Nier Catch-All

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I didn't see a catch-all, but I'm interested to see if anyone else is playing this game. I like action RPGs, but this thing seems to have slipped beneath the radar for the most part (and I am saving my pennies for 3D.Game Heroes next month).

Anyone picked up a copy? Heard news about possible demo?

Official Site

Reviews

?

Gameplay movies

www.gametrailers.com/video/rusted-st...
www.gametrailers.com/video/opening-c...

Grabbed it a couple of weeks ago (think it came out a week early over here). Haven't played more than an hour in yet but it seems entertaining enough. A little odd, and rough around the edges, but then I quite like odd & rough around the edges :D.

Also might possibly have one the worlds ugliest protagonist(tm) this side of The Nameless One

Very button mashy combat, but then it is an action rpg so that's to be expected I guess. Seem to be killing a lot of sheep with extreme predjudice at the moment. And wraithy-things that are totally not the same wraithy things out of that Final Fantasy movie honest guv.

The ruined post-apocalyptic setting looks great so far though.

360 or PS3?

I'm mildly interested.

Game seems to be getting a beatdown at metacritic though.

Tyrian wrote:

360 or PS3?

it's on both but i'm on 360.

Probably the sort of game you want to wait a bit and get when it drops in price I think.
Although I quite like what little I've played so far. (It's certainly more of an RPG that FF13 is in the first hour :P)

I posted this in the JRPG thread:

ClockworkHouse wrote:

From the first review of NIER I could find, it sounds like the game is a crazy-quilt of ideas:

Even describing it as a JRPG may be stretching it, for while NIER has experience points-based levelling up, weapon upgrading, towns, NPCs, item farming, party members, and all that other role-playing stuff we know and love, it doesn't really feel like a JRPG at all.

In truth, it feels more like an adventure game, specifically that great influencer: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Indeed on the face of it, NIER looks like a high def OoT, except with lots and lots of blood and loads of swearing. But really this is an imperfect comparison, because while cavia has clearly used OoT's manual to fashion NIER's foundations, built on top are nods to old-school Resident Evil, 2D side-scrolling platformers, "shmups" and even God of War.

[...]

Really though, compared with so many recent Square Enix games, NIER's story, and indeed its attitude to gameplay, is refreshing. It's packed to bursting with interesting ideas, from occasional 2.5D side-scrolling platforming to top down perspective puzzle solving. NIER's camera is in a constant state of flux, and only occasionally suffers from the embolisms that afflict so many third-person action games. One section, set in a horribly creepy manor, sets the camera in ceiling corners in classic Resident Evil style. As you explore its mysterious innards and meet Emil, a powerful young boy who eventually joins your eclectic party, you feel as if you're playing a completely different game. Later, there's a section with the camera set at a distant isometric view, a clear nod to old-school Western RPGs. At one point, the camera goes birds-eye, leaving you free to direct Dark Blasts with the right thumb stick in a section that brings to mind Geometry Wars. There's even one section which doesn't involve a camera at all, instead presenting the player with walls of "choose your own adventure" text. NIER, really, is one big electronic doffed cap to games past and present.

The review itself is mixed, but it's piqued my interest in the game. It's a shame that I have a gigantic pile of new games and probably won't get to this one for awhile.

Yeah I've seen a little of that so far (certain rooms, like your house in the village, switch to a 2D side-scrolling style when entered and a couple of areas in the first dungeon/shrine place switch to the overhead view). Looking forward to the choose your own adventure bit

stevenmack wrote:

Also might possibly have one the worlds ugliest protagonist(tm) this side of The Nameless One

Forgive me for my ignorance, and definitely forgive me if this is a spoiler and I didn't realize it, but isn't the protagonist a hermaphrodite? Am I thinking of some other weird JRPG? No, not THAT kind...

Which, y'know, good on them for promoting the cause of sexual awareness and all but still. If he/she was super-attractive then it would be A TRAAAAP!

IMAGE(http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0262/ack1.jpg)

LobsterMobster wrote:

Forgive me for my ignorance, and definitely forgive me if this is a spoiler and I didn't realize it, but isn't the protagonist a hermaphrodite? Am I thinking of some other weird JRPG? No, not THAT kind...

You're thinking of Kainé, a major side-character (I had trouble finding images from the front, natch):

IMAGE(http://www.endloos.de/VISA/PB/kaine/kaine1.jpg)

(Edit: Here's one that's from the front.)

IMAGE(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/avTPgDcDm-U/0.jpg)

NIER is the one-eyed guy in the middle here and is the main protagonist:

IMAGE(http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gamelife/2010/02/nier-nier-kaine-emil-weiss-visit-facade-660x371.jpg)

stevenmack wrote:
Tyrian wrote:

360 or PS3?

it's on both but i'm on 360.

