try playing a REAL video game like Drakengard 2

There is a tweet that lives in my head rent free, this tweet reads "I remember when I told Yoko Taro to his face that I liked Drakengard 3 and he said he was sorry"

"if Nier is a romantic tragedy, Drakengard is an unromantic comedy" couldn't agree more

This video almost gaslit me into playing Drakengard 3. 10/10 would watch again.

Drakengard 3 has one of the most insane dialogues and party members interactions I have seen in a JRPG. And what a twist to take the comedy path after the uber-nihilistic hell experience that Drakengard 1 was

As someone who dropped Persona 5, GTA 5 and other masterpieces, but got the platinum trophy on Drakengard 3, I think that I am well qualified to say that it truely is one of the games of all times.

Mikhail is absolutely fantastic, and having his childlike innocence clash with literally everything that happens is one of the best parts of the game.

Just adding a piece of information to this video: Sawako Natori was the main writer for DoD3 and the woman (mostly) responsible for the sex jokes in the game. I remember reading in a blogpost from a guy who knew Japanese that there was a fanbook interview with the DrakeNier writers and, supposedly, Natori wanted to give Ending A a proper emotional, novelesque ending with your typical moments of catharsis, but Yoko Taro had other plans in mind. Although I couldn't find anything about a translation of these interviews, the fact that Natori has mostly writen kids' books and mainstream romance novels throughout her career and the fact that Yoko Taro is, y'know, Yoko Taro, lead me to believe that this is likely true. Going out of your way to make an ending feel "worse" requires some real commitement to uniqueness.

Can't believe you actually almost made me want to play Drakengard 3.

Sums it up perfect. "Drakengard 3 is unfortunately one of my favorite games"

Sex crazed, uncomfortable, messy, misunderstood, embarrassing to admit you enjoy? Sounds like a Weezer album baby 🤘

Seeing as the reason Drakengard 1 has such a batshit story was because Yoko Taro knew they didn't have the experience to make a good game gameplay-wise so they might as well make it memorable from a story perspective, this makes perfect sense.

Ok what the heck. This video is an absolute masterpiece?? The humour and editing and pacing are all brilliantly polished until it devolved into deep and critical look into the nature of critiques themselves. This is not what I was expecting KZfaq to recommend me on my lunch break but holy heck I’m glad it did! I’m subscribing forever now thank you.

I really liked what you had to say about games as a medium, and about gameplay, and the denial of the nearly endless possibilities games have to offer by companies and the majority of people who play games. I hate when someone makes an argument about games being art and then uses examples like “this game is pretty” or “i like it a lot”. I also like how you usually don’t get into that argument of “are games art?” Because at the end of the day that argument is really just about whether or not games are respected or at least not just cheap forms of pleasure, and a lot of that is up to how players enjoy games and if the majority of games become more than cheap pleasure.

I started with Drakengard 1, i can confirm that "bad on purpose" or well "embracing the bad" is 150% the theme of Drakengard 1 & 3 and it totally nailed it Its an experience unlike anything

No matter how many times I see the Octa joining the party cutscene I still laugh every single time.

17:42 this section is genius The way it's written and edited goes HARD Subbed

Yoko Taro makes games for people who hate videogames, and also who hate themselves. Truly an auteur of the modern age.

I had a friend in highschool that was a big fan of the Drakengaard series and I still remember the first time he told me what the games were about. The concept of a jrpg that is a grueling tragedy sounded so wrong it felt like looking into a parallel universe. It was then I realized whoever was responsible must be some kind of genius.

Drakengard 1 and 3 were such conflicting experiences yet somehow are among my favorite games for reasons explained in this video. Wish I could someday meet Taro. Great video, man

I am so glad this popped up on my feed. As someone who has been a huge Yoko Taro fangirl since 2010 I realized very quickly that this was a brilliant storyteller who went against the grain of what was "expected" of games (I hope you get a chance to play the original Drakengard if you haven't yet, the plot and characters and their own selfish wants are imho WAYYYY messier than 3, and I think you might like the ending as well if you enjoyed 3's ending~), however he didn't have the proper funding and resources to truly make what he envisioned. I am glad he is finally getting the recognition he deserves and I was thrilled that Automata did as well as it did to introduce the world to this beloved madman.

