It's a good game but it's not without it's problems.
- A good story with lots of surprises
- 4 playable characters, each plays differently
- Great voice acting
- Characters and environment look decent
Negative
- Camera is problematic in combat
- If one character dies, it's game over
- Some missions are long and add frustration
- Combat gets repetitive
I didn't play the original so I can't compare. But what I can say that this game is a great one. The first time I got it, I didn't like it. Played after a year, and I liked it, for the reason that you must be bit patience at first. But overall this is a great RPG experience, though it's not without its problems.
Drakengard 2 follows a young name, Nowe who's a dragon child as mentioned by the Knight of the Seal who are a group of powerful people who want to restore peace and keep balance. There are 4 playable characters + another one who's a dragon, Legna. Story is excellent because you won't know what's coming next. There are some really good moments which Nowe changes sides and allies. At first you will battle monsters and rebels but later in the game you will start killing others.
The combat system is good. The game is set in missions. You can equip weapons items at the beginning of each one. Each character has unique weapons from other except for Legna. Weapons MAX out at Level 4, but character keeps leveling. You won't have the human playable characters altogether.
You can kills 100s of enemies. Obviously. But this doesn't feel exactly an RPG, since you rarely have to do previous levels to gain experience. Depending on your level of challenge. The main problem is the camera. The short drawn distance can cause some problem when outnumbered; well you will always be outnumbered. Another one, this is big. If one character dies it's game over. You can't revive then. Even after a long mission, if you die at the end, you will have to start from the very beginning.
Mission objectives are normally getting through to a place by slicing enemies. There are some little puzzles but not hard. Some bosses are to be found in this game though some are kind of a pain. Something about the playable characters. Not only unique weapons from each other, they have advantages over kinds of enemies. Example Urick is great as beating up big monsters and Manah is good at killing magicians.
The air battles can be exciting. Part of every chapter there is an air battle. In these kind of battle, you need to take down the required number of enemies or find a location. Legna can also help in open areas when battling. His fire can kill enemies not to mention his special attack. Even for a dragon he's not strong against every attack. He is weak to magicians and that can prevent you from using him.
Combat will get repetitive eventually. There are a couple of moves but the square button is enough to attack and hit enemies. The triangle launches enemies in the air. Can equip items before mission, same for weapons. You can switch in mid-battle each character.
The cutscenes aren't especially great, but some excellent, awesome cutscenes showing important parts are a great fit. The others needed some more work. The music is good and the voice acting, while nothing special, is good. Graphics are decent.
In the end, Drakengard 2 is a good game, but it's not without problems. The combat, camera and other problems can be overcome by the great story, though the game has more bad things than good. Still this is a worthwhile game and shouldn't be missed.
Graphics = 7.5
Characters and environments look good. But if you look back, Square-Enix has much better looking games than Drakengard.
Sound = 8
Voice acting is good and the music is as well.
Presentation = 7.5
The menu has no music. I don't know if it's my version or something. Some important cutscenes look great but the other cutscenes don't look that great. There are some minor load times but nothing annoying.
Gameplay = 8.5
You can kill countless number of enemies. There are great weapons for each character, but could have had more level to MAX out. 4 are a bit low. Air battles can get boring after a while. You will mostly use Nowe, since that is the only character you will have always.
Camera = 6.5
Can be bothersome when outnumbered. Not very helpful. When in boss battle the camera will be on the boss so that can't be a problem. But otherwise you have to keep a lot of attention on combat because of it.
Story = 8.5
Great with plenty of twists and turns. It's long enough and deep enough as well.
Overall = 7.8
It's a good game, but you might wanna rent it first before you buy it.