[bleak]

i see. thanks! the Real Wikipedia made it seem like it was a significant paradigm shift, plotwise and wasn't very clear.
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[Drem]

In the Something Awful Let's Play, one of the members would every now and then offer some comparisons between Father Nier and Brother Nier. While the two stories are the same, the age and maturity differences between the two protagonists provide different contexts and nuances to the game's events and relationships. Brother Nier's dialogue is young and naive; Father Nier is old and weathered. It's a really interesting design decision on Cavia's part. I wouldn't say one edition is better than the other; they're just different. Nonetheless, Cavia considers Brother Nier the "real" Nier because he was the original protagonist, as Father Nier was developed when Square-Enix asked Cavia to make the game more appealing to the West. For this reason, Grimoire Nier is written in the context of Brother Nier.

Of course, spoiler warning:
http://lparchive.org/NIER/bonus%20content/

[protoblax]

I'm pretty glad Square went with that direction for the west. I think a parental relationship is taken a lot more seriously here than one between siblings. The first half of Wind Waker revolved around rescuing your younger sister from somewhat similar circumstances, and I didn't feel a fraction of the emotional attachment to Aryll as a sister as I did to Yonah as a daughter. (Plus, the idea of Yonah as the next generation, or your legacy, ties neatly into the world of NieR as it is set in an era where the end of the world is quite visible on the horizon.) Not sure how the family dynamic breaks down in Japan, but that's certainly the ticket over on this side of the Pacific.
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[Tlon]

I've been watching Supernatural, and I've got two three younger siblings, so I understand the protectiveness.

The timeskip didn't make as much narrative sense in the version I played, though. It was like 'a few things changed and you can use bigger weapons' vs what it must be for Brother Nier.
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Someday somethings coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It will store our brains in mason jars

[protoblax]

I think the purpose of the time skip was to further the sense of hopelessness as you begin to question whether the person you're out to save is even alive anymore.
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[remote]

youtube poster on a "Snow in Summer" video says to someone: "And you seem to be forgetting that NieR is based after Drakengard's E ending."

Are these games set in the same world? I don't believe I've seen anyone around here mention anything of the sort. Just curious.

Restarted my game last night and got as far as meeting Kainé and doing the shaman fish quest. I'm enjoying it (a bit late to the party, but oh well). Gonna play some more in a bit.
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letterboxd | last.fm | steam

[protoblax]

Yep. Nier is based on the E Ending of Drakengard, when the Grotesqueries Queen crosses over into our world and Drakengard's hero is shot down by a fighter jet along with his dragon. Along with them, they bring a zombie virus-like disease (remember, Cavia is pretty closely associated with Resident Evil) which sets the events of Nier into action. This all occurs in 2003 on the series' timeline, which is spelled out entirely in Girmoire Nier. This is the best part of the whole book.
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[Rud31]

we've mentioned it several times!
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My Hawt Blog Vita Games

THERE ARE DEFINITELY WORSE VIDEO GAME PODCASTS

[smartblue]

Well, some of us did, though it was sort of talked about on the down low since it is kind of spoiler-ish.
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[remote]

Sorry. Obviously, I haven't been paying much attention because Nier has been a game I've had filed away as "to play" for some months.

This is pretty cool, though. I guess I'm a latecomer to Cavia, but I will probably play more of their stuff now.
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letterboxd | last.fm | steam

[protoblax]

I have only played Nier and Bullet Witch, since I only have access to Xbox 360 games and emulators make me feel uncomfortable.
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[smartblue]

Cavia can definately be hit or miss, but there are definitely good things to go back and find. One game of theirs I really like is Ghost in the Shell SAC for the PS2. It has pretty bland shooter mechanics, but the design makes it really feel cohesive with the GitS universe, and the soundtrack by Sanodg is totally fantastic. Level design is pretty wild and far out there too.

Drakenguard is my second favorite, most people here know about that one. I haven't played the sequel yet but if you look at reviews for it, you'll find that unreliable mix of 10's and 3's. Anyone here played it?

I haven't played Beat Down, but this video makes it look somewhat fun and hilarious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxCqsXGLq4s

I only got to play a little bit of WinBack 2, but I really liked the ideas it starts off with. It seems like a bunch of timed mini campaigns with score mechanics, with heavy emphasis on two player split screen. I will hope to dig into that one again sometime soon.