Haven't played any of Yoko Taro's games, but I'm a HUGE fan of his stories and the lore behind them. My favorite part of Drakengard 3 is the idea of using songs as a weapon, and from this you can probably tell that the final ending is my favorite part of the game.

You starting video essays was one of the best things that happened on this platform in the last few years.

I felt your pain. I love this take of drakengard3 and yoko taro games as a whole. the man's a madlad and whether or not his works are good or bad to the individual, you can't deny that he is one of his kind sort of creator.

Yoko Taro's worlds are insane rides, and it was great to see your similar descent into madness in the editing itself. Excellent work!

I watched this video thinking it was one of those masterful essays with millions of views. I'm surprised there's only a couple of hundreds. There's serious potential to your work, keep it up.

Playing through the memory later in the game when everything falls into place was surreal. It actually reminded me of when I played the final ending of Automata. And Kuroi Uta is an absolute banger. Insanely well-made video!

Drakengard 3 was the first Yoko Taro game I played and I enjoyed it when I first played and I enjoyed in when I last played it. The gameplay works it's not revolutionary or anything but I found it fun. The story and dialogue kept me interested mostly laughing but as it goes on and you find out more about Zero it started to sink in and left a real impression.

Watching this was immensely validating - I remember when this game first came out and I was absolutely hooked as a teen for every which reason imaginable, and I hadn't realized just how much the game had stuck with me until watching this now. Might need to give this game a replay TBH and try all that DLC I own... Truly awesome job with this!

Wow you deserve a lot more views and subscribers. I like the way you edit your videos and the essays are very in depth without being too boring

Can't wait to see other video essays from you in the future! Rly love your writing and editing style. I could not stop smiling when I heared you smiling or almost laughing when recounting what happened when you played through certain sections. Great work, looking forward to seeing more from you in the future!

Very much appreciate the quality of production and writing. I'll be lurking around and watch more of your stuff. It feels like you show parts of yourself in this video and that I'm getting honest opinions, emotions and thought here. As a viewer, I get to know you. Overall, great work!

I've been intrigued by Drakengard 3 for years since a friend showed me another mostly positive video about it which praised the story, so it's really interesting to hear your thoughts on what it does with game design (especially in a post-Automata world). The Drakengard games sound so artistically fascinating (well, 1 and 3, at least) and I've always wanted to give them a shot, but I never feel like I quite have the patience to sit down and grind them out. Great video and loved to hear your perspective!

I recently played Drakengard 3 myself, maybe about a year ago? Played it on emulator so it was actually playable and. I absolutely loved it. Sure, it's incredibly crass but my favourite Drakenier character is Kaine, so. I had played Automata, and Nier Gestalt before, and the Replicant remake had recently come out. I finished it up, and I was hungry for more. So I played Drakengard 3. And man oh man am I glad I did. I absolutely agree with the idea of it being bad on purpose. Hell, you could argue there was hints of that in the original Drakengard with how sluggish its combat is. I feel like Drakengard 3 just refined that into being an actual enjoyable experience outside of cutscenes.

I can say that, I love Drakengard 3, I played it back when I had my ps3 and was so addicted, that I couldn't stop until I got Platinum trophy. One of the most underrated games of all time, for me personally, a masterpiece.

in the same sense that a fashion designer or painter will create “bad” art by intentionally making visually unpleasant or basically unusable art pieces, it’s only natural that video games follow the same path as an art form.

found you through the powers that be of the youtube algorithm and got that “augh, this backlog is too short” feeling after a binge watch. i can tell you’re going places. i wish you and your channel the success you deserve. 🙏

This is a an absolutely brilliant video. I loved the narrative, pacing, jokes, and editing. This is incredible. Please keep creating. I will share this with my friends as well! Good job!

