Since coming back to Malaysia, I haven't enjoyed much games since I only brought back a few titles and pack the rest in my cargo to be shipped home from Australia. And it was not until about 2 weeks ago that the cargo finally arrived at my home, and much to my enlightenment, I decided to continue some games that I've long planned to play, and this include NieR.
Earlier I've posted my initial impression toward the game, which overall didn't receive much praise for me except for the superb music. But despite that, I still decided to finish the game because I'm curious about the story and a few other aspect of the gameplay that I might have not discovered yet during my initial play, as well as, trying to Platinum the game as a whole. In the end, after about a week of playing, I was able to get 100% Trophy completion for NieR, and in the process, learned much about the game, the story, the characters; and overall, improved my view toward the game : ) NieR was the fourth PS3 games I've Platinumed so far, after Last Rebellion, Atelier Rorona, and Trinity Universe.
Title: NieR/NieR Gestalt/Nier Replicant
Platform: PS3, xbox360
Genre: action rpg
Developer/publisher: Cavier/Square Enix
Platinum difficulty: 6/10
The general consensus of ps3trophy board rated the Platinum difficulty at around 4 to 5 rating, and I agree with with them. Most of the Trophies are pretty easy to get - story relared, or xxx boss within yyy minutes, which was a walk in the park once you reach your 2nd playthrough onward. Other Trophies include getting a certain amount of combo hits, beat the game in 15 hours, fishing, killing sheep, ride the boar, and sidequests completion.
Nevertheless, I'd raise the Platinum difficulty to 6 simply because of a single trophy - Forging Master, which require you to upgrade ALL WEAPONS to their maximum level. And trust me when I say that it was a sheer test of patience and endurance, because some of the rarest items are totally a pain in the arse to get. If you've played The Last Remnant or FFXIII and got the Trophy/Achievement related to the rare item farm, then you'll experience pretty much similar thing when you try to get this Trophy. Forlorn Necklace and Subdued Bracelet leads the pack of the most tedious and rarest items to farm, and others like Eagle Eggs, Piercing Metal, Memory Alloy, Broken Earring, Black Pearl and Giant Egg require quite a sum of patience to get too. As for me, I could say that I am relatively a lucky bastard who managed to farm most of the items without grinding much - in fact I even got 2 of my Subdued Bracelets without even trying to farm them. Another seemingly tedious Trophy to get is Legendary Gardener which require you to cultivate a certain rare flower. Some people have been reported unable to get the flower even after 5+ hours of trying, which I find surprising because I managed to get my flower in my first attempt! Maybe the Lady Luck sits beside me while I'm playing this game...
Anyway overall, getting Platinum for NieR is not difficult, but a tedious one because of a single Trophy which require you to farm rare items, which is really, really time consuming. Easily attainable for those willing to do it, I guess.
A Sad and Touching Story...
The story was divided into two parts, the first which ended about halfway through the game and the second part which begin 5 years after the first part ended. Once you've completed the game for the first time, you'll be prompted to save your game, which can then be loaded for New Game+ and you begin the game slightly after the start of the second part of the game. This also unlocks additional story and endings. And this is where, IMHO, the story of NieR shines the most when the character's background was touched, and then we were able to see things from the enemies' point of view. As a whole, it was one of the best story I've enjoyed in recent games, with no fairy-tale endings, added with so many tragic, sad and touching scenes that will stir your emotions. Not to the level of making me want to shed a tear, but was definitely sad enough for me to feel for the characters and enemies.
Emil's turning into skeletal doll, his sacrifice in Ending A, the Facade's Freya death and the Wolf story, the Junk Heap's P-33 tale, the Shadowlord in Ending B, Lost Temple's Hansel & Gretel, Kaine's story...and especially ALL THE SHADES in the game, especially the small one that kept dropping those "old colorbook", "used schoolbook".... you know what that really means. We are basically child murderer! Even some of the sidequests were filled with sadness - the lighthouse's old lady; the kid and shade in the village; and the lover's quest... and if you did the Emil Manor's Shade in the study quest in 2nd playthrough, it was also quite touching considering he didn't fight back at all. Coupled with some of the best background music to make the atmosphere really saddening and emotional. Oh how I love the way they use Dispossession, Yonah and Emil's variant songs to fill the sadness..
Even more depresing is the fact that most of the characters didn't end with a good note. And the ending. There are 4 endings in total, and the last one, Ending D could be said as the most brutal ending in video games, metaphorically speaking since it will end up erasing every single bit of your save files. I could say more, but might end up spoiling unnecessarily. All I could say is that the New Game+ really make the story of the game much more interesting and tragic.
