Nier

Nier is amazing.

I've been eagerly awaiting this game since I heard about it. I thought it would either be a total flop, or it may be interesting. The trailers where cryptic, no information online, and mostly skeptical critics commenting on demos they played. I heard that it was too hack and slash, then I heard that it was a totally in depth RPG complete with gardening and fishing. Its both.

I know, that's really weird. It doesn't usually go. But it does here. The game play is rather difficult at first, at least for someone not accustomed to hack and slash action type fighting. The fact that it lacks a "lock on" function is a real draw back to me, honestly. But over all, it's enjoyable, and challenging. Some of the fights have reminded me of Zelda with their puzzles and problem solving aspects to it.

The game starts out with a bang, and within the first half an hour I'm certain you will be intrigued and must play more! It makes you want to know more, it sucks you in. The story, so far, is like nothing I have seen before. It reminds me, in looks, of Shadow of the Colossus, except about a million times better because now there are towns and many people and creatures to interact with. It's also beautiful, and the back drop is indeed haunting, while still keeping a hint of Whimsy for the Square Enix touch. I'm so pleased that Nier has come out, when I was tired of being disappointed by SE's Final Fantasy releases post FFIX, and I was recently disappointed with FXIII's lack of an open world, well Nier fills that in spades.

The world is vast and gigantic! and you will be sent into it for many reasons, to deliver fragile packages that will break if you are knocked down or jump, to kill sheep and harvest mutton to a fussy lady with tons of fat children, or to run off and save your Daughter. And no, I'm not at all feeling that I lost out on the Japanese story, I like it much more as a father. I think it is more unique, and it makes more sense.

The characters are outrageous, and will often be saying very filthy things that will have you laughing out loud. I would not advise playing this game around small children. :x but many times I will laugh so loud that people who are in the other room will ask me what happened, and I will recount the video games content. It's very funny, and very unexpected.

The game is an all around hit. I've been playing it non stop since I got it, and I only stopped because I got caught on a particularly hard boss and my fingers started to hurt, not because I wanted to stop.

There are multiple endings, and quests that effect your characters proficiency in many of his day to day things, like fishing or gardening. And of course, he has his daughter at home, he cannot ignore her, he has to go home and check on her too. All of these actions affect the outcome of the game. The world is completely open, you decide in what order you do things, and it is beautiful and wonderful. It reminds me of the open worlds in old Final Fantasy games. (I am a Final Fantasy loving geek, so you have to understand, that is a huge compliment in my mind! hehe)

My only complaints is with the camera angles... some of them are terrible in certain boss fights, and the camera control can be buggy in small spaces. I dont consider it a huge issue, or any debilitating issue of the game, though it can be frustrating in the grand scale multi-tier boss fights. Also, it appears that you can only play as Nier, and not as Kaine or any of the other supporting characters.

The story is wonderful, the game play is fun and the music is absolutely fantastic. I would buy the Soundtrack without a blink if I found it on sale anywhere yet! All around, the game is a total hit! Any RPG or action fan would love it! I can see the "God of War" and "Devil May Cry" fans going for this, just as much as the "Final Fantasy and other RPG" fans as well! (I'm in the later category, and I have no complaints!) I love it. I recommend Nier, and I'm excited to see more of this new Franchise of SE's. ^^

Edit: I just found the soundtrack on iTunes, all 44 some+ tracks. It's amazing! This game is really phenomenal on all the right levels :)

Edit: I've played through the story, and I have played the second ending. Oh... my god. No really, I can only ADD stars to my review.

I the game has 4 endings, all revealing more shocking and unexpected story twists... new cut scenes, and other FUN stuff. After you beat the game, you do not have to restart the whole game and get to keep your character info and weapons/items (to avoid spoilers I will leave it at that) I love this game.

I find myself thinking about it, months after buying and playing it, and still wanting to play it. And the music, wow phenomenal! I still want to, and plan to play through the other 2 available endings, I'm procrastinating because once I play them, there will be no more Nier, not until they release another, and that makes me sad. This game is really something wonderful!

As stated above, this is what this review will be.