I have nothing to add. i just love your takes, the editing and the video as a whole. Thank you

Your Everything_is_fine section was my favorite part of any video ever. Incredible

I played Drakengard 3 and loved it in a masochistic way. Exactly why i also loved how meta and frustrating this video was in a Yoko Taro way. Immediately subbed.

Incredible editing and video. Easy sub. That every_thing_is_fine section is awesome Edit: finished the video and almost got emotional, honestly a fantastic video and writing

Hey man, I know it's been a while since this video came out, but I just wanna say this is one of my favorite videos on this site, and one of my favorite video game analyses ever. I don't really comment often on videos but on the off-chance you see this I just want you to know how much I love this video. I'm a pretty big Nier fan and always wanted to learn more about drakengard, and this video made me REALLY want to get into it, and I keep coming back to watch it again. So, yea, thanks for the awesome video!

Finally a video that completely mirrors my views on the game and I'm so glad KZfaq pushed this video and your channel into my recommendations!

I played this game after automata, and I LOVE IT, It became my favorite game of all time and you describe it perfectly in this video. I believe the only tragedy is that it was not released alongside a ps4 version, because I highly doubt square would release it now Without changing any of the original game.

I'm glad to see someone else speak about this series, these games are truly a unique experience. I've played every game in this series except Drakengard 2 (the only one without Yoko Taro on the team) and let me tell you, Drakengard 1 was by far the worst gaming experience I've ever had. The story is sadistic, the characters are arguably worse than those of its prequel, and the gameplay is clunky and unpleasant, but all of it by design. Its an awful game and I wouldn't recommend anyone ever play it, but it does exactly what it was meant to do, and that is to comment on the atrocities committed during wars by both sides. You never feel like a good guy, and everything is a slog, and much like the other games in the series, you need to play a lot to get the final ending (coincidentally the one that connects to Nier). Not a single ending is objectively good , and I'm only mad that the terrible game makes me respect Yoko Taro all the more. I'm warning everyone reading this comment : don't play this game if you don't want to spend upwards of 20 minutes per level chipping away at regular mobs HP. All in all 10/10 experience, would only recommend to my worst enemies.

what a great video that you certainly wouldn't expect from someone with this little subs! will certainly be checking out the rest of your videos.

damn amazing editing and content, i’d love to see more video essays from you in the future ! was very entertaining to watch

Yup, you earned a sub. Not just because we agree that this is an amazing "bad" game, but your editing and writing skills easily stand up with (or surpass) some of the huge "video game essay" creators! Here's to many more years of Yoko Taro gaslighting all of us all over again. (I mean come on, he extended the connection between Automata and this game in an FFXIV colab buried in a story that seemed to mean nothing to both FF and DrakenNier until the very end. Then told everyone it MIGHT be canon, he just wasn't sure. BITCH YOU WROTE THE STORY HOW ARE YOU NOT SURE??? Can you tell I love his work?)

Playing this game was one of the most frustrating gaming experiences I've ever had. I loved it, underrated masterpiece.

besides the fact that this is such a good video and I'm really happy YT recommended it coz I found your channel, I never believed that I'd find any visual representation of my brain until I reached everything_is_fine part. You have such a way with editing

Wow, what a great video! This level of editing and dialogue--the humor, the message (and everything else!)--it's something I'd expect from some well-established, million-subscriber KZfaqr. With this level of depth and entertainment in your videos I'm positive you'll grow fast! Looking forward to seeing what you'll post next! (Btw that point you made about how, since 9S doesn't like combat as much, his combat isn't as fun, was such a cool decision that makes me respect Yoko Taro as a creator) Anyway great work, this video was amazing :)

Really happy to see some Drakenguard content. I cam across this after seeing it trending on twitter today. Great video, you're quality is great! Was suprised to see you didnt have more subscribes. I subbed to see the nier video, looking forward to it :D As for the video, I agree. Drakenguard 3 was a bit of a hot mess, but i loved it. I played through just last year, and even with its flaws (especially on ps3 ahhhh), it had more charm and thought put into things than most games I play. happy to see its still popping up in videos :)

This video is what got me to finally man up and play Drakengard 3, it is now one of my favorite games, so thank you Caden, i absolutely loved it from start to finish.

