Nier Replicant (PS4)

 I played the original Nier way back on the PS3 and didn't know what I was playing.  The story didn't make much sense and it felt a little stiff at times.  But after revisiting it with this version, things make much more sense and the experience was much better.  Although, the combat hasn't change much (or at all) it is still a good game.

I won't spoil any of the story because it is really full of a lot of twists and turns.  Just know that you are on a journey and ultimately a lot of what you do is pointless.  That is the biggest complaint I had but it also isn't a complaint at the same time, a lot of the side-quests that are undertaken are completely pointless.  They run you from point A to point B and then back and forth with a stop at point C for nothing and in the end, what do you get?  A neat weapon, some money, most often it is the latter but it also sometimes is nothing.  There are a lot of useless quests that really net the player nothing but they add to the world.

The world, that is one of the biggest draws of this game.  It feels like a high fantasy type of game, where there are magic books, trees, and big iron weapons.  But it isn't high fantasy, there are robots.  There is a history to this place.  You learn it all through out the game and things start to click into place what is actually going on.  I've never gotten the other endings but they do flesh out all the characters pretty nicely and some of the scenes are legitimately sad.  

The combat, while serviceable is a little stiff at times.  There is a weird buffering affect where sometimes the character would be dodge rolling and I had pressed it one too many times and needed to jump.  Instead of jumping, he would do the miss input dodge roll and then try to jump.  This almost always led to getting hid by what I needed to jump over.  This was mostly my fault, it just felt weird at times.  I will say, towards the end of the game, most of the normal enemies gain armor.  While it makes sense in game, it just makes combat more tedious.  Rather than just dodging around and hitting things with combos until they die.  If they are armored you do an attack that will knock the down (e.g. magic hands or spikes), then run up to them and use the deathblow button.  There is no point in trying to combo anymore because the armor takes way too long to knock off and some later enemies have way too much HP or guard.  Simpler to just knock them down, deathblow, and repeat.  It got really repetitive at times but still fun.

The music, is honestly the best part of the whole experience.  I loved Automata's soundtrack.  Enough that I purchased it and listen to some tracks when they come up randomly in my collection.  This game is no different.  Kaine's theme, Song of the Ancients, etc. are just wonderful.  They evoke so much emotion and make me feel.  They fit the theme of the game and all the music blends well with what is going on.  I honestly could listen to the soundtrack for hours.

Nier is a weird series.  It started as an addition to a joke ending (at least from what I've been told) to one of the Drakengard games.  It has grown into a completely different series all its own.  The director of this game has weaved a world that isn't soon forgotten.  Between the absolutely gorgeous areas and god-like soundtrack, parts of this game will stick with me the rest of my life.  Now to just sit next to this fountain a little longer and listen to Devola sing...

Etrian Odyssey IV (3DS)

Before playing Etrian Odyssey IV, I had never actually played a dungeon crawling RPG of this type.  I knew going into it that it would be difficult but I didn't understand how true that was.  Until I finally learned how to make a cohesive team, I was having a really rough time but that just built up into a decent experience.  A little frustrating at times but towards the end I was having fun as my team finally clicked together and I could trudge forward to the end.  It actually rekindled my interest in this type of RPG and now I have several others waiting on my backlog, simply because the game got fun eventually.

To be fair, the hardest part of the game is the beginning.  Before you have a cohesive team, encounters are difficult.  Even normal encounters are super deadly and FOEs are near impossible without the right setup or luck.  This is the appeal of this genre, each fight is life or death.  Unlike other RPGs, simple things like bats or rats will stop at nothing to see you dead.  This is where teambuilding is very important.

Each character you create has a role.  Be it the defensive tank in Fortress, the utility Medic, or the damage dealing Landskecht, it is very important for the player to learn what each role is for.  Not only do you have to know what a role is for but you also need to create synergy between your characters.  Have the ability to have a Runemaster weaken an enemy to ice damage and then using the Nightseeker's Ice Blade attack is a simple example.  There is a lot of depth and freedom, although the game does punish experimentation after certain points.  I found a group of characters and subclasses that worked for me eventually but it did take some learning on my part.

Also unlike most RPGs, debuffs and status ailments are very important.  They can often lead to a quick victory should they land and almost always I would prioritize landing something.  Even in the final battle, I was surprised when certain ailments would land and help me achieve a slight advantage.  I hadn't played a game that would actually let me land an ailment on a boss, let alone the final boss.   It was nice to see that the game was designed to allow for creative play like that.

One of the key features of the series is the ability to build your own map.  You can map the overworld, dungeons, etc. as you travel around.  There are some tools and the ability to set custom points to remember key areas was really neat.  This is a feature that pretty much couldn't be done on anything other than the 3DS I feel.  It was very intuitive to draw my own map and what should have felt tedious was actually pretty fun.  I felt like a true adventurer, plotting my course and getting through unexplored territory.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the soundtrack. It starts out very simple but there are some great tracks in this game.  Especially towards the end of the game, the last few dungeons have some great themes.  The character art, enemy design, and dungeon design are all nice as well.  If I only had one complaint it would be about the moths.  Every time I fought the moths in the game, I would end up poisoned.  Every single time, without fail.  I hate the moths.

This is definitely no cakewalk of a game.  There were a few times I would just get wiped by what seemed like some very simple enemies.  I prevailed and eventually finished the game.  There is always postgame stuff to do but I got my enjoyment from the game.  Building a team, setting off to explore, and just getting through areas were all rewarding.  It starts rough but once you get better tools and abilities, the game really opens up.  I ended up enjoying this way more than I thought I would.