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[ShockingAlberto]

Like, I can absolutely understand the hate. The game looks like an okay looking PS2 game with (occasionally) better textures. It's janky. The controls feel off. It's segmented like a Monster Hunter game.

But man, the first time I heard Devola sing and walked away as the song got slowly quieter, I melted a little. Games don't do that to me anymore.

I'm still feeling the game out, so there's a decent chance surprise will give away to cynicism eventually, but it has blinders on me right now.

I've made it clear before that I get utterly bored these days with games that are clearly made from the ground up to win GOTY awards. Mass Effect 2 was fantastic, but my GOTY this year is still Trauma Team. I think Nier hits those same buttons for me. It doesn't feel like it was made in a boardroom. It's grimy, dirty, smelly, but there's something gold in there that I can't look away from. It's not sterile, I guess, which I appreciate.

 

[1stStrike]

This game is really about the story and the music. You can pretty much ignore the rest. They got the two most important parts right for me, and it really hits something inside when you're playing. They stepped outside the generic fantasy/rpg boundaries and created something really off the charts.

I wish there were more games like it. So many RPG's are stale these days.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

I think Nier hits those same buttons for me. It doesn't feel like it was made in a boardroom. It's grimy, dirty, smelly, but there's something gold in there that I can't look away from. It's not sterile, I guess, which I appreciate.

yes, these things. So the main character has a habit of floating a couple of inches off the ground and going all blurry. so his face looks like he just walked into a door.. repeatedly.

there's still something about it that made me say "ohhh yes more please" after 5 minutes with the game.

and yeh little touches like the singing fading in/out are worth more to me than bump-mapped wrinkles on the old man's face would've been.

whoever wrote the dialog/story needs to have a big chat with the Final Fantasy team about brevity. and it being the soul of awesome.

 

[john tv]

Simple curiosity, do you know who was in charge of the European languages translation?

I do, but I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to say (not that it's any big secret, just that it's confidential info that has nothing to do with me). How come? Were they good?

 

[RpgN]

I bought the 15 nightmares album today

@ShockingAlberto: Glad to hear it! The game is truly a rare gem that was overlooked by many. The end of part 1 is going to blow your mind.

I've been trying to find the tracklist for this one and debating wether it's worth getting...

 

[OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather]

Bump!

Oh my, have I found a treat for every Nier fan on the planet.

This is absolutely amazing.

 

[Jonnyram]

I've been trying to find the tracklist for this one and debating wether it's worth getting...

It is definitely worth getting. And the new arrangements not in the DLC would have easily sat well in the original ST.

 

[slaughterking]

Bump!

Oh my, have I found a treat for every Nier fan on the planet.

Awww, that's lovely. <3

 

[Despera]

Bump!

Oh my, have I found a treat for every Nier fan on the planet.

Nice :lol

 

[Yoshiya]

I saw it mentioned in the soundtrack or story thread, but I'm surprised to see G4 has nominated Nier for best RPG and soundtrack. I checked and their review was 4/5, definitely one of the best scores from a mainstream outlet.

Yoko Taro tweeted about it. WAHP and Chrome's auto translate have me doing a mutter watch of my own :lol

 

[Durante]

Like, I can absolutely understand the hate. The game looks like an okay looking PS2 game with (occasionally) better textures.

You should play some PS2 games again. (Or probably not) Nier isn't the most beautiful game ever by a long shot, but it's not nearly as bad as an "okay looking PS2 game".

You know what? Screenshot time!

I saw it mentioned in the soundtrack or story thread, but I'm surprised to see G4 has nominated Nier for best RPG and soundtrack. I checked and their review was 4/5, definitely one of the best scores from a mainstream outlet.

It's not exactly mainstream, but gamecritics.com had 2 Nier reviews, one 9.0 and the other one 9.5

 

[Windom Earle]

I saw it mentioned in the soundtrack or story thread, but I'm surprised to see G4 has nominated Nier for best RPG and soundtrack. I checked and their review was 4/5, definitely one of the best scores from a mainstream outlet.