I loved this video! I've never played Drakengard 3, but I've had your videos recommended to me a bunch, so I figured I'd give it a watch. Your writing is excellent, and it was so interesting to see how Drakengard connected to NieR: Automata's identity as a masterpiece. I'm excited to watch more videos, lovely work!

Well Written and edited video, hope to see your channel grow!

This game is tied for my favorite yoko taro game with NieR: Replicant. This was the first game I legitimately bought by myself and I am glad I did. I wanted to get into the series but I did not have a ps4 at the time. So I looked up the series and to my delight there was a game for the hand-me-down ps3 I had. I bought it with no regrets.

Amazing video, holy shit. Drakengard 3 has a very special place in my heart, so I love seeing some genuine thoughts on it, beyond "yeah, it kinda sucks, just play NieR instead". You would confidently say that it has the "best executed thought provoking bad game design" though? I really recommend you to check out "Flower, Sun and Rain", one of the first games by Suda51. It was originally for the PS2, but we only got the DS-version in the west. It's... an insane game that is attempting nothing but to prank the player with intentionally bad gameplay - ending up as an incredibly emotional experience, at least to me. Based on the things you said in this video, I'm sure you would enjoy it!

Man, I love the DrakenNier series and came across this video by chance. I love your video and sense of humor. Brilliant! Got a new subscriber. Hope to see more!

Banger video, your channel is definitely going to pop off with this level of content.

"Pretentious" is an anti-art term. I'd much rather a pretentious game that misses the mark than one that doesn't even try. This video made me wanna play a game that is almost certainly gonna drive me insane. Art is supposed to make you feel things and frustration is as valid an emotion as any. Look at Elden Ring, the most iconic boss (Malenia) is the one that's most infuriating

Big ups for making this, Nier is one of my all time favorites but Drakenguard is something I haven’t thought to really play. Considering the ending of replicant I was wondering how it ties in to drakenguard.

It’s been a while since I put a video on in the shower and I liked it so much I watched it again after I was out. Great job man, subbed.

A masterpiece of a video! I love Yoko Taro's games, not only for what they are, but what they do to/for people. It's amazing that, games like Drakengard keep getting talked about despite not being popular. It's really just a sign that Taro's goal of making players think has worked as intended. I'm excited to see what else he has in store for us in the future, and am equally excited to see the videos people make over it.

Brilliant. my bestie and i played DOD3 after Automata, Gestalt, and DOD1 We often revisit a lot of its music to this day as well. The final song took us an entire day and a half to get down

Ah this was wonderful lol. The inner debate you had sums up how I felt playing it back in 2013, it was my entry into the DrakenNier series and I had no idea what I was in for I came expecting a Final Fantasy esc hack and slash sooo you can imagine the shock. But I actually love this game it is fantastic gameplay is kinda fun even if its jank the story is a damn masterpiece and by the end of it all I was hooked into the full series.

I really enjoyed the video. Keep it up and good luck!

That was the most entertaining video I've watched in a long time. Subbed.

Also props to you for covering this game

I played this game, hated playing it but I got every single ending and cried with most of them. 4 years later and I still remember this game, daily. Yes Drakengard 3 is good, it made its way inside my brain by hitting my head with a pole, I'll never forget about it. Drakengard 1 is worse, it's not even opening my brain by hitting my head with a pole, it's shoving the pole right up inside my ass until it reaches my head, and I loved it too. Yoko Taro is a genius Drakengard 2 is not canon, it plays good but it's not even by Taro.

