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Nier Review
JimmyJames70
April 22, 2010
After a rather harsh and brutal monologue--that one can only assume is foreshadowing--Nier begins with a beautiful introductory sequence.
The story begins in 2049 in a rather empty and barren world. The characters are a Dad, his sick daughter and a mysterious book, which seems to possess magical power. After some conversation, the game puts you feet first into the action with a series of battles and the player experiences a taste of the powers at your disposal. After the initial battle, the game jumps forward 1300 years into the future. Once again, it's a Dad and a sick daughter. You can't help but feel that history is about to repeat itself. It's here that the game noticeably slows down as you begin to explore the world.
During the first quest you are given plenty of time to discover your surroundings, which is rather nice. It's not breathtaking, but it is a beautiful world full of creatures and people. And even though you're now in the future, time has gone backwards and you're wielding a sword, not a laser gun. As you wander the world, you are left wondering where the bad guys are, but perhaps this is just time to get familiar with the controls. Besides, you can kill all the sheep you can find--it is kinda fun making mutton chops--and when sword meets sheep, well, they do a nice spin in the air.
Something you'll notice right away is that your perspective does change. While the game is mostly viewed in third person, at times it changes to a top down view. It's something that should be experienced.
While Nier is an RPG in which you do level up, it's not the type of RPG that allows you to assign skill points to attributes. In one way, that removes some mundane work on the part of the player, in another way, you can't improve certain skills. However, of course, you can upgrade your weapons and as the game advances you gain magical abilities.
While Nier provides the appearance of being open world--and you can most certainly run around as much as you like--the game does want you to follow a certain path; as in, go here, do that, go here next, then do that. It will be interesting to see as the game goes on if you're allowed to make your own decisions as to where you go and what you do. But for the first couple of hours it's pretty linear gameplay.
As for combat: it's your basic hack n slash. Hit X to attack, A to jump, and RT with a direction to dive roll. In terms of healing yourself, there are medicinal herbs that you find in the wild, and you can use them during combat, which is in real time. You also restore to full health after saving the game or completing a mission.
The soundtrack to the game is very subtle and soothing. Right now, I'm listening to what sounds like monks chanting with sopranos singing harmony. It's a tranquil effect that meshes nicely with the swordplay.
At the two and a half hour mark into the game things start to take off. It is still basically just you and some random characters, but at this point, the infamous book seen throughout the trailers is now travelling with you and you gain magical abilities that help you defeat the first real boss battle. As the game progresses, other characters will join your party and you can do things like plant your own crops and go fishing.
Overall, so far, I'm giving the game a thumbs up. It's very fantasy oriented, heavily story driven and does have some nice graphics and cool effects. Most importantly, I'm having fun with it. There was only one moment where the progress seemed to stagnate just a bit, but that's soon forgotten as the action does continuously unfold. The game also pushes you forward to want to keep playing, not only to see how you can save your daughter, but also to see what other creatures, abilities and weapons are out there in this extremely imaginative world.
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