Drakengard 2 | A Complete History and Retrospective 

I literally just watched Eruptionfang's almost 7 hour long video on the entire NieR timelime a couple weeks ago. I love how the NieR series and Drakengard series are written and presented, and I'm totally looking forward to any new works from Yoko Taro.

The only reason 2 is hated is because it had no involvement with Yoko which is the whole reason people play his games because he has a special touch to them. That being said I don't think 2 is near as bad as people claim.

Caim grinning is such a great face. Probably my favorite thing from this game. Not that it has a lot of competition.

The cutscene where Caim and Angelus finally reunite and die together is one of the most emotional moments I've experienced in any video game. People talk about Taro being such an emotional puppet master but for me he has yet to achieve anything even close to that in any of the other Drakengard or Nier games.

Happy SonDay! I'm proud of you enduring through 2 and I hope you stay strong for 3 and the jank and uhhh dialogue

Zhangpo was likely going to be a boss originally, but probably got cut. If I'm not mistaken, there is art for him showing his pact creature and what he lost in the pact. He was bonded with Ifrit. He was born Pre-mature, so he was motivated to eat alot to get strong to makeup for it, but he also clearly enjoyed it. He lost his sense of taste. Also this wasn't mentioned in the previous game's review, but that Priest got the most absurdly lucky pact price when he made a pact with his dragon. He lost his hair. Just his fucking hair. For added What the fuckery, apparently out of all the pact makers, he regrets the price he paid the most............Yes, that's including all of them both enemy and ally, he regrets his loss more than Arioch and Hanch. Somehow. Granted it was because he was a huge ladies man so.....'Shrug', Hanch was a happy child, whose charm and smile warmed the entire village she was from..........And then she fell in the water and the Kelpie formed a pack with her. She lost her charm in the pact. Needless to say, this fucked her up mentally (Not unlike the Baby eating Elf from the previous game, who lost her womb and went insane as a result with her pact.) (Kinda bizarre though, looking at her she's not particularly bad looking, especially sitting her next to Zhangpo so.....'Shrug'.). For an added Bonus, she's also the one who made the poison that killed Nowe's adopted father and then one meant to kill Nowe himself. Name: Caim Job: Murdering People. Emotional State: 'While Murdering People.' Loving this shit. Yaha made his pact in an attempt to make Ulrik love him (It gave him the power to Charm People.......I bet Hanch was pissed when she found out.). He also had sex with a bunch of the Knights (And Verdelet the Priest from 1, who apparently is Bisexual.). He lost his ability to feel Pleasure in his pact (Again, Ironic Prices for each of them.......granted Looking back not entirely sure why Caim's pact price was his ability to speak. (Ok, apparently the reason was it was his last anchor to his humanity, his ability to communicate with people.........Which given how much he loves murder anyway, doesn't seem like the worst price.).). Gismor's Pact Partner is a Shadow, which made him lose his Physical body in his pact Deal..........Which given he can resume his normal form, even if as an Illusion, and he can still touch things, makes it seem his Pact Deal is the most bullshit and It doesn't seem to actually have a downside. Even the Priest regrets his hair loss due to being vain and a Womanizer (And whatever the equivalent for Chasing men is.). Interestingly, he was apparently a Soldier of the Empire in 1 and was persecuted for it. Also you fight Shadows in 1 who have similar powers as him, so that's actually kinda neat. As for good old Luca Blight, but Protagonist and somehow crazier Caim.........Apparently he and Angelus had Romantic feelings for each other by the end. Which is wild. So as for Nowe's parents. ...............Uh, so remember when Inuart put Furiae's corpse in the seed? Yeah uh........so his also fell into it.........and some of Legna's blood..........All 3 are his biological parents. He's technically Caim's nephew.

I had avoided content related to Drakengard 2 since I was under the impression it wasn't canon. Although it isn't quite a Yoko Taro story, it was still interesting.

I wonder if after the Nier saga, if we're ever gonna get a Draken sequel to see what happened to their world once things were happening in our world during the Nier years.

