History VideoGame / Drakengard3

* AlternateUniverse: [[spoiler:Each NewGamePlus is actually Accord's attempt to exploit Zero's unique nature to find different timelines. Furthermore, even Ending A actually leads into an alternate universe of Drakengard, as opposed to the original Drakengard.]]

* {{Cult}}: The Cult of the Watchers origins is revealed through the stoey and novels. [[spoiler:It was created by Brother One to honor his sister One, Gabriel, and Gabriella.]]

* AssholeVictim: ''Utaihime Five'' reveals the Lords were every bit as corrupt and decadent as the sisters say they are. [[spoiler:Even with the eventual madness of the Intoners' song and decadence of Three, Four, and Five, the countries were being led better than they had when the Lords ruled]].

* {{Bathos}}

* BigBad: [[spoiler:The Flower.]]
** GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:[[AllThereInTheManual The Black Flower from which it spawned]].]]

* BlackComedy: See GoryDiscretionShot down below.
* BloodierAndGorier
* BloodSplatteredWarrior
** BloodIsTheNewBlack: Zero casually runs around covered in the blood and guts of fallen mooks (as well as her own blood), which is actually a game mechanic. As Zero accumulates more and more blood on her outfit, the Intoner Mode gauge fills. Once full, Zero can activate Intoner Mode for a brief [[LimitBreak increase in attack speed and power]]. Afterwards, her outfit is clean and free of blood.

* DifficultButAwesome: Chakrams have insane range and crowd-clearing potential, but all of their power is contained within their charge-combos, which require precise button presses to execute. If you attempt to button-mash (like the other three weapon types) then your chakram will just be a big, clunky, impotent ring.

* DownloadableContent: In the form of Cameo costumes (Caim and Furiae from ''Drakengard'', Manah and Eris from ''Drakengard 2'', and Brother Nier and Kaine from ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'') and a bonus story scenario. There's also DLC set before the game in which you play as the other Intoners, including one dealing with Zero and Michael.
** Additional DLC includes battlefield arranges of songs from earlier titles such as Seere's Prayer and Tsukiru/Growing Wings from ''Drakengard'', Song of the Ancients and Emil from ''Nier'', and the trailer song "This Silence is Mine".
* DwindlingParty: In [[spoiler:Branch D]].

* EquivalentExchange: Zero makes a cryptic comment in Route B that a price is needed for the flower in her eye to bloom. [[spoiler:She later pays it to revive Mikhail, but the audio is muted so we don't get to hear it.]]

* FacelessMooks: The armored soldiers that make up the Intoners armies.

* FiveBadBand: Of Zero's alliance.
** BigBad: Zero
** TheDragon: Mikhail
** TheBrute: Decadus
** TheEvilGenius: Octa
** TheDarkChick: Dito
** TheSixthRanger: Cent
* FiveManBand: Of the Intoner sisters.
** TheHeroine: One
** TheLancer: Three
** TheBigGirl: Five
** TheSmartGirl: Four
** TheHeart: Two
** TheSixthRanger: Zero
* GenreShift: The first part of the Armaros boss fight plays like a RailShooter. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since Four's magic is ''forcing'' Mikhail to follow a specific path.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Overlaps with GagCensor in one scene [[spoiler:where Zero repeatedly stabs Five]]. Said censor features adorable chibis of Five and Zero and text which reads, [[HypocriticalHumor "This content has been deemed inappropriate for pretty much everyone. Please stand by."]] Note that this was never prompted by ExecutiveMeddling; the development team themselves just decided to impose the GagCensor for the sake of it. [[http://i.imgur.com/PUZeS63.jpg Here is said censor in all its glory.]]
** And then quickly averted [[spoiler:when Five survives Zero's stabbing, only to get sliced in half by her Disciple, Dito.]]

** ThereCanOnlyBeOne: She tells Mikhail that she wants to be the only Intoner, hence her violent mission. [[spoiler:This is a half-truth, as she wants Mikhail to kill her after she is the only one left--after all, [[FridgeLogic it would be much easier to kill one Intoner than six]].]].

* InsistentTerminology: A subversion. Zero and her team can't be bothered to remember "Mount Bernstein of the Vice Norden," so instead begin referring to it as "Mt. Whatever." [[spoiler:Accord]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this during a narration and the next level is called "Mt. Whatever."