There are a few aspects of the story which remained unexplained and players will wonder upon finishing the game. Much of these however were answered in a well documented Grimoire Nier, a strategy-information-guide book released alongside the game, which unfortunately only available in Japanese. Good thing the community eventually managed to pull much effort in translating the book, which is available online here. And from this I learned much about the background story of Nier and its relation with one of Cavia's game, Drakengard, as well as the connection between Gestalt and Replicant (hence the name of the game). I think it was a nice idea not putting these information in the game, because I consider the game deals more on personal issues - the issue between "final boss" and the main character, and the option to choose between saving one you love or forsake her to be with your daughter/sister; rather than the overall impact on humanity.
Post-game comments: Gameplay
My general impression toward the gameplay of NieR didn't changed much since I last played the game, but I'd say it was slightly better than I expected. The simplicity of the combat mechanics was redeemed by the variety of magic and Word effect that we can use to make the battle enjoyable, and in part 2, we were even able to wield 2-handed swords and spears gives better option on dealing with the increasingly annoying enemies (Shades). With 2-handed weapons, you can pretty much swipes and knock enemies that try to mob you, whilst spears was amazingly awesome against bosses. 90% of people just poke things to death with the Phoenix Spear (and extremely broken weapon in all aspects), and I'm one of them :p
Boss battles in the second half of the game was actually much easier than those in the first part of the game, because we're not bound to certain technique/method to kill the boss, which were often the case in the boss fights in the first part of the game. There are three difficulty of the game: Easy, Normal and Hard; and we are free to change the difficulty midway through the game by exiting to the main menu and change in the option- a good features which I think should be employed in many other games. On a side note, the game also support custom music. You might say why the custom music import when the game's OST was so awesome? Well I agree, but when you reach the point where you want to grind the rare items, you might get crazy from hearing the same music starting over and over again...
Post-game comments: Characters
The average gameplay and graphic of NieR was compensated by it's tragic story, amazing music and interesting characters. NieR has 4 main characters - the hero we name ourselves; the foul-mouthed, skimpy-wear heroine Kaine; the sarcastic flying magic book Grimoire Weiss; and the kind-hearted, unfortunate child Emil. And each of them has unique and interesting personalities. The Hero cared so much about his daughter (little sister if you played the jpn version) Yonah that he'd do anything to save her, stark contrast to his muscled appearance. Kaine, which raise much controvesies over her gender, was extremely foul-mouthed, and seeing her arguing with Weiss over pretty much everything added enjoyable humor to the game, while Emil, being a kind-boy he is, always try to mediate things between the two.
Behind this humor, meanwhile lies the deep, sorrow past engulfing them, especially Kaine whose dark past with the cruel villagers of Aerie raised your pity toward her, while Emil also had his own tragic background relating to his origin. Over the course of the game, you can't help but feel sad for the sacrifice he made, from the day he "changed", to the final scene involving him in the game.
Enjoyment Value: 7/10
My final say on NieR: A great action RPG which didn't get much recognition worldwide. Great story, interesting characters and freaking awesome music, but had relatively average graphic and combat system which might not satisfy some players. Trophy-wise, most are easily obtained, and those with steel endurance could definitely Platinum the game without much trouble.
Nevertheless, I'd raise the Platinum difficulty to 6 simply because of a single trophy - Forging Master, which require you to upgrade ALL WEAPONS to their maximum level. And trust me when I say that it was a sheer test of patience and endurance, because some of the rarest items are totally a pain in the arse to get. If you've played The Last Remnant or FFXIII and got the Trophy/Achievement related to the rare item farm, then you'll experience pretty much similar thing when you try to get this Trophy. Forlorn Necklace and Subdued Bracelet leads the pack of the most tedious and rarest items to farm, and others like Eagle Eggs, Piercing Metal, Memory Alloy, Broken Earring, Black Pearl and Giant Egg require quite a sum of patience to get too. As for me, I could say that I am relatively a lucky bastard who managed to farm most of the items without grinding much - in fact I even got 2 of my Subdued Bracelets without even trying to farm them. Another seemingly tedious Trophy to get is Legendary Gardener which require you to cultivate a certain rare flower. Some people have been reported unable to get the flower even after 5+ hours of trying, which I find surprising because I managed to get my flower in my first attempt! Maybe the Lady Luck sits beside me while I'm playing this game...
Anyway overall, getting Platinum for NieR is not difficult, but a tedious one because of a single Trophy which require you to farm rare items, which is really, really time consuming. Easily attainable for those willing to do it, I guess.
A Sad and Touching Story...
