Part 1: Episode I: In Which the Sequel Begins...
Episode I: In Which the Sequel Begins...
Contractual Obligations: Drakengard 2! Welcome to the corrupt, alternate timeline of the Drakengard series. As the thread title might suggest, this one is a lot dumber than the NIER divergence of the timestream. But, I suppose we'll just have to make due with a bad situation. Let's just get on with it...
Drakengard 2, like its brothers, has multiple endings. We need to complete the game on the
----- Prologue -----
Yup. So it's been 18 years since Drakengard Ending A Concluded. A lot has gone on during the last couple of decades. Many, many terrible decisions have been made by most surviving parties of the previous title. But eh...? What's that...? Oh, there's another monologue. Sure...get it all out already.
Five seals hold in place the red dragon,
the last bastion against world destruction.
Charged with protecting them are
the Knights of the Seal.
In charge of each seal is a guardian,
a lieutenant among the knights.
Now, a young warrior has been accepted
into the Knights of the Seal.
A young man raised by a blue dragon.
His name is...Nowe.
And that's the story so far. What was left of the Union re-branded themselves as the Knights of the Seal. They actually decided to put some people in charge of guarding the Seals this time around. And there's some wanker named "Nowe" (pronounced "No Way") with a blue dragon who is the new protagonist.
I hope you weren't too spoiled by previous Cavia protagonists like Papa Nier or everyone's favorite mass murder Caim. Or hell, even that mumbling hick Bruce McGivern from Resident Evil: Dead Aim. I'd take any of them over our new hero...
Verse 0 - The Tutorial
Meet Nowe: Teenage pretty boy anime twat #33174. Dumb as a sack of rocks and about as charismatic to boot. I hate Nowe and hopefully, by the end of this journey, you will too.
Of course being a generic JRPG Teenage Protagonist, Nowe has been outfitted with a standard issue female childhood friend that treats him like a brother but she's really totally into him because there's no such thing as platonic relationships in RPGs in the form of Eris. Eris is the same age as Nowe, grew up with him, but somehow has managed to join and rise quite high in the ranks of the Knights of the Seal due to...well, probably being one of the least dense characters in the game.
"Nowe, you really don't know a thing, do you? We Knights of the Seal are here for one thing only, and that is to protect the Goddess Seal. The royal duel is held so that the lieutenants can assess the progress of their knights' training. It's very important. You've only just joined, but you're a real knight now. You make sure you don't embarrass yourself out there. Do you hear me?"
"Yeah, I'll fight like I always do."
"Nowe..." "You know, with my fire-breathing dragon. Piece of cake! I never show up for these train sessions to begin with... I don't see why I simply must go to this one."
"Nowe, you cannot use your dragon in the royal duel!"
"But why not?!" "...I'm not even going to justify that with an answer." "But..." "Burning allies to death in sparring duels for the top brass is highly frowned upon, Nowe." "Tch... Fine!"
"Why not? It's been a long time. I better see if I can remember how..."
Actually, no. We're not running through the tutorial because it is extremely boring. Unless you'd really like to see Nowe scamper around and hit floating crystals with his sword, we'll just be skipping to the end of the course... I'll explain the stellar gameplay of Drakengard 2 when we get to a real mission.
A crappy mandatory tutorial later...
"Hey, wait!" "!?"One of the other Knights of the Seal enters...
"Nothing. Nothing from you, Eris. No. My quarrel is with your friend there." 
So Nowe's extremely lame nickname is "dragon child" since...well, the Union never were good at insults outside the rarity like Caim. Being a pretty boy git with an awesome dragon pal that got him to basically sail through the Knights of the Seal testing requirements by merit of having the ability to write "can summon a dragon" in answer to every question or requirement imposed has made him less than popular with the rest of the Knights. The fact that he never wears his uniform's helmet because it would mess up his delicately feathered hair probably hasn't won him any favors either.
"Nowe, you're entered in the royal duel, aren't you? How about some real training, eh? Eh!? You can't call your dragon friend in here." "Eris...is he...being serious...?" "It would appear so. He is completely out of line!" "But he's just one generic knight. This is hardly worth my time..." "Hey! Who are you calling generic!?" "You! I bet you cannot even take off that helmet of yours." "Ergh... That's against regulations!" "Well, then what is your name, knight?" "It's umm... It is... S-shut up and fight, dragon child!"
"It's okay, Eris. Come on then. If it's a fight you want..."
Needless to say, the generic mook gets his shit kicked in almost immediately.
"It looks like you boys need to spend a bit more time on training and a bit less on picking fights. Now get out of my sight." "But isn't this royal duel thing about us picking fights to show off our training...?" "Well...in a way I suppose. But that is hardly the po-" "Okay, okay. I don't need a lecture again, Eris."
"I'll be fine. Are you going to treat me like a kid forever?" "We're both 18 years old. I am personal assistant to General Gismor and am an officer in command a whole squadron of knights. You just made it out of basic training. You tell me."
"I'll go on ahead of you. I'll be watching you fight along with the other officers." "Yeah. Thanks, Eris."
Beating up that one jerk and completing the tutorial dungeon marks the end of the first mission. That was a less than thrilling opening... I want my money back!
Upon the end of the mission, we learn two important facts. One: Nowe's dragon partner is probably named "Legna." Two: Nowe is a filthy rotten liar about his confirmed kills while out on the job. One kill my ass! In comparison to Drakengard 1, Caim murdered 68 people while mortally wounded and that's not even counting the intro movie during his first gameplay mission. I think that right there sets the tone of disappointment that is Drakengard 2...
Drakengard 2 Opening
Verse 0 Cutscenes
Knights of the Seal Nowe Artwork - Stop scratching your balls when you think nobody is looking!