Skip to main content

Nier

And yet so far.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

One of the ongoing stories of this current console generation is Japanese publishers attempting to tailor their games to the ever-expanding western market in search of the sales needed to stay profitable. In Japan, Nier comes in two varieties: the PS3's Replicant features a more youthful, slimline avatar, while the Xbox 360's Gestalt is identical to the single and suffix-free western version. This time, it seems we're looking at a rare case of role-reversal, with the pre-existing older protagonist deemed to be an inappropriate match for eastern tastes.

The game's intro gives a clue to what Square Enix thinks English-speaking players like, as a female character yells a charming request: "Pull your head out of your goddamn ass and start f**king helping us." Throw in a grizzled, gruffly-voiced hero with a physique chiselled from the same rock as Conan, the buckets of blood spilled with every slice of his sword, and couple that with the combat-heavy early trailers, and you could be forgiven for expecting a Japanese take on God of War or a more focus-tested Bayonetta. And you couldn't be further from the truth.

Nier opens in a frozen, post-apocalyptic world, as an unnamed, grey-haired dad picks up a piece of debris to fend off the bizarre creatures threatening his daughter Yonah. It plays like an ultra-simplistic hack and slash, with seemingly endless waves of foes coming into being as our hero levels up every few swipes, unleashing powerful magic attacks alongside regular melee blows.

After a short cut-scene, we're rudely shunted forward over 1000 years, as a suspiciously similar-looking man tends to his identically-monikered daughter in a pastoral village hub straight out of the JRPG handbook. A few laborious fetch-quests and a couple of large enemies later, and it appears we're in Monster Hunter territory for a while, until the game eventually settles into a rhythm of puzzle and combat-led dungeons and myriad minor side-quests that for the most part feels very Zelda.

Dark Lance is a nifty ranged attack that's worth thinking about as one of your magical options.

This genre-hopping opening is a disjointed start to a game that you soon realise is rather deliberately playing with expectations. Early trailers suggested that nothing is as it seems in developer Cavia's decidedly mad world, and from the start onwards, Nier's mechanics do their very best to live up to the mysterious story. By two-thirds of the way through this twisted tale, you'll have experienced a bullet-hell boss, a rail-shooter sequence in a mine cart, and a fixed-camera exploration of a creepy, monochromatic mansion that screams Resident Evil.

Occasionally, you'll be yomping through a dungeon and the view will change to a top-down perspective, while a side-on 2D viewpoint is adopted when entering taverns or other town buildings. There seems to be little real significance to this, other than the developer changing things up because it can.

The gamble with attempting such a variety of gameplay types is that you risk mastery of none, and it's clear from the outset that Cavia's given itself too many balls to juggle. The opening sequence could well have players ejecting the disc before the game proper has even begun, the nameless hero hacking tirelessly at nondescript enemies as they continuously respawn for what seems like half an hour. Later, ill-advised moves into platforming territory fall hopelessly flat, partly thanks to one of the worst jumping animations you'll ever see. And though a few of the dungeons offer inventive puzzles, others lapse into block-pushing tedium, or introduce excessively punitive measures to extend the time spent solving them.

Weapons can be upgraded, but you'll need to grind quite a bit to get the necessary components.

Everything takes just that little bit longer than it ought to, particularly the side-missions, many of which involve a ludicrous amount of to-ing and fro-ing to fulfil the simplest of requests. Often, it's easier to simply accept as many quests as possible and hope you stumble across the right person, item or ingredients as you tackle the main story. Rewards are frequently inadequate recompense for the effort taken, especially on occasions where a mere ‘quest complete' message is all you get.

Inconsistency is Nier's main problem, with aspects of both the action and RPG elements feeling either overstuffed or undernourished. In theory, you can tailor the combat to your own preferences by allocating either melee or magical moves to the bumpers and triggers, but in practice, there are a mere handful of abilities that are worth sticking with. Blocking is ineffective against the majority of foes, so that's immediately out of the window, while melee combat is so simplistic you'll revert to spellcasting to relieve the boredom. By the halfway point, you'll have unlocked more magical attacks than you can possibly use at any one time, and a couple of those are almost game-breakingly powerful.

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com