Rare footage of G4 actually having taste?

 

[Sinople]

I do, but I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to say (not that it's any big secret, just that it's confidential info that has nothing to do with me). How come? Were they good?

No problem. I was wondering if it was handled by independent companies/freelance translators or by S-E themselves. They were recruiting European translators a few years ago but only to work from English instead of Japanese, which was puzzling because second-hand translations weren't even necessary as some very competent translators I knew were applying (well, at least for Japanese to French, I can't talk about the other languages). I wanted to check if they're still following this policy.
As for Nier's translation, I can't really comment on it as I played the Jp version and just read a couple of quotes in French.

 

[Jinaar]

After getting all endings, reading all I could on Nier, the graphics all but make sense for me in the world they take place in. The way the people look. The way the sky is. The architecture. Everything everything everything was done for a reason. Which is amazing in the grand scheme of things.

I feel at times I am the lone person in a museum looking at a painting that I only get and it brings me so much worth. I can handle that.

Like most, I saw the dad to be some ugly looking creature in a bland bleak PS2 constructed-like world. After the fact, I see things completely differently, sort of like how you see the game from the stand point of Ending A and Ending B. That realization changes everything.

If I have to go by a story+implementation(graphics/music/voice/programming) standpoint for Game of This Generation of Consoles, Nier wins. If I had to go with pure standalone awesomeness, Demon's Souls wins.... obviously

Cannot say enough good things about this game.

 

[Beezy]

Nier's enemy design also wins. I love the Shades.

 

[kyo_daikun]

Ok so this is £10 on Play.com, think im going to have to find out what all the fuss is about!

 

[John Rabbit]

I've made it clear before that I get utterly bored these days with games that are clearly made from the ground up to win GOTY awards. Mass Effect 2 was fantastic, but my GOTY this year is still Trauma Team. I think Nier hits those same buttons for me. It doesn't feel like it was made in a boardroom. It's grimy, dirty, smelly, but there's something gold in there that I can't look away from. It's not sterile, I guess, which I appreciate.

i take this to mean you like playing videogames that aren't afraid to be an actual videogame.

 

[CartridgeBlower]

Only got time to play one this month, help me decide -- Nier or Resonance of Fate?

 

[D2M15]

Nier. Resonance of Fate will take longer than a month.

 

[slaughterking]

I would recommend the underdog, but since both games are under-appreciated gems I say Nier. It's the right time of the year to dive into a game like that.

 

[chaostrophy]

I saw it mentioned in the soundtrack or story thread, but I'm surprised to see G4 has nominated Nier for best RPG and soundtrack. I checked and their review was 4/5, definitely one of the best scores from a mainstream outlet.

The New York Times also praised Nier. They're just as mainstream as GameSpot, maybe even more so.

 

[Windom Earle]

You guys suddenly jumping on the game are dicks. This game is worth $60 and Cavia is dead.

 

[Zachack]

i take this to mean you like playing videogames that aren't afraid to be an actual videogame.

Eh, Neir isn't trying to be an "actual videogame" from the standpoint you're seemingly trying to espouse. It's cut from the same cloth as Alan Wake or Deadly Premonition or Mass Effect.

 

[The Interrobanger]

I bought it for $10 a week or so ago and I can't be bothered to finish it.

The sidequests are so incredibly bad, backtracking is extreme, music is incredibly overrated and the level design is straight outta the N64 era.

 

[MattKeil]

I saw it mentioned in the soundtrack or story thread, but I'm surprised to see G4 has nominated Nier for best RPG and soundtrack.

It was pretty much just Blair Herter and me campaigning for it, but I wasn't about to let that soundtrack go by without a nomination. Incredible work.

Yoko Taro tweeted about it.

Do you have a link to this? I can't find his Twitter account.

 

[Zachack]

I bought it for $10 a week or so ago and I can't be bothered to finish it.

The sidequests are so incredibly bad, backtracking is extreme, music is incredibly overrated and the level design is straight outta the N64 era.

