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Nier
Mar 19, 2011 22:09:30 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Mar 19, 2011 22:09:30 GMT -5
One of the best games of 2010, and one of the few instances that shows that the Japanese RPG genre isn't all terrible! (And then of course the developer close up shop right after. Fantastic!) www.hardcoregaming101.net/nier/nier.htmAlso, HD screen caps! Make sure to click on the pics so that money I spent on an HD cap card was worthwhile! Oh, and the MP3 link isn't up yet.
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Nier
Mar 19, 2011 22:52:32 GMT -5
Post by kitten on Mar 19, 2011 22:52:32 GMT -5
and one of the few instances that shows that the Japanese RPG genre is all terrible! Bit of a mistype there
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 0:47:38 GMT -5
Post by Feynman on Mar 20, 2011 0:47:38 GMT -5
Loved the article! Even though it's a damn shame this gem is so overlooked, I'm still incredibly grateful that it exists at all. If the closing of Cavia is the price that had to be paid for the existence of Nier, I'm inclined to believe it was worth it.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 2:05:50 GMT -5
Post by Revolver Ocelot on Mar 20, 2011 2:05:50 GMT -5
Glad to see this up here! Great work!
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magus
Full Member
Posts: 110
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 8:00:51 GMT -5
Post by magus on Mar 20, 2011 8:00:51 GMT -5
i'm playing nier right now,got the first ending and i don't really understand what's the deal with it and why people go to great ends to call it "AN HIDDEN GEM THAT SHOWS THAT THE JAPANESE RPG AREN'T ALL TERRIBLES"... it is really just an averagish action game with drama so overdone that it kinda spill to comedy basicaly it is the videogame equivalent of this www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruI5v1-5oXc
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 12:03:40 GMT -5
Post by Feynman on Mar 20, 2011 12:03:40 GMT -5
You have no soul, sir.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 12:28:47 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Mar 20, 2011 12:28:47 GMT -5
i'm playing nier right now,got the first ending and i don't really understand what's the deal with it and why people go to great ends to call it "AN HIDDEN GEM THAT SHOWS THAT THE JAPANESE RPG AREN'T ALL TERRIBLES"... it is really just an averagish action game with drama so overdone that it kinda spill to comedy A lot of this sentiment comes from the fact that it's actually a pretty well written game. The storytelling is far more mature and coherent than the average JRPG nowadays, and the characters actually have, you know, character. It's very well localized, too. Plus outside of the occasional Ys game, there's a tragic lack of decent ARPGs, and this one fills that void nicely.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 12:48:07 GMT -5
Post by Revolver Ocelot on Mar 20, 2011 12:48:07 GMT -5
This makes me want to cover cavia's other games and just have a cavia company profile article. Beat Down is a really fun and stupid beat'em up that got slammed because, you know, beat'em ups suck unless they're on XBLA. I also got way more fun out of Bullet Witch than critics said I should have.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 13:58:12 GMT -5
Post by susanismyalias on Mar 20, 2011 13:58:12 GMT -5
Very glad to see this article. Superb game that more people need to play.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 14:16:18 GMT -5
Post by Ike on Mar 20, 2011 14:16:18 GMT -5
i'm playing nier right now,got the first ending and i don't really understand what's the deal with it and why people go to great ends to call it "AN HIDDEN GEM THAT SHOWS THAT THE JAPANESE RPG AREN'T ALL TERRIBLES"... it is really just an averagish action game with drama so overdone that it kinda spill to comedy basicaly it is the videogame equivalent of this www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruI5v1-5oXcYour problem is that you haven't gotten the second ending. 90% of the game's context is in the second playthrough. A few notes: One of the interesting subtleties of Nier is that it has minor distinction in the opening sequence depending on how you have your region set. If you have it set to Japan, when the opening scene zooms out at the end you see the Tokyo Tower. If you have it set to North America, instead you see (IIRC) the Empire State Building. If you're in France, you see the Eiffel Tower. In Germany, you see a large television tower (not sure which one.) England gets Big Ben. (translated from getnews.jp/archives/60012 )
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 14:54:03 GMT -5
Post by justjustin on Mar 20, 2011 14:54:03 GMT -5
i'm playing nier right now,got the first ending and i don't really understand what's the deal with it and why people go to great ends to call it "AN HIDDEN GEM THAT SHOWS THAT THE JAPANESE RPG AREN'T ALL TERRIBLES"... it is really just an averagish action game with drama so overdone that it kinda spill to comedy basicaly it is the videogame equivalent of this www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruI5v1-5oXcYour problem is that you haven't gotten the second ending. 