Nier

I didn't expect much from Nier going in, and in truth it starts a bit slow, very much like a typical action RPG. But soon it gets very good, and then it keeps getting better and better. It defies convention in a number of ways, including a variety of fighting methods that actually make a difference depending on enemy tactics and the environment. It also gives you a number of different magic techniques and makes you learn them and use them using clever game design. There's even a mini text adventure, with some very easy riddles, showing that the designers chose purposely not to hew to tradition (at least, not recent tradition).

So the gameplay is very, very good. But what pushes Nier over the top is the story and characterization. I loved that I actually understood the story, unlike so many JRPGs where it seems that the designers work to make the story incomprehensible. It's a simple story of a man trying to save his daughter from a mysterious menace, with some fascinating side stories that serve admirably to draw the player in.

I've saved the best for last; the character design and dialog in Nier are absolutely top-notch. I won't spoil it for you by giving details (really, try not to learn too much about this game before playing it; you'll ruin many great surprises), but in particular, the characters of Weiss and Kaine are absolutely superbly written and voice-acted. Be warned, though, that one of them uses some fairly coarse language, so those with delicate sensibilities might want to stay away.

The icing on the cake is a dollop of humor; this is not your father's dead-serious JRPG. Nier is truly greater than the sum of its parts, and if you love great games, you owe it to yourself to play this one.

At 1up my blogs dissected & examined Nier from every angle. The fact I spent so much time discussing this game should be a testament onto itself however it is important I put all that into one review to make it easier for you the readers.

Essentially this game is a brain melter. In a ruined city Nier, a rugged looking middle aged man is wielding a lead pipe against creatures composed of jumbled floating text. These abominations are called "shades" and it is assumed they almost wiped humanity clean off the face of the earth. Nier is not trying to save the world. His more immediate concern is protecting his sweet daughter Yohna .

Suddenly an evil talking book on the ground tempts Nier with power. "You can't fight them all off. You know you want to defend the little one you love." Any of us would bargain with the devil at this point.

While wielding the pipe I could do evasive rolling, jumping, and hammer on shades with quicker yet weaker attacks or charge up more powerful yet slower swings. Pretty much Nier felt like a clunky God of war mixed with a 3D final fight. The whole motif of dear dad protecting his child in a ruined city also made me reminisce about the first Silent Hill.

Then the floating book comes into play. All at once Nier is pulverizing shades with giant fists, impaling lances, and wave shaped blasts of dark energy brought to hellish life by the arcane tome. Running back and forth I'm hurling bright red balls of power at my foes when it dawns on me now Nier is more like Smash TV, Death Smiles, and Bayonetta. It was at this decisive moment I fell in love with the game. It also hurt me to admit I saw reasons why others may hate it.

If you are expecting Nier to be like Final Fantasy just because square/enix is on the cover of the case you are in for a disappointment. There are no brightly colored plastic perfect young protagonists getting into ATB battles and improving their stats through an overly complex skill board. Nier himself is a gruff older man with plenty of scars, muscles, and white silvery hair. His first concern is being a good father. Everything else comes second.

Likewise if you are wanting Nier to be as frantic and fluid as Devil May cry 4, Bayonetta, or God of war you'll also be let down. While fighting in Nier is fun and has similarities to the action game genre it is not quite as graceful or pretty. Likewise there are many nuances found in rpgs such as saving villagers, gathering supplies, hunting, fishing, and farming. While Nier is nice enough not to doom you to failure for not doing these extra activities it is still encouraged.

Still here? Still intrigued? Good because a few complaints aside Nier is still enjoyable and wonderfully unique!

Needless to say Nier continues to screw with you. Abruptly after your slug out in the abandoned Metropolis Nier fast forwards things 1,300 years and yet both Nier and Yonah look the same. Are they reincarnated versions of the original pair? Are they clones? Did they time travel by hitching a ride with the heroes from chrono trigger? Your guess at this point would be as valid as mine! Rest assured all this is explained but Nier refuses to give it to you all at once.

By now a beautiful landscape of lush forests, plains, and a desert have completely covered the last remnants of civilized society. Only the occasional skeletal rail structure of a collapsed bridge or a run down military base with hostile robots reminds you of the days gone by.

As is the often fatal flaw of most rpgs Nier starts out a bit slow. Good old dad is the town hero & labor ox doing chores for the pretty book worm librarian who is the town over seer. Her twin sister is a bard that sometimes comes on to you in a very subtle way.

Your first few tasks will be killing sheep for mutton and collecting medicinal herbs. Luckily after Yohna wanders off to find a magic flower in some abandoned ruins the pace picks up and never slows down again.

It is while trying to once again rescue his daughter Nier meets Grimoire Weiss, a good intentioned floating book that is nothing like the evil one encountered in the opening tutorial. After Weiss helps Yohna Nier insists they become friends. Sadly it is at this moment Yohna has once again been contaminated by the black scrawl virus. Weiss can cure her but he needs to collect all the sacred verses to do so.