The story was divided into two parts, the first which ended about halfway through the game and the second part which begin 5 years after the first part ended. Once you've completed the game for the first time, you'll be prompted to save your game, which can then be loaded for New Game+ and you begin the game slightly after the start of the second part of the game. This also unlocks additional story and endings. And this is where, IMHO, the story of NieR shines the most when the character's background was touched, and then we were able to see things from the enemies' point of view. As a whole, it was one of the best story I've enjoyed in recent games, with no fairy-tale endings, added with so many tragic, sad and touching scenes that will stir your emotions. Not to the level of making me want to shed a tear, but was definitely sad enough for me to feel for the characters and enemies.
Emil's turning into skeletal doll, his sacrifice in Ending A, the Facade's Freya death and the Wolf story, the Junk Heap's P-33 tale, the Shadowlord in Ending B, Lost Temple's Hansel & Gretel, Kaine's story...and especially ALL THE SHADES in the game, especially the small one that kept dropping those "old colorbook", "used schoolbook".... you know what that really means. We are basically child murderer! Even some of the sidequests were filled with sadness - the lighthouse's old lady; the kid and shade in the village; and the lover's quest... and if you did the Emil Manor's Shade in the study quest in 2nd playthrough, it was also quite touching considering he didn't fight back at all. Coupled with some of the best background music to make the atmosphere really saddening and emotional. Oh how I love the way they use Dispossession, Yonah and Emil's variant songs to fill the sadness..
Even more depresing is the fact that most of the characters didn't end with a good note. And the ending. There are 4 endings in total, and the last one, Ending D could be said as the most brutal ending in video games, metaphorically speaking since it will end up erasing every single bit of your save files. I could say more, but might end up spoiling unnecessarily. All I could say is that the New Game+ really make the story of the game much more interesting and tragic.
There are a few aspects of the story which remained unexplained and players will wonder upon finishing the game. Much of these however were answered in a well documented Grimoire Nier, a strategy-information-guide book released alongside the game, which unfortunately only available in Japanese. Good thing the community eventually managed to pull much effort in translating the book, which is available online here. And from this I learned much about the background story of Nier and its relation with one of Cavia's game, Drakengard, as well as the connection between Gestalt and Replicant (hence the name of the game). I think it was a nice idea not putting these information in the game, because I consider the game deals more on personal issues - the issue between "final boss" and the main character, and the option to choose between saving one you love or forsake her to be with your daughter/sister; rather than the overall impact on humanity.
"How many rules are there about what to shout before dying in battle?"
Post-game comments: Gameplay
My general impression toward the gameplay of NieR didn't changed much since I last played the game, but I'd say it was slightly better than I expected. The simplicity of the combat mechanics was redeemed by the variety of magic and Word effect that we can use to make the battle enjoyable, and in part 2, we were even able to wield 2-handed swords and spears gives better option on dealing with the increasingly annoying enemies (Shades). With 2-handed weapons, you can pretty much swipes and knock enemies that try to mob you, whilst spears was amazingly awesome against bosses. 90% of people just poke things to death with the Phoenix Spear (and extremely broken weapon in all aspects), and I'm one of them :p
Boss battles in the second half of the game was actually much easier than those in the first part of the game, because we're not bound to certain technique/method to kill the boss, which were often the case in the boss fights in the first part of the game. There are three difficulty of the game: Easy, Normal and Hard; and we are free to change the difficulty midway through the game by exiting to the main menu and change in the option- a good features which I think should be employed in many other games. On a side note, the game also support custom music. You might say why the custom music import when the game's OST was so awesome? Well I agree, but when you reach the point where you want to grind the rare items, you might get crazy from hearing the same music starting over and over again...
Post-game comments: Characters
The average gameplay and graphic of NieR was compensated by it's tragic story, amazing music and interesting characters. NieR has 4 main characters - the hero we name ourselves; the foul-mouthed, skimpy-wear heroine Kaine; the sarcastic flying magic book Grimoire Weiss; and the kind-hearted, unfortunate child Emil. And each of them has unique and interesting personalities. The Hero cared so much about his daughter (little sister if you played the jpn version) Yonah that he'd do anything to save her, stark contrast to his muscled appearance. Kaine, which raise much controvesies over her gender, was extremely foul-mouthed, and seeing her arguing with Weiss over pretty much everything added enjoyable humor to the game, while Emil, being a kind-boy he is, always try to mediate things between the two.
Behind this humor, meanwhile lies the deep, sorrow past engulfing them, especially Kaine whose dark past with the cruel villagers of Aerie raised your pity toward her, while Emil also had his own tragic background relating to his origin. Over the course of the game, you can't help but feel sad for the sacrifice he made, from the day he "changed", to the final scene involving him in the game.
Enjoyment Value: 7/10
My final say on NieR: A great action RPG which didn't get much recognition worldwide. Great story, interesting characters and freaking awesome music, but had relatively average graphic and combat system which might not satisfy some players. Trophy-wise, most are easily obtained, and those with steel endurance could definitely Platinum the game without much trouble.
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