A very underrated game; Nier is a breath of fresh air for the RPG genre on modern systems.
Anyways, on to the review. Nier was a game that I didn't give a second glance at when it first came out. Unless I'm really excited for a game or it's rating is below a 6, I usually shy away from it entirely. After recently getting an account on Gamefly, I'm now able to play these so-called mediocre games and give my own take on them. After playing through the first "temple," "castle," whatever you want to call it...I have found this to be a very engrossing game that not only appeals to RPG fans of many levels, but is one that I believe to be a diamond in the rough.
GAMEPLAY - When I said this RPG appeals to fans of all kinds, I mean it. This game is an interesting blend of MMO questing, Zelda adventure, and old school hack 'n slash RPGs like Dungeon Siege. I wouldn't call this a pure RPG, however, since, like Zelda, there isn't really any character building. Most of the game is a series of quests and boss battles you have to overcome to finish the story. While there are a wealth of side quests, the game itself is supposed to be fairly lengthy. When you get down to it, this game has a very Zelda-ish feel to it, with more hack 'n slash and side questing thrown in. The combat, while shallow, isn't too terrible. I tend to be a tough critic when it comes to gameplay, and I wasn't too disappointed here. As you progress you'll get more powers to use, and yes the game is a little on the easy side, but overall the gameplay here gets the job done. - 7.5/10
STORY - The story is...a little different. You'll see once you start playing, but I have to admit there isn't much progression here. Character development is a little on the bad side also. Supposedly this picks up later on, but for once I didn't really care too much about the story here to enjoy the game. I do think that what there is of the story so far is decent, and if it only gets better from here, I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the game. - 7.5/10
GRAPHICS - The graphics are a little on the meh side. They're alright, but nothing that's gonna grab your attention. A lot of times you'll get blurry textures and there won't be much to look at. This is kind of sad since a lot of the game involves running around an open world, and the environments just aren't as pleasing to the eye as they should be. - 7/10
SOUND - Easily the best aspect to this game. The voice acting is okay. And no, I don't think they swear that much. It actually comes off more natural to me with how they speak. The background music is definitely the best though. Being one of my favorite soundtracks in a game so far, the music here is very relaxing at times and full of tension at others. Very impressed here. - 9.5/10
LENGTH/REPLAY VALUE - I looked up how long this game takes to beat as well as what subsequent playthroughs offer, and I have to admit that this game does have some value here. Not only do you have a roughly 15-20 hour adventure to begin with, but additional playthroughs give you more to do as well as change up the game a bit. This game definitely has this going for it as well. - 8.5/10
BOTTOM LINE - Don't believe the critics on this one. If you enjoyed Zelda or hack 'n slash RPGs, this is definitely worth a try. While I do think it's one of the more shallow offerings Square Enix has released, for some reason I enjoy it. This game is really just a more adult version of Zelda, from what I can tell so far. Although it's supposed to be a JRPG, other than the story goes, I can't really classify it as such. This game is definitely worth a try if you're interested and what I've said so far has persuaded you at all. I'm a tough critic myself, and I'm enjoying this game despite Gamespot calling it "mediocre." And at such a low price right now, you can't get much better games at $15 or so. While the depth isn't there, and the fact that this game could have probably been fleshed out a bit more, I still found myself enjoying this game a lot. RPG hack 'n slash doesn't get much better on modern systems than it does here. - 8/10