Nier (And Why You Should Play It)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, Nier sounds like it could be fun. I don't mind doing lots of reading if I enjoy the actual story.

It'll be a good game to look into once I lift the burden of this particular exam off my shoulders. Of course, I still have to focus on my other (smaller) exam, and job hunting, but I still have that gift money from my graduation to buy games with, so I can just use that. Or, I could always just wait for my birthday next month.

[Foggle]

The Xbox 360 version seems to go for about $15 used at GameStop these days, so you aren't out that much if you end up not liking it, at least.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, but I've trusted all of your recommendations of far since I've liked them all, so I'm sure this one will be fine. You seem to value games that, among ll other things, are fun to play, and that's all I really care about, at the end of the day.

[Foggle]

Yeah, but I've trusted all of your recommendations of far since I've liked them all, so I'm sure this one will be fine. You seem to value games that, among ll other things, are fun to play, and that's all I really care about, at the end of the day.

Thanks! To be honest though, I generally like just about anything that is actually a game and not overly pretentious, so sometimes my recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, I genuinely think Nier is among the top games of all time, along with F.E.A.R. and others!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I checked out some gameplay videos and it looks up my alley, at the very least. It has side-scrolling platforming segments, melee combat, and puzzle solving. Those are all things that I really like. For the record, I did enjoy Darksiders 2 for the most part, and it had really simple combat and puzzle solving, along with light RPG elements. The only thing that killed the momentum for me (and the reason that I still have yet to finish the actual game), is the obnoxious Earth section, in which the game suddenly changes it's mind and decides to temporarily become a third person shooter with the most obnoxious enemy design that I've seen since The Flood, which is saying a lot. I did eventually make it past that section, but it soured my overall experience with the game, and I didn't bother to finish the final dungeon. As long as Nier doesn't up and abandon what it does well for a horribly designed section of a different genre within the same game, then I probably won't have a problem with it.

[Foggle]

Whoa, I didn't know anything like that happened in Darksiders 2! I recently picked up both games on a Steam sale but have yet to play them... I hope it doesn't end up souring my experience as well.

Anyway, the gameplay mix-ups in Nier are never too major and more likely to add to the fun rather than ruin it. There are some extended third-person (and top-down) shooting segments, but they're really enjoyable and not at all annoying IMO. There is one bit of forced fishing that can kill the momentum if you forget to look at your mini-map (though it takes less than a minute if you aren't the founder of Polygon), and one side quest's worth of grinding if you want the last two endings, but that's really it. If you want horrifyingly difficult and tedious gameplay changes in this series, you should play Drakengard 1 & 3 all the way to the end and face the final bosses...

I'm sure you already know this, but don't read any of the YouTube comments on Nier videos! Having the story spoiled will significantly hurt your first (and second) playthrough of the game.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Whoa, I didn't know anything like that happened in Darksiders 2! I recently picked up both games on a Steam sale but have yet to play them... I hope it doesn't end up souring my experience as well.

Consider it like that section in Half-Life that you don't like. Play the game up to that point and it's a fun time. Then just quit and pretend that you beat the game (and honestly, it probably should have been over by this point, anyways). If you play through that section, though, then it's a real annoyance and it'll probably ruin the experience for you.

Anyway, the gameplay mix-ups in Nier are never too major and more likely to add to the fun rather than ruin it. There are some extended third-person (and top-down) shooting segments, but they're really enjoyable and not at all annoying IMO. There is one bit of forced fishing that can kill the momentum if you forget to look at your mini-map (though it takes less than a minute if you aren't the founder of Polygon), and one side quest's worth of grinding if you want the last two endings, but that's really it. If you want horrifyingly difficult and tedious gameplay changes in this series, you should play Drakengard 1 & 3 all the way to the end and face the final bosses...

Well, I'm sure the side quest can't be any more monotonous than Arkham City's, and some how I endured the majority of that shit.

I'm sure you already know this, but don't read any of the YouTube comments on Nier videos! Having the story spoiled will significantly hurt your first (and second) playthrough of the game.

I've learned the fine art of ignoring YT commenters on any videos relating to anything with anatomy worth spoiling since I've gotten into Game of Thrones. It's a really handy skill to have.

Also, I didn't have any of Nier spoiled for me. I just saw one cutscenes of some lady saying something along the lines of "fuck this fucking shit!" I'm in love with this game already.

That also probably happened to be something that the critics complained about, because foul language used for any comedic effect is automatically demeaning and immature. They certainly used that against Splatterhouse, despite the fact that the game knew what it was, and knew what it's story was, and for that I found the dialogue to be incredibly appropriate, and suitably entertaining. It was legitimately funny when it needed to be, but according to critics it was just childish and derogatory. I can only imagine what they said about House of the Dead Overkill, which despite what any of them believe, has one of the funniest scripts that I've ever heard in a video game.

