 The common point of praise for the series through most of its life has been the story. While individual aspects have come in for criticism, the dark atmospheres, unconventional characters and general scenarios have been cited as one of each game's strengths. Despite some mixed feelings from reviewers either for the story as a whole or certain aspects of it, the characters and plot of Drakengard 3 have also been praised. The major exception is Drakengard 2: the story's lighter tone and more traditional narrative were noted and sometimes criticized for being overly simplistic or too similar to other games in the genre. The Drakengard characters have remained popular in Japan, with Dengeki holding a popularity contest for those characters to celebrate the series'tenth anniversary and the announcement of Drakengard 3. Among the most popular characters were the first game's main protagonists, Caim and Angelus (the former having earned the nickname Prince ( 王子, ouji) among fans ). The characters of Drakengard 3 have also proved to be highly popular.
