DRAGOON QUEST

Nier began life as a new entry in the Drakengard series ( Drag-OnDragoon in Japan), before being reworked into a spinoff continuing from the original game’s fifth ending, which saw protagonist Caim and his dragon Angelus pass through a portal into present-day Tokyo to defeat a beast known as The Giant. This ending was conceived by Taro Yoko as a joke in the vein of Silent Hill 2’ s dog ending, much to the chagrin of producer Takamasa Shiba, who hated it – though Shiba would return to work with Yoko and Access Games on 2013’s

Drakengard 3. The ending’s connection to Nier is slender yet significant: The Giant’s death releases particles of an incurable disease into the world, prompting the initiation of the Gestalt project at the heart of Nier’s story.