I understand being cheap as much as the rest of you, but if you can afford this game and you care at all about the ability of developers to MAKE this kind of game, maybe you should buy it at release. Seriously, the industry is faltering and unless this type of games make decent sales, we're going to basically see the end of developers putting out these somewhat risky games.
I think it's less being cheap and more that video games are quite possibly the most retardedly expensive hobby to partake in and buying a PoMo game (weird for the sake of weird) that could just as easily fall flat as a game is a risky venture.
How do you pronounce this game's name anyway? I tend to go with... well, 'nier' as in 'the Dutch word for kidney', which I suspect isn't the right pronounciation.
Should it be something like 'ny-er' or something?
The katakana reading is Nee (as in the knights who say Nee) and Ahhh (like the lower case vowel).
I think it's less being cheap and more that video games are quite possibly the most retardedly expensive hobby to partake in and buying a PoMo game (weird for the sake of weird) that could just as easily fall flat as a game is a risky venture.
Games are pretty cheap compared to most other hobbies. At least, I buy about maybe a game a month and between 20-60 hours of enjoyment out of the things. In fact, in economic depressions games have traditionally done pretty well, since it makes a ton more economic sense to sit around at home and play video games rather than going out to a movie or restaurant.
Anyway, the game isn't bad. It may not have as much polish as a big budget game, but even with its bizarre plot and oddly unfocused gameplay, there's a reason why everybody here is heaping praise on it. Look at it another way, all the "non-weird" are going to do well and you can pick up a cheap copy anywhere, but games like Nier are already in real danger of going extinct for being too risky.
There's a Dutch guy on another forum I visit who made that crack too... I generally go with 'near', though I haven't a clue if that's correct.
It's not exactly a joke. It's just a fact. 'Nier' is Dutch for 'kidney' and so, being very familiar with that ordinary Dutch word, we're inclined to pronounce it a certain way even though we know we probably shouldn't in this particular case.
Which is probably also why we would like to know the right pronouciation. It's... pretty weird to call this game Kidney all the time.
No, I meant 'crack' as in getting a laugh at the game's expense, not pretending something that isn't the case or anything like that. Justified IMO, cultural differences be damned. I may never get anything done with the stories I write, but I still try and make sure my fake fantasy or sci-fi names don't inadvertently mean something completely unrelated in another language than my own. All it takes is a quick google. Still, it's a very minor quibble.
Eight Rooks on
<AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.
So for those of you who played Drakengard, Nier takes place in that universe from what I've heard. One of the endings created Nier's universe? I'm actually considering playing Drakengard just because of this game, even though I've heard the former is pretty much terrible in all areas except at being batshit insane.
It really is. A better choice would be to just check out a playthrough on Youtube. The game was pretty terrible at release, but in 2010 I can't even imagine how bad it is.
That said, I still own it, and I kind of want to get Nier for the sole reason that it's even partially connected.
Better still, just read the screenshot let's play at SA.
Oh my Holy Christ. I was idly reading this on a slow day having followed your link. Game is fucked up but LP is entertaining. Then I get to that ending.
The baby apocalypse ending.
HOLY FUCKING CHRIST!
Still if Nier is anywhere near that messed up but also playable, it has just leaped up my interest list.
I'm very interested in this game. Cavia's recent games have been much better than their older work in terms of gameplay.
Man, people give Cavia a bad wrap. Drakengard was a pretty awesome game (even if 2 was terrible) and Bullet Witch was great. They have an rough, unwieldy vision, and beneath that so-terrible-it's-good animu aesthetic lays something very Kenji Eno, Suda 51, Shinji Mikami like. They're all right, I like their shit.
i'm not sure how much I care about nier but, bullet hell action RPG seems pretty good to me. But I wish I could play as the demon futa chick. Is she playable in any version of the game? Is the japanese version region locked?
Beck on
Lucas's Franklin Badge reflected the lightning back!
I'm very interested in this game. Cavia's recent games have been much better than their older work in terms of gameplay.
Man, people give Cavia a bad wrap. Drakengard was a pretty awesome game (even if 2 was terrible) and Bullet Witch was great. They have an rough, unwieldy vision, and beneath that so-terrible-it's-good animu aesthetic lays something very Kenji Eno, Suda 51, Shinji Mikami like. They're all right, I like their shit.
i'm not sure how much I care about nier but, bullet hell action RPG seems pretty good to me. But I wish I could play as the demon futa chick. Is she playable in any version of the game? Is the japanese version region locked?