So don't do the sidequests. They're not really relevant to the game and will fix most of your backtracking complaints.

I agree level design could have been better but I don't think it would have mattered given the type of game.

I may not think the music is the greatest thing ever must buy soundtrack, but I did think it was excellent, and I'm not sure how anyone could feel that it wasn't at least well above average.

 

[D2M15]

It's cut from the same cloth as Alan Wake or Deadly Premonition or Mass Effect.

One of these things is not like the other ones.

edit: aaaaand to save an unnecessary derail, it's that Mass Effect at no point expresses its narrative or themes by being a videogame, since BioWare couldn't conceive, let alone implement such things. (This isn't a diss, it's just not what they do.)

 

[kyo_daikun]

You guys suddenly jumping on the game are dicks. This game is worth $60 and Cavia is dead.

Im sorry

It was more of a lack of time issue with me rather than a price issue, just the fact it costs literlly nothing now is a bonus! :lol

 

[2San]

Only got time to play one this month, help me decide -- Nier or Resonance of Fate?

Nier. I hated RoF, because I naturally dislike JRPG's that aren't story driven(with a few exceptions).

 

[Beezy]

You guys suddenly jumping on the game are dicks. This game is worth $60 and Cavia is dead.

Shut the fuck up and be happy that it's getting some type of attention.

 

[lsslave]

What the fuck? They are dicks?

Holy shit word of mouth isn't instant and it takes time to get people into it? FFS the original Valkyria Chronicles didn't just get day 1 sales and most people got it for cheap.

That is how sequels get successful (unless you're Sega, they just suck) you make a great game and people get it for cheap and learn.

Alpha Protocol 2, Nier 2, both would do MUCH better day 1 I guarantee it. Too late, but it would have happened that way!

 

[Minsc]

You guys suddenly jumping on the game are dicks. This game is worth $60 and Cavia is dead.

I'm going to give it a shot after the fact too, now that I will be able to play it (and thanks to that best story of 2010 thread), but it looks puzzling to me. Sucks for Cavia their licensing deal didn't extend to allowing them to port it to more systems, I think this is the type of game that would have grabbed a decent attention if it were on sale on Steam for under $20.

 

[lsslave]

I'm going to give it a shot after the fact too, now that I will be able to play it (and thanks to that best story of 2010 thread), but it looks puzzling to me. Sucks for Cavia their licensing deal didn't extend to allowing them to port it to more systems, I think this is the type of game that would have grabbed a decent attention if it were on sale on Steam for under $20.

Actually, its the "steam" thing that is really pushing me interest in PC. Alpha Protocol got a HUGE shift from the Steam Sale, more people loving it. It seems like the world of Steam is truly the future... I just am so conflicted since I hate DD and love having hard copies of my titles >.<

 

[Zachack]

One of these things is not like the other ones.

edit: aaaaand to save an unnecessary derail, it's that Mass Effect at no point expresses its narrative or themes by being a videogame, since BioWare couldn't conceive, let alone implement such things. (This isn't a diss, it's just not what they do.)

I disagree, particularly with ME1.

 

[slaughterking]

You guys suddenly jumping on the game are dicks. This game is worth $60 and Cavia is dead.

It was a matter of two weeks before the game dropped in price, though. Most poeple couldn't buy it at full price even if they wanted to. :lol

 

[Windom Earle]

Ok, you are not all dicks. I don't know why I have such a strong emotional connection to this game. Would have loved to see it being a little more successful. Of course that was pretty much impossible from the start and of course it's good that more people are playing it now. OMG, I have the most posts in this thread! Oo

 

[methos75]

Anyone else have issues saving on the PS3 version, I get error messages and sometimes it just freezes while saving and it keeps corrupting by file system.

