by Rocky McVey

Many of you may have read some horrible, horrible reviews floating around the interwebs about an action-rpg from Square Enix called "Nier". I'm hear to bash some toes and give you a completely opposite view of this game. I'm not going to tell you this is a perfect game because it isn't; believe me, it has problems and, at times, they can be frustrating. But, that doesn't change the fact this game is very well written, has good game play, and has innovations that have never been seen in the action-rpg world.

Nier" is set 1300 years in the future.A catastrophe has destroyed the human population, and at the time the game starts, people are back to living in small villages with meager technology advancements. You play a 40-year-old man who has a daughter sick from a disease that has plagued mankind since its fall. You set out on a quest to find the cause of this disease and put a stop to it. Let's focus on this fact first. You've played JRPGs before; how many times have you played some 13-year-old kid that saves the world? It's about time we saw an adult hero for once. I feel like this is something that we were in dire need of in the JRPG realm. As a child, I enjoyed Final Fantasy and the like. The characters spoke to me; as a kid, I thought kids can do anything. But you know, I'm an adult now and the majority of gamers are also adults. It's time to mature these characters up a bit.

In the world of "Nier" exists creatures that appear from shadows called Shades. These things are everywhere and only get more abundant throughout the game. It's your quest to destroy these creatures because, as it turns out, they affect the disease. You also have companions helping you along the way. These helpers are decent fighters and stay up to your strength; while the AI isn't great, it's not bad. You don't have to protect these characters, which is great. Just play your game and let them do what they do. Also, they all teleport, so don't worry about them at all if they fall behind. The game will automatically teleport them to you. This is another major improvement in the JRPG realm. I hate micromanaging my subordinates. I shouldn't have to worry about whether or not they are going to die.

Next lets talk about the most hated part of this game, the fishing mini-game. Ok reviewers, look at your damn maps. I will admit the fishing mini-game sucks, but the one thing everyone complains about is caused mainly because they didn't look at their map and didn't go to the proper fishing hole. The character that gives you the quest even tells you, you must find the proper place to fish. This was not a problem with the game, it's a problem with reviewers; do not judge the game by this. If you listen and look, you will have this completed in no time because you don't even have to fish, the game does it automatically. There is still a fishing mini-game, but you don't actually have to complete it. It's just a side quest you can do if you want (and btw, while it does suck, once you do it a few times it's actually not that hard).

Now I want to focus on the text-based adventure part. Many have a problem with this as well. This is a very small part of the game, and only really happens three times, and lasts maybe a total of 30 minutes across all three times. At first it was strange, I admit, but it's a nostalgic piece they threw in here. A kick back to the original text based rpgs. If you have a bad memory or don't pay attention, these areas might be frustrating; however, if you pay attention and remember some key elements, you will be done with these in no time, and I actually found this throwback quite enjoyable.

As with any action-rpg, the game play can be repetitive but it's done quite well, the magic is all done by hotkeys you assign, and whenever you use it, you get a bullet time effect that slows everything down, giving you time to aim. The weapons are readily available and can be reforged to make them stronger throughout the game. The story material is somewhat dark and very well done, and all the characterization (voice acting included) is quite good. You will be especially pleased by Wiess, the magic floating book; he has a very witty banter. Even the ending of the game will leave you thinking about what was really going on, which is a good thing because there are four endings total, and you need to play through part 2 of the game 4 times to see the entire ending of the game. That part, which I was not quite happy with, includes new cut scenes from the other side's perspective and new dialog from a character you didn't even know existed (but turns out to be a big part of the story), as well as the new ending, which makes the play-throughs worth your time. Although I really think they should have just stopped at the second ending, adding every new thing into the second play-through and have been done with it. I can't really tell you why it wasn't in the first play-though without destroying the plot, so let's just say that there is a good reason.

Lastly, lets talk about the innovations in this game. I already mentioned the throwbacks to the text based rpg error; well, how about the side-scrolling or over-the-top rpg errors? Yep, they have throwbacks to those, too. While I guess you can't really say these are new innovations, the fact they are placed in a new action rpg is an innovation. No one does this anymore; they are lost art forms and "Nier" tries to bring them back (and quite successfully, I must say).

All in all, this game is good, regardless of what you hear, It's not perfect, but what game is? It's not as good as some other action rpgs that appeared this year (see "Mass Effect 2"), but once I picked this game up I was ready to play through 'til the end. And, I have no regrets and enjoyed the experience.

Verdict: 4 out of 5 shields.

BTW: Square Enix will be releasing new DLC for this game by the end of May, so now is a good time to pick it up.