I've only played some Drakengard, Bullet Witch, and Ghost in the Shell for PS2. Ghost in the Shell is my favorite so far, but that's probably because of the license. They have some nice ideas, but their games generally seem like they need another few months of polish.
This certainly looks interesting, but I can't get over the lead character's animations.
Best... ever... made? Yeah, I'd love to live in the parallel universe where Drakengard was awesome. :? Must be nice. I just got the one where every battlefield was an endless grind of repetitive, tedious combat against the same two or three enemy types over the same cut-and-paste lifeless terrain. No matter how many times I said woo dragon wooooo to myself, it didn't stop it from being a terrible game. (And let's not get started on how objectively, factually, idiotically retarded it is to make the canon ending the one where you have to pick up every single collectible in the game, no matter how stupidly obtuse its hiding place.)
I like Cavia's vision, and I admire them for being insane. I like Drakengard's relentless nihilism, I like its outright lunacy, I like its sound design (still one of the most distinctive soundtracks ever created). But let's not get too excited here, eh? ;-)
And yes, Nier's jumping animation is one of the most hilariously awful you will ever see. Strike the earth!
Eight Rooks on
<AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.
Best... ever... made? Yeah, I'd love to live in the parallel universe where Drakengard was awesome. :? Must be nice. I just got the one where every battlefield was an endless grind of repetitive, tedious combat against the same two or three enemy types over the same cut-and-paste lifeless terrain. No matter how many times I said woo dragon wooooo to myself, it didn't stop it from being a terrible game. (And let's not get started on how objectively, factually, idiotically retarded it is to make the canon ending the one where you have to pick up every single collectible in the game, no matter how stupidly obtuse its hiding place.)
That's not the canon ending. Also, Drakengard *is* awesome. I live in this parallel universe you say you want to be part of where everyone doesn't share the same opinion.
Best... ever... made? Yeah, I'd love to live in the parallel universe where Drakengard was awesome. :? Must be nice. I just got the one where every battlefield was an endless grind of repetitive, tedious combat against the same two or three enemy types over the same cut-and-paste lifeless terrain. No matter how many times I said woo dragon wooooo to myself, it didn't stop it from being a terrible game. (And let's not get started on how objectively, factually, idiotically retarded it is to make the canon ending the one where you have to pick up every single collectible in the game, no matter how stupidly obtuse its hiding place.)
That's not the canon ending.
Drakengard 2 treats the first ending (the non-apocalyptic one) as the canon ending. NieR treats the 'what the fuck' ending as canon.
Yes and I think the game which directly follows the story of the first game, is the sequel and involves more characters and events from the first game is much more canon than a game that just says it is based on that ending.
Is fishing supposed to be absolutely infurating? I just got to Seaport and I'm at a brick wall. I can land a fish and even start draining the hp bar on the bottom but it depletes extremely slowly. Even if I'm keeping up with it's movements so the bar is always flashing, sometimes the fish will just randomly get away from me.
I've landed one fish, it took something like 3-5 minutes of holding onto the stick, and it wasn't even the one I needed to progress the story. Am I doing something wrong?
EDIT: Never mind! I was in the wrong place, apparently.
After you get the fish you need to progress the story, talk to the fisherman who gave you the rod. He'll give you a series of quests that will improve your fishing skill.
Yes and I think the game which directly follows the story of the first game, is the sequel and involves more characters and events from the first game is much more canon than a game that just says it is based on that ending.
Well, nobody really remembers the 'normal' ending to Drakengard 1; pretty much everyone who knows about Drakengard knows about the Tokyo Babypocalypse ending(s). I'm not surprised that they went with the memorable ending over the duller but more palatable ending.
Best... ever... made? Yeah, I'd love to live in the parallel universe where Drakengard was awesome. :? Must be nice. I just got the one where every battlefield was an endless grind of repetitive, tedious combat against the same two or three enemy types over the same cut-and-paste lifeless terrain. No matter how many times I said woo dragon wooooo to myself, it didn't stop it from being a terrible game. (And let's not get started on how objectively, factually, idiotically retarded it is to make the canon ending the one where you have to pick up every single collectible in the game, no matter how stupidly obtuse its hiding place.)
That's not the canon ending. Also, Drakengard *is* awesome. I live in this parallel universe you say you want to be part of where everyone doesn't share the same opinion.