90% of the game's context is in the second playthrough. I haven't finished the game yet, but it seems like this is more the game's problem. I don't know why it has multiple endings like this unless each ending leads into a time loop/alternate reality scenario, or something about the characters being able to "try again" in the course of the story with a new perspective on things. If there's no hook at the end to get people playing it again it's bad form to have multiple endings. But even if the multiple plays are worked into the story in a significant way I still think it's a tall order to have people play through more than once to get the full story. I'll have to see. I've been playing it this past week and Nier has been all right so far, but while there are some really epic moments (and an amazing soundtrack) it falls short too often for me to call it a great action game. I like the premise, and I like how the characters really change, but there are far better action games out there. At least treading through the same dungeons a second (or third!) time does not get too boring, despite the experiences being essentially the same each time. My biggest question is why Cavia made this more like Zelda and less like a straight-up action game. All the weapons, words you collect, most of the magic spells, items, side-quests-- they're all either unnecessary or offer totally pedestrian experiences. And what's with the "puzzles" in some of the dungeons? They took about 5 seconds to work out in my head. It doesn't detract from the game, none of the side-quests are insufferable or anything (in fact they're pretty short and painless, usually easy to complete since you'll be in the neighborhood anyway), but I just didn't see a reason for any of it other than including that stuff just because games in similar genres have them too. The most commendable thing Nier does is it takes stuff we associate with "bad design" (pointless side-quests, backtracking, etc.) and makes it not so bad thanks to a great cast of characters, awesome music, and an unpredictable story that keeps me curious. To me it's a B-game with a few epic moments.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 15:04:09 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2011 15:04:09 GMT -5
Nier is very much about the characters and the player's affection for them. It would be unreasonable to expect everyone to love them, but I'm glad to say that I do.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 15:22:54 GMT -5
Post by Ike on Mar 20, 2011 15:22:54 GMT -5
I haven't finished the game yet, but it seems like this is more the game's problem. I don't know why it has multiple endings like this unless each ending leads into a time loop/alternate reality scenario, or something about the characters being able to "try again" in the course of the story with a new perspective on things. If there's no hook at the end to get people playing it again it's bad form to have multiple endings. This is exactly what it does. I don't really want to spoil exactly why the second playthrough is so important, although it's covered in the article if you're really curious. I still recommend it. This is an attitude I wholeheartedly disagree with when it comes to video games. People are getting way, way too used to simply plowing through a 3-6 hour long campaign and being done with it. Nobody wants to pay $60 bucks for a short romp that barely covers an afternoon. There's no meaningful storytelling to be found there. Nier struck me because I had to work for the story. Half (or more!) of the game's story is nowhere to be found on the game disc itself but in the companion book Grimoire Nier. It allows for a level of autonomy that is practically unknown in games made after the era of PC games like Ultima that required you to actually do some research to understand the game world fully. You can take it at face value (which most people did, hence the game's tepid reception) or you can dig a little deeper and find a rich backstory, compelling characters and a tragic narrative uniquely told through the format of a video game. It's a very uncommon, if not singular type of game.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 18:16:28 GMT -5
Post by justjustin on Mar 20, 2011 18:16:28 GMT -5
I don't see any reason why half the story had to be in actual book form instead of the game. If it was really integral to the whole experience the book would have been included with every purchase, with footnotes appearing in the game referencing where to find further information in the book. I think Nier stands fine on its own, and its reception has little to do with people not reading a companion book written in Japanese. I'll be sure to check out the translation myself since I'm interested, but while the more detailed explanations might be interesting it probably won't impact the enjoyment I already had with the game.
I finished the game and you're right, the ending, while pretty good, does leave some loose ends for that second (or third or fourth) go, but I won't be going through it since I already had my fill. Of all the ways the plot could have unfolded, is it really best in the form of multiple plays? Sure, I'd have to spend more time to get the bigger picture but that time spent would just feel like a chore to me instead of the enjoyment I had playing it through once. If it were a really solid action game that was a few hours in length I would have had no issue with this at all. I've played through quite a few games tens of times because they're so well designed (and the story never changes). But if all it is is more cutscenes and dialog where there wasn't before I can't motivate myself to go through the second half again, especially if it requires additional time to collect all the weapons for the third and fourth ending. I agree you have to work for the story, but it's not the kind of work I like to do.
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Nier
Mar 20, 2011 18:40:25 GMT -5
Post by Feynman on Mar 20, 2011 18:40:25 GMT -5
Of all the ways the plot could have unfolded, is it really best in the form of multiple plays? Yes. What they did in the second playthrough simply couldn't have been done during one playthrough, not without dramatically compromising the emotional impact of the game.
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