I literally just found your channel because of the Drakengard 1 video and you uploaded a Drakengard 2 video by the time I finished watching 😂

Not gonna lie... My guy you are the best video essayist when it comes to games, really enjoying your videos.

I get why people enjoyed Drakengard 1 and 3 but honestly the music in Drakengard 2 was something else. I really enjoyed listening to those tracks back then because they did fit into the dungeons and scenes perfectly. And tbh i liked the story unfolding and the romance between Nowe and Manah didnt feel forced at all. It just so happened over time.

High Five for the "2nd Ending, Best Ending" Bros. It's still pretty jank, but I feel the world still being at war and reality shifting towards new territory is much more interesting than the alternatives. Plus it lets me imagine an entire culture of people forming pacts with dragons to fight in epic battles against automatons and potentially giant stone babies, and that just pleases the inner 12 year old in me to no end. Cool stuff can just be cool sometimes. I doubt Drakengard 2 is ever going to get its own sequel (justifiably), but if it does, I hope the developers use the 2nd ending.

“Exhausted on the holy land” is still one of the all time great videogame tracks.

DROP THE DAMN KINGCOBRA DOC!!

I love how the instant the watchers are back Manah immediately gets possessed again.

i've watched both of your drakengard videos so far, big fan of these! really excited to see a drakengard 3 review as well, it's my favorite of them all

Hello son, I greatly appreciate all the talks we have before bed. I look forward to hearing more from you.

I've fallen behind with between being busy and having a few of the people I follow releasing a large number of long videos. I will watch this later but your videos never disappoint, regardless to whether I have played the game or not. Proud of you son.

Every little detail and animation was on point and hilarious! Way to go Speedoru!

if i remember there was quite a bit of detail added each different times you replay, it shows viewpoints from other characters that you didn't know from the first play

Heyhey, another Video to watch while at Work. Thanks Son for the hard Work that makes mine bearable!

Yeah Drakengard 2 had its improvements in the gameplay side of things, but making Taro a minor cutscenes editor was probably a mistake because his eccentric story telling process in the first game was what made that game as fascinating as it is. And replacing him with a yes man who just made the game have a generic fantasy story just made its flaws stick out more than Drakengard 1's did.

I loved this game, but only as a kid. It actually turned me on to the omegaforce likes. The world was fascinating. Now I wouldn't be patient enough to play through it

I might be in the minority here but i actually prefer Drakengard 2 over the first one : don't get me wrong, Nowe is your very generic JRPG protagonist, it's not good looking to say the least. However, being a Muso fan, i really liked the gameplay : i felt the feedback was good and the weapons variety as well as the different characters made up for the repetitive aspect. I also really liked the soundtrack and why exposition heavy (which didn't bother me back then), i found the story to be really captivating. Now keep in mind, i played Drakengard 2 before the 1st game. But considering how much more interesting it looked, i was obsessed finding it... And i was massively disappointed. Not only the gameplay felt completely lifeless and boring (even as a muso fan i can't stress how boring the gameplay felt), i wasn't even fan of the writting : sure, it's tragic but why would i care? If it's just a succession of tragedy one after another, i will just stop myself from caring for the characters and thus caring for the events of the game's world. Both Niers would later do FAAAR better than both Drakengards 1 and 2 on that regard (among many others) : there's still tragedy but there are also lighter scenes to be sure you're not accustomed emotionally. While i sure respect Taro, i think Drakengard 1's writting is pretty overstimated (not that it makes Drakengard 2's writting something incredible in comparison). A few things about the second game that aren't mentionned here though : Legna is also the dragon who killed Caim's parents and Inuart's partener. Also, Nowe is more or less Caim's nephew (which could explains why Caim's tried to protect him).

Hey there, son. I'm really enjoying the series so far. You're doing a great job. Me and my girlfriend actually started watching this series together and we're really enjoying it. Can't wait to see your video on Drakengard 3. Keep up the good work.