Dont worry man I agree. I love Drakengard on so many levels. So much so I had nearly every weapon and had gotten all endings. And leveled the weapons up....God I love that game so much. The hours sunk into endless killing..once I realized Nier was Cavia I nearly shat myself.
mastrius on
"You're like a kitten! A kitten who doesn't speak Japanese." ~ Juliet Starling
0
turtleantGunpla Dadis the best.Registered Userregular
edited April 2010
Drakengard spoilers
That last ending, the one after the annoying ass rhythm game, fuck it.
I mean what the hell. It's all like "YAY we win and saved our world (and Tokyo). WHOO *BLAM* dead.
And then at the end of the credits that annoying ass kid says "thanks for playing". It's like the cinematic equivalent of someone flipping you the bird.
I kind of grudgingly respect Cavia for that since it is such a dick move.
Also the best part of Drakengard was the voice over for watcher possessed Mana. Never gets less funny.
I'm very interested in this game. Cavia's recent games have been much better than their older work in terms of gameplay.
Man, people give Cavia a bad wrap. Drakengard was a pretty awesome game (even if 2 was terrible) and Bullet Witch was great. They have an rough, unwieldy vision, and beneath that so-terrible-it's-good animu aesthetic lays something very Kenji Eno, Suda 51, Shinji Mikami like. They're all right, I like their shit.
i'm not sure how much I care about nier but, bullet hell action RPG seems pretty good to me. But I wish I could play as the demon futa chick. Is she playable in any version of the game? Is the japanese version region locked?
I've only played some Drakengard, Bullet Witch, and Ghost in the Shell for PS2. Ghost in the Shell is my favorite so far, but that's probably because of the license. They have some nice ideas, but their games generally seem like they need another few months of polish.
This certainly looks interesting, but I can't get over the lead character's animations.
They could definitely benefit from a couple months of polish, but I wonder if that would change anyone's opinion of their games, really. I reckon it would probably bump the metacritic up quite a bit.
I think the rough edges work though, because their games are so unapologetic.
That said I'll be waiting for Nier to hit 30 dollars before I try it (I'm sorry). Still, looking forward to it.
Beck on
Lucas's Franklin Badge reflected the lightning back!
Best... ever... made? Yeah, I'd love to live in the parallel universe where Drakengard was awesome. :? Must be nice.
When you grow up and realize people having other opinions then yours doesn't make you a lesser person you will be so much happier.
Possibly. People going into raptures over games where the scenery for every level is the same handful of copy-pasted textures, where everything is the same limited, bland colour palette, where combat is the same two or three button combos for what feels like hours, where the difficulty is one great vertical cliff-face of endless, endless grinding... doesn't make it very easy for me to change my mind. Especially when all they offer in defence of their own opinions is 'Yeah, it was fantastic, it was amazing, I played it for hours and hours and hours and hours'. You're entitled to call, I dunno, Maple Story the best game ever; I'm entitled to laugh at you if all you come up with to support that is 'But it's eaten like half my life - how could it not be brilliant?'.
I'm enjoying NieR a great deal, yet at the same time there's plenty about it to make me think 'Jesus, I paid full price for this?'. Just saying 'Oh, well, Cavia are a little rough around the edges, it just makes them all the more charming!' doesn't excuse a graphics engine that looks about a decade out of date, a complete lack of any scalable difficulty (I've effectively broken the game by this point), presentation that looks like the roughs for a first year university graphic design project, throwing together twenty different gameplay styles with no evident thought for how well they work together or any one of countless other little nitpicks. Buying a 6/10 is a gesture of support for thinking outside the box, sure; it's also still buying a 6/10, something shoddy, unpolished and hastily slapped together. If anyone starts dribbling over that without providing a damn good reason why they're not bothered by all the rough edges (and no, 'It's, like, my opinion' is not a damn good reason) I'll laugh at that, too.
Eight Rooks on
<AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.
If anyone starts dribbling over that without providing a damn good reason why they're not bothered by all the rough edges (and no, 'It's, like, my opinion' is not a damn good reason) I'll laugh at that, too.
Because we just didn't care about the rough edges? o_O
Believe it or not we exist. :P
Cult movies are also not perfect but awesome for their own reasons.
That's pretty gross and offensive. Please leave those derogatory terms out of her character summary.
Reconsider your topic title too please. From what I can tell she presents herself as female and uses female pronouns so no need to bring her womanhood in question because of a demon enforced intersex condition (god bless Japan).