Wow, I can't believe you only have 2k subscribers, this video was perfect man! Please keep doing these

Very ADD friendly video. Thank you. Wonderful deep dive into the idea.

Wow, the algorithm did a FANTASTIC job with recommending this to me. I love NieR Automata and Replicant ver1.22, but the Drakengard games (which I have yet to play due to lack of hardware but own copies of, life a deranged madman) are constantly rotating in my brain for all the reasons you've outlined. I tend to think more about 1 than 3, because of how utterly loathing it is of videogames down to its marrow, but 3 has that same DNA moreso than the NieR games. Like, Automata and Replicant are works of art that reminded me why I love videogames as an interactive art form, but Drakengard makes me think about that art form itself, in a way I wouldn't if they were "good" games.

Played this game for Nier series almost three years ago....stayed for drakengard 3 as best matured tragedy story in fiction for me...nice job yoko taro....also good to see some people make video about this game

Awsome vid man, love it!

This video is beautiful from start to finish and I'm glad I found it.

I hate that everyone is fanboy of autómata just For the gameplay and never check diferents joko taro games

Drakengard 3 probably has my favorite video game soundtrack ever. Every song is amazing, especially black song white scales.

Bro you deserve more exposure. What a roller coaster of a analysis. Gj man ;)

This video got a sub from me. I really appreciate the depth of understanding and discussion about games as an art form and a storytelling medium - like, this type of stuff is why I love video games as a storytelling medium in the first place! Hope to see some more good stuff pop up in my timeline in future :3

17:40 This is EXACTLY what it felt like coming out of DOD3 having enjoyed the experience lmao. Great video I think likening DOD3 to Death Stranding gave a lot of validity to the "bad on purpose" argument. The gameplay is intentionally very hard on the player in both games and I can see how that would turn a lot of players away. It's an acquired taste for sure, but worth it in my mind. I guess that makes Drakengard 3 the true "first Strand type game" lmao

5:56 This guy surrenders and then I said "You what?" then Zero repeated and I lost it

Nice video! Glad to find you before you go big

I've never played this game and probably never will, but I've listened to the soundtrack for at least 50 hours by now. Truly drakengard is an enigma.

Welp, you made me want to try out this game.

Fantastic video my guy well done

This is an incredible video. You deserve far more subscribers than you already have and I will now proceed to watch all of your videos because you deserve everything this platform can offer. Thank you for making my week.

When i read that i have to collect all the weapons to access the true ending i was like aight i'm done with this. Nevertheless i really enjoy the dialogue and interaction between the characters very unusual in a video game

This is a great video about the yoko taro stockholm syndome indeed xD I remember I played Drakengard 1 just to see what was this guy all about. I couldn't play Automata since I'm poor, so I tried something on the ps2. Then I just got sucked by the game's story and whatever the hell was happening on the late game. I got addicted and went like 3 or 4 days just grinding the game to ending E. I even got a migraine lmao. After finishing the game I totally knew it was a very bad videogame in some areas, but a great and very forward thinking in others. The soundtrack was.... just whatever it is, I've just heard it there and only there in those gruelling missions. The dragon missions were fantastic. And the story as a whole just got me hooked. The thought of his game being somehow connected to the Nier series was so fascinating to me. I just love Yoko Taro's vision of videogames. Those D and E endings on Drakengard 1 are just... on the ps2 era???? Man I love videogames

I think you a good man with a great mind. Ty for the video and all the work :)

This was a great video! Props!

I finally got a Switch and started playing FE3H, and it was bothering me why Edelgard's voice sounded so familiar yet I couldn't place my finger on it... Now I'm unsure how to feel x') I played this game when it came out but it continues to haunt me, I see.

