Drakengard 2 Updated Hands-On

We recently had a chance to hop on a dragon and take to the skies in a final build of Drakengard 2. We played through the first few chapters to get an idea of what the new game will bring to the series. So far it looks like no drastic changes have been made to the basic Drakengard formula, but the sequel does feel a bit more refined than its predecessor.

The world is in turmoil once again, and it's up to you and your trusty dragon to set things right.

The events in Drakengard 2 begin 18 years after the events in the original game. The hero of the game is a young man named Nowe, who was raised by a dragon named Legna. Some people regard Nowe as something of a savior, due to his unique bond with the dragon and his mysterious past. When he was still young, Nowe was taken in by Oror, leader of the Knights of the Seal. The Knights of the Seal are an elite group of powerful warriors whose duty is to protect the five sacred seals that hold the red dragon and bring peace to the world.

The game begins just as Nowe is preparing for a duel to prove his strength as a member of the Knights of the Seal. Apparently, Oror, the man who found Nowe, was killed three years earlier in some sort of devastating event. The current leader of the Knights is General Gismor. After a brief tutorial about ground combat, Nowe enters a duel with Gismor. Nowe, of course, excels in combat and impresses the general and all of the other officers, including his close companion and mentor, Eris. Soon after the duel, news arrives of a monster attack in the District of Shining Light, and Nowe is ordered to get on his dragon and scout out the area. Conveniently, this gives Nowe a chance for a quick lesson about aerial combat.

The story is divided into chapters, each of which contains a number of multifaceted missions. There are 12 chapters in all, with a supposed 90 missions to complete. As far as the story goes, it's revealed pretty quickly that Nowe doesn't approve of the way the Knights of the Seal conduct their business.

In an early mission a mysterious girl named Manah shows up, and if you played the first game you'll recognize her as a powerful mage whose philosophy about protecting the world doesn't quite jibe with the Knights'. After she breaks one of the seals and kills one of the Knights' guardian lieutenants, Manah is captured and sentenced to death but manages to escape, and Nowe and Eris are ordered to give chase. During this time Nowe begins to question his own motives as well as those of his comrades, and he wants to know more about the mysterious girl he's pursuing. Eventually Nowe's curiosity and defiance of orders land him in hot water with the general; without spoiling too much, we can say that Nowe is expelled from the Knights for his insubordination and has to set out with his dragon on a quest to discover the truth about the seals and save the world from utter annihilation.

The gameplay in Drakengard 2 hasn't changed much from the first one. You still hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies on the ground, and occasionally take to the skies on the back of your dragon for some aerial combat. There are also a few puzzles to tackle, but they aren't especially challenging. Most of the early missions are on foot, although when you're out in an open area you can press the select button to call in your dragon for some added firepower and mobility.

In Drakengard 2 it seems that all of life's little problems can be solved with the help of massive dragon and lots and lots of fireballs.

The flying combat in Drakengard 2 is similar to the previous game in that you can fly around, shoot fireballs, target enemies, and use special breath attacks. The dragon is fairly nimble as well, and you can quickly dodge left and right by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons, speed up by pressing X, or turn around completely by pressing L1 and R1 at the same time. There are quite a few different types of attacks at your disposal while you're in the air. You can fire a normal fireball by pressing square, and if you hold square you can target enemies and fire weaker homing fireballs. You can lock on to an enemy target by pressing triangle, but it isn't as firm a lock as you might be used to in other aerial combat games. The target lock keeps you generally oriented in the direction of your target, but it still requires you to aim. While on your dragon you can also pick up special breath attacks by killing enemies. There are three different types of breath attacks, each with a different firing pattern. You can use a breath attack by pressing the circle button, and they're a great way to quickly clear out a large group of enemies. While flying over land you can hold the L2 button to hover over one area, which is handy when you need to rain fireballs down on groups of enemies below.