A Rose by any other name is still a rose. Id go with he-she on this one.
I dont find it offensive at all.
This game looks awesome. But japan is slowly loosing me. Ill buy it and see how it fares. Its got a nice surreal touch to it. I just wish that surreal didn't have to = super bizarre with out explanation.
Any word on whether to go with the xbox 360 or ps3 version?
There doesn't seem to be much difference technical wise.
It comes to if you want bishounen girly pretty boy who wants to save his sister (PS3) or ugly but manly old man who wants to save his daughter. (XBOX360)
The second beeing the original design (as far as I understood)
I'm going for obvious reasons for the XBOX360 version.
I thought that distinction was only in Japan...so I'm mostly interested technical wise.
Sorry, my bad :x.
There only seems to be a difference in Terms of video quality. Xbox has 720p vs. 1080p PS3. In Gameplay it is 720p for both. (As far as I know)
But since there doesn't seem to be much videos anyway it's probably more of a question which controller you prefer.
Man, the soundtrack really does not disappoint. Quite interested in this game now.
It is pretty impressive on the whole.
But I do dread the music that always plays at your home. It just makes me feel like something terrible is going to happen any moment now, even though (or probably because) it sounds like relatively mellow fairytale music.
Yes and I think the game which directly follows the story of the first game, is the sequel and involves more characters and events from the first game is much more canon than a game that just says it is based on that ending.
Honestly, I'm ecstatic that Nier goes for the psycho ending. Drakengard 2 was a huge disappointment that--while it had slightly better gameplay than the first--lost the atmosphere, the charm, the music and pretty much every other aspect that made Drakengard great. Even the story was some typical teen superhero anime stuff, and that was the deepest cut of all.
Nier on the other hand is ten times the sequel to Drakengard the official sequel could ever hope to be.
Twenty-nine hours in, so never let it be said I don't put my money where my mouth is. Wondering how far through the story I am; it seems like I'm right near the end but I suspect from the trophy list there's a whole lot of stuff I haven't done. Really the grating lack of polish and the absence of any difficulty once you've done a fair bit of grinding (which pretty much just happens if you do sidequests) are my only major gripes - I'd like to see an actual proper WTF twist out of the story, which hasn't happened yet, but it still makes me genuinely laugh and twice now has really quite deeply unnerved me. Biggest surprise of the year so far. I still wouldn't rate it that highly, but I'm very glad I bought it.
Eight Rooks on
<AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.
Beaten it, thirty hours or so on the clock, ending 1 of 4. Started a new game+ straight away, which is... not what most people will probably be expecting.
All my criticisms are still very much in effect, and sadly, I guessed what the story does reveal a mile off (though there's still a whole mess of things completely unexplained!) but the final boss is awesome - Christ, the Touhou fans should take a look at this - and Kaine is one of my favourite characters ever. In anything. And not for the obvious reasons.
Eight Rooks on
<AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.
Second playthrough is... my God this is one nasty kick in the teeth.
There's a reason why you want to do further playthroughs from a clear save; this gives little or nothing away but I'll spoil it anyway.
You unlock the extra endings, and you get a surprising amount of extra backstory in the process - new scenes and revised perspectives you didn't get the first time.
It's a bit of a one-note gag so far - and if I were to say the games it reminds me of this would instantly give things away to more than a few people - but it's really, really well done. I've rarely if ever been punched in the gut so hard by a game, emotionally. Don't get me wrong; the story still doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and it's taking its sweet time putting something together I suspect isn't really complicated enough to warrant this much ambiguity. But emotional manipulation or not, you'd have to be dead from the neck up not to be affected by this stuff.
A quick plot related question, spoilers for right after the Forest:
Yonah just sent me to go look at a mansion in the south. I have heard that there's a specific point in the plot where there is a time skip which prevents you from finishing sidequests from before it. Is this that point? Should I go finish everything I have flagged right now?
A quick plot related question, spoilers for right after the Forest:
Yonah just sent me to go look at a mansion in the south. I have heard that there's a specific point in the plot where there is a time skip which prevents you from finishing sidequests from before it. Is this that point? Should I go finish everything I have flagged right now?
Can't remember specifically! Sorry. <_< The
event that triggers the timeskip
involves coming back to the central hub, and I'm pretty sure it's not
from the south.
