Drakengard 3 could be misleading by name, since it is not a direct sequel to the second title, but a prequel whose story takes place a hundred years before the events of the first game: In a dark fantasy world called Midgard where humans are the dominant species over others like dragons, we control Zero , a mysterious girl who embarks on a mission with his dragon Mikhail to kill her five sisters who dominate different regions of the world. The story leads us to find the real reason for our protagonist to make such carnage.
Drakengard 3 is a game that shines for its excellent features such as art, gameplay, story and music that together create an experience designed specifically for niche players seeking robust RPG action games of the past. This adult classified by high levels of violence is not about children’s game missions to save the world, discover the true meaning of justice, explore the mysteries of a medieval world or get the glory and fortune for their own benefit. In Drakengard 3 we are placed in the skin of a character full of anger in search of blood, whose personality is extremely brutal and nasty, causing Player intrigue and desire to know what is behind such cruelty.
Beyond the action and dragons, which captures the player is the world of dark fantasy and the only history that happens. The event will be divided into chapters and narrated segmented into lines, through which the story will center on Zero and his lust for blood and the discovery of his past and his true motives. The script is invariably the best of the series, same as the player can take from laughter to tears in just one chapter . Due to the nature of the game and strong adult themes, some scenes will cause major upheaval, so expect jumps in the plot and twists that will keep you on the edge of the seat.
The voice acting is sublime, and the personality of the characters convince us that actually exist. The voices are completely in English, but for the fans the option of getting the original Japanese voices in the online store will be awarded.
As mentioned earlier, Zero will be accompanied at all times by his dragon Mikhail , which will provide the story a nice contrast to the personality of the protagonist. Mikhail always act with optimism, enthusiasm and expressing pure emotion, but also deepen your story and a little darker aspects of his identity will be revealed. Female gender predominate in Drakengard , as the protagonist and his sisters will be the core around which revolve the plot, and different parts of human femininity will be discovered naked by the player . Note that Zero is the first female protagonist of the series, so special care was given its design.
The story invites you to think that is predictive, however, it take sharp turns at any point you get us out of our comfort zone and arouse the curiosity about what lies ahead. The script is full of winks to the player in which you will not get bored for a second: black humor, violation of the fourth wall jokes alluding to who is behind the control and keep us glued to the TV and dropping an occasional laugh from time to time, all without breaking the overall dark tone of the story.
So deep is the work done in the stories of the characters (both enemies and helpers) that Access Games was given the task of expanding the world of Midgard and bring a novel that dives into the past of each of the characters. Here we learn a little more of their lives, since according to the producer Takasama Shiba , usually players see a computer-or enemy-controlled character and discard quickly, without allowing leave mark on our history and without appreciating the work the production team put into its development. The novel is set to the public for free at the official site of the game , and certainly masterfully complements the depth and commitment to each of the characters.
Not everything can be perfect and graphics in Drakengard 3 leave much to be desired. Due to the frantic battles with dozens of opponents, helpers, huge bosses and a dragon that shoots fire,suffer atrocious framerate drops that make us sob of disgust. Several times we will be immersed in the action suddenly dropped into account that the PlayStation 3 no longer supports many textures, polygons and particles in a single scene, and the fall of framerate and excess bursts uncontrollably reach alienate momentarily our participation on the screen, without counting the invisible walls that suddenly come to cut the immersion in the world in which we live.
Undoubtedly, Unreal Engine 3 suffers visually for years, and although the cutscenes are by others maintained and look excellent (due to the quality standards of Square Enix), often see fighting us against common enemies that seem to come from other games so worn that the graphics engine is overuse and dozens of other installments of the industry.
Regardless of graphics performance, artistic design can save the look and make us forget the glitches.Overall, the series Drakengard has been inspired by medieval Europe for its design, however, for the third installment designer Kimihiko Fujisaka decided to draw more modern characters, preserving the architecture and classic franchise environments.
This is the same artist who gave us art in games like The Last Story , and hits its mark our pupils in the most beautiful way possible, giving highly detailed characters in their visual appearance, same result even more shocking to show personalities completely bets what might seem by their appearance.
Hack & slash elements of shots to be mounted on the dragon and a pinch of platforms are very useful to add variety to the game and break the monotony, however, on the technical side might fail to implement controls that respond Fashion more efficient each time.
In Drakengard 3 , the camera although not terrible, if disappointing in parts where we have to make precise jumps or focus on important enemies. Sometimes we fight the system suggested that betray us and will focus on common enemies away from our view the strongest, leaving us vulnerable position without opportunity to plan our attacks accurately . It really is not as bad as in other titles, but Access Games themselves would have to do a better job of balancing the genres and polish the chamber.
The rest of the controls are well precise and fluid: instantly can block, dodge, jump and perform attacks naturally becoming an extension control over our body.
Another key aspect of the magnificence of Drakengard 3 is its gameplay. The studio dosed knew quite well the elements of story, action, strategy and difficulty so that progress naturally feel even if we were stuck with a specific mission impossible to beat.
Overall the game is easy to play, but the action is suitably challenging to follow us pushing forward . Completing each stage takes between 20 and 30 minutes, and the story takes about 40 hours to complete . However, for the greedy who want to unlock every weapon, every object, every end and every secret, the game will take over 100 hours to be completed in its entirety, giving great value for cost-benefit few games they offer on today.
All battles will have a frenetic pace, where change weapon (because we can choose between swords, spears, fists, daggers and more) will be very easy and will not alter the flow of combat. The difficulty is of the best aspects of Drakengard 3 , it will offer enough challenge and we will repeat a task over and over again looking for the perfect strategy. However, even if we die or complete a difficult scenario, it is always possible to level up in side quests or repeating past to get more experience points scenarios .
Zero not only defeat enemies left and right through tunnels without grace; scenarios are excellently designed and provide us pieces of action followed by exploration, treasure hunts, battles with bosses, scenes, characters and more intrusions that prevent us feel a generic hack & slash. The protagonist will have a special power called “Intoner Mode” , which is activated by completing a blood meter will increase as you annihilate enemies of the bloodiest and longest combos forms; slowly we go blood permeating the skin, hair and dress, and once our bloodthirsty character fill your meter, you can unleash a mad fury to increase her attack and nullify damage taken to overcome the most difficult obstacles .
The strategy and the correct selection of our actions at each level will be essential to overcome the challenges, because the boss battles always keep us on the edge of the seat and with sweat on his brow .
Among the objectives of each level, we separate bonus missions that will give us unique benefits not found in the main campaign, and increased capacity of items, weapons, leveling parts for our equipment and money. Besides, each chapter of the story their are three gold chests to be found which will reward us and help us finish the game 100%, adding variety.
Square Enix understands that console gamers are familiar with video games, and spend time and money on them. The company grew through them and that is why this game to deliver that specific niche that is becoming smaller by the latest trends in smartphone games.
Drakengard 3 is definitely a great way to invest our time in entertainment, and offers a cocktail of story, characters, music and gameplay we’ve ever seen and we will definitely keep you stimulated with each dialogue and with each level successfully.