Customer Reviews

NIER

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Nier is amazing.

I've been eagerly awaiting this game since I heard about it. I thought it would either be a total flop, or it may be interesting. The trailers where cryptic, no information online, and mostly skeptical critics commenting on demos they played. I heard that it was too hack and slash, then I heard that it was a totally in depth RPG complete with gardening and fishing. Its both.

I know, that's really weird. It doesn't usually go. But it does here. The game play is rather difficult at first, at least for someone not accustomed to hack and slash action type fighting. The fact that it lacks a "lock on" function is a real draw back to me, honestly. But over all, it's enjoyable, and challenging. Some of the fights have reminded me of Zelda with their puzzles and problem solving aspects to it.

The game starts out with a bang, and within the first half an hour I'm certain you will be intrigued and must play more! It makes you want to know more, it sucks you in. The story, so far, is like nothing I have seen before. It reminds me, in looks, of Shadow of the Colossus, except about a million times better because now there are towns and many people and creatures to interact with. It's also beautiful, and the back drop is indeed haunting, while still keeping a hint of Whimsy for the Square Enix touch. I'm so pleased that Nier has come out, when I was tired of being disappointed by SE's Final Fantasy releases post FFIX, and I was recently disappointed with FXIII's lack of an open world, well Nier fills that in spades.

The world is vast and gigantic! and you will be sent into it for many reasons, to deliver fragile packages that will break if you are knocked down or jump, to kill sheep and harvest mutton to a fussy lady with tons of fat children, or to run off and save your Daughter. And no, I'm not at all feeling that I lost out on the Japanese story, I like it much more as a father. I think it is more unique, and it makes more sense.

The characters are outrageous, and will often be saying very filthy things that will have you laughing out loud. I would not advise playing this game around small children. :x but many times I will laugh so loud that people who are in the other room will ask me what happened, and I will recount the video games content. It's very funny, and very unexpected.

The game is an all around hit. I've been playing it non stop since I got it, and I only stopped because I got caught on a particularly hard boss and my fingers started to hurt, not because I wanted to stop.

There are multiple endings, and quests that effect your characters proficiency in many of his day to day things, like fishing or gardening. And of course, he has his daughter at home, he cannot ignore her, he has to go home and check on her too. All of these actions affect the outcome of the game. The world is completely open, you decide in what order you do things, and it is beautiful and wonderful. It reminds me of the open worlds in old Final Fantasy games. (I am a Final Fantasy loving geek, so you have to understand, that is a huge compliment in my mind! hehe)

My only complaints is with the camera angles... some of them are terrible in certain boss fights, and the camera control can be buggy in small spaces. I dont consider it a huge issue, or any debilitating issue of the game, though it can be frustrating in the grand scale multi-tier boss fights. Also, it appears that you can only play as Nier, and not as Kaine or any of the other supporting characters.

The story is wonderful, the game play is fun and the music is absolutely fantastic. I would buy the Soundtrack without a blink if I found it on sale anywhere yet! All around, the game is a total hit! Any RPG or action fan would love it! I can see the "God of War" and "Devil May Cry" fans going for this, just as much as the "Final Fantasy and other RPG" fans as well! (I'm in the later category, and I have no complaints!) I love it. I recommend Nier, and I'm excited to see more of this new Franchise of SE's. ^^

Edit: I just found the soundtrack on iTunes, all 44 some+ tracks. It's amazing! This game is really phenomenal on all the right levels :)

Edit: I've played through the story, and I have played the second ending. Oh... my god. No really, I can only ADD stars to my review.

I the game has 4 endings, all revealing more shocking and unexpected story twists... new cut scenes, and other FUN stuff. After you beat the game, you do not have to restart the whole game and get to keep your character info and weapons/items (to avoid spoilers I will leave it at that) I love this game.

I find myself thinking about it, months after buying and playing it, and still wanting to play it. And the music, wow phenomenal! I still want to, and plan to play through the other 2 available endings, I'm procrastinating because once I play them, there will be no more Nier, not until they release another, and that makes me sad. This game is really something wonderful!

As stated above, this is what this review will be.

