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[Dwight Schrute]

A quick question : do you keep your weapons and items in NG+ ?

 

[Sacha]

A quick question : do you keep your weapons and items in NG+ ?

Yes.

 

[Freyjadour]

Weiss and Nier's banter makes the game in some respects. (Even if I did get pretty tired of hearing Weiss say "Ahhhhh....I think we broke something" during the Fragile Delivery quests. I'd like to strangle whoever came up with that idea by the way.) The comments never get old either, Weiss isn't always being an ass or pompous, he truly seems to care about Yonah and the others.

 

[WanderingWind]

So I have not been following this game whatsoever. I bought it today in a fit of "Oh, Squaresoft never makes a bad game" nostalgia.

I've got to say, I'm very disappointed. Disappointed that I didn't buy this sooner! Oh, my God, this game is fucking amazing!

This is the cure to every complaint I've had about JRPGs over the past 10 years. No 12 year-old boy out to save the world. Adult characters. Unique, non-FF derivative world. No overly-slow turn based battles.

And exploration and rewards for going off the beaten path!

HOLY CRAP! I really, truly did not know they were ever going to make a game like this ever again.

GAF. I am in love.

 

[state_vector_collapse]

This game is fantastic so far. It is scratching every itch that FF13 failed to.

I'm loving the visuals as well. They may not be the highest poly models out there, but the dream-like quality of everything brings obvious ICO comparisons, and are lovely to look at.

The only teeny tiny fly in the ointment for me, is that the boss battles so far, have slightly outstayed their welcome at times. I keep thinking "this is it, this last bit and I've won" only for another segment to play out.

But that is my only gripe so far. Great game and sadly one which will no doubt get largely overlooked

 

[eXistor]

I'm loving the visuals as well. They may not be the highest poly models out there, but the dream-like quality of everything brings obvious ICO comparisons, and are lovely to look at.

I agree. Technically the game isn't anything special, but I found that when I got used to it I actually found the game to be quite beautiful in its own right. I also agree that the game has that dream-like quality throughout (the music helps in this regard). Boss-battles are also amongst the most epic I've seen. In a game like FFXIII you get bombarded by huge monsters and such, but thinking back to that

Spoiler

piece of shit

game I can't even remember more than maybe 2 boss fights. NIER is pretty much superior in every thinkable way to FFXIII to me; the story is very memorably as are the characters. The music is great (I can't even remember one tune in FFXIII), and most of all, it's fun to play, unlike FFXIII. One thing I also found very effective in the game was how emotionally invested you are in your actions. If you're fighting a boss, you usually have a damn good reason to fight and there's also something real at stake. In FFXIII it just seemed like they forced you to battle bosses to extend the games' duration. ANyway I've shat enough on FFXIII. NIER actually is the shit.

 

[Ridley327]

Damn, shit just got real. I just got to

Spoiler

the time skip

and the entire sequence leading up to it was simply fantastic. Make no mistake by judging the game by its first couple of hours; it gets seriously great after that.

I was :lol :lol :lol so hard at

Spoiler

the text adventure in the Forest

 

[Durante]

Is there any technical difference between the 2 (western) versions?
Both have the same price and availability and I'm trying to decide which to get.

 

[ZephyrFate]

So I have not been following this game whatsoever. I bought it today in a fit of "Oh, Squaresoft never makes a bad game" nostalgia.

I've got to say, I'm very disappointed. Disappointed that I didn't buy this sooner! Oh, my God, this game is fucking amazing!

This is the cure to every complaint I've had about JRPGs over the past 10 years. No 12 year-old boy out to save the world. Adult characters. Unique, non-FF derivative world. No overly-slow turn based battles.

And exploration and rewards for going off the beaten path!

HOLY CRAP! I really, truly did not know they were ever going to make a game like this ever again.

GAF. I am in love.

So you've never played any Shadow Hearts or Shin Megami Tensei game? Or even the Drakengard games?

 

[Windom Earle]

Damn, shit just got real. I just got to

Spoiler

the time skip

and the entire sequence leading up to it was simply fantastic. Make no mistake by judging the game by its first couple of hours; it gets seriously great after that.

