Whereas the original had its insane plot to make up for its mundane gameplay, 2 somehow drops the ball on both really hard. The gameplay in the first was at least playable if perhaps dull, but Drakengard 2 manages to make the gameplay incredibly obnoxious. The plot itself is also completely trite, which is a contrast to the first game. To its credit, the scenes with Caim were enjoyable, but he can't save this game from being utter tripe otherwise.