Probably the sort of game you want to wait a bit and get when it drops in price I think.
Although I quite like what little I've played so far. (It's certainly more of an RPG that FF13 is in the first hour :P)

I should have indicated that I was asking which you had picked it up for.

It's odd that so few reviews have popped up on any of the normal gaming sites. That usually means no advance review copies were sent out, which likely means that critical acceptance isn't forthcoming.

Clemenstation's metacritic link doesn't bode well, either.

I wish they were dropping a demo. The game looks like the kind of thing I enjoy, but I'm hesitant to dip my toe in the water on this one.

Well I wasn't going to mention that just in case it has some sort of Crying game style reveal in game ).
Haven't encountered her yet but, yes, she's apparently the one with the bonus content She's also rather foul-mouthed if the opening cutscene is any indication.

One other thing - the movement speed feels ridiculously fast in this game. Makes the animations look a bit janky butit's a bleedin' breath of fresh air when trying to get from point A to B.

That last image that Clockwork posted is a big bowl of W T F. Also: intriguing.

JRPGs tend to get thrashed by reviewers as a general rule, at least in the last decade or so, so I don't put a whole lot of stock in the aggregate opinion. I'm willing to give this one a shot if I can find it for less than 30 bucks one day.

Clemenstation wrote:

JRPGs tend to get thrashed by reviewers as a general rule, at least in the last decade or so, so I don't put a whole lot of stock in the aggregate opinion. I'm willing to give this one a shot if I can find it for less than 30 bucks one day.

And it doesn't help that this game doesn't sound like anything else out there. Like I said, it's a bit of a crazy quilt of genres and ideas, and reviewers generally seem put-off by games that are hard to categorize. Add to that that the game's extremely Japanese, and you have a perfect storm for middling reviews for a game that will, to some people, be fantastic.

I think it'd have been great if they'd made the book jive-talkin', but sardonic and vain is pretty good too.

The more I play of it the more neat, weird little things are there. Apparently I can ride wild boars, and my first 'companion' of sorts is a sardonic, vain, floating book (actually very similar to Morte, actually - only less wise cracking and with more of a 'not quite Tim Curry but close' accent). The banter between the main character and the book is actually pretty funny (in fact, a lot of the dialogue/text so far has been pretty witty.

So, yeah - so far so good I think.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Clemenstation wrote:

JRPGs tend to get thrashed by reviewers as a general rule, at least in the last decade or so, so I don't put a whole lot of stock in the aggregate opinion. I'm willing to give this one a shot if I can find it for less than 30 bucks one day.

And it doesn't help that this game doesn't sound like anything else out there. Like I said, it's a bit of a crazy quilt of genres and ideas, and reviewers generally seem put-off by games that are hard to categorize. Add to that that the game's extremely Japanese, and you have a perfect storm for middling reviews for a game that will, to some people, be fantastic.

It's the Japanese version of Darksiders. (Don't take that comment too literally.)

garion333 wrote:

It's the Japanese version of Darksiders. (Don't take that comment too literally.)

I was actually thinking it sounded more like the Japanese Brütal Legend.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
garion333 wrote:

It's the Japanese version of Darksiders. (Don't take that comment too literally.)

I was actually thinking it sounded more like the Japanese Brütal Legend.

Nah, there's no annoying 3rd person Real Time Strategy bit (....yet). I did do a bit last night which was essentially a little mini side-scrolling platformer bit and the first encounter with the second big boss thing had hints of shoot-em-up to it (he'd occasionally throw out patterns of magic 'orbs' you have to dodge).

I'm loving the world the game is set in. Sort of reminds me of stuff like Laputa : Castle in the Sky (the place is littered by ruins and relics from the old pre-cataclysm world and the second village you get to is a bunch of old metal silo's, containers and platforms set over a bottomless ravine.

Even though it's nowhere near as good looking as FF13, the opening hours of Neir put it to shame, in my opinion.

**
In fact, i'd go out on a limb and say the first two hours of Neir contain more interesting ideas and gameplay than the first twenty hours of FF13.

Ooooh, burn! Take that FF 13, you slaggy wanka! (I have little doubt that you're correct.)

stevenmack wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I was actually thinking it sounded more like the Japanese Brütal Legend.

Nah, there's no annoying 3rd person Real Time Strategy bit (....yet).

I meant that it looks like the Japanese Brütal Legend in the sense that it's a mish-mash of genres that's difficult to pigeonhole with a very particular aesthetic (anime in the case of NIER, metal in the case of Brütal Legend).

Tyrian wrote:
stevenmack wrote:
Tyrian wrote:

360 or PS3?

it's on both but i'm on 360.

