Certain games have a feeling about them once you pop them in to play for the first time. An intriguing feeling where you're simply in awe of what you are witnessing. Nier is one of those games that makes you think and feel connected to the game through its visuals, deep passionate storyline and music so serene and beautiful that it would lull even Jigglypuff to sleep. Nier is a special, once-in-a-decade style game with such good hits and so few misses it's worth playing no matter what you know about it. Here is your review of one interesting spectacle: Nier.
Story
Nier, based on a comic series, sees you playing as Nier (whose name you can change to your own if you so please) as you try to save your daughter, Yonah, from her sickness. This sickness turns people into “Shades”, a fact you become quite intimate with quickly in this game. You start out in a ravaged modern day city where you and your daughter are taking refuge in some busted building. Yonah is very sick and with perfect timing the Shades show up. You take care of them but you yourself are sick and tired and have very little energy to keep fighting. There’s a book that offers you the strength to fight but at a price, you accept this to save your daughter and make quick work of the rest of the Shades. Then you fast forward 1,312 years where Nier and Yonah are living in a quaint, lively village built over a former town with the epicenter being a library. Through this storyline you meet many characters, your 3 allies are Grimoire Weiss, Kaine and Emil. Weiss (the floating book) gives you powers to use throughout the game by collecting the sealed verses in order to save your daughter from her black sickness. Weiss is very affluent and will put most down with his seemingly impeccable knowledge base, in other words…he’s British. Kaine is…well to put it the way Weiss does throughout the game, a “foul-mouthed hussey”. No doubt she curses like a sailor in Vietnam with a gunshot wound. Kaine is extremely powerful, but also cursed with the black sickness, though her willpower alone keeps her from succumbing. Emil is a young kid cursed with eyes that petrify. He becomes a strong magical ally later in the game but his ability to turn enemies to stone makes him very helpful in the start. The story is deep, long and rich. You will learn about all your allies, enemies and NPCs thoroughly. There is a minimum of 25 to 30 hours of gameplay to even beat this game, nevermind playing all the side quests.
Gameplay
If you’re a fan of Zelda this is a similar style, except it is gory, violent and has a large…large amount of cursing (especially when you get Kaine). It is simple yet effective, and really drives a hard point on paying attention to your health bar as well as using your magical abilities to help you. Fighting smaller shades can still be a battle because essentially, the smaller they are the more of them that attack you at once. There are many types, small animal-like ones which use claws or human-like ones wielding weapons and, later on, actual armor. As I said, it's like Zelda, in that you can fish (which is really…really hard by the way), hunt and create items as well as upgrade your weapons through a system which you can advance by downing enemies thus increasing your experience points gained, attack power or magic power, among many other things. The game has some issues though, as it becomes somewhat mechanical and tiresome from time to time. The other issue is the wording in the pause menu is really difficult to read and I have 20/25 vision. In general though it is a game that has many more positives than negatives and really has a pretty good flow for itself to rely on.
Sound
This has to be…honestly the most beautiful soundtrack I have heard in years. If you like the Final Fantasy XIII sound track you will drool over this one. It has beautiful melodies and the music seems just utterly perfect for each area you go through. I can almost always point out something wrong or missing with all soundtracks but this one takes the utter cake. It is like a lullaby that keeps you intrigued and wanting to put this on your iPod (or Zune for all you complainers) and just listen to this wonderfully composed music. While most music just keeps the game somewhat moving and distinctive (ex: Halo) the music here blows a lid off of anything you’ve ever heard from a game. This is possibly the best soundtrack of the year and maybe the best since Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Visuals
The game does a nice job of making the best of what it has. It will not blow you away but it feels…lifelike. You feel like you could go outside or to a small quaint village and see the same (I live in Ohio…there are many backwater towns…). It will not blow you away and the details are there but not on a “Boosh" and/or "Kakow” level. The game makes the most of its sunlight effects, shading and water effects to show off some truly beautiful visuals but beyond that you won’t be wowed by the underground areas or towns. The game by today’s standards is somewhat simplistic, but at times that can be better than over the top (Im talking to you opening sequence of Darksiders). The game gives what you need and some of what you want but won’t wow you, in general though it is nicely done.
Replay
The reply is value is actually very good. Like I said it’s like Zelda and on top of many side quests you didn’t get to do, there are 4 endings that require you to beat it 4 separate times. There is no random order as the endings are actually called ending A, B, C and D. Nicely tough, after you beat the game each time it starts you at the half way point of the game itself in order to save you the 10 or so hours it would take to get through the first half of the game. In general the replay is really worthwhile and makes the game worth the money you would spend on it.
Final Analysis
Nier brings a strong storyline together with beautiful music, good visuals and some overall good gameplay. It is a game that is built for those who are fans of Mass Effect and Zelda. It takes a simple concept and deep storyline roots to form a long and worthwhile game that gives a amazing story that spans 1,000 plus years. You get connected to the characters and to what will happen. You feel the pain of Nier and his struggles as well as the struggles of the other common people who just want to survive and enjoy what they have. The story has a amazing twist at the end that will leave you in awe and mystified. The game Nier brings a real bang for the buck and is a RPG that all fans of RPGs should truly own. It gives deep storylines, lots to do and most importantly a good product that delivers. It even has a nice homage to Zelda itself within the game. I don’t even have to say when to watch for it because you’ll know when you see it, it is too obvious. Nier is a complete package of old school and new school meeting in a nice and happy medium…its like Alien vs. Predator…except it actually delivers.
"Nier" is on sale April 27, 2010 and is rated M. RPG. Developed by Cavia. Published by Square Enix.
