Drakengard & NieR: A FULL Series Retrospective

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Hey Dad, how do you feel about the DrakeNieR Series? 🐉

[@solipsisme8472]

Your sheer dedication makes me so happy, I hope you're proud of yourself. Love you, Dad.

[@novustalks7525]

Automata is the best video game story ever told

[@art-o-cart5166]

I think whatever you chose to do is fine

[@Vulpes_Shinbi]

Automata is a top 3 game from my personal experience, so it fills my heart with joy how much time and effort you put into this Son.

[@Shortauthor]

I love both series. Especially Neir and Automata. Those two made me walk away with so much and really hit me deeply

[@stevejakab274]

There's an interesting bit of lore associated with the weapon stories. Drakengard 3 established that Accord writes them, and the remake of Nier retconned her into that game. She's also responsible for selling many of the weapons (e.g. the weapon dealer in Automata mentions she's where he gets his supply from). That makes her the main connection between the two worlds besides Caim, Angelus, and the Queen Beast crossing into our world and creating the Nier world. This opens up a lot of questions about just what Accord is; she's clearly more than just a "recorder" as she claims.

[@nightwish1453]

that actually doesn't stop there for accord. many have also been suspecting that she is responsible of the cage in reincarnation and her name (albeit is spelt differently) is mentioned. the intersting part is that if you interpret the idea of not coming from midgard to earth but instead coming from earth to midgard then her goal of creating a new branch without the flower makes more sense

[@AngraMainiiu]

@@nightwish1453 She is confirmed to come from the Kingdom of Night, the dark side of the world of Nier since Earth has been tidally locked after 6/12.

[@Si_Ek_Az]

​@AngraMainiiu the 6/12 event didn't cause the earth to be tidally-locked with the sun

[@AngraMainiiu]

@@Si_Ek_Az Didn't say it did.

[@Si_Ek_Az]

@@AngraMainiiu oh my bad

[@zeroanonymity9736]

Drakengard 3's final fight and ending is one of my favorite moments in any game ever. It's an impossible task, something so overwhelming for Mikail and unlike anything he's ever done that having it be a rhythm game fits so perfectly. It's so absurdly different from anything else you've done that it forces you to fight tooth and nail for the ending just behind it. Having it end with This Silence is Mine for the credits just left me weeping... It's over, both I the player and Zero the character could finally rest.

[@Nicholas339]

A near 8 hour video! Gonna slowly watch this over the day. Well done son! Happy SonDay!!

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Happy SonDay!

[@ponyonyony]

i hate that more people dont (seem to) know that instead of killing Pascal or wiping his memories, you can choose to do nothing and simply walk away and leave him. personally i think this is the best option, since if you wipe pascals memories he'll likely make the same mistakes again

[@whooah]

And if you wipe his memory he ends up selling the dismembered parts of the children. That's too sad. In the end I always leave him even though that makes me feel bad too.

[@gerryw173ify]

I like moments like these in games since it lets you think about a choice outside of what the game directly shows you. Reminds me of the original CoD: Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" mission in which you can progress the mission without shooting anyone and yet most people did.

[@szaka9395]

I couldnt kill him, and wiping his memories would be a crime. He was supposed to survive and lead machines. To learn from his mistakes (if you can call his actions mistakes). Leaving him alone in this dark room was the only option. I did it on my first play, didnt even expect its an option.

[@PaydayPerry]

From my what i remember i believe that if you just walk away, the intel on pascal updates and mentions that he was never seen again, hinting that he possibly killed himself anyway, which is darker than either of the other options since you're force him to end his own misery instead of doing him a favor and doing it for him. I wiped his memories, i believe it to be the best option as he has the chance to create a new family, I don't believe he is destined to repeat the same mistakes, I feel it very much possible that he could have a better end the next time around, the chance is there.

[@Omizuke]

"Grimoire Weiss does not strut about like a common land mammal!" lol that cracked me up.

[@citizenvulpes4562]

Weiss is by far my favorite character in NieR Replicant

[@thew00dsman79]

Dang Son, I was genuinely hoping you’d cover the YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse story as well, kinda important but also super wack with its inconsequentiality to the FFXIV storyline but major importance to DrakenNieR

[@fedrikrose2277]

The story of that raid series is kinda bad. The story is confusing and the contrasts in tones of FFXIV and DrakenNier were not well-handled.

