Nier Review: Mixed Bag of Styles and Execution

Nier for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 is an action role-playing video game developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix. What I find odd is that Square would release this much smaller scale and budgeted RPG title so soon after the launch of their flagship franchise entry, Final Fantasy XII. Unfortunately as various moments of great gaming shine through in Nier, they are tarnished by a myriad of poor ones.

The world of Nier is a bit of a mixed bag that starts out in a post-apocalyptic 2049. An unknown man is caring for his sick daughter, Yonah, while hiding in the remnants of a destroyed building. Their life is desperate, and the world is plagued by both a strange disease known as the Black Scrawl as well as some mysterious malevolent creatures known as Shades. After what seems like some random near endless third person hack and slash battle as a prologue to the game, time jumps 1300 years into the future where the meat of Nier takes place.

Story-wise Nier delivers for the most part. The plot offers many unexpected surprises and twists, and I found the plagued-ridden world a refreshing environment to be faced with rather than the typical evil baddie who has enslaved the world with his minions for various cliché’ reasons. Obviously Nier has its share of baddies but they are a part of the journey, not the whole. Nier has more emotion than often found in RPGs and could have been truly epic storytelling if all the pieces came together.

As mentioned earlier, the “tarnish” on this above-average storyline is the characters that are utterly forgettable and prevent the player from truly connecting. I thought Yonah the sick daughter and a few secondary characters were well conceived but Nier himself is extremely blasé. His design is fairly poor and he just does not stand out as a hero or protagonist.

The strange creatures known as Shades are quite original and can only be described as looking similar to moving binary code. The designs are interesting, but almost every incarnation of Shade you fight has zero intelligence and very few design changes besides their size. So once again there is that tarnish on a fairly unique creature design that you will be sick of after a few hours.

Game play is where Cavia threw all of their eggs into the development basket as Nier mixes every type of game style imaginable with mixed results. The core journey consists of a brutal third person hack-and-slash fest without the beneficial depth of Bayonetta or God of War type mechanics. Attacks are sluggish and usually relegated to a single button with the occasional need for a strategic dodge.

Magic seems tacked on and is overpowered for the most part. Some of the charged magical attacks look cool but it is all overly simple after destroying mindless drone after drone. Occasionally felling some creature earns you “words” which can then be used to augment your weapons. Words can both boost stat percentages or status effects of Nier’s equipment. As you progress through the game you’ll learn these words and literature are an integral part of this universe. A spark of originality from Cavia once again.

Many more bold design choices will also be discovered but besides being there for the sake of variety, their presence is fairly inconsequential. Step into a house and it switches to an old school 2D point of view. Some dungeons have the classic over view, while other areas toy with survival horror and even shoot-em up type game play. None of these grand experiments really fail but they add little to the experience. Count on straightforward sword combat with a fair dose of leveling up as the bulk of the experience.

Presentation right off the bat is hit and misses. The score is fantastic, and easily rivals what I have heard from recent Final Fantasy entries. At times it is powerful and inspiring, and switches to subtle and emotional at perfect times as the story plays out.

Visually Nier is poor and don’t expect to be impressed. The word is flat, bland and uninteresting with very few highlights. A few towns and dungeons have fantastic designs but Nier cannot escape its lackluster graphics. I would have loved to see even a fraction of Final Fantasy type resources put into Nier even if it was just the cut scenes. Jagged edges and plain models fill the world, animations are stiff, decent lighting is few and far between and wait until you see how Nier runs and stops. This warrior’s shins and knees must be killing him! Nier looks almost last-gen with its stiff and static environments.

Nier is an oddity that will have you love it or hate it. This game is carried by its story, and if you invest the time the outcome is worth it. However getting past mediocre characters and uninspired visuals is the true test. If you can do that the journey will be that much more satisfactory, but unfortunately most will likely end their adventure after only a few hours in and Nier will fall into the bargain bin abyss.

– Jason Krahn

Shop for Nier on Xbox 360 or PS3 for a discounted price at Amazon.com.

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