As you can expect each dungeon opens up an almost schizophrenic variation of game design. There's a haunted mansion that has fixed camera angles and a light dust motif over the lens giving us the feel of survival horror. After traversing through a massive Mayan looking city with barges that travel atop of moving quick sand river canals a cute masked girl named Fyra leads you through a desert to a temple in which each room places a restriction on what abilities you can use. In a misty woodland village reflexes give way to mind games as you get entangled in a demented riddle contest & text adventure to bring people out of their comatose trances. Perhaps all these pale in comparison to the run down mountain junk yard in which you battle deranged machines, do some moving rail shoot em up action whilst riding in a mining cart, and then toss bombs into a giant mechanoid's mouth to destroy it.

Along the way you will also be joined by Kaine, a foul mouthed heroic young woman partly possessed by a male shade and Emil, a kind gentle boy who undergoes drastic changes to help his friends. The character development in Nier is very deep, genuine, and at times heart breaking. These are wonderful people but they have too many eccentric quirks and skeletons in their closets to fit in anywhere. Only Nier seems compassionate enough to look past their faults and embrace them as members of his expanded dysfunctional family. Throughout it all Weiss wryly calls Kaine a hussy for her provocative lingerie apparel and chastises Nier for being a naïve sap! (Yet deep down we know Weiss is a complete softy!)

Last but not least the music and voice acting are a tour de force. Almost every track sounds like a spiritual driven hymn or techno metal clanking love song . In addition each character sounded spot on and natural. I have not one single complaint!

If someone told you Nier was a Jack of all trades but master of none it would be a valid argument. However Nier never abysmally fails at anything either.

What you may love about Nier

+Very orginal story line.

+ Hack n slash action mixed with an rpg leveling system.

+Lovable characters.

+Found "magic words" can be mixed and matched to add new perks to weapons or Weiss's spells.

+Fun boss battles that are challenging but not completely ridiculous.

+Kaine is not just a marketing gimmick. Though she fights in lingerie and is questionably a hermaphrodite she has deep reasons driving her actions & for her origins.

+Weiss's insults and general commentary.

+Fishing, farming, and collecting are all possible past times that yield rewarding results.

+Enemies are diverse. I'm not merely counting the shades because in truth there are other dangers out in the wilderness that can mess you up in a heart beat. "Giant Boar!" (cough)

+A simple yet great motivation for the main protagonist. You really root for Nier as he tries to save his sweet sick daughter Yonah from the black scrawl virus.

+Bitchin sound track & voice acting

+Change of gameplay styles & perspective keeps things fresh! Have you ever suddenly been dropped into Smash TV, Raiden, Donkey Kong, Break out, or Mario Bros while playing a post apocalyptic rpg?! It's sheer brilliant!

+Every town has a diverse cultural flare.

+ Fyra is like a cute lil girl Pyramid Head. Awww!

Why you may hate Nier

-Dated visuals though not nearly as bad at the critics make them out to be. Pretty much Nier looks like Demon souls and Shadow of colossus with just a bit more zing added. Is that bad? Apparently for most it is.

-Some quests can be obscure on what you have to do. For example I was sent out to kill a giant boar but the guy failed to tell me that friggin bastard is invincible!

-I know how to fish but don't know where to plant my harvest.

- Yonah's cooking is terrible!

-If you have civilized sensibilities Kaine's barrage of profanity may offend.

-Dad can do EVERYTHING except swim. He sinks like a rock!

-Weiss's jaded barbs occasionally make you contemplate putting him in the fireplace as kindling!

-The game doesn't explain jack to you in the beginning. As a matter of fact getting everyone's story requires you play through "game +" mode 3 other times. The good news is you keep your swag and get to start out at a half way point instead of at the very start.

-When enemies hit you they have a tendency to send you flying like a baseball smacked out of a stadium by a pro baseball batter. Luckily once you utilize blocking, jumping, and evasive rolling it is not as much of a problem anymore.

My personal score: +A for artfully awesome!

Summary: Worth $25, in my opinion. Must like grinding. Story will keep you interested.

US Edition
Pros: -From early on, I gained an emotional attachment to the main characters daughter. They did an excellent job of keeping the main character gruff but caring, and making the daughter charming and not tiresome.
-Magic bar regenerates at a decent rate, and can absorb energy when enemies die. This makes magic an often used tactic, not hoarded Just In Case of surprise boss battles. They let you re-assign all of the shoulder buttons to either: block, dodge, or any discovered magic spells. I dropped block entirely, and never missed it.
-The talking book, your earliest sidekick, has a very good and fleshed out character. My favorite part was the many arguments between the talking book and your female sidekick (who is dressed like a lingerie model, also a plus).
-Earning words that you can attach to worn gear added a nice layer of customization.
-Some of the boss battles are utterly fantastic. I love the battle where a four-story tall monster comes to your village.

Cons: -This game came out in the US this year 2010, yet it's graphics belong to 2007.
-So many combat options, but few reasonable choices. There were only three spells out of the nine that I used at all. I only used about four weapons the whole game, even though you find around 25 different weapons in the game (amongst three categories). Broadswords move far too slowly, and short swords cap out at half the damage possible from broadswords or spears. Once I got the phoenix spear midway through the game, I never changed weapons again.
-Combat is too simple. All of the short swords use the same move set. Same with spears and broadswords. With the ridiculous amount of combat, it got fairly repetitive.
-Huge holes exist in the story until you get to the end of the game, and it still leaves numerous less pressing questions without answers. You may need multiple play throughs to get everything.
-The young kid side-kick is a little boring, but his backstory was excellent.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 32 reviews  3.8 out of 5 stars