[Foggle]

Consider it like that section in Half-Life that you don't like. Play the game up to that point and it's a fun time. Then just quit and pretend that you beat the game (and honestly, it probably should have been over by this point, anyways). If you play through that section, though, then it's a real annoyance and it'll probably ruin the experience for you.

So it's like Xen if it had the enemies from The Library? WHY OH GOD WHY

Well, I'm sure the side quest can't be any more monotonous than Arkham City's, and some how I endured the majority of that shit.

You are a stronger man than I. I think I was able to suffer through something like three of those before I completely gave up and focused on nothing but the main storyline. Some of the side quests are definitely on that level (and two of them, from what my friend who 100%ed the game tells me, are even worse), but at least in Nier the travel time is usually pretty short, and has great music accompanying it. Also, the side quests all feature great party banter that adds to the character development and overall story.

Also, I didn't have any of Nier spoiled for me. I just saw one cutscenes of some lady saying something along the lines of "fuck this fucking shit!" I'm in love with this game already.

That also probably happened to be something that the critics complained about, because foul language used for any comedic effect is automatically demeaning and immature. They certainly used that against Splatterhouse, despite the fact that the game knew what it was, and knew what it's story was, and for that I found the dialogue to be incredibly appropriate, and suitably entertaining. It was legitimately funny when it needed to be, but according to critics it was just childish and derogatory. I can only imagine what they said about House of the Dead Overkill, which despite what any of them believe, has one of the funniest scripts that I've ever heard in a video game.

Kaine is an exceptional character, easily one of the best ever written for a video game. Her back story at the beginning of playthrough 2 is astoundingly well done. The vulgarities she spouts are hilarious and by no means ruin her character! Stupid journalists.

Oh man, I forgot about that recent Splatterhouse game. You'll definitely like Nier if you enjoyed that one!

Too bad you don't have PS3 then... if you liked House of the Dead: Overkill and end up liking Nier, you'd definitely want to play Drakengard 3. It's definitely up there with Overkill in terms of hilarious - and hilariously vulgar - game dialogue.

[Rynnec]

That also probably happened to be something that the critics complained about, because foul language used for any comedic effect is automatically demeaning and immature. They certainly used that against Splatterhouse, despite the fact that the game knew what it was, and knew what it's story was, and for that I found the dialogue to be incredibly appropriate, and suitably entertaining. It was legitimately funny when it needed to be, but according to critics it was just childish and derogatory. I can only imagine what they said about House of the Dead Overkill, which despite what any of them believe, has one of the funniest scripts that I've ever heard in a video game.

And yet these same critics are the same ones that praised DmC's story as "real" and "mature". Proving that game critics wouldn't know good writing if it bit'em in the ass.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So it's like Xen if it had the enemies from The Library? WHY OH GOD WHY

In a nutshell.

You are a stronger man than I. I think I was able to suffer through something like three of those before I completely gave up and focused on nothing but the main storyline. Some of the side quests are definitely on that level (and two of them, from what my friend who 100%ed the game tells me, are even worse), but at least in Nier the travel time is usually pretty short, and has great music accompanying it. Also, the side quests all feature great party banter that adds to the character development and overall story.

I was trying to 100% the game like I did for AA, however while there were more side-quests than before, all, of them were comprised of the most boring tasks imaginable in a fucking Batman game. The reward "boss fights" at the end of them were nothing short of pathetic excuses teaser cutscenes that only implied a boss fight which never actually happened.

Kaine is an exceptional character, easily one of the best ever written for a video game. Her back story at the beginning of playthrough 2 is astoundingly well done. The vulgarities she spouts are hilarious and by no means ruin her character! Stupid journalists.

It's actually quite refreshing for an RPG. I remember how boring and stoic the quip conversations were in ToV, and people somehow considered that good writing, as if it added to character development (which it didn't), but it just felt like a waste of good voice-acting talent to me, personally. The main story of that game was also incredibly mediocre for how hyped up it was. Not bad, by any means, but I was still really underwhelmed by it. I think it's awesome to have an action RPG hybrid that can support good characters with actual fun and witty dialogue that isn't afraid to be raunchy.

Oh man, I forgot about that recent Splatterhouse game. You'll definitely like Nier if you enjoyed that one!

Sounds good, although even Nier doesn't have Jim Cummings (aka the voice actor of Winnie the Pooh) cursing his balls off to comedy gold. Still, it sounds right up my alley.

[/quote]Too bad you don't have PS3 then... if you liked House of the Dead: Overkill and end up liking Nier, you'd definitely want to play Drakengard 3. It's definitely up there with Overkill in terms of hilarious - and hilariously vulgar - game dialogue.[/quote]

Well, if Sony wasn't so stingy and didn't insist on keeping a last-gen console priced at nearly $200 in all retail stores (which is ridiculous given how old it is, now), I'd probably have a better chance of getting one.

[Foggle]

And yet these same critics are the same ones that praised DmC's story as "real" and "mature". Proving that game critics wouldn't know good writing if it bit'em in the ass.

