Hey Dad, how do you feel about Drakengard? 🐉

For those curious about Leonard, avoiding No-no words: He Likes kids. Capital L. But he recognises that's wrong, so never acts on it, and goes off to live in the woods. Along with his 3 younger brothers. Then, when he sneaks out one night to go "Relieve some urges" behind a tree, he comes back to find his home burned down with his brothers inside. Which he kin'a takes as a sign from god that he shouldn't have jerked it. The English version censors this by not bringing up his unpleasant, unwanted desires, and he was just... going for a midnight stroll I guess?

A few years ago I became OBSESSED with the Drakengard/Nier games and went down the incredibly complex rabbit hole that is the lore for these games. So I'm excited to see them covered here.

A full blown Yoko Taro remake in collaboration with platinum games is needed, the two gameplay styles are something platinum already excel at.

Smoul fun fact: Angelus and mannah share the same voice actor, further more the male voice when mannah is possessed by the watchers VA is cosmo from fairly odd parents!

Helpful Tip: Inuart and the Black Dragon actually suck at dodging the basic fireball blast. They'll still do it, but not nearly as crazy or consistently as the homing shot. It's a bossfight specifically designed to be much, MUCH harder if you rely strictly on homing, and to re-enforce that you have another powerful tool that may be harder to use, but can dish out the hurt when mastered.

Never forget that Caim is canonically a dragon fucker.

It sure does ᴅʀᴀɢ ᴏɴ.

Drakengard is... Honestly, the best game in need of a remake. Think about it: This year marks the 20th anniversary of this game, and a lot of dormant legacy franchises from the wild west that was the fifth, sixth and seventh generations either have made, or are set, to make a comeback in one form or another (Destroy All Humans!, System Shock, Half-Life, Armored Core, Alone in the Dark, The House of the Dead, Front Mission, Max Payne, Silent Hill, _fucking METAL GEAR)_ so I genuinely hope that Square Enix announce such a project. Think about what it'd be like if Caim could lock-on to enemies, if he had a handy-dandy parry feature, if there was a rudimentary ability to command troops befitting his role as a military commander, if The Dragon's movement was tweaked to be as satisfying as its Ace Combat lineage, if the stun-lock was tweaked to not be so punishing or if the club-wielding enemy commandos were rightly nerfed, the room for improvement is large, and needed, as the foundation for a great game is there, but the rushed development resulted in a flawed title. And yet, I STILL consider it a guilty pleasure in its vanilla form: when it clicks, the game is actually kinda fun, the air gameplay IS genuinely good if unbalanced, and the plot, music, English voice acting, writing, sound design, art design, weapons and characters? A-tier easily and deliver on its seinen manga inspirations and style. Despite the faults, I'll freely admit this was the first JRPG I've ever finished (A route only, in case you're wondering).

Oh, hell yeah. This is an unexpected retrospective from ya. Hoping you tackle the rest of the games in Yoko Taro’s *bonkers* world

32:58 I think at this moment Caim is thinking something like "Holy shit it's gross but you didn't have to fucking off yourself".

Your closing statements is why I love Yoko Taro as a director and writer so much. He has a clear vision and sticks to it. He doesn't always stick the landing and the games tend to be rough around the edges, but you can see the passion behind his projects. It's what gaming used to be in the early 2000s.

One of the weirdest, bleakest, and most interesting series and spin off series in gaming. Nice to see it getting talked about! Hope Platinum remakes it one day.

You keep deciding to cover absolutely legendary series (IMO), and I love it. The Drakengard games are all in desperate need of remakes, or at the very least a remaster, mostly so we can have them all on one platform with the Nier games. If you've not watched it already, ValkyrieAurora's explanation of the varying timelines of the series is well worth a watch. Keep up the good work! ❤

THIS WAS SUCH A NICE SURPRISE!! Drakengard/NieR is my favorite series and I love and will watch as many lore videos I can find! Can’t wait to watch this one and see what you’re take on it is❤

This was actually my first ps2 game waaaaaaay back when as a kid and uhh yeah it was an interesting experience that left a massive impact on my writing

What a surprise this was! I never played any of the games but I was curious about "that dragon game I never got to play" and looked it up. I was not expecting a deep dive but it was a fun and emotionally conflicting journey reading and watching clips.

