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*Note - this is a review for Nier Gestalt. Not Replicant.
[HEADING=1]The Underrated Gem of the Year[/HEADING]
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3
First off, I know it's a bit early to say it's the underrated gem of the year, but since hardly any mainstream reviewer has given this game a positive review nor has it received hardly any attention from the media, I'm confident in calling it now.
With that out of the way, on to the review.
In life, there are far too many great things that fly under the radar. Genre revolutionizing music that gets pushed aside to make way for the same bullshit you've heard for years. Movies that can be considered masterful being ignored so the media may focus on whatever crap Michael Bay happens to be promoting. And games that, despite it's few flaws are far better than any highly promoted, ultra-hyped game that many people are disappointed in.
Nier is one of these games
[HEADING=2]Story[/HEADING]
Taking place in a distant future post apocalyptic setting, NIER revolves around a father struggling to find a cure for a disease that has infected his only daughter, Yonah, known as the Black Scrawl which is connected to hordes of monsters dominating the land known as Shades. It's one of those pesky incurable diseases that seems to come around every so often in games to give some reason for a wave of evil sweeping through the land.
The main character known as Nier (go figure) is depicted as a grizzled early 40s male, in contrast to the typical angsty 80 pound JRPG teen. Nier is shown to have an amazing drive to save his daughter and does a great job at creating and building tension and drama throughout the game. From the very moment the game started, it is easy to tell how deep his determination is to complete his quest.
Remember to get the DeLorean up to 88--Oh wait, wrong character
Along the way, you meet more characters to aid you in battle, the first of which is snooty floating, talking book which speaks in a stereotypical uptight Englishman accent whilst thinking very highly of himself named Grimoire Wiess who's motives are suspect at best.
The next is Kaine, a scantily clad woman with one of the foulest mouths in all of gaming. She is depicted as having a nihilistic view point on most things. She serves as the game's sex appeal and it ain't subtle one bit. While not overly sexual in her speech or movements, she dresses like a stripper who's battle attire consists of underwear that reveals her ass and a half open blouse. Though while she can come across as just a means to push the games media attention in terms of sex appeal, she actually does have her sincere moments throughout the game and becomes very likable especially in the second act. She also serves as a partner for a fair bit of the game while aiding you in battles.
I..uh...was I saying something?
Its a bit difficult to describe Nier's story too much without going into some spoilers, so I will refrain from doing so. The best way I can sum it up is that it's a simple concept for a game's story but becomes increasingly complex with twists and turns that manage to be reasonable and believable enough to not come across as overly ridiculous. One thing to mention is that this game has multiple endings. 4 of them in fact and each one has a different path you play to achieve it which in turn reveals character back stories and information you wouldn't get in other playthroughs.
[HEADING=2]Gameplay[/HEADING]
Nier's gameplay may be considered by some to be a slight weakness or something that could easily be perfected. The combat is, for the most part, solid with basic hack-and-slash style sword play with a bit of magic thrown in for good measure. As mentioned before, the talking book Wiess serves as the game's magical ally and can of course be upgraded throughout the game.
To do so, you collect words that are used to upgrade weapons, magic spells or new magic all together. The only problem with this is that these "words" are far too easy to come by and far too overpowered. You can easily clear out a horde of foes with one well timed magic attack and that's only using one of the starting spells.
The combat isn't perfect, by any means, but it isn't awful either. Nothing about it is necessarily astounding with the exception of the high amount of genre crossing and diversity found in the battles. For the most part, you'll have the standard 3rd person camera view, then the next moment, you'll be viewing from a top down perspective reminiscent of the 2D Zelda games. At times, this can become a bit of a hassle when the camera pans quickly from one view point to the other, but it mostly stays under control.
The central game takes place in Nier's home village which is just a subsection of a large open world similar to Hyrule (and in this respect, it does take from Zelda) in which there is one main field that connects to other towns.
Many gameplay elements have been incorporated into NIER and almost every dungeon has a different theme. The first two dungeons are straight forward, nothing particularly special, while the third consists mostly of trial rooms and 2D sidescrolling, the next is a text adventure which despite it sounding like a low point of the game, it actually comes across as a welcome change from the typical hectic battles of previous levels and the fifth is a haunted manor using typical survival horror camera angles and atmosphere. While it may sound like a giant clusterfuck of mashed genres, it instead feels more diverse and a keeps the gameplay from getting too stale.
Though this is somewhat inevitable, but the gameplay does get repetitive from time to time especially when doing side missions. This is a definite low point of the game as all of them consist of fetch quests in which all you do is gather materials for towns people who are too stupid or weak to do it themselves. On my first playthrough, I ignored these completely as you are not obligated to do them. In addition, when traveling over and over through the same towns and fields again and again and facing the same enemies, the gameplay does become quite tedious but is broken up by the game's story and actual levels. Many people consider it to take many ques from the Zelda series and despite the one I mentioned earlier and a bit of the combat, it doesn't make as many similarities to the Zelda franchise as one might think. In fact, I found it to be a bit more reminiscent of the Dark Cloud series than Zelda.
Similar enemy designs often become repeti--WHAT THE CRAP IS THAT??
One of the high points in the game though are the boss battles. With the exception of one obvious boss, the battles are entertaining and can prove quite the challenge (at least for me) and were one of the things that kept my attention when the game seemed to drag on a bit.
[HEADING=2]Overall[/HEADING]
A few more things I'd like to mention are in regards to NIER's atmosphere which is one of the things the game does superbly. The game is able to use the tone of the story to set the perfect atmosphere. The music in the game is one of it's highlights that I would compare to that of the Castlevania series and sets the mood perfectly with the exception of a few tracks that, like on occasion the gameplay, become repetitive and somewhat annoying. Though for the most part, the songs are phenomenal and do a perfect job at setting the mood of a particular area. Combine the story tone and the almost perfect soundtrack, this does a great job of setting the right atmosphere ranging from calming to hectic and from a feeling of pure sorrow to (dare I say?) pure epicness.
And one last thing I'd like to gripe at is the graphics. Something most people can tell just by looking at screenshots is that the graphics are...sub par at best. Looking like a late PS2 title or an early PS3 game, the graphics are something that could have been easily polished up, but despite this, it maintains beautiful backdrops and settings.
In closing, Nier is a fantastic game with a bleak and dark story with intriguing characters, enjoyable gameplay and only a few minor flaws that I would recommend to anyone craving a good RPG who has the patience for it. And for those of you who must have it....:
I would have given it 4 1/2, but I couldn't find an image for it.
Bayonetta [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.169030-JK-Reviews-Bayonetta-Warning-May-Contain-Spoilers]
Game of the Year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163760-Celebration-for-My-5000th-post-Game-of-the-Year-awards]
God of War III [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182952-JK-Reviews-God-of-War-III]
Game of the Year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163760-Celebration-for-My-5000th-post-Game-of-the-Year-awards]
God of War III [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182952-JK-Reviews-God-of-War-III]
Pros:
-Deep story
-Interesting characters
-Excellent Soundtrack
-Balanced Combat
-Multiple endings
-Diverse gameplay
-Simple, yet satisfying level system
-Deep story
-Interesting characters
-Excellent Soundtrack
-Balanced Combat
-Multiple endings
-Diverse gameplay
-Simple, yet satisfying level system
Cons:
-Poor character graphics
-Tedious sidequests.
-One truly awful boss battle
-Slow start
-Poor character graphics
-Tedious sidequests.
-One truly awful boss battle
-Slow start
i liked your pro and con list