[@METALmurdererOG]

I tend to watch YFS episodes in parts. Til I fall asleep, from where I remember to falling asleep again, til when I finally finish it. He's got a voice that can lull you to sleep, but at the same time a passion that makes you want to hear what he needs to say.

[@Heavyliftinhoe]

THANK YOU seriously exactly the same thing for me

[@tsukapon44]

I'm doing this with his videos currently to change my sleep schedule 😂

[@TheRealRabidPenguin]

I used to do this, but I have found that I get so invested in both the story, and his take on it, that I end up not going to sleep until much later than I should if I'm listening to YFS. I've had to switch to listening to them while working. I now fall asleep to much less interesting youtubers :)

[@marcbraun5342]

I did exactly that with this video last night. ^^ I tend to do this with long videos I've already watched, so I hear something but I actually don't miss something.

[@opinionpaladin6007]

The Intoners using the Dissonance in music tones to create awesome magic and theme songs is why i think drakengard 3 is the best.

[@KajorArtStudios]

Thank you for making a series on one my favorite video game franchises of all time. This is gonna be one of my favorites from your channel for sure. Keep up the good work, Son! I'm proud of you.

[@BadExample77]

My favorite series covered by who is quickly becoming my favorite essayist, thank you son, much love, and keep up the great work.

[@cerebella9676]

This is one of my favorite game series, I'm so glad to see someone cover it so masterfully. Not many people play long enough to get and appreciate the whole story.

[@Florithia]

This entire video must have taken so much effort to make, it’s very well done!

[@moistwindow6094]

Weird being called dad by a random youtube video, but either way, this is one of my favorite series of media and this was an excellent retrospective on it, got the sub

[@Zeppenfeldgarden]

I appreciate the time you took to make this. The detailed description of the games is very good. My only bit of criticism is that some background music would be nice. Your narrative is clear and easy to follow understand which is great. A little music would add flavor to your narrative.

[@BigPanda096]

Hey Son, papa Gingy told me he is very proud of your work, so I decided I had to come see it. Your videos are incredible, easy subscribe from me, Gingy directed me here, thank you Gingy!

[@Beeyo176]

Is "I'm gonna fall soundly asleep multiple times like a motherf cker to this video" considered a compliment?

[@solipsisme8472]

Motherfucker is just another name for Dad

[@zangetsu5221]

Me asf

[@sorensouthard927]

Remember, once a path is taken it's impossible to turn back. This is great example, now this man, due to the objectively terrible decision of naming his channel "Your favorite son" must now call his entire audience, indiscriminate of age or gender, dad. Think about how truly uncomfortable that is, more than a million people relishing in the slimy feeling of being called dad by a stranger, and a man who had to force himself to utter it every time because for some reason it's his catch phrase.

[@Beeyo176]

@sorensouthard927 I don't know if you meant to put that comment here, but I'll bite. We're not roleplaying his dad, it's more like we're listening to videos he made for his dad. If Susie writes a letter to Jane, you don't suddenly become Jane if you happen to read it.

[@xwizitrod]

Phenomenal video. Thank you for the massive effort this must have taken.

[@DerpyDerpums]

The smile on Kaine's face when Nier told her they were friends and Weiss still going on made me go "heavens." Such good storytelling

[@thatdude_avery2094]

LETS GOOO i’ve been waiting for this one!

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Hope you enjoy!

[@jesset1762]

I love watching a ln essay on something I never played and immediately recognizing VAs. Liam O'Brian as Weiss is great.

[@TheEmraldz]

Oh you have no idea, he was BORN for the role

[@mikejennette8478]

@@TheEmraldz that and War from Darksiders

[@ericherrero3212]

Excellent video. One of my favorite series in a commute convenient format. 10/10 floating monster cubes🎉

[@Taxkha]

I make a little dance everytime I see another hour long video about NieR popping up. I'm so excited to watch this!!

[@lixyororke]

Honestly the only thing that really got me in Drakengard 2 was Legna's line "you're a sentimental fool, just like your father" because you can kinda take it two ways - the straight forward way where Legna is just comparing Nowe to his father in a somewhat affectionate way, revealing that even though he betrayed him, deep down he did care about both of them. Then there's the read that Legna is somewhat referring to himself as Nowe's father, that in the end he's just as much a sentimental fool as Nowe and his father before him. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but that small amount of ambiguity makes it a pretty good final line from Legna

[@FFF12321]

While Reincarnation's relevance and position in the franchise is still uncertain, I think it's very much worth playing now. Getting through the story with current units is not particularly challenging and the stories within are so worth it. Both of the fully released arcs (The Girl and the Monster and The Sun and The Moon) are quintessential DrakenNier stories that really integrate the game experience with the story being told - there's funkyness with the HUD, skill names give more context, characters give story in combat and so on. My eyes got wet at the end of Girl and Monster but I legit cried at the end of Sun and Moon and the current arc is getting into the deep Cage lore. I really enjoy most of the OG character's stories and there are some interesting tidbits for Nier lore like the Red Eyed Legion and mentions of "Akkorde." Even if you don't get into the rest of the game, the story itself is worth everyone's time. Also shocked you didn't go into the XIV Crossover raid/Dark Apocalypse! It was sold as a Nier Automata crossover but it's really got some deep DoD lore.

[@bruhwereinacarexhaust]

It's even more worth now NEW YORHA DROID DROPPED

[@AdelTheForsaken]

Drakengard 1 had me so confused! After I finally beat it, and got a few ending I was done. Thanks for clearing this up!

[@YEETUSDAFEETUS]

a massive masterpiece perfect for a long day of work

[@c.l.8213]

I watched all of these individually and now it's time to watch them all at once! Really love your videos!

[@milkking2347]

Just finished watching the whole video, thanks for explaining the timeline so well and the game mechanics

[@mattd5240]

You missed out on the opportunity to say that drakenguards missions drag-on.

[@VoisKaniress]

As an aside, Yoko Taro did a funny and put the FINAL ENDING of this ENTIRE FRANCHISE for some ungodly reason in the Raid Series of Shadowbringers of FF14.

[@citizenvulpes4562]

It's not really an ending to the entire franchise though, there's still so many things unanswered within the story. Now they did put an end to the MACHINE side of the story.

[@MrPAPA-sp7gt]

The perfect gift for all us, thanks son.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Hope you enjoy!

[@OverlordKog]

Nice vid, I was waiting to see if you were gonna slip in the FF14 Automata raids into the timeline since Yoko Taro is a madman that deemed those canon.

[@__BlacklotuS__]

Is it really tough?

[@blairfujin]

@@__BlacklotuS__ drakennier operates on multiple parallel timelines and so anything can be cannon and accroding to taro every side content is cannon including stuff like 2P in soul calibur

[@__BlacklotuS__]

@@blairfujin ok i love the anime it's cool

[@tylercrain2831]

Love this it's forsure the most indepth and accurate lore video for nier and draken gard

[@tylercrain2831]

It's so easy to see where niers ideas came from when you get to drakengard 3

[@shadoweater18]

The fact that the only game in the series I haven't played through is replicant and ps plus is releasing it into the plus free games soon. The leak being revealed as I watch this I am finding it to be a touch of fate telling me to return to the series

[@TheTboy103]

I love this whole thing I appreciate the work you put in all of this

[@BurghezulDjentilom]

2:53:00 Mikhail ... stand proud, you are strong

[@jarnaez1]

Watching this really reminded me of the The Dark Id from the SA forums. Guy was able to onramp a lot of people onto Taro's work who likely wouldn't have ever looked at it, especially Nier. Things weren't going too great last I heard of him, hope things turned around.

[@WeaponDamage]

It’s speculated that Nier and Drakengard are paradoxical time loop by EruptionFang In his timeline video.

[@MrPetpet111]

Is this a reupload or did I mistake it for another long Drakengard & NieR video?

[@mr_queue]

You: "...some androids nearby.." Me: "NIER!" *drinks*

[@elibrooks1662]

Replicant was my favorite of this video. Never played any of the games but I enjoyed that section the most.

[@FPoP1911]

Summer is ending, yet the son keeps on shining.

[@QueenOfPessimism]

Great choice for a video. This is far from the first series to have me deep in lore (that would be Mother), but I’d say it’s probably the series that has the most interesting and fun lore to dig into. Especially with all the weird side projects that turn out to be canon (like the play! Of all things!). I thought that the mobile game was kind of similar to Lost Odyssey. Having all those little stories and what not.

[@jackcrow3166]

5:42:00 why do you call Simone Bovuare?

[@KushCalrissian]

Im upset i missed this game back in the day, looks fun.

[@bambuwuzled]

aw hell yeah another 6+ hour nier lore video to watch repeatedly till I die

[@KK_183]

Fantastic video! I enjoyed every part of it.

[@josh-qj2zu]

This is the first video I’ve watched from you, and I’m sorry I laughed at the hey dad it’s me your favorite son line if it has some super sad story behind it it just caught me off guard 😭

[@Falderos8729]

Amazing video, well done son.

[@theonlybilge]

4:41:18 I can't tell if they remind me of Seere and Manah or 2B and 9S.

[@nightwish1453]

gonna say 2b and 9s mainly due to they intently brough in their VAs in eng and jp to voice them though I think the seere and manah thing is mainly the girl's hair and how it's done up but it isn't farfetched as the forrest of myth is aware of d1's ending E

[@zeroanonymity9736]

Yes. Just yes to both.

[@typhoeus3801]

Thank god for videos like this, it would be so time consuming to get through these games on my own, I recently sat down to try to finish Nier Automata but had to put it down because of how back much back tracking and walking there was. Don't get me wrong, I loved the atmosphere but it took too long to do this, I just burnt myself out when all I really wanted was the story. So cheers homie for making this video, this will no doubt fill the lore craving for me.

[@unlimitedhearts]

The YorHa Girls and YorHa Boys stageplays also add onto the cyclical nature of Automatta. Girls is all about A2 ans how she becomes disillusioned about the YorHa project and Boys explores the nature of the relationship between the 2 and 9 models.

[@2Syndras1Cup]

Bruh, there was no reason to kill my sleep schedule with nightmares for the next 5 days... 1:06:08

[@Florithia]

In drakengard three it wasn’t the horror of battle that traumatized 2, it was losing all her orphans.

[@DaneBurchette]

Son, you've outdone yourself this time. You've made me proud

[@OrenjiArms]

i didn't have time to watch the parts as they came out but now the whole thing is out and now i can sit down and watch it on my day off

[@yunarose84]

Yes!!!! Subbed :) Curious, will you ever do Ico?

[@xxCorraGamesxx]

Only recently found you. Super glad I did. This is gonna keep me occupied for a couple days lmao

[@novustalks7525]

Ending E wasn't actually a joke ending. Throughout the first drakengard game you can see imagery of a dragon impaled on a building. It was always intended to be the canon ending

[@Gxmwp]

Have any examples of where in the game?

[@novustalks7525]

@@Gxmwp the opening cutscene in furiae's book and in every dialogue cutscene that has the blue boarder on screen.

[@Agiranto]

Awwww baby! 8 hours here we go. Its gonna be interesting working day.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Hope you enjoy!

[@kylekavina2030]

Surprised the crossover with Final Fantasy XIV isn't mentioned as it's technically canon if I'm remembering interviews correctly.

[@lixyororke]

Just think: we got a series of seriously flawed games and somehow, through all of that, we still managed to end up with a masterpiece

[@tylercrain2831]

I prepared gestalt only because I enjoyed the more gruff voiced aged character however obviously replicant is better

[@TheMarlborojunkie]

A NieRly eight Hour Video about one of my favorite Franchise. I'm proud and greatful for that Son.

[@ijac25]

There is another possibility with Pascal. Leave the room and leave him be.

[@ryle4h]

Just starting this, and your intro says that there's bonus content for this 7 hour video? How do you manage such deadpan line delivery for such a funny joke?

[@ryle4h]

Couple hours further in, and you're talking about ending E of drakengard 3, and I can't help but think that the camera is wonky because you just killed the archivist at this point in the story.

[@ryle4h]

Holy cow, the bit in the outro to the Drakengard section where you say "bye dad," is like a Brechtian punch right in the parasocial attachment. 3:08:33

[@ryle4h]

6:05:48 You say it's critical of philosophy, but an absurdist piece is going to have people making their own meaning in tragedy, so I think that pointing to the tragedy as a fault in the philosophy might mean you're unfamiliar with that set of tropes.

[@ryle4h]

6:21:27 You came to the exact moral of the Myth of Sisyphus analyzing the good ending. If that's not on purpose on your part then Yoko Taro is a genius.

[@vkenzo90]

7 Hours of drakenier universe, tysm!

[@dieyng]

Damn, they really must love Evangelion. There is sooo much imagery from it in this series.

[@JuliaSin]

Didnt yoko taro say everything he had his name on was cannon? I could be wrong but I could have sworn the only thing not cannon was drakgard 2. But great video!!!

