History VideoGame / Drakengard3

* 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.]]
** Also, the game introduces Zero as a bloodthirsty berserker who wishes to kill all her sisters, which is a nod on how unhinged the player characters were in ''Drakengard 1'' and ''Nier''. [[spoiler:Except this time, Zero is actually attempting an elaborate HeroicSacrifice to save the world from the threat of the Flower parasite dwelling within her and the five Intoners, and]] her justification for MurderIsTheBestSolution is that [[spoiler:once the head (Intoner) is sliced off, the rest of the body (every single worshipper) goes insane with suffering]]. Not that she isn't less of a psychopath normally.

Peace would reign until Zero, an Intoner and [[CainAndAbel elder sister to the five]], suddenly embarks on a quest to [[KillEmAll murder her siblings]] so that [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne she will be the only one left with their unique powers]]. Joined by a young and idealistic dragon named Mikhail, Zero aims to slay her sisters and claim their Disciples (male concubines) for herself. Like its predecessors, it features MultipleEndings, HackAndSlash action mixed with RPGElements, and [[UnexpectedGameplayChange aerial missions]]. [[LudicrousGibs And lots of blood]].

* DubInducedPlotHole: Of a sort, as this is the first game in the series to translate the term Angel accurately, instead of as Watcher [[spoiler:or Grotesquerie]], obfuscating a significant link with the rest of the series.

* DubInducedPlotHole: Of a sort, as this is the first game in the series to translate the term Angel accurately, instead of as Watcher, obfuscating a significant link with the rest of the series.

* OverlyLongGag: Octa's request to join Zero's group is met with awkard silence from Zero's part. For roughly a ''minute''.

* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Octa ''constantly'' talks about his immense pride in the size of his member through various UnusualEuphemisms. Late into the game, [[SubvertedTrope Zero actually calls him out on thinking like this, and all but states that his actual technique in bed leaves a lot to be desired]].

* Karmic Death: A few crop up, but perhaps the most notable is [[spoiler:Four's in the Ending A path. Zero chases her while she flees on an airship, Four begs her to stop and tries to make peace ... Sounds really harsh, but it's also exactly what Four herself did to a bunch of elves in her DLC. For bonus points, Zero kills her by faking kindness, and Four's entire personality revolves around how she feigns sweetness but is really a huge ball of hatred.]]

* FiveManBand: Zero amasses a BattleHarem of captured disciples that forms one quite nicely:
** TheLeader: Zero
** TheLancer: Dito, the first disciple that Zero claims as her own who freely admits that he's only following her for cheap thrills.
** TheBigGuy: Decadus, the largest humanoid of the group who vows to serve as Zero's protector. He's also a CombatSadomasochist who derives sexual pleasure from acting as a meat shield.
** TheSmartGuy: Octa, an inquisitive old man who enjoys pondering the inner workings of the world during his free time... [[DirtyOldMan when he isn't thinking about sex]].
** TheChick: Mikhail, Zero's reincarnated dragon who has the heart and mind of an innocent child and serves as both the group's emotional center and Zero's MoralityPet.
** TheSixthRanger: Cent, the last of the disciples to be recruited and the one with the most transparently dubious loyalty in that he rather obviously continues to pine for Two even after swearing himself to Zero.

* ApocalypseMaide: Zero [[spoiler:and the rest of the Intoners. If left unchecked, the Flower within them will bloom and mutate them into Grotesquerie Queens]].

** The game's A branch (and thus the ''Shi Ni Itaru Aka'' manga) results in a "Drakengard 1.3". Among the changes are: [[spoiler:no pacts, Caim dying far sooner, Legna gathering a dragon army, etc. In short, Male!One's actions derail many things.]]
* ApocalypseMaiden: Zero [[spoiler:and the rest of the Intoners. If left unchecked, the Flower within them will bloom and mutate them into Grotesquerie Queens]].

** TheChick: Mikhail, Zero's reincarnated dragon who has the heart and mind of an innocent child serves as both the group's emotional center and Zero's MoralityPet.