Bullet Witch is another one of those love/hate games. The levels are full of empty space and some important weapons seem to lack the punch or effectiveness you would expect. Again, most people here have an opinion on Bullet Witch already, so whatever.

The only tie to Resident Evil that I think Gorblax was talking about is the light gun games. I don't know if that makes Cavia the definitive expert on games with viral outbreaks or whatever, but the two games on the Wii, Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles, are both really solid games. They also have great atmospheric soundtracks by Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda, the Killer 7 soundtrack guys.
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[protoblax]

One of the dungeons in Nier is a direct homage to the mansion in the first Resident Evil, which I believe producer Yosuke Saito was involved with.
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[remote]

Thanks, smartblue. You just ensured that I will at least play those Resident Evil games.

Kind of wondering if I should watch the SAC anime before playing the game. Another thing I've meant to get around to for ages.

Hm, Drakengard is $8 used at a nearby Gamestop. I actually have a little bit of credit I could use, though I was thinking of saving it for the Ico/SotC pack... Maybe I'll wait a bit.
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letterboxd | last.fm | steam

[tacotaskforce]

Stop telling people to play Drakengard! If there is a higher power she will be judging you on your actions!

Cavia also made Resident Evil Dead Aim AKA Gun Survivor 4 AKA those spinoffs that should be quietly forgotten.
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[smartblue]

There are threads on here already that argue the merits and bash the faults of Drakengard already. It really boils down to this.

Are you willing to play a somewhat clumsy and hectic Dynasty Warriors and Starfox mashup with grinding for weapon levels to a really crazy and abrasively chopped up orchestral soundtrack in order to see what some call one of the most dire and depressing stories ever told in video games?
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[smartblue]

[analogos]

don't lump drakengard's soundtrack in with the aspects of the game one might only tolerate >:(

[remote]

The soundtrack is definitely a big draw for me, going by what I've heard, but that doesn't sound too bad. It sounds a bit odd and interesting, at least...!

Sorry, this all seems to be stuff that people have already discussed, but thanks for helping me catch up.
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letterboxd | last.fm | steam

[Sniper Honeyviper]

http://www.doodle.com/cf54yv4uz7vwtt4s

[Rud31]

[Gironika]

So!

Got the first ending and enjoyed every second. Truth is, I did like the game so much that I kinda feared that it might end too soon. Thus I am rather pleased that there is some stuff still-to-come and wanted to ask how long do the other endings take each - I do not have too much action-RPG-esque games on the backlog and would take a short break from playing Nier and get back to it after some weeks, thus basically keeping things "fresh".

If it's possible, without too much spoilering, two questions:
- see above, an estimation - how much longer can I draw this out?
- do the other endings depend very much on playing them back-to-back?
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[protoblax]

(a) It'll take you about 2-3 hours to get Ending B. You start from a little after the middle of the game, and you get to keep all of your weapons and levels. After that, play through the last half one more time (only this time make sure you have all 30 weapons before you reach the end) and save before the final area. At the end, you will be given a choice. The first will result in Ending C, and the second in D.
(b) I'd advise getting Ending B as soon as possible, while the game is still fresh in your mind.
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[Drem]

The game can be drawn out very long if you want to level up all the weapons, do all the quests (olol month-long planting quest) and find all the verses/items/fish. On one Saturday starting around 10 or 11 am, I did the last couple of dungeons on playthrough 1, proceeded through endings A, B, C, and D by... 6 or 7 pm? That was without bothering with "completing" the game.


I'd suggest getting all of the endings while the game is fresh in your mind as well, since you do start your new playthroughs half-way through the game. The endings are still culminations of the entire adventure so it's better to achieve them while the whole game is still resonating with you rather than just half of it.

[Cynic]

While getting ending B do not skip any cutscenes as they're slightly different this time. For C and D, though, you should skip almost everything because they're exactly the same as in the B playthrough barring the very last ones.

[Gironika]

The only bit I dislike here is the "get all the weapons"-bit, is that mandatory? (… yeah, has something to do with Drakengard and the chore to get the last ending. I <so> wanted to see that, but I just can't muster up the energy to get all the weapons.)