Phenomenal video man!!! Really is a shame Drakengard’s gameplay can’t keep up with the scope of its story but it’s still such a wild experience from start to finish. Love how you describe the world and story beats, it’s so enriching and exciting and your overall look at the gameplay and missions is so well detailed and executed. Really glad I stumbled upon this and I can’t wait to see your analysis on Drakengard 2 and eventually Nier!

Hell yeah bro! I love this series so much. Of course my introduction was nier automata but after that it was history. I didn't know I needed this right now

This was unexpected! I love this game and series, often don't think Drakengard gets the recognition it deserves. Thanks for covering this game on the channel!

I wasn't expecting THIS to be your next series, but I will not complain. Drakengard is a very fascinating game because it feels like a car crash you cannot look away from

I love when u play a series I never heard of. its like a new adventure for me

Awesome, love the DG/Nier! So glad you're covering this unique series of games, Son. May the algorithm gods smile upon you.

Best series, its a pain to play but its worth it It seriously needs a remake, like damn, it is an insane gem, Yoko Taro outdid itself

Thank you for covering games that I didn't know existed. Very cool to learn about, with the exception of Leonard being....what they are. Thank you for continuing to create these retrospectives.

40:17 WHOOOOOOO

i have NEVER imagined you covering Drakengard, this is awesome.

Son i havent been this excited for a series since your silent hill series, proud of you

Hey Son, I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate how informative, structured, and objective your videos are. I hope you get all the views on your next one. Keep up the good work.

I love Yoko Taro series!!! Great to see that you are making videos on these now, hope to see the other games soon. Keep up the good work son!!

I haven't played any of the Drakengard games but I've watched many analysis videos on them! Also, Nier and Nier Automata are both some of my favorite games of all time, so I can't wait to see your retrospective on them!

It will always amuse me that I was actually aware of this series a few years before Automata came out. Mostly due to how utterly insane the plot and characters of the first game are.

35:52 Arioche probably loved it. Maybe Leonard did too, but for different reasons.

Thank you, Thank you for doing a retrospective on Drakengard i love this series and the spin-off nier so cant wait until you get to them :3

Another classic series, very excited to hear your thoughts on the future games in the franchise son!

I remember very well when my now ex-boyfriend told me about Drakengard. I was kind of put off by it at first but had a morbid curiousity toward the franchise. Watched him play 3, bought him the original Nier for his birthday and watched him play that, and then Automata and the most recent Nier remake after. This series has its weird hooks in me so deep that I don't really know how to put it. I kind of really love it despite all its shortcomings, and I'm always delighted to see people talk about it. Amazing video!

YES! I love your retrospectives and love this franchise! I'm so excited to be able to hear your opinions on a fantastically weird series!

I remember getting this game when I was little. I like what I played from it but got side tracked by other games. Think I was too young to appreciate it. So glad youre doing a retrospective on this series. Thanks son

Always a surprise and a pleasure to see a video about Drakengard come out of the blue And from someone I already watch at that! Good to see

I remember getting this on PlayStation two and me and my little brother barely understood this game except how to level up the weapons and the dragons that you could unlock , I also remember how cool I thought it was to jump from the dragon and start dropping people

Super happy about this one, I hope you continue on this series and on to Nier!

@2:20 Iwasaki was directing another game at the time, which is why he asked his friend Yoko to step in for him on this project. I don't recall Yoko being any part of this project prior to Iwasaki tagging him as director (ie. Yoko was freelance at the time; I don't recall Yoko taking the role as art director prior to becoming the director for the game. Citing a source for this statement might help!).

Perfect selection of games you present. You gotta be my favorite son

So stoked you’re covering this series! Thanks son!

Something I like is the contrast of nier and drakenguard. In nier a good guy dooms the world and in drakenguard "bad" people save it

I just beat nier automata fully for the first time today so now I am on a fullblown lore binge. Thank god for your channel

Caim can kill so easily because he is insane.

If you haven't done so yet commenters - play: Drakengard 3, Drakengard, Nier Replicant, Nier Automata. In that order. (2 is optional is not in the "main" canom)

Hey Son, looking forward to a full Draken/Nier series retrospective if that is your plan! Keep it up!

Son is back to the land of rising son. Can't wait for Nier video. ps. trying to imagine son telling the story of drakenguard 4 with a straight face. And I want to see Kbashes face when he sees that because he already went through that pain.

My boy covered one of my old favorites that doubled as a part-time job

breaks my heart knowing that it leads into nier and how nothing really seemed to matter at the end.

I've watched this video twice now and it brings another, fresh point of view, however there are a few things that bug me about it. The scene in which Furiae ends herself is not badly translated, it's just the cultural context that's missing. She says something along the lines of "embrace me, my brother" which isn't so bad for the western world, but... yeah. Angelus also has a line or two that make it very obvious just how much Furiae loves Caim. The first fight with Inuart (the cutscene) can be interpreted in different ways and this video picked the one that not many people think of. I think that Caim rushed towards the black dragon not because he wanted to save his own, but because he realized he had already seen it and the bloodlust took over him, he wanted revenge then and there and was not thinking about anything else. The same goes for Angelus - at this point they have not been together for long enough, I think she covered Caim because if the other dragon burnt him to crisp she'd die too. So she was effectively saving her own life, not necessarily defending Caim. Caim running towards the light in ending C is, at least in my opinion, definitely not about "saving lives". In this ending, all dragonkind has risen to destroy the world, so there most likely isn't anyone left to save. I believe Caim just wants to end as many dragons as he can and go in a blaze of glory. I do like that this video touches on the subject of Caim being unable to respond to all the screams of "no more murder pls" - people say that Verdelet's loss of hair and Caim's loss of voice were not that bad in terms of pact sacrifices, but Caim's voice was probably the last thing making him (feel) human.

Finally iv been waiting for this forever your doing your father proud

Yes! Absolutely looking forward to this and the rest of the DrakenNier series.

Baby wake up, new drakengard video just dropped

I fuckin love the maniac terror soundtrack of Drakengard 1. I never 100'd it because of the last boss it was too hard, but it occupies a special place in my heart.

Super underrated games imo, loved this one back in PS2 and enjoyed 2 on release to the point where I was legit surprised by the consensus largely being that it was a bad game but never played 3, the fact that Taro tied 2 seemingly unrelated worlds together will always be super interesting

Oh hey, my two favourite series of all time. Not watched the whole video yet, mostly because I want to comment in advance saying that I'm looking forward to seeing how you tackle the multiple endings of all of these games, and how you interpret the themes. Doubly so when you reach the NieR games, where Gestalt & Replicant in particular basically mandates two playthroughs to understand the complexity of that story and the direct question it poses to you, personally, as a player. (A theme that Automata then really dug into even deeper.) I'm so curious to see how you'll tackle that in a video essay format. One section for playthrough 1 and then a "reveal" for playthrough 2? Just skip straight to 2? I look forward to finding out; it's not an easy game to break down given the huge twist. Always love seeing how people talk about these games and their different interpretations of them. Honestly, my dream would be to see a Drakengard and Drakengard 3 re-release at the very least, given Yoko's proven himself more than capable. (Preferably, though, maybe a remake. They are.... sure clunky. Oof.)

I'm really happy to see you go down Yoko Taro lane! I'm looking forward to your analysis!

Yes! I love these games! Are you going to cover the nier part of the timeline as well?

I wasn't expecting a video on the DrakeNieR franchise so soon. I commented on one of your videos a little while ago about a DrakeNieR retrospective from you, but I can't find the comment. I don't know what happened to it. I commented on your Merch Announcement video too and I can't find that one either. Regardless, this was a pleasant surprise to wake up to this morning. Good job, son. I'm proud of you.

Could you please please please make a deep dive into the God Of War games? I already watch your silent hill videos like once a week to help me sleep or as background noise cause they are so good! I promise you I’ll watch it on repeat if you make it!

