Drakengard 2
Drakengard 2 is a PlayStation 2 role-playing game released in 2005 developed by Cavia Inc.. It centers on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and story, case, or mission progress, with controls and information arranged around the DualShock 2 twin analog sticks, directional pad, shoulder and face buttons, with a dedicated peripheral only where explicitly required.
- AI score · out of 10
- 6.4 / 10
About this game
Drakengard 2 is a PlayStation 2 role-playing game centered on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and story, case, or mission progress. Story beats, exploration, and progression resources support a longer campaign, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Characters, world building, environments, and music carry most of the atmosphere, while 3D scenes, streamed data, cinematics, surround audio, and interlaced television output need to preserve action and state readability together. The genre-specific limitation is that dense text, menu layers, repeated battles, loading, or language dependence can slow progress. Platform conditions also include DVD loading, the 8MB Memory Card, analog sticks and pressure-sensitive buttons, Multitap, Network Adapter, dedicated peripherals, and retired online services affect present-day use. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features or conveniences from remasters, emulators, or other console editions.
Collected in series
Drakengard is a dark fantasy action series that pairs battles against crowds of soldiers with combat on dragonback. Cut through enemies with different weapons, then take to the air for a different kind of fight. Violent conflicts and unsettling characters give these adventures a bleak edge.
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PlayStation 2
AI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Character variety meets harsh retries and poor visibility.
Drakengard 2 keeps the PS2 series’ alternation between ground battles and dragon flights. Switching weapons also switches among four fighters whose affinities suit different enemies, giving ordinary encounters a little more purpose than pure crowd clearing. The usual attack remains so effective that much of the potential choice goes unused. Twelve chapters, carry-over replay and several endings provide a substantial route through the story. The cost is felt in lengthy later missions with no checkpoints: a death near the end means repeating the whole task. Dissonant music and polished cutscenes preserve the dark fantasy mood, although plain textures and frequently reused foes weaken the everyday view. More seriously for this release, a contemporary PS2 review documents a camera that presses against walls or zooms too close, a short draw distance and frame drops in larger fights. Those faults obstruct targets on the ground and in the air. Players who appreciate character switching may find enough here, but the long retries and poor visibility are real barriers.
Strengths
- Useful character switching and evocative audio.
Weaknesses
- Shallow attacks, long retries and limited sightlines.
Who it is for: Fans of dark fantasy and character-specific weapons.
Play notes: Applies to the reviewed 2006 PS2 release only.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Replay paths add content while late deaths impose substantial repetition. | Reviewed | 6.3 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Character choice improves tactical texture without rescuing a shallow attack loop. | Reviewed | 6.7 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension The audio and story scenes carry atmosphere beyond the ordinary battle view. | Reviewed | 6.5 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Visibility and response problems interfere with both ground and aerial targets. | Reviewed | 5.4 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- CaviaSquare Enix
- Publisher
- Square Enix
- Release date
- 2005
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Role-Playing · Primary genre
- Tags
- 3D GraphicsTurn-based CombatLevel ProgressionLong-term ProgressionExplorationSolo-friendlyReal-time CombatStory-drivenMain Story 20–50 HoursFantasyThird Person
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- Single player
- Perspectives
- Third person
Release editions
- PlayStation 2Worldwide2005
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided