The Let's Play Archive

Drakengard 3

by The Dark Id

Part 115: Episode LXXXVIII: In Which There is One Final Battle

Episode LXXXVIII: In Which There is One Final Battle



Music: Prevolt – Armaros
New Music: Thirteenth Chapter Chaotic Song ~ Drakengard 3 DLC Version (C'mon One, don't be lazy and steal Four's Boss track. Even if it was the best boss battle music.)



We're sticking to the basics with mission objectives. No need to get fancy now with flashy mission parameters or gimmicks. We've just got to kill One and call it a day. It's a pretty nice day at that. Blue skies over Notspain. Not a single burning atmosphere or expressionist nightmare hellscape cloud in sight. Feels weird for a Drakengard endgame. But here we are...



The world doesn't need Intoners!
Heh. I completely agree.
Then die already!
You first, Sis!
I can eradicate the Intoners as easily as you can!
Like I can trust you? I have to do this myself!
You should talk! You gave birth to this curse! Whether we have the same goal or not, I swear by my murdered sisters' souls... I will never forgive you! Now DIE! Die, die, die, DIIIIIIE!
Heh. I never asked for forgiveness. So quit all your fucking yapping... and die for me already, One!





So it's once more a ground battle against One and her chakram. Here's how this differs from the previous time we fought One back in Branch C:


Yeah, it's just a copy and pasted battle. There's no new tricks or power-ups for One. I don't even think they buffed her stats at all to account for Zero having leveled at least another eight missions between the two fights.







Indeed, this fight doesn't even require Zero to fully deplete One's health. A second “phase” of the battle kicks in once One's health drops below around 66% total. Nothing new happens gameplay wise. Zero just needs to stay alive and keep smacking around her sister/daughter/clone until the next part completes.

…

Wait... Did I really end up LPing another game that has daughter/clones as a plot point in a story about alternate timelines/dimensions and heavily featuring the involvement of dragons? This IS really Chrono Cross all over again.

Music: Descendus



The flower's defenses created five sisters from Zero's body. At first, they were simply corpses controlled by the flower. But soon, they gained self-awareness and began to act of their own free will. If the flower isn't destroyed, mankind has no future in this branch. Some of us are of the opinion that this branch should be sealed off at once, but I disagree. I think at least one of them might be able to accomplish it...
.....
...No, I should stop. I'll erase this entry and hand the recording off to the next pass in its current state.
End recording.



As soon as Accord is done with her somewhat out of place narration, it is just a matter of landing a few additional hits on One to end this battle once and for all.



Except for everything that's coming next in the Cutscene Zone™ ! Which will probably last longer than the actual gameplay fight.





So did any of the Intoner sisters pull a bubble shield out of the ever expanding toolbox of Intoner Song tricks? It's hard to keep it all straight. I mean there's been plenty of stationary glyph shields. Heck everyone can do that in gameplay. I think deployable bubble shields are a new thing. I don't know, One. Maybe you could have pulled that tech out during the lasts ten minutes Zero had been batting you around, eh?



Armisael, invade!



And here I thought the Rave Dolls might be left out of the Branch A boss fight heel-face turn reunion party. Nice to see the full set. Though doesn't that mean...?



Octa!







So did you know the Armisael could create magical bonds on people? Well, they can. Now at least. Decadus clearly must have filled out the wrong forms for disciple Angel and Intoner assignment during his job application process.





Oh ho ho! A pity we couldn't grind the whetstone one last time, my lady!



See? Even in times of crisis, my man-sword is as sharp as a witch's—





Welp! Thus Octa joins the rest of the disciples in the great bird beyond. I will commend the perverted old man for making it through the entirety of Drakengard 3 almost constantly talking about sex, but never actually saying the word sex, penis, or vagina. Alternate timeline thread title: “Drakengard 3: Sexual Innuendo Synonym Station”.





With Octa poofed back into his original bird form, the Armisael trio's powers are quickly beginning to fade. And Zero is making zero headway into stabbing her way past One's cutscene shield.



One, on the other hand, is just getting warmed up with her Intoner powers actually utilizing the whole unearthly shrieking aspect for the first time. That's likely not a good sign what with the whole song/flower madness corruption going around lately with Intoners.



I'm really glad Drakengard 3 lacks any QTEs because you just know this part would require mashing X non-stop for about a minute straight right up until this happens...



Engage accelerator!

Music: Prevolt – Battleground



ACTION ACCORD uses Suitcase Wallop! It's Super Effective!





One herself is less than amused by getting bushwhacked and throttled by a speedster preppy librarian looking chick out of fucking nowhere. She's also likely very confused as to what in the blue hell is going on right now since it's not as though One has ever encountered Accord up to this point. Sorry One, getting highly confused by seemingly random events from nowhere is the true Drakengard endgame experience.



Geez, you're stubborn!



Accord reaches behind her back into a temporal wormhole into 1986 and yanks a car phone from within its depths. Sure, why not? Just roll with it.



Alert! Requesting condition two-dash-eight under authority seven hundred seventy seven: Load the following code!



<TAPE REWINDING SOUND>



Zero! 51.08 seconds from now, the shield will vanish for 0.5 seconds!
Accord...
Just make sure you're ready! If you die here, this entire branch is going to terminate!



So put your money where your mouth is and make this happen!





Alright, Zero! You can do this. Err... Now from exactly when did that 51.08 second count begin...? It was right after Accord finished her sentence.



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~



AaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!



AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa



aaaaaaaaanooooooow!

Music: Ends



<Beep>
...Understood.
...Executing code.









Well, that's one way to get a no-scope headshot on your target in a deathmatch.





One was implanted with a micro-bomb in this timeline ala The Cobra Unit of Metal Gear Solid 3 and promptly explodes upon death. She forgets to shout “One” in an echoing loop. But I suppose that can be forgiven what with her brain just getting bisected and all.





Meanwhile, Mikhail and Gabriel's aerial battle offscreen is cut short as Gabriel abruptly has a massive heart attack and drops from the sky like a stone. The Utahime Five manga established that One and Gabriel had a pseudo-pact sort of thing going on. More of the Gabriel is essentially One's Stand so if she dies welp! Sucks to be a daemon dragon. Not the best of arrangements there.





Gabriel explodes too for good measure. Cuz why not? RIP Gabriella you deserved to be in a better game. Or at least better DLC adventures.



The blast of One's body exploding launched her a good distance away. But it would seem Zero and Mikhail both managed to make it past the One/Gabriel difficulty wall this go around. Good for them.



Accooooooooord!





Oh right, Accord. We should probably go see how she's doing what with the saving Zero's ass and getting a sword shoved through her torso in order to stab One in the face thing. It's only polite.





Oh yeah, by the way. Accord was an android. Not to be confused with a cyborg. A cyborg is a living thing with robotic parts like Raiden or Hammer toward the end of Xenogears. An android is a robot that is made to look like a person like Data or The Terminator. Yes, Arnold claimed to be a cyborg. T-800s are idiot robots that die in every single movie. They are from a future so muddled by bad sequels that they're as trustworthy with information about robotics as Liquid Snake is about genetics. I've been playing a lot of Metal Gear lately, can you tell?

Anyway... Accord sounds like her voice is coming from an out of tune old car radio from here on out...



I thought you... weren't going to interfere.
Yes... but... This went... a little different... than I had planned...



However... I think this way was... more human... wasn't it?
Yeah, I guess.
Zero... Please... I'm... a little... tired.
Good night, Accord. Tell the Old World I said hi.





And that brings Branch D, Verse 8 to a close. Let's bring up the penultimate final tally for the branch and update the stats.



We've got a full bird house of disciples and the entire Intoner Sister hit list is marked off. Even the narrator is dead. It's all down to just Mikhail and Zero. That cannot be a good sign with a single mission to go still.

Tune in next time for... The Final Verse.








Video: One Final Battle and Verse 8 Conclusion (You should watch this.)
Alternatively: Skip to Verse 8 Conclusion