First things first: Yes, for a PS3 game the quality of the graphics are... lacking. You can see giant pixelated horror everywhere, ragged edges like they're going out of style, etc. But the overall style is nice enough and it's not like we've never dealt with pixels and ragged edges before. And yes, there is side-questing, and yes the running back and forth is tedious, but it's not needed unless you want to be able to get everything to see the C and D endings, and even then it only needs done once. The hack and slash gameplay is also average. It's solid. Not omg spectacular, not horrible. It's solid.

ON TO THE GUSHING. Okay, despite the sub-par graphics, average gameplay, runrunrunrun everywhere sidequests... I love this game. Am completely in love with it. I finish maybe - MAYBE! - 5% of the games I start. I got through two of the endings of Nier in three days. That was about 35 hours I spent playing Nier in three days. And it was an absolutely wonderful trip. Have also bought the soundtrack on iTunes. Absolutely amazing soundtrack, every song.

Maybe nostalgia is working in the game's favor for me. Something about the overall feel of the world reminds me of a SNES or PS1 game. Facade and the Aerie in particular just SCREAM old school rpg setting, and I expected little white-bordered blue boxes to pop up over the huts in the Aerie whenever someone inside spoke. But irregardless, the setting just sucked me in. I have a soft-spot for post-appacalyptic worlds with the remnants of civilization showing up here and there, slowly revealing sinister secrets that make you shudder.

I also found each character outstanding, from Nier and his companions to quite a few of the NPCs, to several of the enemies in New Game+. Nier's devotion to his daughter is just the sweetest thing I've seen in years and he made for such a breath of fresh air. The other party memebers are equally wonderful, and the banter that goes between them all is great.

Also, I'm not the type to get emotional when playing, watching, or reading something, and maybe it's because I was emerging nerves raw from a tough semester, but wow. I went through half a box of tissues in the first playthrough, and then went through the rest in New Game+. Nier does not pull its emotional punches, and if the game wants you to feel like a monster for progressing... yeah. Ouch. Definitely a point on the game's favor since I think the last game to make me bawl was Shadow of the Collosus.

So yes. I think it's time to bring my deluge to a close. If you have a soft spot for the strange desolate rpgs from the SNES and PS1 eras go for it. I've looked at many of the professional reviews online and I wonder if we played the same game... everything they found cliche or bad I found sweet and charming. Eh, maybe they've just become too jaded.

A new approach from Square-Enix which is a combination of Hack/Slash with RPG elements. The question is, should you buy this game or is this game the type of game for you?

Graphics: 8/10
Overall the graphics are pretty good with the exception of the background and the building structures in the game being very bland and have no details at all. If you are looking for a God of War or Final Fantasy XIII graphics type of game, sorry this is not close to those two games.

Controls: 6/10
This is what really kills the game in my opinion. The controls are extremely clunky and non responsive, if the controls and movement were as fluid as Devil May Cry / Bayonetta I can say this game would be amazing. Not to mention at times you get the extreme awkward camera positions that blind / hinder you from moving or attacking mobs.

Sound: 9/10
The voice acting in this game is top notch; I can boldly say its as good if not better then Final Fantasy XIII. The composed score in the game is marvelous and Square-Enix fans would be able to fit in and appreciate it.

Gameplay: 9/10
As stated above, this game is a hack-slash type of game which shares RPG elements. For people who say this game is like Devil May Cry / God of War, they have no idea what they are talking about, because it is nothing like those two games. The basic structure of the game consist of your hero being able to equip different weapons, he also has a mysterious book which can cast magic. Upon leveling up your character you obtain more magic spells and able to buy/upgrade your weapons. The neat part is you can also customize your weapon and magic to enhance the effect with random enhancement items "Word Parts" This game has a decent open world, which a lot of side-quest attach to it. There is also a decent amount of humor between the hero and the talking book that keeps you excited and not bored out of your mind.