I was :lol :lol :lol so hard at

Spoiler

the text adventure in the Forest

This is what I've been preaching in this thread

 

[WanderingWind]

So you've never played any Shadow Hearts or Shin Megami Tensei game? Or even the Drakengard games?

Shadow Hearts 2 was alright. Mostly played for the sheer ridiculousness of it. Nothing mind blowing.

The Megami Tensei series isn't really my flavor. I don't particularly care for collecting monsters to fight type of games. Haven't tried Digital Devil, though. Interesting art style.

Liked Persona 3 well enough. Liked the modern setting, hated the random dungeons and characters and the dating sim stuff.

Drakengard was good, but not really memorable. I recall liking the first one well enough, but can't recall much about it.

My initial post and opinion still stands. Nier is a complete breath of fresh air, and as one poster above said, hits all the wickets that FFXIII didn't hit for me, personally.

 

[Freyjadour]

Drakengard was good, but not really memorable. I recall liking the first one well enough, but can't recall much about it.

Drakengard is one of those games that has a fantastic story, but pretty mediocre to bad gameplay.


Just did the "Get Popola drunk enough to sing" quest, holy shit at the conversation between Nier and Weiss over Popola and Devola's drunken dispositions. "She tends to be...um...friendly?" "Devola?!? Surely you jest!". :lol

 

[mjc]

Should I play Drakengard to get that story, or just jump to this.

 

[Emotions]

Wich version runs better 360 or PS3?

 

[Volcynika]

I'm lost as to how to do this quest "A Dog Astray" D:

I can't find what I'm lookin for!

EDIT: Nvm.

 

[Servizio]

Drakengard comparisons? Interest piqued.

 

[lostxii]

Just played the beginning hours of the game. Really enjoying it so far. The VA is awesome and the combat system is beginning to show a lot more depth.

 

[Dambrosi]

Drakengard comparisons? Interest piqued.

The story is (apparently) very loosely based on one of Drakengard's alternate endings, as I recall. Maybe someone else knows more...?

 

[Ridley327]

The basis of the story is apparently based on the events that occurred in Drakengard's Ending E, though I haven't seen any direct references to it yet.

 

[Community Forum]

Is there any urgency to the missions? I kind of want to continue on with the story, but these missions keep popping up, and I keep doing them LOL!

 

[Freyjadour]

The basis of the story is apparently based on the events that occurred in Drakengard's Ending E, though I haven't seen any direct references to it yet.

I believe it's more of a nod to Drakengard than anything. Not necessary in the least.

 

[Ridley327]

Is there any urgency to the missions? I kind of want to continue on with the story, but these missions keep popping up, and I keep doing them LOL!

Without going too heavily into spoiler territory, there is a point where you can miss out on the first set of missions forever if you progress beyond it. It's easy to tell when that's going to be, though, so just pay attention.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Soooo... got my first ending yesterday (no spoil). I loved the game before getting to the ending. Now, I'm even more in love....

Wow ! Seriously, you can't talk about the writing nor the story if you didn't got to the ending at least once. Really.


NG+ question :

Spoiler

After the ending it said load your savefile to see kaine's story... So NG+ do have more storie / cinematic ?

 

[Sacha]

Soooo... got my first ending yesterday (no spoil). I loved the game before getting to the ending. Now, I'm even more in love....

Wow ! Seriously, you can't talk about the writing nor the story if you didn't got to the ending at least once. Really.


NG+ question :

Spoiler

After the ending it said load your savefile to see kaine's story... So NG+ do have more storie / cinematic ?

Yes,

Spoiler

there are new texts and cutscenes on your second playthrough.

! And

Spoiler

not just for Kainé

.

 

[Cep]

Shadow Hearts 2 was alright. Mostly played for the sheer ridiculousness of it. Nothing mind blowing.

The Megami Tensei series isn't really my flavor. I don't particularly care for collecting monsters to fight type of games. Haven't tried Digital Devil, though. Interesting art style.