They're just doing God's work.

Gotta' love how these reviewers hype up the "intelligence" of a story that includes a pregnant woman getting shot in the baby by one of the protagonists while simultaneously trashing the most feminist game I've ever played, which was written by three women and features a diverse cast of female characters in almost every single role containing any agency, by calling it "sexist." Yes, I am still mad about how the majority of people criticized Drakengard 3. Funnily enough, it doesn't even play any worse than DmC, despite its budget being probably no more than a fourth of that one's.

I was trying to 100% the game like I did for AA, however while there were more side-quests than before, all, of them were comprised of the most boring tasks imaginable in a fucking Batman game. The reward "boss fights" at the end of them were nothing short of pathetic excuses teaser cutscenes that only implied a boss fight which never actually happened.

Wow! Now I'm really glad I didn't go for all those Riddler trophies...

It's actually quite refreshing for an RPG. I remember how boring and stoic the quip conversations were in ToV, and people somehow considered that good writing, as if it added to character development (which it didn't), but it just felt like a waste of good voice-acting talent to me, personally. The main story of that game was also incredibly mediocre for how hyped up it was. Not bad, by any means, but I was still really underwhelmed by it. I think it's awesome to have an action RPG hybrid that can support good characters with actual fun and witty dialogue that isn't afraid to be raunchy.

I heard that game was actually pretty cool, but my friend who adores the Tales series doesn't seem to think too highly of it, either. I've still yet to play it myself, though I've been meaning to for a while.

I think the big difference is that ToV is intended for teenagers if not children in Japan, while Nier was made for a decidedly adult audience. Not too many RPGs can say that about themselves, though usually the best ones are able to (like The Witcher 2). One RPG I really liked from this gen was Lost Odyssey. While it wasn't an adults only game, it was actually really mature and well-written - outside of the child characters, who were absolutely awful.

Sounds good, although even Nier doesn't have Jim Cummings (aka the voice actor of Winnie the Pooh) cursing his balls off to comedy gold.

I need to put that game back on my "to buy" list.

Well, if Sony wasn't so stingy and didn't insist on keeping a last-gen console priced at nearly $200 in all retail stores (which is ridiculous given how old it is, now), I'd probably have a better chance of getting one.

Wow, that is pretty awful. I guess it kind of makes sense though, given that it was by far the most expensive of the last gen consoles to produce, which is why they pared down the PS4 comparatively.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That also probably happened to be something that the critics complained about, because foul language used for any comedic effect is automatically demeaning and immature. They certainly used that against Splatterhouse, despite the fact that the game knew what it was, and knew what it's story was, and for that I found the dialogue to be incredibly appropriate, and suitably entertaining. It was legitimately funny when it needed to be, but according to critics it was just childish and derogatory. I can only imagine what they said about House of the Dead Overkill, which despite what any of them believe, has one of the funniest scripts that I've ever heard in a video game.

And yet these same critics are the same ones that praised DmC's story as "real" and "mature". Proving that game critics wouldn't know good writing if it bit'em in the ass.

Just stick in an obvious (and misinformed) commentary about society, and you're sure to be a hit with any gaming journalist who has never actually played a single game from before this millennium (or since the XBOX360 became a thing).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I heard that game was actually pretty cool, but my friend who adores the Tales series doesn't seem to think too highly of it, either. I've still yet to play it myself, though I've been meaning to for a while.

It's actually one of those JRPGs that I managed to have some fun with for a while. It has an interesting combat system and the formula is just fun enough to stay entertaining. That said, it did become monotonous after a while, IMO, which is why I stopped around the 40-hour mark, but if it managed to hold my interest for that long, I can certainly see why actual fans of the genre would adore it for its gameplay. I just think that it's story is incredibly average.

I think the big difference is that ToV is intended for teenagers if not children in Japan, while Nier was made for a decidedly adult audience. Not too many RPGs can say that about themselves, though usually the best ones are able to (like The Witcher 2). One RPG I really liked from this gen was Lost Odyssey. While it wasn't an adults only game, it was actually really mature and well-written - outside of the child characters, who were absolutely awful.

That was another one that I would have tried back when I was in the mood for more traditional JRPGs, but unfortunately that ship sailed for me a while ago.

I need to put that game back on my "to buy" list.

Same, especially since it's probably dirt cheap online.

[Foggle]

A small tidbit that might make the game a little more interesting for you, Dr. E-K. Apparently Yoko Taro's (the creator/writer/director of Nier) favorite manga is Level E.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

He has good taste for the delightfully absurd!

And yes, I will play the game, but like before, I have committed myself to cut out gaming cold turkey until I pass my NAPLEX. The only exception that I have made thus far are the Teconsider ame of Thrones episodes, but I don't actually consider those to be games.

At any rate, I still have an unused $25 gift card for Game Stop, so I have a pretty good idea of what to use it on when the time comes.