Overall: 8/10
The game was done beautifully and overall it's a great game with a pretty unique storyline. The game is not short compared to DMC / GOW, so you won't be paying $59.99 for 5-8 hours of play. Even with the controls and movement being clunky, I think the game deserves a rental at least. On the side note, the NA version of the game supports only the older Nier with a father and daughter relationship. As for the JP PS3 version it supports the younger Nier with a Brother and Sister relationship. There might be plans that the NA might get the younger Nier, since the start menu of the game has a section grayed out labeled "Download Content"

Playing this game was a rather different experience for me. When the first part of the game ended, I was praying that it was actually the end of the game, because quite frankly, I just wanted it to be over. I found the combat bland, the graphics average at best, the sidequests were ridiculously bad, and story was weak.

However, the second half of the game was much better. First, the story got MUCH better, even moving at some parts (Emil and Kaine were great characters). Perhaps more important for the overall enjoyment of the game, the combat got more fun once I was able to upgrade my weapons and my magic spells to satisfying levels. The sidequests were still horrible (well, the fishing was kind of cool), but the more enjoyable combat made them tolerable.

I had two main problems with the game. First, I love RPGs, but this game felt like an RPG that the developer went out of their way to make it less RPG-ish. Leveling up made you more powerful, but you didn't have the opportunity to tune your character by spending XP on specific stats or anything like that. You could use "words" to upgrade your weapons and spells, but it felt pretty generic. As a matter of fact, I played through the entire game with only the first two spells that we were granted. I tried the others, but never really found anything special about them in relation to the first two. So in general, it looks like an RPG, but it really didn't play like one, which was a disappointment to me.

The second problem was the save system. In some cases, it was downright sadistic. A couple of times I had to waste over an hour of progress because I had to quit, and there was no save point in sight. Just be sure to get comfortable and have a large block of time before you enter the Barren Temple for the first time!

Had the game ended when I initially wanted it to, I would have given it a 1-star rating. However, it got much better, and I ended up enjoying it. It's not great, but it's pretty good. If you get it, just be prepared to get through a very slow start.

Remember the games on the original playstation where the graphics sucked, but the gameplay was awesome? Square-Enix takes a step back to the days of Final Fantasy 7 and Musashi where great graphics aren't the major concern and instead focus on gameplay. I've recently played Final Fantasy 13 and was disappointed at how linear the game was, not many sidequests until the end of the game. With Nier, you get a bunch of sidequests from the start of the game. And wow, there are plenty of sidequests ranging from: fishing, gardening, delivering fragile packages, to killing large bosses. Although the graphics aren't as amazing as other Playstation 3 games, Nier is the best action-rpg I have ever played.

The world of Nier is a dynamic world, meaning that things change based on time such as night and day. The plants that you grow depend on actual real-world time and enemies change depending on how sunny it is in game. Something unique about this game is the light and dark contrast. When you step into a patch of sun from the shadows, you will be momentarily blinded by how bright it is until your hero's eyes adjust. It does get kind of annoying at times, such as when you're riding a boar in the sun and you can't find an exit because it is darkened by the shadows. Nonetheless, I really like how creative Square-Enix got with this game.

If you're the type of gamer who likes to rush through things, don't buy this game. If you ignore all side quests you can probably finish this game in under 10 hours, I think you even get a trophy called Lightspeed Warrior for doing so. This game is more suited for players like myself, who like to take their time to unlock everything and finish all the quests. It took me 60 hours to completely finish the game and unlock all trophies. By finishing the game, I mean you have to play through the game 4 times. There are 4 different endings to Nier, and you have to play through the game 4 times if you want to unlock each ending. I know that sounds like a chore, but it really isn't because the game changes after your first playthrough. Enemy magic changes, the loading screen animation changes, and the story itself changes. Your first playthrough will be you killing shades to save your daughter. But on your second playthrough, you get to hear the story from the shades perspective and you begin to wonder if you're really the hero...or the villain.

In conclusion, this game is for action-rpg lovers who like to take their time to explore everything the game offers. And yes, this game offers much exploration of wide plains, a haunted manor, a robot factory, a desert civilization, and many more. The music is outstanding and perfectly fits with what's going on during the game. There was this one particular song so sad and beautiful that it almost made me cry. There are plenty of weapons and magic you can choose from and even downloadable content you can get from the playstation store that gives you access to new quests and weapons. If you love action-rpgs, Nier is a game you won't be disappointed with.

