Nier

[Deleted member 13557]

I just completed

Spoiler

the 9S part

and

Spoiler

watched the intro to the next part

and my mouth is agape.

The

Spoiler

bit where 2B chokes 9S's vessel (kiss already you fucks)

still got me a tad, even though I know what happens next.

I love all of these characters. This game is outstanding so far, very little complaints from me.

 

[Deleted member 13557]

This game hurts.

 

[Prism]

In general I think the game has too much time-wasting stuff that really didn't need to be there. I kind of understand now why the game got middling reviews. It's *just okay* and mostly carried by its story and music.

The world itself is also really worth it. Each town's architecture is really fantastically expressive and varied. So I mean...even if the gameplay's flawed, everything surrounding it is spot on, making the experience pretty great collectively.

Gha... that f**** quest for the pink moonflowers, I swear... I got it ruined because I hadn't played the game for 3 days straight because I had been putting crazy hours at work. I despise it when a game demands that you put Real Life on hold.

That does sound like one hell of an investment.

 

[Lex]

Ending E is incredible, I finished it last night.

Overall I loved my time with this game and would recommend it to anyone who liked Automata, though I will say maybe temper your expectations with regard to the additional playthroughs. Yes, it adds additional context and scenes that are worth watching, but beyond that it's really just doing another half playthrough of the game a minimum of 2 times (unlike Automata, which keeps things way more fresh on its route B playthrough).

I'm not mad at the game for that, it needs to be examined within its lane (which let's be real, is a PS3 era cult B-side feeling game to begin with). But I was a little bit annoyed about playing the second half of the game a minimum of 3 times and not knowing if it was safe to skip cutscenes or not. You do at least have choices about where to go and when which keeps things a little more interesting, so while it was fine overall I'd have liked a little more variety in the playthrough itself.

Here's a handy spoiler free list:

A: First full playthrough
B: Second run, latter half of the game. Don't skip any cutscenes as most of it is different or with additional scenes
C/D: Third run of the second half of the game, skip everything EXCEPT new scenes involving Devola and Popola. I believe there are two other minor differences in story cutscenes that are relatively inconsequential, one of them is post-shipwreck boss fight
E: You need to do D to get E and I will say no more than that. C can be skipped entirely

 

[Deleted member 13557]

Spoiler: I beat Nier: Automata. Here are some brief thoughts.

I loved practically every second of this game. Sure, 2B choking 9S, 2B dying (that whole sequence was rough, man), the child machines killing themselves because Pascal taught them fear, which then led to Pascal's desire for death, Devola and Popola being blamed for the fall of mankind, and several other moments are attempts to rip your goddamn heart out, but I love this game all the more for it. I loved the combat, I loved the music, I loved the sense of humour this game showed at times. I'm gonna digest this, probably watch some videos on it, and get the platinum. What a fucking game.

 

[Mayo Master]

On a PC, this is pretty straightforward. You just manipulate your computer clock accordingly after planting/watering. And rinse/repeat until you get 10 of them.
The hardest bit is getting both Pink and Peach seeds. Once you get enough, you can multiply them really fast while trying for a Lunar Tear and you'll have more than you know what to do with.

Thanks for the tip - I had tried that on PS4, but unfortunately that didn't work. I even disconnected the PS4 from the internet and reset the PS4 clock manually, but it seemed as though the game was keeping an internal record of the passage of time.
That's the sort of let-down that will make me drop the game before I can get all the endings. I don't care enough to complete it all.

 

[Tetsujin]

Thanks for the tip - I had tried that on PS4, but unfortunately that didn't work. I even disconnected the PS4 from the internet and reset the PS4 clock manually, but it seemed as though the game was keeping an internal record of the passage of time.
That's the sort of let-down that will make me drop the game before I can get all the endings. I don't care enough to complete it all.

Only thing that works on PS4/PS5 is changing the time zone. You go as far back as you can on the list, plant your shit, save, then set the timezone as far forward as you can, load, shit is now grown. If you need seeds you'll have to wait an extra day as you can't time travel further than a day like this though.

