Drakengard
Drakengard is a PlayStation 2 role-playing game released in 2003 developed by Cavia Inc.. It centers on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and collection and development goals, 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
- 6.3 / 10
About this game
Drakengard is a PlayStation 2 role-playing game centered on combat encounters, area and route exploration, and collection and development goals. 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:
Strange atmosphere outlives repetitive combat.
The original PlayStation 2 Drakengard alternates Caim’s ground assaults with dragon flight across a chapter-based campaign. Swappable weapons and their magic effects suggest variety, while aerial target attacks briefly change the rhythm. Most of the time, however, Caim crosses broad, flat battlefields and repeats simple melee strings against groups that offer little reason to use his full arsenal. The game’s most durable distinction is its unsettling fiction. A stern dragon performance and abrasive orchestral score give the journey a personality that its plain battle spaces rarely match. The contemporary PS2 review also identifies practical friction: camera recentering depends on easing off movement, and the enemy minimap lacks orientation. Those details make an already repetitive mission less graceful to navigate. Players curious about strange fantasy stories may value the contrast between land and air, provided they accept substantial routine combat. Those seeking expressive, precise action systems will find a narrower experience. This assessment concerns the reviewed original release.
Strengths
- Dragon flight and unsettling audiovisual identity.
Weaknesses
- Repetitive ground missions and awkward navigation.
Who it is for: Players drawn to strange fiction despite simple combat.
Play notes: Original PS2 review only; later builds and other regions are unverified.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Mission changes help intermittently but cannot sustain the whole campaign. | Reviewed | 5.8 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension The land-air contrast supplies an idea stronger than the routine infantry combat. | Reviewed | 6.0 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Sound and narrative create a memorable identity despite sparse visual spaces. | Reviewed | 7.5 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Those interface choices slow navigation during otherwise simple encounters. | Reviewed | 6.1 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- CaviaSquare Enix
- Publisher
- Square EnixTake-Two Interactive
- Release date
- 2003
- 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 genreAction
- Tags
- Main Story 20–50 HoursStory-drivenSolo-friendlyLong-term ProgressionExploration3D GraphicsLevel ProgressionThird PersonFantasyReal-time CombatTurn-based CombatCollection-rich
- 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 2Worldwide2003
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided