Individual stories surrounding each Intoner are also wrapped up in standalone DLC chapters, which is a bit of a bummer if I’m honest. The motivation of the core characters are purposely cryptic, with multiple playthroughs hiding away the strongest and most satisfying moments.

It has all the hallmarks of those games, though. References are sprinkled throughout, but I feel Taro wanted to make this a standalone adventure with its own purpose, hence the darker and more degenerate themes at play. Taking place 100 years before the events of Drakengard, the sequel has but a brief connection to the universe we’ve come to love in Nier. Drakengard 3 isn’t afraid to make you feel uncomfortable. It’s downright strange, and much like Nier and Automata, the true intentions of the wider narrative aren’t made clear until multiple endings have been experienced. Upon murdering each sibling, they are taken into your service, taking on a similar role but with more personal freedom. Each Intoner has a disciple who follows their every whim, emphasised as submissive, sexual objects who will adhere to the wishes of their respective sister. It’s a brutal, uncompromising tale that centres around sex and bloodshed in a way that puts the crude upskirt shots of Automata to shame. It pisses itself in the opening chapter, because Yoko Taro, I guess. Oh and you also have a dragon who hangs around with you, which is pretty cool. However, due to circumstances unclear to the player, Zero sets out on a journey to murder each of her siblings by any means necessary. Her and her five sisters are worshipped as rulers, their mysterious powers having cleansed the world of dangerous warlords before ushering in an era of peace. I’ll save a serious dose of plot analysis for another time, but here’s a rough idea of what Drakengard 3 is about - You play as Zero, a young woman known as an Intoner, mysterious individuals who are able to execute magic through song. I doubt this will happen, but a revival of Drakengard 3 in the meantime would show that Yoko Taro doesn’t mess around. Part of me is worried that such popularity could take away from what makes his games so special, stories made possible by a lack of publisher interference and a willingness to let creators completely lose themselves in their ideas, regardless of how bizarre or against the grain they may seem. Today, Yoko Taro is a beloved creator, one whose next project will be viewed with a heightened level of anticipation. Violence is a part of the perpetual cycle that defines this game, so it all makes sense. You’ll sometimes need to kill things in a certain order or solve a puzzle by killing more things, but the overall flow never really changes. Beyond cutscenes and customising the main character, 90 percent of gameplay has you following a linear path and killing everything in your way. Released as a PS3 exclusive back in 2013, Yoko Taro returned to his action roots with an experience that mimicked the original Drakengard in a number of ways. Sure, some outlets still loved it, but the general praise was far less generous, and rightfully so - it’s a worse game in almost every regard.īut much like Replicant, a remaster would do this unorthodox adventure a world of good. I mentioned in another article that such criticisms were justified, but even once the dust had settled, it had nothing on the critical reception suffered by Yoko Taro’s next project - Drakengard 3. The original Nier received a lot of flack upon its original release, with some critics panning its boring combat, repetitive quest design, and oddly paced story.

Drakengard 3 ps3 playtime