In related news, I literally just got the white moonflower. Apparently it has a 1% chance of appearing but I got it first try, yay.
...all for a dumb trophy fml

 

[ForceStealer]

Not to suggest something crazy, but you could also just...not platinum it

 

[Tetsujin]

Not to suggest something crazy, but you could also just...not platinum it

that's just ridiculous

 

[Makoeyes987]

It really amazes me how variable the tolerance for side quests is among fans. Some can handle the side quests of Nier like me, and find no fault with them... But there are others who just simply don't have time for that shit

I will say that I found the Nier Automata side quests very entertaining and amusing due to the humor and somewhat subversive nature of a lot of them. I don't know for sure if I will feel the same way about Nier's, but given they're done by the same guy I have my hopes up. I have a high tolerance for side quest BS apparently. My true hatred is grinding, but that's another story.

 

[Rydeen]

I hated playing through the same thing twice in Automata. Yeah I get the narrative purpose, but it was still dreadful to me. I get the feeling that the gameplay would mostly annoy me in this new game. But I’m interested in the story.

 

[Deleted member 13557]

Not to suggest something crazy, but you could also just...not platinum it

That really is crazy

 

[Obsidian Fire]

NieR in a lot of ways is commentary on typical Fantasy RPG tropes. The side-quests are no exception. Very few of them are played "straight" and almost all of them have some type of "sting" to them.

 

[Mayo Master]

Not to suggest something crazy, but you could also just...not platinum it

At the risk of sounding like a heretic, that's exactly what my plan is

 

[Makoeyes987]

Fucking finally got Nier Replicant.

Will tear into it tonight.

Because why be happy?

I will say this: Nier Automata does carry a far more... Hopeful tone and ending. I know what to expect and what happens in Nier Replicant and that alone makes me prefer Automata, lol

 

[ForceStealer]

Yeah, though I liked Nier and loved Automata, the calls for Taro to handle an FF never struck me as a great idea as FF (even ones with sad endings) just isn't that bleak.
Automata was the story he tells when his nihilism is reined in

 

[Makoeyes987]

I mean, FFs could be that bleak.

There's no real law that says it can't be.

The closest to a bleak FF is Type-0 and it's pretty fucked up in a glorious, soul-crushing way.

But, it's not necessary.

 

[Theozilla]

IIRC, aside from Drakengard 1, Yoko Taro said he doesn't intentionally write (along with his co-writers) the stories to be bleak, that they just happen to end up that way as the story unfolds in its development.

 

[Makoeyes987]

That's sorta like a murderer claiming they didn't go into their confrontation meaning to kill, but every time for some inexplicable reason, those close to them wind up as corpses and they find themselves covered in blood

Taro might truly operate on differing principles than most, so he might have to compensate if he intends not to be bleak. XD

 

[Obsidian Fire]

I think it says something that Yoko Taro gives a far better picture of Noctis and Regis' relationship than their own game ever managed to do.

Engine Blade Weapon Story

Level 1
A small prince rests alone in a vast, vast bedroom. He wishes his father knew how much he hates sleeping alone, but he doesn't dare to tell him. For the king is very busy man and must not be disturbed.

Level 2
A king sits alone in his vast, vast office, drowning in affairs of state. All he wants is to see his family and hug his son, but he cannot. For his every waking moment must be spent in service of the people.

Level 3
One day, while eating dinner, the king asks his son what he most desires in the world. He hopes he will say that he wants them to spend more time together, but instead the boy simply points at a sword hanging on the wall.

Level 4
The ancient sword is considered the sign that one is ready to rule. 'Someday' the king chuckles. His son faintly smiles back at him. All he really wanted was for his father to read him a bedtime story...

FFXV has a lot of parallels to NieR in terms of theme and the direction the story goes. NieR: R just conveys them so much better, it's unreal. It feels like FFXV wanted to make a tragedy out of something that could very well have ended triumphantly, while NieR: R manages to be a tragedy that still feels... hopeful... at least in the short-term for the people living in it. The cast of FFXV feels very isolated after they *technically* win... While the cast of NieR is still together after all the fucked up stuff they've been through.

