LogFAQs > #896649325

31. NieR (tazzyboyishere)


NieR is an unusual game in many ways. The protagonist is a middle-aged father (in the version we got anyway), which you almost never see in JRPGs. His companions are a floating, talking book, a bishonen boy (not uncommon in JRPGs) who transforms into a skeleton thing partway through the game, and an extremely vulgar girl wearing lingerie. In fact, your introduction to the game is a profanity-laden rant by that girl, and it's so unexpected that it leaves a lasting impression on you. NieR is very good at confusing you right from the beginning. After the opening sequence between Nier and his daughter Yonah, the game then skips ahead 1,312 years, where we find...Nier and his daughter Yonah. The twists and turns continue all the way to the end of the first playthrough, and once you start a New Game+ run, the game hits you in the face with even more of them. The second playthrough completely changes your perspective on the entire story, but it doesn't stop there. It keeps going all the way up until you encounter the final choice of the game. You just never know what to expect from NieR, and that's part of what makes it so great.

I've heard people complain about the graphics and the gameplay, but I didn't have a problem with either of them. Sure, it's not the most technically impressive game visually, but it's not like it's ugly and janky. I suppose the battle system can feel pretty repetitive because you'll likely be using the same two or three spells over and over again along with your weapon of choice. Plus, the world is rather small, so you better get used to going to the same handful of locations over and over again. Plus, you can't control anyone other than Nier himself, which is a bummer. However, they also never die, which is nice. Of course, you'll probably never die either, because it's not a particularly difficult game, at least on the default setting, especially once you hit the New Game+ portion of the game. It's kind of nice to be able to breeze through the extra runs quickly without the random battles slowing you down since that's not what you're in it for at that point.

The optional sidequests might be the most frustrating part of Nier. Thankfully, they're optional, but on the other hand, they're full of utterly delicious banter between the party members that you can't get anywhere else, so part of me wants to force my way through them for the dialogue. I didn't do them all because I ultimately decided it just wasn't worth it, but it was quite the dilemma. The party is great together though. Grimoire Weiss was my personal favorite of the bunch, but they're all really likable. Of course, no writeup of Nier would be complete without mentioning the soundtrack, which is one of the best in any game I've heard. My personal favorites are probably the consensus popular choices like Shadowlord, Song of the Ancients -Fate-, Kaine -Salvation-, and Hills of Radiant Wind, although I really like Temple of Drifting Sands a lot as far as songs that don't get enough love are concerned. It's just an excellent soundtrack overall though.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite video game soundtrack?
---

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/080/145/638.png
https://imgur.com/xSIWjVK