Ever since I had my first peek at trailers for this game I was intrigued to see what it was going to be like. I loved the overall look, and liken it to as if the Brother's Quay had just been tasked with designing a new Final Fantasy game.

Now that I've gotten to play it, I can't get over how amazingly fun it is to play. For fans of hack n' slash/beat 'em ups (Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, God of War) there is plenty there, but then how many of those games could you go fishing or slaughter nearby sheep for mutton? Also the games changing perspectives is daring and innovative, where you can be playing a standard 3D hack n' slash one moment, enter a room and you're now top down like the first Zelda for a while!

The story is engrossing, the visuals, while a bit on the rougher side for this gen, are beautiful in their own right, not unlike Shadow of the Colossus had in atmosphere. Overall, if you're looking for something different and to play a fantasy game unlike any you've probably ever played before, I can't recommend this game enough.

Buy this one. You won't regret it.

I have had my eye on this game for quite sometime now, and saw alot of the reviews on Metacritic and they were all over the place with the score. This is one game you are just going to have to play yourself to see if you like it or not,and I for one am glad I did. The most important thing in a game is content and gameplay and this game has plenty of it, the graphics are not Final Fantasy 13 great or even this generation great but that is not what makes a fun engrossing game.
The story is a simple one but it will pull you in as you really start to feel for your poor sick daughter in the game and become willing to do anything to save her, the fighting mechanic is also simple but rewarding, and has aspects of the Demon's Souls fighting mechanic, games in my opinion that have tons and tons of different button presses are unnecesary and are just showing a lack of gameplay content, you can usually finish those types of games just using two or three of the million button presses.
There is alot to do in this game, I do the main story quests for awhile then take some time out to do a bunch of the sidequests for the gold and other cool rewards they give you, such as being able to ride a certain beast like a horse so don't skip on the sidequests!
This game has everything us rpg fans love and more, I will admit that with some of the reviews I read I was sceptical, but I took the chance and WOW was I rewarded! I would love to go into more detail about this incredible game but then my review would be about ten pages long, just suffice it to say if you love rpg's this is a must buy. The people that are bashing this game for stupid unimportant things like the graphics don't look like a Pixar movie have no idea what gameplay is all about, those are the same people that play with the box because it is pretty and not the toy inside. Take a chance and get this really fun, involving, engrossing game and laugh at the people missing out because they didn't get it because the reviews said the graphics are last generation, there is some backtracking, and to many load screens.
Every game, I don't care what it is has some issues, nothings perfect, but these issues do not take away from the fun and enjoyment of this title. I could not put it down last night and it was the first thing I thought about when I got up this morning, that is how much this game pulled me in. Don't listen to the nay sayers and pick this one up!

I don't know why people are so hard on this game... I've been playing for about 20 hours and so far I am really enjoying the game. I was a little apprehensive about buying this game because the reviews where less than kind, I would really have been mad at myself if I let this one slip by. I've been waiting for a game like this since I got my PS3 a game full of NPC's that you can actually interact with (unlike FFXIII), towns to explore (unlike FFXIII) and there are fun quests to play not to mention farming and fishing :) I would recomend this to anyone who likes JRPG's and even a little hack and slash. GET THIS GAME!

This game has a great story and great gameplay. I have never wanted to beat a game more than once but find myself doing just that with Nier. The second playthrough puts a unique viewpoint on everything and ACTUALLY MAKES YOU THINK. The game has well developed characters and plot which mean significantly more to me than graphics. This is truly a rare find and is worth purchasing. Much attention has been given to the different types of play within the game, which is really not that big of a deal. It makes sense in how it is executed.

Nier earns its R16 rating through a combination of bloody violence and brutal language, the latter of which is demonstrated before you even have a menu to choose from. This harsh first impression is quickly overwhelmed by the surreal feel of the game. It has brutal moments, and some subtly disturbing aspects, but overall, it's an action-packed thrill ride through a beautifully realised fantasy story. You receive a short tutorial in an apocalyptic future before being dropped into the game proper. It looks like an odd change of setting, a fantasy world with brick houses and a walled town to explore.

