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...
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