You should always save when you get the opportunity, though; the game never really pushes you into having to repeat hours of play or anything like that, there's always a save point available before pivotal events, and there's (very mild spoilers, I guess)
only one point of no return, which the game clearly warns you you're about to cross.
Eight Rooks on
<AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.
A quick plot related question, spoilers for right after the Forest:
Yonah just sent me to go look at a mansion in the south. I have heard that there's a specific point in the plot where there is a time skip which prevents you from finishing sidequests from before it. Is this that point? Should I go finish everything I have flagged right now?
Info
Hm, well good to know where the actual event takes place, I'll keep an eye out for that.
As for sidequests I'll just assume that 50% done is such a nice even number that I didn't miss anything.
Posts
I think it's less being cheap and more that video games are quite possibly the most retardedly expensive hobby to partake in and buying a PoMo game (weird for the sake of weird) that could just as easily fall flat as a game is a risky venture.
The katakana reading is Nee (as in the knights who say Nee) and Ahhh (like the lower case vowel).
Games are pretty cheap compared to most other hobbies. At least, I buy about maybe a game a month and between 20-60 hours of enjoyment out of the things. In fact, in economic depressions games have traditionally done pretty well, since it makes a ton more economic sense to sit around at home and play video games rather than going out to a movie or restaurant.
Anyway, the game isn't bad. It may not have as much polish as a big budget game, but even with its bizarre plot and oddly unfocused gameplay, there's a reason why everybody here is heaping praise on it. Look at it another way, all the "non-weird" are going to do well and you can pick up a cheap copy anywhere, but games like Nier are already in real danger of going extinct for being too risky.
Which is probably also why we would like to know the right pronouciation. It's... pretty weird to call this game Kidney all the time.
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
Oh my Holy Christ. I was idly reading this on a slow day having followed your link. Game is fucked up but LP is entertaining. Then I get to that ending.
HOLY FUCKING CHRIST!
Still if Nier is anywhere near that messed up but also playable, it has just leaped up my interest list.
Man, people give Cavia a bad wrap. Drakengard was a pretty awesome game (even if 2 was terrible) and Bullet Witch was great. They have an rough, unwieldy vision, and beneath that so-terrible-it's-good animu aesthetic lays something very Kenji Eno, Suda 51, Shinji Mikami like. They're all right, I like their shit.
i'm not sure how much I care about nier but, bullet hell action RPG seems pretty good to me. But I wish I could play as the demon futa chick. Is she playable in any version of the game? Is the japanese version region locked?
Those games are some of the best ever made.
I've only played some Drakengard, Bullet Witch, and Ghost in the Shell for PS2. Ghost in the Shell is my favorite so far, but that's probably because of the license. They have some nice ideas, but their games generally seem like they need another few months of polish.
This certainly looks interesting, but I can't get over the lead character's animations.
I like Cavia's vision, and I admire them for being insane. I like Drakengard's relentless nihilism, I like its outright lunacy, I like its sound design (still one of the most distinctive soundtracks ever created). But let's not get too excited here, eh? ;-)
And yes, Nier's jumping animation is one of the most hilariously awful you will ever see. Strike the earth!
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
It's like a typical epic fantasy soundtrack on a turntable.
When you grow up and realize people having other opinions then yours doesn't make you a lesser person you will be so much happier.
I've landed one fish, it took something like 3-5 minutes of holding onto the stick, and it wasn't even the one I needed to progress the story. Am I doing something wrong?
EDIT: Never mind! I was in the wrong place, apparently.
Well, nobody really remembers the 'normal' ending to Drakengard 1; pretty much everyone who knows about Drakengard knows about the Tokyo Babypocalypse ending(s). I'm not surprised that they went with the memorable ending over the duller but more palatable ending.
Dont worry man I agree. I love Drakengard on so many levels. So much so I had nearly every weapon and had gotten all endings. And leveled the weapons up....God I love that game so much. The hours sunk into endless killing..once I realized Nier was Cavia I nearly shat myself.
I mean what the hell. It's all like "YAY we win and saved our world (and Tokyo). WHOO *BLAM* dead.
And then at the end of the credits that annoying ass kid says "thanks for playing". It's like the cinematic equivalent of someone flipping you the bird.
I kind of grudgingly respect Cavia for that since it is such a dick move.
Also the best part of Drakengard was the voice over for watcher possessed Mana. Never gets less funny.
