LogFAQs > #978011296

12. Nier
It's absolutely baffling to me that Nier isn't that obscure anymore. The only reason I got this game was because I enjoyed TheDarkId's Something Awful LPs of Drakengard, and figured that it might be fun to experience the janky weirdness in-person for once. I wasn't expecting something *good*. Automata is what pushed the series to new heights, but I like to think that me shilling Nier 1 on B8 when it came out played some miniscule part in it having enough notoriety for Automata to exist in the first place.

Anyway Nier. The Gestalt version specifically, with ugly-ass Papa Nier. In a time before 'dad games' became trendy, before Joel and Booker Dewitt and reboot Kratos, we had Gary Busey's face stapled onto a buff anime protagonist. In all seriousness, Papa Nier is a big part of why the game felt special to me. He was a fresh change of pace from the typical JRPG standard, and his voice actor did a fantastic job. The other main characters are excellent too, with Kaine, Emil, Weiss, and the twins never disappointing whenever they're on-screen.

However, no JRPG in my Top 20 could get by just on the strength of its characters alone, so let's look at the rest. While Nier 1's combat and graphics are...serviceable, it knocks everything else out of the park. The story is simple but engrossing, consistently surprising you and backended with numerous memorable gut punches. The atmosphere feels like something straight out of a fairy tale, imbuing the bizarre setting with a sense of dreamlike wonder. And perhaps most importantly, the music is godlike; probably my favorite game OST of all time. Whenever Nier falters, its soundtrack lifts it up.

I think all that text still doesn't do experiencing Nier 1 justice, though. This game grabs you the moment you see the an unexplainable 1000-year long time skip. It gives off the same vibes as your favorite arthouse movie that not everyone 'gets', but that means something intrinsically special to you personally. I don't think I ever want to replay Nier, as I'm a different person now and probably wouldn't be affected in the same ways, but I'm very glad it left its mark on me.

11. Disco Elysium
Despite having nothing to do with D&D or western fantasy, Disco Elysium feels like the long-awaited successor to Planescape: Torment. Other CRPGs have tried to reach its depth of writing, but none succeeded until this game. It achieves that by alternating between several different styles, being either hilarious, insightful, or tragic, and executing each of those aspects flawlessly.

Disco Elysium doesn't have much of a main 'plot', per se. The game's surface-level conflict is a murder mystery in a waning, ramshackle, town, but that pales in comparison to its examination of characters and politics. Everyone in Disco Elysium is a flawed person influenced heavily by their surroundings and hangups. Some try to be good people regardless of their tough circumstances. Some end up as raving racists. Even the worst people don't feel fake, though. Disco Elysium's characters are exaggerated, but never unrealistic. Its little world is so colorful and well-realized that the game would have been good even with a bland silent protagonist.

Thankfully, the protagonist is anything but bland or silent. Known initially as The Detective, your player character quickly establishes himself as an amnesiac mess of a human being, and I love him for it. The Detective struggles to talk to anyone without sounding insane, picks up neuroses and addictions like trading cards, and constantly argues with his own instinctual emotions. Far moreso than the actual murder mystery, the real mystery of Disco Elysium is about uncovering why the Detective is the way he is.

It really doubles-down on being a character study, too. The Detective can equip some pieces of clothing for minor stat boosts, but they're much less impactful than the thoughts and worldviews he can choose to internalize. For example: do you want to believe you're an Apocalypse Cop, harbinger of the end times? Sure. What benefits does it offer? A sense of belonging and purpose that absolves you of responsibility, mostly. You could internalize a healthy worldview instead, but...then you'd have to take a deep, long look at yourself, and that's just not possible.

Looking in the mirror is difficult enough.