A remake of the originalNieRwill be out soon, bringing with it a new English voice track and script, a new combat system that will be closer toNieR: Automatathan the original game, and perhaps even new story elements. DubbedNieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…(or justNieR Replicant v1.22), it will serve as a way for modern gamers to play a much smoother and more palatable version of the janky but narratively impressive original. Even with the loss of the beloved “Papa Nier” player character from the original Western release, the story is expected to be as compelling as it ever was.
With one of Yoko Taro’s career-defining masterpieces being remade, why not another?NieRtakes place in a dimension parallel toDrakengard, beingkicked off by the ramifications ofDrakengard 1’s joke ending.Drakengard 1and3are generally well-received for the series' apocalyptic and dark fantasy storytelling, but very little else about the trilogy is loved. Gameplay is regarded as a poor substitute for aDynasty Warriorsgame, andDrakengard3in particular suffers from ruinous framerate issues. There’s a lot of value in revisiting theDrakengardnow that its multiverse has more fans, of which many would likely be interested in aDrakengardsequel or remake.
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A Drakengard Remake Would Fix A Lot
A remake of any one of theDrakengardgames could address issues with each of them. All three games would benefit fromNieR: Automata-style combat and design sensibilities. The first twoDrakengardgamesvaguely resembleDynasty Warriorsaction, but there’s really only small groups of enemies relevant to the combat at any given moment.
A remake could make large-scale battles feel suitably epic, and could give the dragon gameplay a much-needed overhaul to remove its many frustrating elements. Having what is supposed to be like an aerial combat simulator routinely compared to a rhythm game probably means something is going wrong. The first two games would also benefit from tightened scripts and revised voice acting.
The thirdDrakengardwas released after the firstNieR, so the voicework and translation aren’t as much of an issue. However, the gameplay could use some extra work. An effort was made to makeDrakengard 3play like a faster versionof the firstNieR. The protagonist Zero being able to switch weapons on the fly and occasionally access a hyper mode that lets her move extremely fast certainly helped. A lot of this would be kept in a remake, but it would need another revision to truly push it to the greatness it was aspiring towards. The dragon gameplay would once again need to be remade, and, of course,Drakengard 3’s infamously poor framerate would finally be improved.
A Sequel To Carry On Drakengard’s Spirit
Remakes of the olderDrakengard’s would be excellent, and older fans would be very pleased with them finally losing much of what made them difficult to play. However, now that more people are “in” to theNieR/Drakengardmultiverse, it is prime time for Yoko Taro to revisitDrakengard. An entirely newDrakengardgame could finally continue the story of the world, regardless of whether it takes the form of a prequel, sequel, interquel, or alternate history version of the original. TheDrakengarduniverse has a tendency to suffer from world-ending events often.
The Watchers, serving as the series’ overarching villains, could return, manipulating their cults from the shadows so that they may enter the world and destroy the imperfect humanity. Elements fromDrakengard2could be present earlier on, with dragons planning to overthrow the gods earlier in the timeline. Different characters or parts ofthe medieval Europe-inspired worldcould receive focus chapters, and with modern gameplay sensibilities they would play quite differently. Just exploring the dark fantasy universe that Yoko Taro made and experiencing the character stories within would be enjoyable, and fans couldn’t ask for much more than that.
A chance to re-experience theDrakengardgames with better visuals, voice-acting, and gameplay is something that should come to fruition. Even if it takes a new game entirely to do it,Drakengard’s unique tone and story deserves to be preserved. There have beenrumors of aDrakengard 4being in development, so this series could have a revival in the next couple years. Hopefully, withNieR’s current success, fans can see more from its shared universe in the future.
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