I rented this from a blockbuster when I was 14. I felt as if I was too old for it and wondered what happened to Drakengard.

only here for the Cobra documentary

I was so hyped for this video. Really starting to get into that Yoko Taro rabbit hole (though this game doesnt have Yoko Taro's involvement)

I always get annoyed when people call Nowe an idiot. Because he's not. He is, in fact, a genius in many ways. Raise from birth by Legna, he was found at 6-10 years old(It is very unclear specifically when) by the Knights, and then had to be taught human language, culture, and norms, and then took up sword training. In at most 12 years, this guy learned not only everything an adult is expected to know about fighting in, if not the history and oddities of his world, but also became a master swordsman to the point where he can fight men twice to three times his age with ease, and in larger numbers. Some of that is his nature, but not all of it, they comment on his skill with a blade a few times. So no, he's not an idiot. Worse yet, like Ethan Winters of Resident Evil or Yuito Sumerugi of Scarlet Nexus he's ignorant of some things because people deliberately withhold information from him...plus he DOES tell Eris that jerkwad poisoned him, once he's got the poison itself out of his system. While he's stumbling around, barely conscious, and reeling from what he heard, he's not really in a state to explain anything to anyone.

loving this series son!!

A space tale that involves dragons... Im so glad he got to work on ff14 a little bit. Still my favorite alliance raid.

Hyped for that drakengard 3 video!

New video! Love to see it!

Yessss! I never got the chance to play this one, or the third. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them.

Hey, Son, do you occasionally take requests? I know this isn't an older game, but I've been having a blast with a game called Astlibra Revision and I'd love to hear your take on it. It was made over a span of 15 years, and it has such a beautiful story and soundtrack! I had no idea what to expect going into it, and it continued to blow my mind every step of the way. Either way, keep up the awesome work. Always super fun to watch your content.

The "wierd blur" in cutscenes may be caused by the pcsx2 emulator. That ghosting effect you seen to have I've seen in other games I've emulated too. If you see that happen in a future emulation you should try looking up fixes in the settings. A common fix seems to be messing with the "manual hardware fixes" settings

I came for cobes and stayed for your actually pretty good breakdowns of video game lore.

release the documentary!!!!!

Yay! Another Sunday morning brightened by your content. Thanks as always, Son.

Square Enix wanting to dump the heavy themes just baffles me. If someone didn't buy the first one for that reason would they buy the sequel anyway? Still received an M rating in the US too so partially pointless. Biggest of all (idk if its recognition was different back then, so forgive me if I'm wrong) the original's themes WERE what gave it life and an audience. This kinda direction is what keeps assured buyers away and you can't bet newcomers will be down all of a sudden. Goofballs sitting in chairs "know how to sell video games".

The orbs for special dragon powers dont appear if you destroy a target by locking on them and destroying them with autofire. You need to destroy them by attacking them directly. And, unpopular opinion, I actually loved Drakengard 2 a lot more than he first one.

Constantly hitting on series I'm looking back on, feeling lucky.

Ive actually gotten all endings twice. At first i didnt actually care too much for it, but upon my second playthrough, its grown on me a bit

Thanks! Played through Drakengard, Nier Replicant and Nier Automata, on my way through Branch C in Drakengard 3. But I thought that I don't have guts to play Drakengard 2, the first one was cool because of Yoko Taro's charm in it. Still, I'm curious how they played the second game. Now I know who's Eris (Eris Spear in Drakengard 3) and from where Manah's stuff originate as DoD3 DLC EDIT: halfway through video I realised I might actually want to play it, so stopped watching :D

This game is underrated, the last plot twist with Legma kind of broke my heart. I think people just don't like it because its not made by Yoko Taro

Hey son. Can’t wait to sit down to watch this video later today. Excited to see what you say !