[@ELITEgs1]

We need platinum games to bring life back to drakengard now

[@tylercrain2831]

I love how at the end of the day if you wanna understand nier you have to be a weapon hunter

[@Blaziruku]

Amazing video, if I may ask, at 4:54:00 yoko taro is seen playing Last Guardian, is there a video of that? I was curious what were the drawings shown shortly after (at around 4:54:04), iif that's related to Nier at all or something entirely different.

[@meowy2k]

this is awesome, thanks son!!!

[@codywhite6337]

Excellent video!

[@Megapples]

Yes, I just watched a 6h30 video to understand the whole lore of the Drakengard and NieR universe, and I'm about to do it again with 1 additional hour

[@SlappyGrandPappylmao]

Any chance you will look at terranigma? It’s short but a good game

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Ill check it out!

[@kaminiokk6373]

A realy nice comprehansive recap. But you are missing a pice, the Alliance Raids in Final Fantasy XIV. It is set after Automatat. The Raids Story was written by Yokotatu. We meet old friends and enimie and most important of all familiar music and theams. It is a tall order to reach the point of th game though.

[@Xorital]

Son: "Caiem" Me: "CAIM!!!" Also this series is amazing. I'm glad it made it to the mainstream... but then it up and vanished 😂

[@reaverofjillsandwiches]

I feel like he needs to cover Rule of Rose.

[@ShadowMk3]

Son, I will make the time to watch this and not skip a single second!

[@Moody.Smiruai]

When I come back from work today , I'll get you a pizza. Good job son.

[@nickjones7435]

Am i going to watch this for 7 hours straight? Yes

[@Atsushi_Wolf]

*sneezes*... "Shit"

[@Synest2]

I would love to see reviews like these for the Voice of Cards games, I think it's so sad that these games sold so poorly and are basically ignored while coming from Yoko Taro, yes yes it was supposed to be mobile titles but it's actually so great I'm eager to see the game and the new anime he's working on

[@TevyaSmolka]

Great retrospective on dragon guard and nier series as a whole this was fantastic in my opinion.

[@BenedictusZosPius]

My main issue with Drakengard 2 is that they changed the map of Midgard which is an upside down map of Europe to something original. Highly disrespectful to Yoko Taro’s vision of Drakengard. Other than that, it is a good sequel.

[@slothbeezy6432]

I get Drakengard 1 and its flaws with the ground combat, however, 11-12 year old me loved every moment of that game. It was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

[@JudyQ411]

Great video! However, I'm still confused about Devola and Popola. Like...why did let Nier kill all those shades knowing they were human? Why didn't they guide Nier to the Shadowlord. Seemed a bit off, story wise, for them to attack us before the final boss without them trying to guide us throughout the game.

[@disturbedrebirth]

Do we know where the gods or the watchers come from? Do they come from the flower?

[@neoku84r.p.g93]

It's such an amazing story.

[@disturbedrebirth]

Do you think it will be another Nier or Drakengard 4?

[@PushingFriend28]

If squareenix ever gets the balls

[@qupyfegi5120]

Mr.Gingy sends his regards.

[@JabamiLain]

What if we've been looking at the timeline all wrong ? For example, what if there are actually two Cathedral Cities (although the city is said to be on the Iberian Peninsula, in the original game, it's located outside the map, beyond clouds) because the timeline is actually this: -Drakengard 3 (routes C and E); -Tokyo, 2003; -Nier; -Nier Automata (route C); -Drakengard 1. What if Brother One and his cult were the ones who came up with project Gestalt ? What if he's the reason the Gestalts became violent before the Shadowlord was thought of ? What if the Seeds are actually Emil's clones, that are harvested by the androids to be turned into angels/Watchers, with those who disobey being twisted into dragonhood ? What if the elves are actually of the same stuff Adam and Eve are made of ? Machines in android form. What if there were humans left ? What if Brother One hid them to start anew, should Gestalt fail ? Leading the Red eyed androids to decide they need to be exterminated ? What if that's why he was exiled from the church ? Because his red eyes were too similar to that of androids, meaning he could turn humans into bloodthirsty creatures too, the same way androids were ?

[@tuikyo]

Most of the sidematerials completely contradict this.

[@Tesserakt8]

Watch out Peter Jackson, YFS has his own directors cut movie.

[@Big_S_Online]

So strange hearing the voices in these games in English for the first time haha

[@coal9205]

A video thats almost the same length of time as a work shift. Holy fuck

[@maddenstrand4689]

I never played drakengaurd but I bet they could do an awesome remake of it now

[@7ChaosTheory]

Almost had a heart attack when I saw the video length