As much as "Earn Your Happy Ending" is a trope, so is "Earn Your Tragic Ending". And NieR: R earns it *hard*. FFXV... didn't exactly. Which is where I think the idea of "What if Yoko Taro did an FF game?" kinda stems from. Too much tragedy or horror desensitizes your audience too it until it becomes neutral or even funny. FFXV kinda went too hard on the tragedy at the end to the point it felt contrived just to emotionally hurt the audience. NieR... you can always see a light at the end of the tunnel for how it could turn out... not horribly. The story just *rarely* ever gets there, which makes you, the player disapointed. But when the story *does* get there... those are some of the most iconic moments in all of video-game history in my mind...

I think that's the kind of thing some of the newer Final Fantasy games lack when it comes to tragedy and bittersweet endings. There isn't a lot of hope that the characters *won't* doom themselves. They end up in situations where the *only* solution to a problem requires a tragedy and yet they still go through with it. It's hard to dash a player's hope when there is nothing for them to hope in that the situation *won't* end up a tragedy. Or when the "hope" is a dues ex machina the player didn't know about beforehand (thinking of the ending of FFXIII-1 here).

NieR has a lot of inbuilt hope that if the characters just try hard enough they *can* fix things and that everything will be okay. When the tragedy inevitably happens, it also usually isn't their fault all the time. You know the NieR characters did everything they could conceivably do with the information they had access to to try for the best outcome. It just didn't work out for that to happen because of things they didn't have control of. And trying for the best outcome possible with what you have only for something outside your control to screw your efforts over is a *very* realistic situation to be in...

 

[Theozilla]

I'd also just be interested in seeing Yoko Taro trying to Remake FFVIII, even if with the almost assured likelihood of him being a little more "shackled" so to say, I think he could be a really good fit with the very internal/ruminative nature of FFVIII's story.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I think that benefit comes from Taro purposefully and succinctly focusing on Noctis and Regis's relationship for that weapon story and not having the baggage of juggling everything else that went on within the entirety of FFXV's narrative.

Taro does certainly have a knack for dangling hope in front of the audience, only for the main character to foolishly or mistakenly tear it to pieces. The tragedy successfully sneaks up on you.

I'd also just be interested in seeing Yoko Taro trying to Remake FFVIII, even if with the almost assured likelihood of him being a little more "shackled" so to say, I think he could be a really good fit with the very internal/ruminative nature of FFVIII's story.

No... Please don't.

Ending A: So long, Aerith
Ending B: Goodbye, Black Materia
Ending C: Where is Cloud?
Ending D: What Did You Know, Tifa?
Ending E: MEteor, we all fall down....

And the only way to make the Lifestream help Holy stop Meteor and save mankind, is to surrender your memories (i.e. your save data) to the Lifestream, otherwise Sephiroth wins.

 

[Deleted member 13557]

Got the plat and surrendered my save.

Gonna give myself a much needed video game break. I am burnt out.

 

[Theozilla]

I think that benefit comes from Taro purposefully and succinctly focusing on Noctis and Regis's relationship for that weapon story and not having the baggage of juggling everything else that went on within the entirety of FFXV's narrative.

Taro does certainly have a knack for dangling hope in front of the audience, only for the main character to foolishly or mistakenly tear it to pieces. The tragedy successfully sneaks up on you.



No... Please don't.

Ending A: So long, Aerith
Ending B: Goodbye, Black Materia
Ending C: Where is Cloud?
Ending D: What Did You Know, Tifa?
Ending E: MEteor, we all fall down....

And the only way to make the Lifestream help Holy stop Meteor and save mankind, is to surrender your memories (i.e. your save data) to the Lifestream, otherwise Sephiroth wins.

No FF8 not 7.

 

[Prism]

I'd also just be interested in seeing Yoko Taro trying to Remake FFVIII, even if with the almost assured likelihood of him being a little more "shackled" so to say, I think he could be a really good fit with the very internal/ruminative nature of FFVIII's story.

Now that would be an FFVII remix worth playing. I'm sure half of the forum is tired of hearing One Winged Angel, but listening to it with NeiR vocal styling would probably give it a similar punch to what it felt like when it was fresh.