Liked Persona 3 well enough. Liked the modern setting, hated the random dungeons and characters and the dating sim stuff.

Drakengard was good, but not really memorable. I recall liking the first one well enough, but can't recall much about it.

My initial post and opinion still stands. Nier is a complete breath of fresh air, and as one poster above said, hits all the wickets that FFXIII didn't hit for me, personally.

Demon's Souls? Resonance of Fate?

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Hopefully if NieR sells well it'll get nice DLC, or we'll get Drakengard 3

 

[Cep]

But anyway, question to the GAF:

Do you think its acceptable for critics to write reviews of narrative-bound titles like JRPGS without finishing the story at least once?

Personally I couldn't care less how much they hate the experience, or whether or not they think it would change their final review if they played it through to the end - its their JOB to review the complete work ESPECIALLY if they have issues with it.

I find it wholly disrespectful of both the creators and their readership to do this, what do you guys think?

They should complete the game because it is their job to do so (and thus really has nothing to do with us), but I do not find it 'disrespectful' at all.

You should not have to play a game in its entirety to come to the conclusion that it is bad. Even it it were to become mindbogglingly good, having to wade through shit to get to the good parts is unacceptable (See FF13, which only became palatable btw).

 

[ZephyrFate]

Shadow Hearts 2 was alright. Mostly played for the sheer ridiculousness of it. Nothing mind blowing.

The Megami Tensei series isn't really my flavor. I don't particularly care for collecting monsters to fight type of games. Haven't tried Digital Devil, though. Interesting art style.

Liked Persona 3 well enough. Liked the modern setting, hated the random dungeons and characters and the dating sim stuff.

Drakengard was good, but not really memorable. I recall liking the first one well enough, but can't recall much about it.

My initial post and opinion still stands. Nier is a complete breath of fresh air, and as one poster above said, hits all the wickets that FFXIII didn't hit for me, personally.

You missed out on the (superior) Shadow Hearts 1, and SMT: Nocturne is among the freshest, most innovative and original jRPGs ever made. It (the SMT series in general) CREATED the 'monster collecting' subgenre in RPGs in the first place, and it utilizes that system the best out of anything. Drakengard II also has a really interesting plot that, while not as dark as its predecessor, gets progressively more disturbing as it plays out.

 

[ULTROS!]

Do the completed missions carry over?

 

[Sacha]

Do the completed missions carry over?

Yep

 

[ULTROS!]

Oh thank heavens, I missed a mission.

I love the game, one my faves from Square Enix.

 

[Sacha]

Was it a quest from the first half of the game ? If it was, you won't have a second shot at it, as New Game + doesn't start from the beginning.

 

[ULTROS!]

Damn.

Oh wait, even if I don't complete the missions, I still get all the quest related trophies right (that is

Spoiler

completing 30 quests at least

)?

Oh and this game is absolutely

Spoiler

depressing since so many people died, Emil turned into a monster, Kaine turned to stone

.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Was it a quest from the first half of the game ? If it was, you won't have a second shot at it, as New Game + doesn't start from the beginning.

Noooooooo, where does NG+ starts please ?

Spoiler

the five years thing ?

Oh thank heavens, I missed a mission.

I love the game, one my faves from Square Enix.

Same here.

 

[WanderingWind]

You missed out on the (superior) Shadow Hearts 1, and SMT: Nocturne is among the freshest, most innovative and original jRPGs ever made. It (the SMT series in general) CREATED the 'monster collecting' subgenre in RPGs in the first place, and it utilizes that system the best out of anything. Drakengard II also has a really interesting plot that, while not as dark as its predecessor, gets progressively more disturbing as it plays out.

Nah, I didn't mention SH1 because that game is pretty old at this point. It also had random encounters, and turn based combat. SMT:Nocturne was my entry point into the SMT series. Again, I just don't like the collecting monsters sub-genre of RPGs. It had a really fresh art direction.

 

[ShutDown202]

Do want this game based on the comments im reading here.

But it seems like the kind of game that'll be £10 in about 2-3months. il just wait

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Do want this game based on the comments im reading here.