* JigsawPuzzlePlot

** [[spoiler: The timing of this note is technically on beat with the only instrument left playing at that point, but most people play it based on Zero's sentence and Mikhail's corresponding reply because it's extremely hard to even ''realize'' the song is in fact, still playing. Still, it's appropriate that the core of the flower making the notes would have a conversation that would give a reply [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall not just from Mikhail]], but [[FridgeBrilliance from the player, too]].]]

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: A particular irritating case. The pre-order situation for North America's CE and Europe (which only gets a CE without a physical disc and no standard edition at all) is as confusing and badly organized as it gets. Most of the time, it looks like they aren't even trying.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading

* MindScrew: Par the course for the series.
** MindScrewdriver: The Lost Verses. [[spoiler: To an extent.]]

* MyGirlIsASlut: Intoners embody lust, so yeah. Zero offhandedly mentions that she has slept with all of the Disciples with her at some point, although she pointedly says that she has never and will not sleep with Mikhail, owing to the fact that he rolls around in his sleep (and since she raised him, it would be a bit like ParentalIncest). No mention if she ever has with Michael, however.

* PlayingThePlayer: Meta-wise, playing games on a NewGamePlus in the ''Drakengard'' setting (or at least the games headed by Taro Yoko) [[spoiler:actually makes things worse.]] However, [[spoiler:playing until the last ending actually nets you the best ending in the game.]]

* ShoutOut: The six Intoners, when seen together, are a visual reference to ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', with One resembling Sailor Moon, Two resembling Sailor Mercury, Three resembling Sailor Mars, Four resembling Sailor Jupiter, Five resembling Sailor Venus, and Zero resembling Queen Serenity.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender

* ToiletHumor: Comes up a few times with Mikhail.

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: [[spoiler:Remember the incredibly difficult rhythm game in the first game's final ending? It returns as Drakengard 3's TrueFinalBoss. It manages to be ''much worse'' due to a combination of crazy camera hijinks and manic tempo changes: its only saving grace is that you only need to use a single button to block the waves instead of 2 from the original and unlike the first, the game is actually rhythm based. If you can handle a 4/4 time signature, its simple enough to do, if long. That of course is ignoring the [[KaizoTrap last note]].]]

* VomitIndiscretionShot: [[spoiler: Route C, to show how abundently clear that Zero has no time whatsoever left, before she becomes a monster.]]

* AWizardDidIt: Discussed when the party wonders what's powering the platforms in Two's dungeon. To paraphrase:

* DenserAndWackier: Despite this, however, the game has noticeably more slapstick and comedic scenes and dialogue than the rest of the series, Likely in order to balance out the darker moments of the game.

* AssholeVictim: ''Utaihime Five'' reveals the Lords were every bit as corrupt and decadent as the sisters say they are. [[spoiler:Even with the eventual madness of the Intoners song and decadence of Three, Four, and Five the countries were being lead better than they had when the Lords ruled]].

* BecomeARealBoy: [[spoiler:The Intoners (sans Zero) were originally nothing more than mindless clones created solely to defend the Flower from being destroyed. However, over time they gained their own personalities and (as Zero bitterly notes) ironically decided to fight for world peace]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Branch B ends with Zero and Mikhail both alive, but the Flower still exists. At the end of Branch D, history is shunted onto a path where the CrapsackWorld of ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}, Drakengard 2'' and ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'' never occurs, but Mikhail is left alone to live out the rest of his multi-millennium life witnessing the rise and inevitable fall of civilisation. Yet even though the world is destined to crumble, this is infinitely preferable to allowing the Grotesquerie Queens a foothold in reality]].

** In the Japanese script Octa made an offhand comment that he had sex with a horse once, praising his member to be able to satisfy a Mare just fine, while in the English script Octa is also rife with comments about his grand member and how greatly it performs, there’s no mention of bestiality in it.
** On Five’s DLC chapter, during an intermission where she checks on her Assets, when Five checks on her food provisions she tells Dito to eat well so his Semen tastes better on that night, the English script has Five telling Dito to eat well so he is energetic for that night, while the sexual tone is still there, the Japanese script is much more kinky on the take.

* BribingYourWayToVictory: Playing through all the DLC stages will net you around three million gold (still not enough to fully upgrade all weapons but will do a big chunk of them) and several upgrade materials, and they can then be replayed with [[MetalSlime Gold Soldiers]] in them.