When you start travelling, you'll notice that there are ruins similar to those seen in the tutorial, some suggestions of which become vaguely disturbing as you progress. The world in this game is far more than a backdrop, providing a story of its own which almost acts as a counterpoint to the one the player follows. You control Nier. Your daughter has a disease called the "Black Scrawl," named for what looks like indecipherable writing on the bodies of victims. Your mission, of course, is to do what any responsible father would do; abandon the care of your child to inattentive villagers. She's free to run around with little regard for her safety or potential infectiousness, and you continue to trust these people even after she's allowed to make a solo journey into the monster-infested forest nearby. Instead of such foolishness as caring for your child, or even spending time with her, you instead run off into a wilderness full of deadly... sheep.

Don't laugh, they're actually nasty little critters at the beginning of the game, and don't even think about upsetting a herd of goats until you've got some healing items. I should mention that you don't get any magical healing abilities, apart from mailboxes restoring your health by mere proximity. They also act as save points, and a bridge to the game's loading screens, most of which are pages from your daughter's diary, often referring to letters from her father. As well as the save-mailboxes, there are checkpoints scattered liberally throughout the game, with the tougher boss fights including several, to reduce the occurence of those controller-shattering "so close" moments.

Fortunately for our wayward Dad, it turns out that your daughter's illness is somehow caused by mysterious creatures called Shades, which can potentially be hurt by "powerful light." Unfortunately, the game never clarifies why direct sunlight in the open does nothing, but a ray of sunlight in an otherwise dark room quickly kills the things. Shades vary greatly, from child-sized to larger than a building, and from frail to nearly invulnerable. For a third-person action-RPG, I initially found melee combat pretty basic, but it turned out to have surprising depth.

If you want to keep a handle on your limited stock of healing items, you have to time your attacks carefully, striking and sometimes only landing a hit or two before going on the defensive. Each weapon has regular attacks with a combo string, and one-shot special attacks, and you can also block or dodge enemy attacks. Each weapon you find, and there are plenty, has statistics for damage, magic power and weight. Magic power boosts spell damage, and weight affects attack speed. Once you've reached the forge, you can use random junk accumulated in your travels to level up your weaponry, which increases damage, and occasionally alters weight, magic power or both. There's usually a balance of sorts, the more valuable and rare the items needed, the better the upgrade. Unfortunately, in spite of the number of weapons available, there are only three move sets.

Spears were my least favorite option. You could use their special dash attack to make hit-and-run attacks, but I found little incentive to do so, the majority of large battles being fought in tight enough confines to limit the effectiveness of such a strategy. Also, the stabbing action spears rely on is tough to aim. There were times when two-handed weapons came into their own. Even the lightest is slower than any one-handed sword, but they hit hard against tough opponents, and the wide room-clearing swings cut down waves of enemies at once, especially the special attack. In typical JRPG fashion, the best part of the game's upgrade system is also the strangest. After killing an enemy, you'll sometimes be given a "word" to use in "word edit" mode. No, this isn't a typing program. Every weapon, spell and defensive ability you have can be equipped with up to 2 words, each of which alters your character in some way, usually relevant to what it's attached to. These words can upgrade damage, add special effects like poison and paralysis, or even level up the other attached word.

Nier includes a raft of mini-games, such as fishing and gardening. They each have their own side-quests, and also act as an alternative option for some "gather" quests. Though well-made, they haven't added anything worthwhile to the game. Another oddity occurs in some enclosed areas, where you're forced into a side-scrolling 2D platformer, or sometimes viewing from a top-down perspective. Usually this comes up when the perspective change will make the area easier to navigate. Fortunately, developer Cavia has done a good job of ensuring the controls remain both consistent and usable in these spaces, and some puzzles were a lot more logical than they would have been from ground level.

As good as the story was, there were a few plot arcs that did nothing but pad out my playtime with unnecessary events. The developers have also taken an interesting, but ultimately flawed, approach to flashbacks and dream sequences. Instead of showing the flashback, you'll fade-out to a black screen with white text describing the scene. It's possible to get a little bogged down by the sheer amount of content in Nier. Some mini-games are of dubious value and the multi-layered upgrade system can convolute the experience.

But it's important to see the woods from the trees. On balance, Nier is a varied and engaging experience that for JRPG fans, is certainly worth a look.