 

[John Rabbit]

Eh, Neir isn't trying to be an "actual videogame" from the standpoint you're seemingly trying to espouse. It's cut from the same cloth as Alan Wake or Deadly Premonition or Mass Effect.

this post quite literally makes no sense to me. particularly in the context of alberto's post wherein he compares games "made for GOTY" like mass effect to a title like nier.

nier isn't ashamed to rely on, and even exploit, a vast number of videogame tropes and mechanics (for better or worse). mass effect and titles of its ilk do everything in their power to mask themselves as something other than "a game". however the nuts and bolts of this discussion lie outside the general purview of this thread.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

nier isn't ashamed to rely on, and even exploit, a vast number of videogame tropes and mechanics (for better or worse).

Oh yes. Just like Deadly Premonition.

 

[lsslave]

Ok, you are not all dicks. I don't know why I have such a strong emotional connection to this game. Would have loved to see it being a little more successful. Of course that was pretty much impossible from the start and of course it's good that more people are playing it now. OMG, I have the most posts in this thread! Oo

It always sucks when a great title doesn't meet its success. The problem with new IPs is people take the plunge too late and by then we have no chance of a sequel. If companies would learn that a sequel can be where the success comes things would be better.

Alpha Protocol 2, Nier 2, etc. would all be much more successful than their first counterparts.

Hell, the "fast" starts (ME 1) usually do worse the 2nd time around so a good launch of an IP isn't everything. (Edit: I know #2 is still successful but from what I've heard #1 did much better)

Sometimes its just fine to enjoy a standalone title and have your own private love affair, I learned that over the years

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I am so glad I did the boar quest. That makes a lot of the traveling much better. Also, ramming sheep.

I finally finished the Devola/Popola quest and it seems the reward was...music? But I am okay with that, oddly. I liked listening to them sing.

Which is weird.

 

[Yoshiya]

It was pretty much just Blair Herter and me campaigning for it, but I wasn't about to let that soundtrack go by without a nomination. Incredible work.


Do you have a link to this? I can't find his Twitter account.

http://twitter.com/yokotaro/status/13130209297436673

And thanks for campaigning for it. It really does deserve recognition, so you guys have definitely earned more attention from me for doing so.

Which is weird.

The Hollow Dreams version of Song of the Ancients is great. The Fate version is still probably the best.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

Finally beat it and got the A ending. Tear jerker near the end. Love the banter between Nier, Weiss and Kaine.
Gonna go after B ending in a bit. Upgrading all the weapons can be such a chore. :lol Nier is a lot better than I had expected.

Anyone else have issues saving on the PS3 version, I get error messages and sometimes it just freezes while saving and it keeps corrupting by file system.

Create a new game save with your data.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Hit the

Spoiler

_time skip_

today and I am more or less addicted.

I noticed the weapons have levels. Do I upgrade them at the junk heap? Is there a point to upgrading before I get my final weapons since I'll just get new, better ones and have to upgrade them?

 

[Yoshiya]

I noticed the weapons have levels. Do I upgrade them at the junk heap? Is there a point to upgrading before I get my final weapons since I'll just get new, better ones and have to upgrade them?

Go and buy the Phoenix Spear in Facade. Best weapon in the game. Upgrade it when you can, but if you are having trouble farming items the DLC makes it far easier.

 

[AKingNamedPaul]

John tv, you guys should localize every game that gets released.

 

[matmanx1]

The Nier OST is on heavy rotation in my car CD player. I'm eventually going to get the remixed tracks album also but that will have to be after Christmas.

Nier is a brilliant game and deserves all the recognition it gets. The story, characters and music are top notch and I actually found the game fun to play as well, which is actually the most important part of a game.

It's rare that a game has a strong emotional effect on me but Nier sure did. It's one of the most surprising and memorable games I've played this year. Oh and the DLC for it is pretty good too!

 

[Femmeworth]

Did this use the same base engine as Demon's Souls? On a technical level, I noticed a lot of similarities.

I completed Nier a month or so ago, but I've been too lazy to post my mini review. :x

 

[Rufus]

Did this use the same base engine as Demon's Souls? On a technical level, I noticed a lot of similarities.

How would it? And what makes you think that?

 

[Durante]

IIRC Nier uses Unreal Engine 3. (And the looks certainly fit)