The credits at the end got me good, well played here. But the whole point in this video is something I never really thought about, but somehow was aware of deep inside. Last of us 2 somehow managed to be so amazingly unsatisfying, looking back shadow of the colossus was so epicly boring, the last guardian was so beautifully unintriguing to play. Somehow all these games that had more polarizing opinions are those that I ended up loving to an extent that I just cannot explain with words. Shadow of the Colossus probably is riding more on nostalgia at this point than anything else (but let's not forget the music and the secret seekers that really boosted beyond imagination what this game actually represented for its fans (me included (even though I was too young back when secret seekers were a hot topic))) but the experience I had with it is something that can never happen again. TLOU2 just left me so deeply conflicted, I have never had any form of media do that to me, and I doubt I will ever get to experience that again. The Last Guardian was gameplay wise not very interesting, but somehow it tied so incredibly well with the "story" (told through gameplay) that it gave me an experience I have never had before, and likely never will. I recently played Plague Tale Innocence and same can be said about gameplay, but I did not even notice how bland it was because the sheer attention to detail in the world and the story just made me feel a level of immersion I haven't experienced in such a long time (and quite frankly, I think the game would have suffered from "better" gameplay). Which all of this leads me to one specific point you made in the video: pushing the boundaries of the medium. It inevitably causes a ton of friction, but I love that, I love it when games do something so incredibly out of the ordinary, even if it ends up being perceived as bad (TLOU2 probably being the most recent example (I absolutely loved it btw, I would gladly delete my memory of it just so I can experience it again)). I kinda forgot the point I was trying to make, but I think that perfectly blends in with what I was trying to say here. We definitely need more pretentious games, they always offer something that feels so unique to video games as a form of art, especially - like you said - in a time where the industry is so homogenized. These are the games that still get me excited. (big rant, no substance probably, sorry for wasting your time)

Great video, excellent commentary, subbed!

This video so intricately twisted the narrative in so many paths confusing me, but built up to a central point that I can understand… I think. Great video I might sacrifice my time and soul into playing drakengard

I played through Nier: Automata then went back and played through the first. This was before the Replicant remake came out and I absolutely loved them both, so naturally I went back and got all 3 Drakengard games. I played through the first (Besides the final ending because of just how tedious it would be and looked it up) but I dropped 2 and 3 pretty early on. I hope to eventually go back and play through 3 at some point, but it was pretty rough playing through a game where you hate all the characters except one who is constantly getting bullied by the others.

i unironically love drakengard 3 and i agree with everything you said in the video lol it took me many hours and multiple play sessions dying over and over to beat that final boss, and in the end i had to use a video guide synced up to the game to get through it. at the time it was NOT FUN, but it is 100% intentional. i am totally convinced that yoko taro was intentionally trolling the player. also, for what it's worth, i played it on an actual PS3, and while the framerate was not great at times, the only time it dipped below about 20-25fps was during some of the flying levels. the game crashed on me exactly one time. i platinumed the game, to give an idea of how much i played. so i think a lot of the perfornance and gameplay criticisms were overblown. as someone who played the old PS1 and PS2 era dynasty warriors games a lot, honestly the gameplay was fun for me. i can see how someone who was used to the tight mechanics of games like devil may cry, bayonetta, metal gear rising, etc etc would find it janky and frustrating, but to me this felt like an intentional nostalgic reference to an older style of game that was once very popular. i cannot recommend drakengard 3 to everyone. but i can say that if you are a yoko taro fan, you owe it to yourself to play it.

Dude you just gained a lifetime sub here, your videos are amazing, i like the serious and the funny parts of it. I hope you dont burn out too fast lol.

Great review and I always thought about playing this game, I'm play Nier replicate this year so maybe I will after I finish that game. Also great editing and the waybyou made this video is amazing. Great video.

Here’s a somewhat interesting story. I only discovered what drakengard is because I saw a trailer for drakengard 3, fell in love with the trailer music “this silence is mine” then went on a Wikipedia binge to discover what it was about. And then it took me like…8 years to actually get and play the game. By which time my ps3 got really old, but i still beat it nonetheless. The song at the end of the game is still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard to me, and I wish I could tell more people to play it, but how do you tell someone to play a game because it’s “fucked up in a good way” lol