NieR - Playstation 3

Remember the games on the original playstation where the graphics sucked, but the gameplay was awesome? Square-Enix takes a step back to the days of Final Fantasy 7 and Musashi where great graphics aren't the major concern and instead focus on gameplay. I've recently played Final Fantasy 13 and was disappointed at how linear the game was, not many sidequests until the end of the game. With Nier, you get a bunch of sidequests from the start of the game. And wow, there are plenty of sidequests ranging from: fishing, gardening, delivering fragile packages, to killing large bosses. Although the graphics aren't as amazing as other Playstation 3 games, Nier is the best action-rpg I have ever played.The world of Nier is a dynamic world, meaning that things change based on time such as night and day. The plants that you grow depend on actual real-world time and enemies change depending on how sunny it is in game. Something unique about this game is the light and dark contrast. When you step into a patch of sun from the shadows, you will be momentarily blinded by how bright it is until your hero's eyes adjust. It does get kind of annoying at times, such as when you're riding a boar in the sun and you can't find an exit because it is darkened by the shadows. Nonetheless, I really like how creative Square-Enix got with this game.If you're the type of gamer who likes to rush through things, don't buy this game. If you ignore all side quests you can probably finish this game in under 10 hours, I think you even get a trophy called Lightspeed Warrior for doing so. This game is more suited for players like myself, who like to take their time to unlock everything and finish all the quests. It took me 60 hours to completely finish the game and unlock all trophies. By finishing the game, I mean you have to play through the game 4 times. There are 4 different endings to Nier, and you have to play through the game 4 times if you want to unlock each ending. I know that sounds like a chore, but it really isn't because the game changes after your first playthrough. Enemy magic changes, the loading screen animation changes, and the story itself changes. Your first playthrough will be you killing shades to save your daughter. But on your second playthrough, you get to hear the story from the shades perspective and you begin to wonder if you're really the hero...or the villain.In conclusion, this game is for action-rpg lovers who like to take their time to explore everything the game offers. And yes, this game offers much exploration of wide plains, a haunted manor, a robot factory, a desert civilization, and many more. The music is outstanding and perfectly fits with what's going on during the game. There was this one particular song so sad and beautiful that it almost made me cry. There are plenty of weapons and magic you can choose from and even downloadable content you can get from the playstation store that gives you access to new quests and weapons. If you love action-rpgs, Nier is a game you won't be disappointed with.

It'd prove a little hard not to gush about this game but to make a long story short, NieR(You can change his name if you'd like. I changed it to Osca) tries to search for a cure for his badly illed daughter Yonah, from a ravaging desease called the Black Scrawl before she dies---or something. Then not to long in the game, you come across smart-ass Grimoire Weiss(Who's a talking "I'll put you down cuz I'm always smart" book), who you can use his magic to defeat ethereal monsters called "Shades". Then, yada-yada, you meet beautiful but seriously foul-mouthed and wild Kainé and from there on, the three of you go on different quests. Lastly, you'll meet one of my favorite characters whom I can sympathize with, Emil. He's a shy mellowed boy who can use his eyes to petrify his enemies if he takes his flind fold off. But from there on, I won't spoil it for you all.(I happen to do that a lot in reviews because I'm excited).The game has over the top beautiful music from Song of the Ancients to Karma or Sacrifice. The boss battles are hard(I had mine on diffcult) but you'll get past them some how. The grafics are beautiful and way different from any FF game I've played and the characters are seriously hilarious. (Mainly Nier, Kainé and Weiss) And the ending(S) are amazing. Except one, that is a little confusing to the original ending. I've heard that this game is kinda like Drankengard but I wouldn't know seeing as how I've only seen my cousin play it. It looks nothing like the game. (Don't shoot me, it's just my opinion). NieR is a very excelent game from Cavia and Square Enix. It's one of my most faved games other than of course FF, KH and Castlevania.

Nier is the most fun game I've played in a while, largely because of the non-game parts - an engaging plot, great voice acting, and an amazing soundtrack. The gameplay can be a little repetitive, but the designers spent a good amount of time adding in tweaks to keep it from getting stale; sections of the game play like top down Zelda games, 2D platformers, isometric RPGs, and for one notable section the game goes through great lengths to mimic the original Resident Evil style.One thing some people seem to misunderstand are the sidequests; if you're a completionist, you'll hate this game. There's a pretty good number of them, and a decent chunk result get you little else outside of having completed the quest. But, the game goes out of its way to point out that no one's making you do this stuff - the 'sidekick' character will repeatedly point out your habit of performing absurd tasks, one person will degrade you for your habit (before giving you a painfully time consuming task), and your character will even reflect what a terrible waste of time one particular quest was. When you consider that the driving plot of the game is a father searching for a cure for his daughter's disease, it makes a good deal of sense that spending hours on sidequests isn't something the game strongly incentivizes. The one good reason for doing a sidequest though is that there's usually some quest-specific banter between the members of your party which, given the quality of the game's voice acting, is a pretty decent reward in and of itself.Overall, this game is probably about 15-20 hours of content if you stick to what's actually enjoyable. As a final note, if you do buy the game and beat it, it's extremely worth it to play the new game+ type mode.