Highlights
- NieR Reincarnation suffers from heavy microtransactions and boring gameplay, overshadowing any care put into the game.
- Drakengard 2 falls short of its predecessor, lacking creative direction and visually unappealing graphics.
- Drakengard 3 is a decent prequel with excellent ground-based combat, but its aerial combat is lacking.
Yoko Taro created the Drakengard series in 2003. It was widely praised for its unique approach to dark fantasy gaming, and provided an interesting array of gameplay mechanics. Yoko Taro was successfully cemented as a game director to watch, showing clear potential and a creative flair.
Since then, the Drakengard series has paved the way for a spin-off franchise under the NieR umbrella, which explores more character-focused stories and philosophical contemplations. While Drakengard built the foundations for the universe, it's the NieR titles that solidified this world as one of the best in gaming and brought the attention of mainstream gaming audiences.
7 NieR Reincarnation
Metacritic Rating: 58
Unfortunately, NieR Reincarnation suffers from the dreaded mobile formula that is currently plaguing the industry. It's another cash-grab gacha game that serves little to no purpose in expanding the world's universe. It's a shame because there was clearly still some level of care put into the game, but it's all blinded by senseless microtransactions and boring gameplay.
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The story unfolds within a pocket dimension called the Cage, following multiple characters in an unnecessarily convoluted plot. The gameplay uses a turn-based combat system where the player fights against hordes of monsters that inhabit the Cage. It's still got that Yoko Taro flare, but ultimately it's one to avoid, and many fans of the franchise prefer to pretend it doesn't exist.
6 Drakengard 2
Metacritic Rating: 58
Drakengard 2
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 2
- Released
- June 16, 2005
- Developer(s)
- Cavia
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
The second entry in the Drakengard series is the most disappointing one. It's not an awful game, but it could have been so much better and falls well short of its predecessor. The hack 'n slash combat can be quite fun, albeit a little janky, and the story itself is interesting; it's just the execution that suffers a little.
Drakengard 2 is a rare entry in the franchise where Yoko Taro did not serve as the director, and it really shows. It's missing some creative direction and inspiration, and its themes aren't anywhere near as deep or prevalent in comparison to other entries. Even at the time of release in 2006, the visuals were criticized for being overwhelmingly ugly, and let's just say they don't hold up too well today either.
5 Drakengard 3
Metacritic Rating: 61
Drakengard 3
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 3
- Released
- December 19, 2013
- Developer(s)
- Access Games
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG , Fighting , Adventure
Drakengard 3 is the most recent Drakengard game, and it's a pretty decent outing, serving as a prequel to the first title. This title took a more nuanced approach to its development as it's aimed at RPG veterans, and is notably more difficult than previous entries. As with other Drakengard titles, Drakengard 3 features both ground-based and aerial gameplay on dragonback, and it's the ground-based combat that really excels this time around. The less said about aerial combat the better.
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It's a little confusing to follow, but this game takes place in a separate timeline from the first entry, even though it's set 100 years prior. However, it still delivers an excellent story with some great characters. If players are looking to get lost in an interesting world, with an immersive story and fun hack 'n slash mechanics, they can't go wrong with Drakengard 3.
4 Drakengard
Metacritic Rating: 63
Drakengard
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 2
- Released
- September 11, 2003
- Developer(s)
- Cavia , Square Enix
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG , JRPG , Fantasy , Science Fiction
The original Drakengard contains an amazing story and successfully created one of the most memorable universes in gaming. Sure, it's got some janky gameplay, and looks awful, but this is a game to play for gamers who appreciate an extremely nuanced story. This is the game that put Yoko Taro on the map, and his creative visions are fully realized.
The gameplay is unique, to say the least. It was one of the first games to feature both ground-based and aerial gameplay mechanics and combat within a 3D environment, and it did so pretty effectively (for its time). Gamers might argue between which is better out of Drakengard and Drakengard 3, but it's Drakengard that features a more concise narrative, and was overall a more influential game.
3 NieR
Metacritic Rating: 67
The original NieR was released as a Drakengard spin-off in 2010 to mixed reviews but was widely praised for its original story and interesting approach to video game direction. It proved decisively more popular than the mainline series, and spawned a fantastic sequel and remake.
Things get a bit confusing here because there are some slight differences between the Japanese and Western versions. In Japan there were two releases; NieR Gestalt and NieR Replicant. Gestalt featured a father as the protagonist, whereas Replicant featured a younger brother. The Western release assumed the simple title, NieR, and followed the older father as the central protagonist. Whichever version gamers played, the original NieR was an excellent game and truly pushed the boundaries of what video game writing could achieve.
2 NieR: Automata
Metacritic Rating: 88
Being the most widely known title, NieR: Automata is the game that brought NieR to the masses, and the first to truly achieve critical acclaim. This is a special, completely original title that contains so many different styles of gameplay it's hard to place it within just one genre. As the game was developed by Platinum Games, with Yoko Taro as director, there's a different feeling to NieR: Automata than other entries.
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Players take control of an android named 2B and explore a post-apocalyptic world, thousands of years after the events of the original NieR. The story is difficult to summarize in a few short sentences, especially when considering how it takes multiple playthroughs to unravel the whole narrative. NieR: Automata is one of those games that works best when gamers just boot it up and play, going in blind and experiencing it raw and in person. It's heavy, philosophical stuff that excels at everything it tries to do.
1 NieR Replicant
Metacritic Rating: 83
This is, again, an area where some players might disagree. Both NieR: Automata and NieR Replicant are truly fantastic games, but it's NieR Replicant that takes the cake as the better title in most fans' eyes. Partially a remake, partially a new experience, NieR Replicant is a re-telling of the original NieR, featuring new characters, revamped gameplay, new music, and a more expansive story with many deviations from the original.
This game features some of the best combat in the franchise, and it's certainly the definitive way to experience the original story. This is some of the best writing in any video game, and the framing of the protagonist as a brother rather than a father makes it even better. For true fans of the NieR and Drakengard franchises, NieR Replicant is the best experience and a fantastic title to dive into.
