Hidden Gems: Nier
By now, anyone who visits this site regularly or listens to the podcast should know about my initial experience with Nier. But for those of you who don't, let me recount the events of E3 2009. I was ushered into a small room in Square Enix's private lounge to check out a game which, until I walked in the room, I only knew as "Secret Project 2." I had been told it was a new action game akin to Devil May Cry and CastleVania, but what I saw was rather shocking, and not in a good way.
In short, my first impression of Nier was that it was going to be another one of Square Enix's failed side-projects, much like the Drakengard series that Cavia, the main developer on Nier, had done before, or Dirge of Cerberus. I saw a very incomplete version of Nier's hometown, and to be honest, I was quite surprised they were willing to show the game off in the state I saw it - almost nothing was complete, there wasn't even any sound.
From then on, my expectations for the game were rather low. The trailers that Square Enix put out were doing little to pique my interest, but when I got around to reviewing the game last year, I still felt I should give the game a good chance - after all, it was a title from Square Enix.
To my surprise, I started to get absorbed into the world. Despite Nier being a rather dishevelled old man, his relationship with his daughter created an interesting bond, and the characters and places he visited while searching for a cure to his daughter's affliction each had their own personality.
I'll be the first to admit that the graphics are sub-standard for this generation, and the gameplay probably isn't the deepest you'll find on the market. There are also some instances where the gameplay changes completely. At one point you'll find yourself playing through something that seems like an old DOS game, while at another, you'll feel like you're in a scene from Resident Evil. But the story, the characters, the locations and the music make it an experience like none other - even with its inherent problems.
Perhaps it's because the world is actually rather small, and there aren't a whole bunch of characters - perhaps this brings more focus towards everything that happens. But it could also be that the game makes you feel sympathetic to everything that's going on. Something which is made even more curious by the addition of extra story upon completion of the game.
Nothing is as it seems, but everything is how you want to see it. Perspective is very important, and it's really quite masterful story telling. It's amazing how much they can change your opinion just be seeing things from a different point of view.
I briefly touched on it earlier, but the music in Nier is fantastic. I still remember the exact moment when the music hit me, and from that moment on, I couldn't help but be mesmerised. I was running around in the plains outside of the village, killing some shades with "Hills of Radiant Winds" playing in the background. It'd done this a few times before, but this time I started to notice the vocals being sung in the background - vocals by Emi Evans. It seemed to open my ears to the rest of the music, as when I returned to the village, the melodies from Song of the Ancients seemed to impact me that much more.
Despite the fact Nier only came out last year, a lot of people skipped over it because it didn't receive flattering review scores from a lot of bigger publications. I think they just didn't understand the title, and weren't willing to embrace the numerous qualities that it possessed. The soundtrack is one of the best in a long long time, and you'll be hard-pushed to find story-telling as good as this in another game this generation.
In short, if you love Japanese RPGs, you'll lap this up like your favourite meal. If you don't like Japanese RPGs, you should still give this game a chance. It might not have the best production values, but if you can pick it up on the cheap, it will give you an experience you won't forget any time soon.
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