Never played 2 but did 1 and 3, I wonder if 1/3 are viewed different in retrospective now that we know Yoko Taro better thanks to Nier Automata. I remember working at gamestop from holiday 2010-13 and the only real memories I have of 2 is noting how rare I saw people trading copies in(probably due to low sales in the first place) and Nier was just always chilling in our preowned under $20 bin. Eventually when Automata became a hit I was shocked considering how little of the original Nier I remembered actually selling lol

I feel like Drakengaard 2 is the the first failed Branch that Accord examines. Making it really only important in knowing what happens if the canon ending in Drakengaard doesnt take place at all.

watched the first last night then this happens you've made your old man proud son

How do you feel about Drakengard 2 Dad? 🐲

No wonder DrakenGuard 2 felt so different it's under new management and executive meddling. What i mever understand about executives sometimes is that if a game is popular enough to get a sequel why change the thing that made it unique, the ground gameplay i would understand but the dark tone is part of its identity.

The drakengard series would be excellent for a remake I loved the first game but the game with large scale viewing distance and other things modern day hardware can acheive would be cool to see.

(Nvm you already did I’m just stupid and didn’t look 😅)….I would honestly love to see you talk about Yakuza and Judgement. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how the series evolved and changed. Think it would be incredibly interesting. Keep up the great work! Love your channel

Its odd that yoko taro had no involvement but i can see some resemblance of some if the things of this game in others. Flying Nowe reminds me of the flight units.

44:50 reminds me of the Yorha bunker

This was a PS2 game I got with my console at Christmas many years back. I admit it has its issues, but my god was it content full. So much you could unlock and do for that era, and on a console. I agree that Drakengard 1 was much better in terms of story, but this one will always hold a special place in my heart. Editt: never tried 3. The PS2 was my last Sony Console. If anyone has some hints to where I might acquire the third game, I would be grateful.

Were you playing on an emulator? I never had the blurry cutscene issue on both physical copies I have like you seem to

I like that Urik guy... He reminds me of Leonard for some reason

The only sonshine I appreciate these days.

29:59 small correction; Gnomes, not goblins.

I take a little psychic damage time I hear C-eye-m, but hearing Caim pronounced correctly right after was a fucking critical hit. I’m a nonbeliever, but I’m still praying we don’t hear the story of Zeh-ro/Russ in the next retrospective. I joke, but I love the retrospectives. It’s just that mispronouncing the name of a major character from multiple games with voice acting feels weird. Like you’re either trying to bait comments like this or you just play through the game on mute and don’t listen to your own video after editing. The content is too high quality for me to believe it’s the latter, but the bait is such a big distraction.

The comments on Nowe being a generic hero who does as he's told Does seem a recurring theme. And, to add to that, it seems to usually end badly. And then, by the end, he rejects Legna's orders, and that's when he's able to gain power and do something Actually heroic. Is this intentional? I dunno. Maybe?

I cant wait to spend lets say 6hrs watching the full retrospective of all the games in the entire series drakenguard 1,2,3 nier and neir automaton with all supplental media lezzzz gooooo

Solid work, Son. TMDWU

This series desperately needs a remake/reboot

I'm proud of you son. You know your stuff

Tnx mate

When’s the cobra doc coming?

There is NOWE you won't make a video about Drakengard 3, right?

i dropped the game in that tower, it was too hard for me. holy i was nearly finishing that game

I have a theory that the "Gods" are an evolution of the leftover beings from Nier Automata, the ones that shot out in the Ark. Even if this game is in a different timeline, it says that Dragons created humans "from the Gods" which could mean that the Gods either are humans or, more likely, shaped themselves in the image of humans like Machines and Androids do. In this way the whole franchise is a cycle were humans are created in the image of gods and they themselves inspire other being into elevating them to the status of those gods in the first place. The logic virus transforms into the Red Eye disease, too. It's not exactly a time-loop, more like a neverending chain of alternate timelines infecting each other and repeating the same basic events. The Ark is clearly related to the Cathedral City that changed the world of Midgard and brought magic and monsters to that version of Earth.

i got this when i was like 10, i had no idea what was going on

Whens the cobra vid coming out?

first ! thanks son for weathering this game, if only it weren't named drakengard it would have been seen better, but not by much

oh that's why.