They could definitely benefit from a couple months of polish, but I wonder if that would change anyone's opinion of their games, really. I reckon it would probably bump the metacritic up quite a bit.
I think the rough edges work though, because their games are so unapologetic.
That said I'll be waiting for Nier to hit 30 dollars before I try it (I'm sorry). Still, looking forward to it.
Possibly. People going into raptures over games where the scenery for every level is the same handful of copy-pasted textures, where everything is the same limited, bland colour palette, where combat is the same two or three button combos for what feels like hours, where the difficulty is one great vertical cliff-face of endless, endless grinding... doesn't make it very easy for me to change my mind. Especially when all they offer in defence of their own opinions is 'Yeah, it was fantastic, it was amazing, I played it for hours and hours and hours and hours'. You're entitled to call, I dunno, Maple Story the best game ever; I'm entitled to laugh at you if all you come up with to support that is 'But it's eaten like half my life - how could it not be brilliant?'.
I'm enjoying NieR a great deal, yet at the same time there's plenty about it to make me think 'Jesus, I paid full price for this?'. Just saying 'Oh, well, Cavia are a little rough around the edges, it just makes them all the more charming!' doesn't excuse a graphics engine that looks about a decade out of date, a complete lack of any scalable difficulty (I've effectively broken the game by this point), presentation that looks like the roughs for a first year university graphic design project, throwing together twenty different gameplay styles with no evident thought for how well they work together or any one of countless other little nitpicks. Buying a 6/10 is a gesture of support for thinking outside the box, sure; it's also still buying a 6/10, something shoddy, unpolished and hastily slapped together. If anyone starts dribbling over that without providing a damn good reason why they're not bothered by all the rough edges (and no, 'It's, like, my opinion' is not a damn good reason) I'll laugh at that, too.
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
Because we just didn't care about the rough edges? o_O
Believe it or not we exist. :P
Cult movies are also not perfect but awesome for their own reasons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dixqze8eAM&feature=related
Oh man this variation is even better
A Rose by any other name is still a rose. Id go with he-she on this one.
I dont find it offensive at all.
There doesn't seem to be much difference technical wise.
It comes to if you want bishounen girly pretty boy who wants to save his sister (PS3) or ugly but manly old man who wants to save his daughter. (XBOX360)
The second beeing the original design (as far as I understood)
I'm going for obvious reasons for the XBOX360 version.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Sorry, my bad :x.
There only seems to be a difference in Terms of video quality. Xbox has 720p vs. 1080p PS3. In Gameplay it is 720p for both. (As far as I know)
But since there doesn't seem to be much videos anyway it's probably more of a question which controller you prefer.
But I do dread the music that always plays at your home. It just makes me feel like something terrible is going to happen any moment now, even though (or probably because) it sounds like relatively mellow fairytale music.
Honestly, I'm ecstatic that Nier goes for the psycho ending. Drakengard 2 was a huge disappointment that--while it had slightly better gameplay than the first--lost the atmosphere, the charm, the music and pretty much every other aspect that made Drakengard great. Even the story was some typical teen superhero anime stuff, and that was the deepest cut of all.
Nier on the other hand is ten times the sequel to Drakengard the official sequel could ever hope to be.
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
All my criticisms are still very much in effect, and sadly, I guessed what the story does reveal a mile off (though there's still a whole mess of things completely unexplained!) but the final boss is awesome - Christ, the Touhou fans should take a look at this - and Kaine is one of my favourite characters ever. In anything. And not for the obvious reasons.
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
This is wonderful.
Say what you will about a lack of polish (and it's definitely there) but putting all these genres together is genius, and I love it.
Second playthrough is... my God this is one nasty kick in the teeth.
There's a reason why you want to do further playthroughs from a clear save; this gives little or nothing away but I'll spoil it anyway.
It's a bit of a one-note gag so far - and if I were to say the games it reminds me of this would instantly give things away to more than a few people - but it's really, really well done. I've rarely if ever been punched in the gut so hard by a game, emotionally. Don't get me wrong; the story still doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and it's taking its sweet time putting something together I suspect isn't really complicated enough to warrant this much ambiguity. But emotional manipulation or not, you'd have to be dead from the neck up not to be affected by this stuff.
Oh, and EDIT:
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
Can't remember specifically! Sorry. <_< The
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
Hm, well good to know where the actual event takes place, I'll keep an eye out for that.
As for sidequests I'll just assume that 50% done is such a nice even number that I didn't miss anything.