Nier (And Why You Should Play It)

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He's crazy. Hasn't had the best luck with development teams or budgets, but still mad creative. Nier is the best PS2 game on the PS3 and Drakengard 1 & 3 are nice curiosities for people who like weird games, but I think he could finally have a mainstream(ish) hit on his hands with this one. He's also super talented at screenwriting and incredibly humble. I've definitely grown a lot of respect for this guy after playing his games, and his eccentricities are more cute & funny than try-hard or obnoxious.

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I have never eat both of them. RT @SheriffSantiago: question: do you like cats or dogs better? this is very important

The greatest video game writer/director.

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Nier Automata is coming out February 23 in Japan. At E3 they said they were planning a simultaneous worldwide release, so I would assume either February 21 or 28 for America. They've also announced a PC version since the last time I posted and released this excellent gameplay footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq3_phBQA_Y

You have five months to play the original game and prepare. Go forth and make me proud!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So it's releasing the same month as Nioh? Uh-oh....I don't want those games competing with each other.

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So it's releasing the same month as Nioh? Uh-oh....I don't want those games competing with each other.

It's also sandwiched between Persona 5 and Horizon: Zero Dawn. February is ridiculously packed. The game is going to bomb hard... Hell, Nioh might too.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Nioh is definitely a niche game, but it has a chance of doing fairly well with both the Dark Souls crowd and any Team Ninja/Ninja Gaiden fans still remaining or holding out hope for this game to be good. Additionally, if review scores are generally positive, it may attract just enough new players to help the game turn out a profit. And to be fair, I've seen a lot of positive reaction to the Beta demo from both fans and critics alike.

THAT SAID....yeah, that amount of strong competition could easily be its undoing.

[Foggle]

I think Nioh will do okay if only because it's the first high profile release of the month. That said, it does come out two weeks after the triple-hitter of Resident Evil 7, Yakuza 0, and Kingdom Hearts 2.8 (all on the same day, wtf), so...

I'm mostly worried for Nier because it will have to survive on brand recognition alone, and though both the IP and Platinum Games have diehard fans, neither has usually proven too strong in terms of sales. Thankfully, it's the only game coming out that month to actually get a PC version (not counting For Honor, but who cares about that?), and the Japanese release won't have to compete with Persona. So I guess it'll do okay, but it might end up being the final entry in the series and the last time Square Enix works with P*.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Speaking of Nioh, here's a new trailer for it out of TGS.

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In a new interview, some interesting things about the game (and Platinum as a whole) were revealed, and Yoko Taro continued to be the greatest game director in history:

The demo is the game's first level.
There are no checkpoints during the first level, and if you die, you unlock an exclusive ending.
Game is full of enjoyable, humorous dialogue just like the original Nier.
You can use the in-game jukebox to create custom soundtracks out of various components of the OST.
Different sequential combinations of weapons can unlock exclusive techniques/combos.
It has even more genre swaps than the original Nier.
This game marks Platinum's first attempt to channel their skill at creating deep combat systems while also moving away from the hardcore action niche into something more accessible and universally interesting.
They teased "Nier 3" at one point.
When asked if he'd ever worked on Metal Gear Rising 2, Taura went completely silent. I feel like this implies that the game was already in production when Konami fucked the dog.
When asked why 2B was so sexy, Yoko responded with "I just love women!"
Yoko Taro loves all his female fans but doesn't care about the male ones. He'll still give them hugs though.

I also watched a new gameplay preview from PlayStation Underground, which showed off one of the game's most ingenious mechanics; when you die, you can leave a message with your corpse for other players to read. You can also repair these corpses (including your own), which will cause them to join your team as temporary party members and fight alongside you. If you don't repair them in time, they'll become special enemies like in Nioh/Let It Die. This gameplay preview also showed off the small-but-dense open world, which features lots of hidden items you can find via platforming. Also, boar drifting is back.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm sure that Foggle would love this video: https://youtu.be/iwNG8o8j5Uo

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Great video! I haven't really followed HyperBitHero at all, but his dedication to the Yakuza series has always made me happy. Glad to see that he loves Nier as well. I was in a bit of a rotten mood tonight and this cheered me up a lot.