Heya. New here and wondering why you always say bye dad?

I remember playing this when it came out, I don't have fond memories of it, the gameplay is very repetitious, restrictive and after the third level or so you are just so fed up, added that with a sickness i had at the time and things not gowing my way in the past I can't say I miss it, except for the music, also whenever i hear people saying they want to reach a "wider audience" I want to throw up, you know it ia bad thing is on the way when studios start to meddle with the artistic vision

I love you son, you make me proud

Anyone remember playing Ninety-Nine Nights (N3) for the 360?

Drakengard 2 is a bit like another sequel to a cult classic game from the 2000s, BloodRayne 2, which I've actually played: They change certain things (writing for one, gameplay for the other) for the worse, but improve on major faults from their predecessors (gameplay for Drakengard 2, plot and writing for BloodRayne 2). I'll freely admit that of the two Drakengard sequels, THIS is the one I'll play as the gameplay is meant to be a massive improvement and the story is still meant to be good, though not as great as 1's. Considering Drakengard 3 bought back the jank and apparently featured a DREADFUL, needlessly profane, extremely horny localisation that killed the series dead in its tracks and even somehow managed to derail the protagonist Zero in the same game she made her debut (from what I've been told, she was meant to be a nihilist neutral who showed little emotion except to her dragon partner and those close to her out to rid herself of a most peculiar Watcher plague in the original Japanese script, the dub derailed her into an annoying villain protagonist who yells swear words constantly), I think I'll take my chances with the sequel that focused on the gameplay rather than the tone and plot just this once.

I think if ending B was the default, with say 2 more (to fit this games number) that are increasingly bleak would of worked better. To fit standard jpg conventions the second could of had Manah survive while Eris died, Nowe uses the bone casket to save Manah with the help of the gods who seem to have a fondness for her. Ending with a Manah in a red dress linking back to her younger self who seems to of been reverted back to her more pliable self, Nowe who now has prominent red eyes and a great feeling that we have messed up. Multiple call backs to the original including the grotesques I'm not sure what the third would have exactly, it would feel right to have Nowe, Eris and Manah overcome their issues to do the right thing but all having to die for that to happen. Perhaps have after their deaths Legna step up for the final boss, not for the dragons but to honor Nowe. The theme of a father son bond being used here in a very dark, drakengard way. Oh and to symbolise this maybe have Legna take a new form, based somewhat on Angelus's chaos form

The title "drag-on dragoon" sounds like a self-deprecating joke because of how tedious the game can be.

Looking forward to Drakengard 3 and the battle with framerate... 👁👄👁

Drakenguard 2 is the diet coke Drakenguard

Good job, son.

A DRAKENGARD 2 content, Thank You 🎉 Most of the Nier & Drakengard Fans have a Strong Dislike for this Entry and i Doubt Yoko Taro would even bring up this Game anytime soon because of the "Conflicting Timeline" with the Nier Franchise, But.. Compared to the Entirely Tragic Lore of Nier, Having an Actual Happy Timeline, Feels Bittersweet even thou it Most Likely will be Forgotten. But Hey... It was Nice While it Last.

Man they really did make this one a typical rpg story. Maybe layering so much controversy all in the first game was a bit excessive but this is to much of a course correction

I think the air combat had a big big downgrade in Drakengard 2. Angelus had some weight to her, which felt great in the sense, that she is a big and powerful dragon. Legna however feels like a literal paper airplane to me.

❤

Ffxvi has me. But I'll watch this. Your comprehensive look is always thorough and generously fair to games without shying away from what doesn't work mechanical and/or personally. Just good stuff

Cobra video

I did not like this game. I found it especially bad that they redconned Caim to be a psychopath... : / While the new protag was just super generic anime boy....

Not a bad game all in all. Overhated nowadays.

The story makes no sense in this one and they made it generic which is the exact thing yoko taro wanted to avoid

This game isn't canon...