Nier Catch-All

hollams wrote:

I beat the game last year sometime and wanted to play through it again and I can't find my save file. So frustrating.....

You could always download a save. You wouldn't be able to get trophies/achievements, but at least you could experience the 2nd ending which is the best part of the whole thing.

hollams wrote:

I beat the game last year sometime and wanted to play through it again and I can't find my save file. So frustrating.....

You sure you didn't just get through to ending D?

m0nk3yboy wrote:
hollams wrote:

I beat the game last year sometime and wanted to play through it again and I can't find my save file. So frustrating.....

You sure you didn't just get through to ending D? ;)

Hush, you!

m0nk3yboy wrote:
hollams wrote:

I beat the game last year sometime and wanted to play through it again and I can't find my save file. So frustrating.....

You sure you didn't just get through to ending D? ;)

My first thought as well.

Square-Enix has filed a trademark related to Drakengard, the predecessor to Nier. Since Cavia was dissolved, this is most likely a simple trademark protection, but with any luck they'll make a new game in the series a crappy iOS game only loosely related to the series.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Square-Enix has filed a trademark related to Drakengard, the predecessor to Nier. Since Cavia was dissolved, this is most likely a simple trademark protection, but with any luck they'll make a new game in the series a crappy iOS game only loosely related to the series.

At first I was like but then I

Clemenstation wrote:
m0nk3yboy wrote:
hollams wrote:

I beat the game last year sometime and wanted to play through it again and I can't find my save file. So frustrating.....

You sure you didn't just get through to ending D? ;)

My first thought as well. :D

Luckily I found my save, it was on a memory card that I just happened to find tonight and I put it in and the save was there. I knew that I hadn't deleted it.

So I've been really interested in this game for a long time and I finally got my hands on an Xbox and a copy of this game and... wow is it a slog. I'm finding it VERY interesting as a dabbler of the gameplay styles that are mixed in (bullet hell shooters, action rpg, Zelda) and I usually enjoy grimdark stories and don't mind japanese fantasy and/or anime. Does it get better ?

Just got to the part where Nier has the dream telling him to go to that forest that I can't remember the name of after having finished the desert temple. I would've enjoyed it but I kept running out of herbs in the middle of combat and the game checkpointed me with really low health, which meant I had to start from a save 30 mins before the boss battle with the cube monster. Any tips for not wasting time?

It gets better! If you can beat the game once and then go through and do at least the second playthrough, it becomes one of the best games ever made. I'm going to be doing my 3rd and 4th playthrough's soon (The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th playthroughs only make you do the last half of the game.).

The key for me starting out was the incredible music. Even if it was a slog at times, I still enjoyed the world. Where you're at now is probably the hardest part of the game. You end up becoming fairly superman-like.

As to the cube guy:

Spoiler:

I can't fully remember how that boss worked. However, for pretty much all bosses, I used Dark Lance thing and Dark Blast for crowd control type situations. That's pretty much all I used the whole game.

If you need more motivation, be sure to read Minarchist's article about the soundtrack on gamasutra. You can skip to the level design section if you are in a hurry to get to the Nier part. It should give you a bit more appreciation for it. It definitely got me excited about the game.

D'awww... :blush:

Minarchist wrote:

D'awww... :blush:

Careful Buffalo, he won't be able to wear those dapper hats

Thanks Buffalo! Got to the five year time jump and

Spoiler:

Emil transformed and we saved Kainé.

I guess I just have to not get hit and save up my herbs for the bosses. I wish I was able to binge this game instead of going at it 5 hours per weekend but that's all I can take before I get annoyed at all of its quirks.

Also Minarchist, I only read the part that Buffalo said was about Nier and you have changed the way I perceived music composition in relation to game design. It's something I've thought about in the corner of my mind when thinking about movies and a niggle I have with games and visual novels but I've never formed an opinion about it.

Anyway let's hope I get all 4 endings!

P.S : I hope Drakengard 3 turns out at least as good as NieR.

Well I've really been enjoying this. Yeah I know that's an odd thing to say but I tend towards depression and pessimism anyway so this fits my world-view nicely. Up to this point I've been doing all the side quests and enjoying the extra narrative but now I need to plough on and finish this thing, then follow the advice elsewhere in this thread and replay the ending a few times.

I've just got to the part where I've met

Spoiler:

Emil's sister and then de-petrified Kaine

and as much as I enjoyed the lighthouse story I don't have the patience or spare time to hit robots in the junk heap in the hope that I may get the right random drop.

So far I've managed to avoid any spoilers (thanks guys) and it's going to be fascinating to see how this sad journey ends.

strangederby wrote:

So far I've managed to avoid any spoilers (thanks guys) and it's going to be fascinating to see how this sad journey ends.

Just remember, you have to play through to ending B (at least) to really find out how it ends. I consider this required. It doesn't take too long, since

Spoiler:

you start right at Kaine thawing out and it's NG+ style so you have all your end-game weapons and levels.

I went ahead and did the third ending last night. I've sort of been saving it for awhile. I think I'll finish up a bunch of trophies and the fourth ending over the weekend.

Spoiler:

I have concluded that cutscenes definitely count for those timed boss trophies. For the Soul Crusher Trophy, you are supposed to kill the betrayers within 3:30. I killed the first in about 25 seconds, it went to the cutscene, and I killed the second in about 10 seconds. No trophy. I think someone mentioned that it didn't count. It was rather frustrating, but I know that I have the fourth playthrough to skip the cutscenes in the middle of boss battles.

Yeah, in fact the fourth ending is the only time it makes sense to do for the final final boss, since you've already seen them once. Just remember to stop skipping them after the trophy pops.