A remake would be an instant purchase!

If you enjoyed this game i would recommend eruption video on the series. I think you both go about the retrospectives in different enough ways that its worth watching both.

I remember when the game came out and a friend and I stayed up all night just to see mission after misson. It's not a good game, but it was a great experience. Also I liked the story.

I remember becoming obsessed with the OST which led me to look farther into the storyline and characters. Its one of my favorite titles now.

This makes my heart go doki doki, Son.

I’ve wanted you to do this series!!

another great video son. Have you thought about doing one about Beyond Good & Evil?

Thanks Son, this was another banger ❤

i can't resist expecting when Inuart said "Usual song" and i was like hmmm he gonna sing really bad "I want it that way" and i'm gonna laugh out loud hahaha

Fun fact. The voice actor for the watcher guy with the scary deep voice is also the voice actor for Timmy’s dad in fairly odd parents 😅

Automata makes me think that Yoko Taro is a coomer who dropped out of philosophy 101.

I played this game for the first time a month ago and it's in my top 10 favorites now

Now i'm hyped for you to do Nier retrospectives. it is inevitable.

I'll watch this video tonight when I have more time, but I'm always down for a Drakengard video.

Hey it's me, your brother from another mother. Just like say always look forward to your retrospectives and I hope you can eventually for on Beyond good versus evil

My understanding of Furiae's suicide is not only that she does it out of shame but that she does it as a result of Caim's "rejection" of her feelings, he shows his disgust in his expressions in the cutscene (something that isn't lost in translation).

Oh my god are you going to do a Draken-Nier series? I already know loads about them but I will love listening anyway!!

Oh dear lord yes, I'm gonna watch the shit out of this video when I get the chance. This series is nuts and as much I tried to get those secret levels and absorb the dark soul-esque storyline, the gameplay beat me into submission. Super looking forward to this

Oh caim is in love with a dragon

I loved this game back then, the game play was frustrating and janky af, quite a lot. But the story was amazing, and every now and then there'd be a gameplay moment where you'd see something cool, something really inventive and get a glimpse of what it could have been. I'll take drakengard/nier videos where ever I can get 'em - keep 'em coming

Son! Yes! Time for drakengard/Nier! Haven't watched the video yet but i trust your quality so I'll like it now

Oh my God I never thought my favourite son & Yoko Taro would be together in the same sentence but I am so here for it

"But Caim had to give up something: his voice. He can no longer speak." "We begin our first ARIEL mission" I SEE WHAT YOU DID HERE

Man I remember getting this from the video store but the copy must of been scratch because i fought the boack dragon boss fight after the sister dies and got the E ending cinematic

Great video Mijo

This game is special to me and my early life. I appreciate the love and understanding you have given to a relatively unknown game. 🙏🙏

Trivia: The working title for Nier was Drakengard 2.

I watched a playthrough of this game. The ending with the Watchers was legitimately shocking--i mean the whole game is bleak, but the story takes a complete jump to "obscene" with how bonkers it is And honestly? I love it

there's an achievement set for this you can play through pcsx2 and retroachievements as well 👀 i played about 200 hours of Drakengard making it and i STILL got a lot out of this vid lmao!

I played through this game again recently, i still love it. It's not perfect, but i enjoy the game and mainly the story. I was so happy they continued with Nier lately and can't wait for another main entry of either

I’d kill to play the drakengard games again. I had the first one on disc but I could never find the 2nd one anywhere no matter where I looked. I caved and watched the cutscenes on here because I loved the story of the first one so much. 2 seems like this strange fever dream more people should know about.

Happy SonDay! Are you gonna do the entire DrakeNier series?

Man I remember this in my collection brings back some wacky memories

Ending D looks the most terrifying. Giant zombie babies that fly not for me.

Can’t wait for D3 video cause that game is wild 😂

This is a game I always try to explain to people. Hell, I was just trying to explain it this passed weekend. Wish I would have found this then lol

I was supposed to work on my own content today but I guess I’ll set it aside to watch this instead.