'm up there. I know the soundtrack is great, and I had no problems with the original's gameplay (leveling up the weapons made it much more fun, especially nice ones like Hymir's Finger or Kingsblood), so I should be fine with the second game's as well. There's nothing quite as fun as dropping 40 or 50 enemies all at once with an large area of effect attack such as the spells for Fheng's Glaive or Reaper's Scythe.

Personally, while playing the first game, I always felt very sorry for Manah. Knowing her past, how could you really be angry with her?

Anyway, I really just can't wait to get this game. I just have to wait for my new check card to arrive in the mail.

Well if you liked the weapon leveling up system from part 1, then you're gonna LOVE it here. I recently got a weapon for Nowe called the Nobayashi(SP?), at level 1 it had 80 attack power which was very high at the time. It was leveling up VERY fast too. Needed about 200 exp for second level then 300 for third. Once it hit the third level though, it needed about 20k exp, and the attack power dropped to 5. I knew something was up so I stuck with it, and now it's my godliest weapon. At level 4 the attack gets INSANELY high. It was IMO the best magic ability in the game too. (Sonic Burst) Also as you level up weapons, you get new combos to use, and it takes exp instead of number of kills to level them up now. Defenitly a step up from part 1 in many ways!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Since the thread is bumped, I'd like to mention that I was wrong before when I said the game was rated T. Turns out it has an M rating, which isn't too surprising. It's not as graphic as the first game, but there is a fair amount of blood whenever you hack up the hundreds of enemies.

FELIPE NO

Well I just beat it my first time. Got the credits rolling now actually. Very interesting last fight. Just one small thing to nitpick at:

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I wish they had done something flashier with the magic attack in that form. Those cheap homing missiles were freakin USELESS!

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Since the thread is bumped, I'd like to mention that I was wrong before when I said the game was rated T. Turns out it has an M rating, which isn't too surprising. It's not as graphic as the first game, but there is a fair amount of blood whenever you hack up the hundreds of enemies.

Yes? It was rated T in the official trailer. Oh well, it's still a bit brutal with all the blood and such

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, the ad in my EGM has it listed as M (some great artwork is featured as well), so I dunno.

There's nowhere I can't reach.