I like that this video manages to contain both gushing praise and objective criticism. My favorite part is that he doesn't write the gameplay off as "shit" like so many people do. Yes, it's clunky and fairly basic, but the large amount of variety keeps it enjoyable and the bullet hell/platforming-oriented boss fights are some of my all-time favorites. Though certainly not on the level of God Hand, Ninja Gaiden Black, or Devil May Cry 3, I'd say it's about on par with most mid-high tier sixth generation action games, and it's way more fun than the majority of action RPGs even to this day IMO. The combat system and bosses are miles better than the heavily-praised Final Fantasy XV and Witcher 3 as far as I'm concerned.

I also really appreciated this comment on the video:

The only thing I would add to that many recent Nier reviews is the fact that it goes one step beyond anything else with its' narrative. People say things like "games can't do anything a movie or a book didn't do better". Well, I think ending D proves that video games can do a truly unique narrative, only possible within this medium.?

This is the main reason why Nier emotionally touched me to the extent it did and also why I think it has the best story in any video game. Playthrough 2 and Ending D play with narrative in ways that no other game has done before or since, and they do so in a way that only a video game can. Automata also does something similar and even more unexpected with its absolutely bonkers true ending. Stuff like this is why Yoko Taro has such a dedicated fan base despite his works containing a multitude of technical flaws.

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I can't believe it. A Yoko Taro game currently holds a 90 on Metacritic, making it the highest reviewed PS4 game of the year so far, and the second highest in general after Zelda. It's already received seven 10/10 scores, with critics saying stuff like:

You might be pulling off bad-ass combos in slick, speedy combat, but the game can also give you pause to muse about the existential philosophies it posits and questions - that's a special thing indeed. Backed by an excellent battle system thanks to Platinum, Automata is Yoko Taro's magnum opus - and it's one of the best games I've ever played.

NieR: Automata is the rare gaming experience in which narrative, aesthetics, and gameplay all complement each other to form a perfect storm of master class game design. A truly exemplary example of what video games are capable of as an art form, and a new personal favorite.

Put simply, NieR: Automata is the greatest game ever made. It's not just that it is the deepest and most narratively potent game ever developed - and it is a truly deep narrative experience - but more than that, Yoko Taro has finally found perhaps the developer on the planet capable of doing his visionary work justice. This game is a true, genuine work of art, and anyone who wants to prove that gaming does possess an equivalent to the greatest novels, operas, theatre plays, or paintings, now has that very game to point to. Yoko Taro is gaming's Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Welles, all rolled into one.

NieR Automata is the ultimate JRPG, mixing this genre perfectly with the Hack n' Slash style. It succeeds in every respect: A complex and deep story, beautiful design and a unique style. This game is a true masterpiece.

is this real life

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Glad to hear it! I'll be picking it up and playing it as soon as I finish Nioh....which may take a while since I'm still not even halfway done, but to be fair I'm ridiculously slow at RPGs of any kind. That's probably why I don't play that many of them.

So, just to recap, in the first quarter of this year alone, The PS4 boasts exclusives like Yakuza Zero, Nioh, and Nier: Automata, all of which are games that have garnered a lot of interest among fans of their respective genres and which have all done legitimately well with reviewers. Meanwhile, at launch the Nintendo Switch has The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is also topping the charts.

All the while, the XBOX ONE has....well, it has....Scalebo-OH WAIT, that's right, Microsoft scrapped that because Kamiya was trying to make an actual video game and that didn't line up with their interests. Well....I guess they have Halo Wars 2? I mean, to be fair it IS a big franchise game, but it's also the sequel to a nearly ten-year old game that even Halo fans didn't  (and still don't) care about.

Seriously, I'm the furthest thing from a biased console fanboy. The XBOX360 is still my most played console of the last generation by far. But words cannot describe how badly Microsoft has dropped the ball this gen. I don't think that there has ever been a less appealing high-profile console to be released since the Atari 5200 got squashed by Nintendo and Sega and completely forgotten about.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, there. I just couldn't avoid pointing it out.

Anyways, Nier, yeah, awesome! I'll definitely get to it!