Take note of something below, tuffalo:

Spoiler:

First of all: if you still want to keep your save, BACK IT UP ONTO USB BEFORE YOU FINISH ENDING 4. Seriously. Also, although the ending of the 4th is really cool in a certain sense, IMO the 3rd ending is far better for "father" Nier. The 4th only really makes sense in the Japanese Gestalt version as the "brother" Nier ending.

Minarchist wrote:

Take note of something below, tuffalo:

Spoiler:

First of all: if you still want to keep your save, BACK IT UP ONTO USB BEFORE YOU FINISH ENDING 4. Seriously. Also, although the ending of the 4th is really cool in a certain sense, IMO the 3rd ending is far better for "father" Nier. The 4th only really makes sense in the Japanese Gestalt version as the "brother" Nier ending.

Spoiler:

I'm going to do all of the trophies that I can at the start of the fourth playthrough. I'm going to try and do all the weapon upgrading, actually. I have the DLC, so I know that will help with farming. I'm going to turn the volume off and use it as an opportunity to listen to vinyl all day. The farming will be a secondary task. As much as I love the soundtrack, I need to multitask to make any serious farming palatable. Anyways, I'll probably give up on it, but I'll have fun giving it a shot. As far as all of my saves being wiped after the fourth ending, I'm okay with that. Any saves restored via USB don't work for trophies, so I might as well go for everything before the fourth ending. Well, I suppose I'll back up my saves just in case I want them for something. I'll have to start over to do the speed run. I'm excited to finally wrap things up whether or not I do the platinum trophy!

On another note, I'm going to order the piano collections score tomorrow from Play Asia. I got back into playing classical piano recently, and those pieces are definitely within reach of my ability. A couple of them might take a couple years to get to as they are fairly difficult. I quite like the arrangements. The best thing about the piano music is that hardly anyone will know what the pieces are. I hate to play stuff for people that they might be familiar with already unless it's straight classical.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

On another note, I'm going to order the piano collections score tomorrow from Play Asia. I got back into playing classical piano recently, and those pieces are definitely within reach of my ability. A couple of them might take a couple years to get to as they are fairly difficult. I quite like the arrangements. The best thing about the piano music is that hardly anyone will know what the pieces are. I hate to play stuff for people that they might be familiar with already unless it's straight classical.

Oh, are you? That's awesome. I've had this and this in my cart for a while, and have been tempted on the Nier one as well, but have yet to actually pull the trigger.

Well, that's a fun website. I think my wallet is safe, however. Between the Nier Piano Collections and what I'm currently working on, at only about an hour a day practicing, I've got plenty to keep me busy for many years.

Well, I obtained my 30 upgraded weapons trophy yesterday. Don't ask me how long it took. I don't want to know. All I have left is to run through the last ending and do a quick playthrough (supposedly takes about 7 hours if you rush) to finish.

Platinum trophy acquired. I can finally put this game to rest.

Grats! That's an impressive one.

Stele wrote:

Grats! That's an impressive one.

Well, I consider it more stupid than impressive, but for whatever reason, I got rather obsessive about it and finished it.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I got rather obsessive about it

WHERE ARE YOU EAGLE EGG!?!?

Clemenstation wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I got rather obsessive about it

WHERE ARE YOU EAGLE EGG!?!?

So much cursing involved. I didn't know that upgrading the DLC weapons didn't count, so when I reached 30 and didn't get that trophy, I was rather frustrated. The last 2 weapons took me a long time. The worst part was in the desert getting the final Subdued Bracelet. It just wouldn't drop. I probably spent 2 hours just trying to get that last thing. I wonder if it was tied to Kaine or Emil getting some hits in. I actually had them not fighting because I wanted to make sure I was getting the extra drop percent chance by killing them myself. For whatever reason, when I enabled the two of them to attack, the thing dropped right away. Probably just chance.

So I'm super late to the party, but I finished this last night.

I really, really enjoyed it. I would take a dozen more games a year that obviously don't have the budget for huge worlds (or even finished-looking textures, really) in exchange for interesting risks in storytelling, compelling and unusual tone and artistic goals that obviously have passion behind them. I know that people say the game doesn't really begin until your second play through, but I'm not sure I have it in me. What is the difference in gameplay besides the four different endings? Can I just youtube them?

The second trip through the game is very, very different.

This isn't a multiple-choice ending like, say, Mass Effect where the story wraps up slightly differently in each ending. New Game+ starts you over at the game's mid-point, and there's a significant amount of new story content revealed in each playthrough.

I love when this thread bubbles back to the top. =)

I'd play the second ending yourself, and then youtube the rest.

I've got this, but haven't gotten around to playing it. How long is it? Do you basically have to go through twice?

I don't think there's a dealbreaker here, I just want to know what's involved so I know where to put it in the gamin' schedule.

Warriorpoet897 wrote:

So I'm super late to the party, but I finished this last night.

IMAGE(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6362980608/h22124BA3/)

I know that people say the game doesn't really begin until your second play through, but I'm not sure I have it in me. What is the difference in gameplay besides the four different endings? Can I just youtube them? :D

You haven't finished yet. You can youtube C and D, if you must, but you really haven't finished the game until you've played through to ending B. I mean it. You start halfway through,

Spoiler:

right at the point where Kaine thaws out,

and you still keep your levels and weapons, so it's pretty quick. But something changes. There's a little plot wrinkle, and you get to see the entire game from that point on through the eyes of a different character. You get a lot of extra cut-scenes because of this (BTW, on your second run DON'T skip any of the cut-scenes before and after boss battles).

I know it seems weird to say when you haven't played it yet, but if you don't play to ending B you have completely missed the game's point, and the game has a very good one. Perhaps the best I remember in a very long time. It only takes a few hours, since you're over-leveled and know where to go and what to do. You need to play this through. Nier has more to say to you. Nier has everything to say to you. You need to listen.