Nier (And Why You Should Play It)

[Foggle]

Maybe someday it'll get another reprint, a digital re-release, or even a PS4 remaster. I sure hope it does!

[Nel_Annette]

Hell, Dishonored's getting a PS4 rerelease, and Square was willing to do it for Sleeping Dogs so hopefully we'll get one for Nier as well.

And on that day, I will finally accept your challenge and play Nier.

[Foggle]

I think they did another reprint of the first game. It seems to be a lot easier to get now on both consoles.

Anyway, apparently Nier 2 was actually Platinum's idea. Not Square's, not even Yoko Taro's, but Platinum's. People at the studio loved the original, and they've reportedly wanted to make their own Nier game for quite some time now... have I mentioned how much I fucking love Platinum Games? 2016 will probably be the greatest year in gaming history for me.

[Peanutbutter]

I think they did another reprint of the first game. It seems to be a lot easier to get now on both consoles.

Anyway, apparently Nier 2 was actually Platinum's idea. Not Square's, not even Yoko Taro's, but Platinum's. People at the studio loved the original, and they've reportedly wanted to make their own Nier game for quite some time now... have I mentioned how much I fucking love Platinum Games? 2016 will probably be the greatest year in gaming history for me.

Platinum are the best non-Nintendo company out there. They're pretty much Konami's good twin.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Platinum Games is the best developer on the planet. Even their B-games like Anarchy Reigns and Korra are still more well-designed and interesting than most corporate-produced AAA games these days. I also hear that their new Transformers game is awesome.

Literally the only negative thing that I have to say about them is in regard to Kamiya's out of line remark that Ninja Gaiden wasn't worth his time because it didn't interest him (this was from an interview before Bayonetta's official release, so NG3 didn't exist yet), while claiming that God of War was much better, but also admitting that he had never played a Ninja Gaiden game before....

But even then, that's more of a gripe against Kamiya himself, rather than Platinum as a studio, and I still love his work, but he's wrong in this case. It's worth noting that the director of MGRR did call NG3 a piece of shit when people were comparing his game to that, but that game absolutely deserves that remark.

[gunswordfist]

Platinum Games is the best developer on the planet.

[Foggle]

I think Kamiya's comment about Ninja Gaiden was probably in jest. I know Harada and Itagaki had some sort of joke rivalry going on over Tekken and DOA, so I wouldn't be surprised if Kamiya was just responding to something Itagaki said about DMC.

But yeah, Platinum and Nintendo are the two best game development studios. No one else really compares to them, not even my other favorites (Insomniac comes close-ish). Reading what Platinum said about Nier has somehow made me grow even more respect for them, which I didn't even think was possible. I hope Tango continues down the path of being their awesome spin-off studio (I will forever remain adamant that The Evil Within is one of the greatest games ever).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Itagaki-era Team Ninja comes close, IMO, but as of now, PG has no equal.

[talonmalon333]

Except for Nintendo.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Star Fox Zero should be something, then!

[talonmalon333]

Kind of a weird feeling actually looking forward to a Star Fox game. But I ain't complaining.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Except for Nintendo.

Nintendo is a publisher, parent company, and has multiple different development teams comprising it. Just because two games are published by Nintendo, it doesn't mean that the same development team worked on them. For example, Yoshi's Island and Star Fox both have Nintendo listed as their publisher, but not the same exact team worked on both.

[Foggle]

Personally, when I refer to Nintendo as a developer, I mean their internal studios like EAD. Though Retro and SNES/N64-era Rareware would be up there near the top too IMO.

[Foggle]

The thing about Platinum is that I usually consider Clover's games to be part of their output (since they're almost the exact same company), as well as the stuff Capcom Production Studio 4 made (as I believe that was what eventually got renamed to Clover). The combined forces of Resident Evil 4, God Hand, and (soon) Nier make them pretty much untouchable in my eyes.

Taking this into account, here is a list of all their games:

Spoiler

Devil May Cry
Resident Evil (Remake)
P.N. 03
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe 2
Devil Kings
Resident Evil 4
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!
Okami
God Hand
MadWorld
Infinite Space
Bayonetta
Vanquish
Anarchy Reigns
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
The Wonderful 101
Bayonetta 2
The Legend of Korra
Transformers: Devastation
Star Fox Zero
Scalebound
Nier New Project
Project Guard

[close]

Unbelievable.

NGDS

GODDAMN IT why do I always forget Dragon Sword is a thing

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I was specifically referring to their output as PG, though.

That said, I'd argue that if Itagaki had not had a falling out with Tecmo and left the company nearly 8 years ago, then TN's output of quality games would be comparable to PG/Clover, by now.

That, and as much as I love PG, I still find NGB to be the greatest designed character action game by far.

Like I said, PG is the best developer on the planet. I'd never argue otherwise. But I would argue that NGB is the best character action game on the planet.