First things first: Yes, for a PS3 game the quality of the graphics are... lacking. You can see giant pixelated horror everywhere, ragged edges like they're going out of style, etc. But the overall style is nice enough and it's not like we've never dealt with pixels and ragged edges before. And yes, there is side-questing, and yes the running back and forth is tedious, but it's not needed unless you want to be able to get everything to see the C and D endings, and even then it only needs done once. The hack and slash gameplay is also average. It's solid. Not omg spectacular, not horrible. It's solid.

ON TO THE GUSHING. Okay, despite the sub-par graphics, average gameplay, runrunrunrun everywhere sidequests... I love this game. Am completely in love with it. I finish maybe - MAYBE! - 5% of the games I start. I got through two of the endings of Nier in three days. That was about 35 hours I spent playing Nier in three days. And it was an absolutely wonderful trip. Have also bought the soundtrack on iTunes. Absolutely amazing soundtrack, every song.

Maybe nostalgia is working in the game's favor for me. Something about the overall feel of the world reminds me of a SNES or PS1 game. Facade and the Aerie in particular just SCREAM old school rpg setting, and I expected little white-bordered blue boxes to pop up over the huts in the Aerie whenever someone inside spoke. But irregardless, the setting just sucked me in. I have a soft-spot for post-appacalyptic worlds with the remnants of civilization showing up here and there, slowly revealing sinister secrets that make you shudder.

I also found each character outstanding, from Nier and his companions to quite a few of the NPCs, to several of the enemies in New Game+. Nier's devotion to his daughter is just the sweetest thing I've seen in years and he made for such a breath of fresh air. The other party memebers are equally wonderful, and the banter that goes between them all is great.

Also, I'm not the type to get emotional when playing, watching, or reading something, and maybe it's because I was emerging nerves raw from a tough semester, but wow. I went through half a box of tissues in the first playthrough, and then went through the rest in New Game+. Nier does not pull its emotional punches, and if the game wants you to feel like a monster for progressing... yeah. Ouch. Definitely a point on the game's favor since I think the last game to make me bawl was Shadow of the Collosus.

So yes. I think it's time to bring my deluge to a close. If you have a soft spot for the strange desolate rpgs from the SNES and PS1 eras go for it. I've looked at many of the professional reviews online and I wonder if we played the same game... everything they found cliche or bad I found sweet and charming. Eh, maybe they've just become too jaded.

A new approach from Square-Enix which is a combination of Hack/Slash with RPG elements. The question is, should you buy this game or is this game the type of game for you?

Graphics: 8/10
Overall the graphics are pretty good with the exception of the background and the building structures in the game being very bland and have no details at all. If you are looking for a God of War or Final Fantasy XIII graphics type of game, sorry this is not close to those two games.

Controls: 6/10
This is what really kills the game in my opinion. The controls are extremely clunky and non responsive, if the controls and movement were as fluid as Devil May Cry / Bayonetta I can say this game would be amazing. Not to mention at times you get the extreme awkward camera positions that blind / hinder you from moving or attacking mobs.

Sound: 9/10
The voice acting in this game is top notch; I can boldly say its as good if not better then Final Fantasy XIII. The composed score in the game is marvelous and Square-Enix fans would be able to fit in and appreciate it.

Gameplay: 9/10
As stated above, this game is a hack-slash type of game which shares RPG elements. For people who say this game is like Devil May Cry / God of War, they have no idea what they are talking about, because it is nothing like those two games. The basic structure of the game consist of your hero being able to equip different weapons, he also has a mysterious book which can cast magic. Upon leveling up your character you obtain more magic spells and able to buy/upgrade your weapons. The neat part is you can also customize your weapon and magic to enhance the effect with random enhancement items "Word Parts" This game has a decent open world, which a lot of side-quest attach to it. There is also a decent amount of humor between the hero and the talking book that keeps you excited and not bored out of your mind.

Overall: 8/10
The game was done beautifully and overall it's a great game with a pretty unique storyline. The game is not short compared to DMC / GOW, so you won't be paying $59.99 for 5-8 hours of play. Even with the controls and movement being clunky, I think the game deserves a rental at least. On the side note, the NA version of the game supports only the older Nier with a father and daughter relationship. As for the JP PS3 version it supports the younger Nier with a Brother and Sister relationship. There might be plans that the NA might get the younger Nier, since the start menu of the game has a section grayed out labeled "Download Content"

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