* {{Cult}}: The Cult of the Watchers origins is revealed through the stoey and novels. [[spoiler:It was created by Brother One to honor his sister One, Gabriel, and Gabriella]].

** The game's A branch (and thus the ''Shi Ni Itaru Aka'' manga) results in a "Drakengard 1.3" (seen in side materials) which while there's signs of 5 branches, only info for A exists. It meaning is different as the changes from the normal timeline has changed things wildly, resulting in things like [[spoiler:No pacts, Caim dying far sooner, Legna gathering a dragon army, etc. In short, Male!One's actions derail many things]]

** The flying segments are not as free-form as in the first two games, instead playing out like a 3D ShootEmUp or an on-rails shooter ala ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoon''

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: [[spoiler:Remember the incredibly difficult rhythm game in the first game's final ending? It returns as Drakengard 3's TrueFinalBoss. It manages to be ''much worse'' due to a combination of crazy camera hijinks and manic tempo changes: its only saving grace is that you only need to use a single button to block the waves instead of 2 from the original.]]

* FissionMailed: In Chapter 2, Zero and Dito are crushed by an avalanche and a "Game Over" screen appears, before Zero forces her way back onto the screen.

* GenreShift: The first part of the Armaros boss fight plays like a RailShooter. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since Four's magic is forcing Mikhail to follow a specific path.

** Played straight and overlapped with MercyKill in [[spoiler:branch D, where Zero puts a damaged Accord out of her misery]].

** ThereCanOnlyBeOne: She tells Mikhail that she wants to be the only Intoner, hence her violent mission. [[spoiler:This is a half-truth, as she wants Mikhail to kill her after she is the only one left]].

* CosmicRetcon: [[spoiler:Branch A sets the stage for the events of ''Drakengard 1'' to occur. Everything after that concerns an effort to change the timeline so that doesn't happen, eventually succeeding in Branch D]].

* CameraScrew: [[spoiler:The final boss. At first in Zero's section the camera is normal. Then in Five's the camera pans downwards. In Four's the camera went parallel with the ring, obscuring the depth perscription. In Three's the camera close up to her face. In Two's the camera close up on Mikhail. In One's the camera goes all around crazily. Finally back in Zero's section it does all that and then fade to black while the note still playing, even when the characters talk.]]

** [[spoiler:The timing of this "note" is not based on any rhythm (which screws up with a lot or players), but is, in fact, based on ''Zero's'' own sentence at this point. Since Zero became the flower that is making said notes, it's appropriate that this last conversation would have [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall a response not just from Mikhail]], [[FridgeBrilliance but from the player as well]].]]

* AuthorAvatar: The narrator, whose role mirrors that of the player: [[spoiler:she is a Recorder from "The Old World" tasked with observing the events surrounding Zero and finding a timeline that does not end in disaster. The Accord gynoids in general are stand-ins for every human from The Old World (including other players and the staff who worked on the game), implying that it is their collective duty to safeguard the future of the Drakengard universe. An Accord representing the director gives a final thank-you to the player at the end of Branch D]].

* TomatoInTheMirror: Branch D reveals [[spoiler:that the final form of the Flower parasite (after it has completely assimilated the host) is a Grotesquerie Queen, the EldritchAbomination {{Big Bad}}s of the Drakengard universe]].

* AuthorAvatar: The narrator, whose role mirrors that of the player: [[spoiler:she is an Recorder from "The Old World" tasked with observing the events surrounding Zero and finding a timeline that does not end in disaster. The Accord gynoids in general are stand-ins for every human from The Old World (including other players and the staff who worked on the game), implying that it is their collective duty to safeguard the future of the Drakengard universe. An Accord representing the director gives a final thank-you to the player at the end of Branch D]].

* PlayingThePlayer: Meta-wise, playing games on a NewGamePlus in the Drakengard setting (or at least the games headed by Taro Yoko) [[spoiler:actually makes things worse.]] However, [[spoiler:playing until the last ending actually nets you the best ending in the game.]]

** TheBigBad: Zero

* NoPeroidsPeroid: Averted. Zero complains that her period has come early talking with Decadus at the start of Branch B.

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: [[spoiler:Remember the incredibly difficult rhythm game in the first game's final ending? It returns as Drakengard 3's TrueFinalBoss. It manages to be ''much worse'' due to a combination of crazy camera hijinks and manic tempo changes.]]

** BiggerBad: [[spoiler:[[AllThereInTheManual The Black Flower from which it spawned]].]]