An RPG Niers...

Er...nears. Anyway, figured I'd post about Nier Gestalt, the American version of Nier. The Japanese one is called Nier: Replicant. Anyway, I started the game to hear a nice monologue full of curses--yup, definitely Square Enix's attempt at making an "M" rated game.

Feel my dark powers! FEEL THEM

The game starts at the beginning of humanity's end. You are Nier, protecting your daughter from hordes of dark monsters with a lead pipe. Armed with a tome of dark power, you are given an arsenal of powers that include skewering your enemies on pure energy and leaving them to die, or creating a gigantic hand made out of dark power and simply crush your enemies. With this book's power, you are practically a god.

So you battle it out in front of a supermarket for a small while, killing every dark monster you see, then a boss appears and you slay it with your vast amounts of power. It was only the end of level one, and I was impressed as hell, being able to manipulate the forces of darkness without being forced onto the ethical "Is it right to launch a gigantic lance at your enemies?"

After that and a short cutscene, it propels you approximately thirteen hundred years into the future, with you still being Nier and having a daughter named Yonah, just like 1300 years ago. I thought he was immortal for a while, just keeping it a secret that he was alive all these years.

As Nier in the distant future, you see time after civilization fell. There are monsters called "Shades" prowling the world. The dark monsters I mentioned earlier? Yeah, even after a thousand years they exist. People refer to places like America as "ancient cities and places." I have to say, it was really cool being the ancient dead all-knowing race, for once in my lifetime. Instead of something vague, I can laugh about how wrong they actually were. I digress.

You are a hunter for your village, trying to also find a cure for your daughter's terminal illness. After she disappears, you track her down and find...a book of extreme dark power. This brings continuity into question, but in a good and intriguing way...like, "How did this get here? :)" because you know the full extent of its power. It's name is Grimoire Weiss (Book White, for those interested. Lovely name for a tome of darkness.)

This is Grimoire Weiss, the White Book. It is
your best friend, and greatest source of
Dark Powers. Also witty oneliners. Gotta
love those.

...then you learn it hasn't been reviewing it's dark spells this past millennium, and only knows how to rapidfire dark bullets. A relatively weak attack, but still, it's more than most humans can boast of. You then start wandering the land in a renewed attempt to save your daughter from illness, this time collecting allies and powers as you go along.

...this is the part where you say "Hulk Smash!"...right?

At the One Third Point of the game, you return to your village to find a gigantic monster (let's mark number two on our list of giants slain) attacking. With all of your dark powers at current, you take it on and do some good amounts of damage. After a while of fighting, you realize you can't win, and you had to sacrifice something dear to seal it in the library.

The game timeskips five more years, and you are now uglier than ever. Sorry, it had to be said...you now look like you have a diaper on your face for some reason...

Anyway, after five years of training with the Jackie Chan of the future, or he must be, Nier has become a master of all things weapon. Melee weapon, at least: aside the shortsword which I neglected to talk about earlier, you can now use lances, axes, and two handed swords. In addition to your dark arsenal of death, you are now officially a demigod in my eyes.

You release the seal in the library to get back what you lost and take on the monster one last time, this time with dramatically different results.

The game has a beautiful plot I could go on and on about, as well as multiple endings. However, now we talk of gameplay. The game does a good job of giving you a good amount of power without it being too much. It takes after Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. You have the main story you can follow...or you can deviate and whore out on sidequests for extra stuff, often allowing for deeper insight into Nier's and Weiss' friendship as it blossoms into a beautiful thing. Two companions making one liners and witty jokes at eachother as they slaughter badguys.

It is a hack-and-slash RPG, one of my favorite kinds of RPG, and it is definitely worth picking up if you ever get the chance. The plot is deep, the gameplay is meaningful, if the quests get repetitive now and then you can skip them...and the soundtrack is absolutely beautiful.

Anyway, until next time I post, PEACE OUT!