But it seems like the kind of game that'll be £10 in about 2-3months. il just wait

On the net perhaps. In store I can't find it anywhere here. (Euro)

 

[Easy_D]

On the net perhaps. In store I can't find it anywhere here. (Euro)

Same, GAME in Sweden doesn't seem to carry it at all, the online stores do, however.

 

[Sacha]

Damn.

Oh wait, even if I don't complete the missions, I still get all the quest related trophies right (that is

Spoiler

completing 30 quests at least

)?

Yeah, you can get the trophy even if you miss some quests from the first half of the game. There are more than 30 in the second half.

Noooooooo, where does NG+ starts please ?

Spoiler

the five years thing ?

A bit after that, when

Spoiler

Emil depetrifies Kainé

.

 

[Sacha]

Hopefully if NieR sells well it'll get nice DLC, or we'll get Drakengard 3

I wonder what kind of DLC they're coming up with. Yosuke Saito said the team had some sweet ideas, and there are so many awesome possibilities... Can't wait !

 

[Dwight Schrute]

I wonder what kind of DLC they're coming up with. Yosuke Saito said the team had some sweet ideas, and there are so many awesome possibilities... Can't wait !

Relicant skin for the hero
Joking by the way, the story feel right with a father.
And a warrior is not pretty he has big arms and a broken nose !

 

[Kyoufu]

Relicant skin for the hero

As nice as that would be, it'd be rather strange for a young looking guy to have the voice of Conan the Barbarian.

I'd like a boss gauntlet mode, personally.

 

[Ridley327]

I wonder what kind of DLC they're coming up with. Yosuke Saito said the team had some sweet ideas, and there are so many awesome possibilities... Can't wait !

They definitely have something in mind since you can already sort Nier's trophies by on-disc and DLC. Boss rush seems like an obvious addition.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

As nice as that would be, it'd be rather strange for a young looking guy to have the voice of Conan the Barbarian.

I'd like a boss gauntlet mode, personally.

Boss mode, even chalenge mode (with puzzles like the desert dungeon), shooter mode in top side view... Quest pack...

Please ?

 

[Sacha]

An elaborate quest introducing a new dungeon with platforming and side scrolling would be fun too. There's so much potential for awesome DLC ! I've never been so hyped for some DLC ! :lol

 

[Clear]

You should not have to play a game in its entirety to come to the conclusion that it is bad. Even it it were to become mindbogglingly good, having to wade through shit to get to the good parts is unacceptable (See FF13, which only became palatable btw).

I see your point, but I think it should be up to *us* as readers to make a choice of whether "sticking with it" is worthwhile or not. If the reviewer hadn't played far enough to see it improve, the prospect wouldn't be on the table.

I go to reviews for information as well as impressions, and I expect a good review to be able to give me a sense of the whole experience, not just to the point where the writer ran out of time/patience.

If they ran out of patience (its hard to be surprised by a game's length, so running out of time doesn't cut it as an excuse imho) they half-assed it. Which isn't a good trait for people who supposedly set the standards of excellence.

 

[Windom Earle]

People missing out on some quests of the first half of the game shouldn't worry. The quests that give you weapons are all in the second half. (If you're going for the "get all weapons" trophy/ach)

Also the quests short before the end have amazing cutscenes/gameplay elements.

Just did the "Get Popola drunk enough to sing" quest, holy shit at the conversation between Nier and Weiss over Popola and Devola's drunken dispositions. "She tends to be...um...friendly?" "Devola?!? Surely you jest!". :lol

I love me some "friendly" Devola

Wich version runs better 360 or PS3?

From what we know, it's identical.

 

[drtomoe123]

You guys think it's worth the $45 at K-Mart this coming week?

My interest is piqued.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

You guys think it's worth the $45 at K-Mart this coming week?

My interest is piqued.

No. It's worth more.

 

[ULTROS!]

I hope I'm not the only one to say this but this is probably one of my favorite games this gen and one of my favorite post-Square Enix games (my only favorites are this, KH2, Star Ocean 3, Star Ocean 4, and Valkyrie Profile 2).