I should have indicated that I was asking which you had picked it up for.

More importantly though, has anybody done a side-by-side comparison and indicated that either version is definitive/superior?

This does sound like a "pick it up around $30 (or on Goozex)," interesting but not compelling, so far...

beeporama wrote:
Tyrian wrote:
stevenmack wrote:
Tyrian wrote:

360 or PS3?

it's on both but i'm on 360.

I should have indicated that I was asking which you had picked it up for.

More importantly though, has anybody done a side-by-side comparison and indicated that either version is definitive/superior?

This does sound like a "pick it up around $30 (or on Goozex)," interesting but not compelling, so far...

Considering that none of the major sites appears to have done a review yet, I guess we can't be surprised that there aren't any head to head comparisons of the two versions.

I think i might see if I can rent the game this weekend. If I decide to do so, I'll be sure to post some early impressions.

I think I'm going to check this out. Looks interesting and I do appreciate off-kilter, odd games that try too hard.

Certis wrote:

I think I'm going to check this out. Looks interesting and I do appreciate off-kilter, odd games that try too hard.

Fantastic. Way to take one for the GWJ team, Certis!

Couple of more quick notes:

The script is pretty good and nothing like most JRPG's (despite the post-cataclysm setting it's got some very witty dialogue , whether spoken or in text - certainly no doom-laden po faced emo nonsense, so far at least). There's a lot of voiced banter between the main character and Weiss (the aformentioned floating book / Morte substitute), even for minor sidequests and just wandering about.

There is a bit of a dark undercurrent to it though (minor spoiler)

Spoiler:

(I'm slightly concerned that all the little 'shades' I'm killing are dropping 'old school books' 'colouring book pages' and 'bent metal bats')

LOTS of sidequests and the bulk of them so far have been issued from your home village, which is rather nicely central to all the other locations I've been to so far. Combine that with your running speed + wild boar transportation does a LOT to help running back and forth.

It shares at least one thing with Twilight Princess - an annoying fishing game that you need to do at least a few times for the main questline. Takes a while to get the hang of as it doesn't explain how it works very well (like most fishing minigames).
(Also : small warning - I spent about an hour fishing at the wrong spot for a certain plot-related fish because I hadn't realised the quest marker had shifted to a seperate small bay in a different part of the town..doh! I do at least now have a magnificent collection of old tin cans -_- )

@Stevenmack - quick question since I noticed you're in SE Asia: In your version of the game is Nier looking for his daughter or his sister?

And for anyone stateside who has picked up the game, do you think any emotional attachment to the characters/story would be significantly different if it was your sister you were saving instead of your daughter?

Certis wrote:

I think I'm going to check this out. Looks interesting and I do appreciate off-kilter, odd games that try too hard.

I've been hearing good things about Deadly Premonition

nel e nel wrote:

@Stevenmack - quick question since I noticed you're in SE Asia: In your version of the game is Nier looking for his daughter or his sister?

Not actually in in SE Asia (or running around with bombs. I *do* have a ridiculous accent though :P).

I normally update location based on whatever game I'm playing the most of (Just Cause 2 last time I updated it) Should really get around to changing that again.

Actually in Scotland, and he's trying to track down the source of his daughter's mysterious illness.

I did rent this, and have put about an hour in (which I'll have to replay, as it took place at a friend's house).

Combat is button mashy, but doesn't feel too out of difficult so far. The lack of a target lock is a bit annoying.

It didn't do a great job of explaining... well, anything.

The fact that I can kill stuff, gain levels, buy items, etc, is REALLY appealing to me. I also get a weird Vagrant Story vibe from the game, though it doesn't really play like that title.

I'll definitely be playing more.

I've hit a few of those gameplay changing bits mentioned above (the resident evil homage & 'choose your own adventure stuff'). Won't say anything about them but I'm REALLY liking this game, it just keeps throwing new things at you.

One warning to anyone not as far along yet - if you're going for 100% side quests, make sure to do any outstanding quests BEFORE doing the bit at the mansion between the home village and the sea village...there's a fair few quests you might not be able to complete AFTER entering the mansion.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

You're thinking of Kainé, a major side-character (I had trouble finding images from the front, natch):

Interestingly, I'm a good way through the game now and her...unique condition...has never been referenced. I wonder if the developers deemed it too much for 'sensitive western standards' and stripped out any references or whether it was only ever in background material outside the game.

I'm a ways into the game at this point (sand temple, for those in the know) and I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying it despite some fairly basic flaws like big, empty game areas and quite a lot of running early in the game. I think the premise, voice acting and sneaky ways they're mixing up the gameplay are really drawing me in so far.

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