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AtomDrag-On Dragoon 2: Love Red, Ambivalence Black
aka Drakengard 2 in the USA and Europe.
Drag-on Dragoon (aka Drakengard in the US and Europe) looked like a winning title. Hack slash gameplay a la Dynasty Warriors in a fantasy setting looked like a sure seller in Japan. The final product created by Cavia (also known for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) had awkward animation, brain dead AI and repetitive button mashing. Without the dragon riding stages the first title would have flopped completely. It wasn’t without it’s fans, but it was more of a love/hate deal. So it’s a bit of surprise that Square-Enix would invest in a sequel to Drag-on Dragoon. Let’s see if Cavia improves over the first game.
Chronologically, Drag-on Dragoon 2 takes place directly after the first game. Although you won’t be playing as Caim, instead you’ll control Nowe a youthful emerging knight. Nowe isn’t the rage filled character that Caim is, he’s more of a likely hero. Nowe is also friendly with the dragon-kind, in fact he’s been raised by a blue dragon. When we’re introduced to Nowe we’re taken through a few tutorial missions with him and Leguna. The tutorial verses are cleverly disguised as Nowe’s training for the Angleus. On the forefront the game’s story doesn’t seem as cryptic as the first. It does delve into the dark side, but just not as blatantly as the first game. It takes about two full chapters to really get going. As a treat for all of you who enjoyed the first game, Caim does make a return.
So what about the gameplay? Drag-on Dragoon 2 controls a lot better than the first game. The awkward movements of Caim and the jerky camera are out the window. Camera mechanics aren’t perfected, narrow hallways leave give an incomplete perspective, where you’ll be forced to fight without seeing what is in front of you. Still, Cavia has done a good job at making Nowe move fluidly so he’s ready for combat. Like pretty much every other hack and slash title Nowe has two types of attacks a light slash and a heavy slash. The heavy attack can launch an enemy in the air, which is great for immobilizing a foe. If you jump in the air and use the heavy attack Nowe will slam the ground with his sword dealing out a small range area stun. Mix up heavy and light attacks to do combos, but watch out for the timing because the combo timing really varies between different combos. Nowe can equip a variety of different weapons besides his sword that you’ll collect throughout the adventure. With each kill the weapon Nowe is using (plus Nowe of course) gets experience. As your weapons power up you’ll learn more combos, which alter your attacking range and possibly give more damage.
Nowe does have magic, too. Magic charges up while hitting enemies or picking up red orbs. By using magic you can unleash a wind storm or a shake the ground. Great for hitting enemies out of physical reach to keep the combo counter going. The combo counter is key for giving out experience bonuses and other power-ups. Twenty hits in a row dawns the first experience bonus. More hits can even yield enemies to drop orbs to instantly refill magic or life. This gives you every reason to keep chaining combos, which isn’t too hard to do with a two second gap before the combo meter resets. Often times knocking out enemies is a simple matter of button mashing. Few enemies put up a fight. Most of them will even stand there while you prepare to attack. The only time fights present a challenge for players is when enemies deal out way too much damage for Nowe to handle. When one or two hits from a Golem will kill Nowe it’s more of a test of your evasive abilities than anything else.
Nowe isn’t alone, he’s got a partner that can switch into at anytime. Unlike in the first game where you can run around for a limited time as a new character, you can switch characters freely. Early on Nowe will have Eris as an extra partner, switching into her allows the player to use a spear attack. Eris also has different spells over Nowe, so switching into her can be advantageous. Best of all having a second character with an independent life bar essentially gives players two lives instead of one.
Dragon riding makes this game special. You can take to the sky when you play as Nowe and blast enemies with fire from above. Some stages actually focus on aerial combat entirely. These stages play out like dog fights where you’ll be pulling off quick u-turns with your dragon so you can shoot monsters from behind. By holding down triangle you can lock on to an enemy and shoot homing fire blasts. New to Drag-on Dragoon 2 are super charged dragon attacks called Dragon Overdrive. When your dragon overdrive meter is filled up you can use it to deal out thousands of points of damage. Considering a hit from a fire blast is about 50 points of damage a thousand points is heavy stuff. When you pull off these attacks the camera pans out and you get a close up view of the Leguna flapping it’s wings causing a tornado.
Like the first title the game still plays out in stage form just called verses. Completing a verse propels the game’s story forward, like you would expect. Reaching the condition for clearing can be a piece of cake with the right skills. In some missions all you need to do is run to a certain location. You can opt to dash through enemies to hastily make for the goal, but you’ll miss out on experience. In later levels this will render you worthless against huge golems and bosses. In a lot of the ways the game almost forces you to keep fighting, not just to stay alive, but gain enough experience so your character won’t be weak for the next chapter.
The most obvious improvement in the game is the graphics. Using completely new models, that are better designed than the first game Drag-on Dragoon 2 looks great. There’s no awkward mist to block visibility so you can see all the way until the end of the battlefield. The monster’s look a lot more inspired than the basic metal wearing knights in the first game. You’ll battle against beasts like goblins on the ground and bat creatures in the sky. It’s the actual human models that make the game look great. Nowe has a realistic look to him, with shiny plating and all. Eris’ animation is awesome, when she evades enemies she does a little spin to the side. When you’re dodging attacks and countering it looks like she is doing a savage dance. Cavia’s CGI scenes are nothing short of quality you would expect from other PS2 games. You’ll be privy to some well detailed scenes with thoughtful chorography.
Drag-on Dragoon 2’s score isn’t as endearing as other Square-Enix titles. The music loops way too much and the songs are too similar to be interesting. Mainly orchestrated epic music, Drag-on Dragoon 2 isn’t exactly the game’s shinning spot. On the other hand the voice acting is pretty good.
Without question Drag-on Dragoon 2 surpasses the first game on many levels. There’s a lot to like about the game. A better combo system, immersive graphics and flying around on the back of a dragon. Now if Cavia could just clean up the non-existent enemy AI and add in a more robust combo system the series would really be a winner.
Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 3
You can get into the game and figure out how to do combos if you’re patient, but you’ll miss out on the story if you’re not a native speaker.
US Bound?
Ubisoft has come to aggrements with Square-Enix to publish the title in Europe and the US in early 2006.
+ Pros: Visually impressive, with touched up gameplay over the first title.
- Cons: To sum it up it is a pretty looking button masher.
Overall: Cavia has done a fine job of polishing the Drag-on Dragoon franchise to make the second game better than the first. It’s a fantasy style button masher, but one of the better ones out there.
< Screenshots >
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