%%* BlackComedy: See GoryDiscretionShot down below.
%%* BloodierAndGorier
%%* BloodSplatteredWarrior

%%* DwindlingParty: In [[spoiler:Branch D]].

%%* SlapstickKnowsNoGender

%%* FiveManBand: Of the Intoner sisters.
%%** TheHeroine: One
%%** TheLancer: Three
%%** TheBigGirl: Five
%%** TheSmartGirl: Four
%%** TheHeart: Two
%%** TheSixthRanger: Zero

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Ending A, which leads to the CrapsackWorld of ''Drakengard''. Ending C, which leads to Zero turning into the Grotesquerie Queen and killing all of humanity.]]

%%* FiveBadBand: Of Zero's alliance.
%%** BigBad: Zero
%%** TheDragon: Mikhail
%%** TheBrute: Decadus
%%** TheEvilGenius: Octa
%%** TheDarkChick: Dito
%%** TheSixthRanger: Cent

** In the Japanese script, Octa made an offhand comment that [[BestialityIsDepraved 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.

* CallForward: One makes a subtle nod to Nier in path C.

** 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.]]

** 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."

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Everyone dies in Branch A, and Mikhail is the only survivor of Branch D. Route B, a flower-possessed Mikhail is the only survivor, and Route C, a flower-possessed Zero is the only survivor.]].

** 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.

* All of

* 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''.]]
** Since [[spoiler:none of Drakengard 3's endings lead directly to Drakengard 1]], a novelization of the game, supervised by Taro Yoko himself, was produced, called Drag-On Dragoon 3 Story Side. Its entire purpose was to [[spoiler:create a ''fifth ending'', directly leading to the events of the first game, and explaining the origins of the Cult of Watchers, the Pacts and the Seal system which would be used in the future games. In practice, the new ending looks like a mix of endings B and D]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:You have to go through four routes and beat a redux of Drakengard 1's ThatOneBoss, but the upshot is that history is shunted onto a path where the CrapsackWorld of ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}, Drakengard 2'', and ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'' never occur. Only in this series is a KillEmAll ending a HAPPY ending]].

** [[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, it's simple enough to do, if long. That of course is ignoring the [[KaizoTrap last note]].]]

--> '''Dito:''' "Just what is powering these things anyway?
--> '''Zero:''' "It's magic, isn't it? Weird shit like this always gets written off as magic."

* 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, it would be much easier to kill one Intoner than six]].
* ThisWasHisTrueForm: [[spoiler:The Disciples were originally doves]].

* CameraScrew: [[spoiler:The final boss. In Zero's section, the camera is normal. Then in Five's, the camera pans downwards. In Four's, the camera pans parallel with the ring, rendering depth perception difficult. In Three's, the camera closes up to her face. In Two's, the camera closes up on Mikhail. In One's, the camera goes all around crazily. Finally, at the final section, the camera repeats all of the tricks from the last sections before fading to black with a final attack, even when the characters begin to talk.]]

The third game in the ''Franchise/{{Drakengard}}'' series, and released in Japan on December 19th, 2013. Along with the supplementary manga called ''Drag-On Dragoon: Shi Ni Itaru Aka'', it is a prequel to the first game.

Peace would reign until Zero, an Intoner and [[CainAndAbel elder sister to the five]], suddenly embarked on a quest to [[KillEmAll murder her siblings]] so that [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne she would be the only one left with their unique powers]]. Joined by a young and idealistic dragon named Mikhail, Zero aims to slay her sisters and claim their Disciples (male concubines sworn to an Intoner) for herself. Like its predecessors, it features MultipleEndings, HackAndSlash action mixed with RPGElements and [[UnexpectedGameplayChange aerial missions]]. [[LudicrousGibs And lots of blood]].

Developed by Creator/AccessGames, the game was directed by Creator/TaroYoko and most of the team behind the original game. Consequently, the game's atmosphere is closer to ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'' and the first game, rather than ''Drakengard 2''. While the game is still very bleak, it tries to lift the mood with comedic scenes and sexual innuendo.