Anyway, thanks for the info, I'll be trying to get to the next few endings then.
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[Drem]

Yeah, it's mandatory for endings C and D. Getting all weapons isn't very hard though, as most are found along the way in dungeons and a few are found in quests. It doesn't take very long at all. You don't need to level them up; just have them.

[Cynic]

Getting all weapons is much, much, MUCH easier than Drakengard. I got them all without even trying, just by playing the game as I normally would. Drakengard requires a guide/your being Ulililia to find all weapons.

There are a few in crates (IIRC there's one in a box right before the boar chases you up the staircase in the last level), and the sidequests are reasonable, none of the boring grinding ones give you weapons, just the typical "go here, then there, then talk to that person".

[Gironika]

ok, so I've seen Ending B (and the nice remainder that you <need> all weapons, so I'll be targeting this later this week. Is there any way to know whether one got all weapons or do I need a guide for that? Since I got this far without resorting to gamefaqs or similar sites so far.
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[Cynic]

The weapon list has a collection percentage, I believe. You probably won't need gamefaqs but if you do have trouble finding the last few just ask here.

[Gironika]

Well, if I can't find some, might as well go to gamefaqs then, since I needed it quite often for Drakengard. And I wanted to add - zhanks for the info, much appreciated! Looking forward to read this topic without having to skip at the slightest sign of spoilers anymore.
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[Gironika]

So! Finished it yesterday.

There were five weapons missing, two of them I missed because I didn't bother to finish some quests. And the other three could be bought in shops. Oh well …
and I'd absolutely nominate the B-ending/playthrough being the highlight of the game. More to come after catching up here.
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[protoblax]

I just want to state for the record that a while back I referred to Nier as "a cinematic experience at its heart", and upon reflection that is a really messed up sentiment.
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[Sniper Honeyviper]

NieR/CAVIACAST on the vent server in three and a half hours.

[protoblax]

A long, long time from now
A little girl was dying
From an evil, scrawling black disease
Her father found a magic book
And ventured in to have a look
For a cure to put his troubled mind at ease

It had no useful spells or curses
Without its missing six sealed verses
He left his home to free them
From hordes of shady demons

With magic book at his command
He met all of his task's demands
The verses six were in his hands
The day the whole world died

Bye, Bye, Mr. Grimoire Weiss
Bringin' Yonah back to home cost us the ultimtate price
While Popola was drinkin' lizards and mice
Singin' kuwata tsunowo vralai
Kuwata tsunowo vralai

Did you write your daughter every night
And do you have faith in wrong and right
If the grimoire tells you so?
And are you prepared to pay the toll
Would you sacrifice your mortal soul
To reach for her recovery's last hope?

Well I know that deep inside you care
'cause you're takin' quests from everywhere
Collecting rusty gears
To level up your spears

In deserts, woods and fields you roam
Your daughter, she just wants you home
But now it's just you and the tome
The day the whole world died

I started singin'
Bye, Bye, Mr. Grimoire Weiss
Bringin' Yonah back to home cost us the ultimtate price
While Popola was drinkin' lizards and mice
Singin' kuwata tsunowo vralai
Kuwata tsunowo vralai

Now for five years you've been on your own
Your girl's abducted by your evil clone
You just want things how they used to be
So you picked yourself up and formed a team
From a grinning child and a beauty queen
But they're both much stranger than their outsides seem

And while the child was looking down
His grin became a monster's frown
The queen was set in stone
Again you were alone

But from stone that queen would soon emerge
Thanks to the child's courageous surge
Now three again to sing a dirge
The day the whole world died

And they were singin'
Bye, Bye, Mr. Grimoire Weiss
Bringin' Yonah back to home cost us the ultimtate price
While Popola was drinkin' lizards and mice
Singin' kuwata tsunowo vralai
Kuwata tsunowo vralai

They met some twins who sang the blues
They asked them for some happy news
And were shocked by what they had to say
It turns out that their ancient song
Meant shades were human all along
And you're the one who bought our final day

They battled friends and raging boars
And slammed their way through every door
The father's clone was slaughtered
To save his only daughter

And the two men that I hold most dear
The Shadowlord and Father Nier
They took a step off Seafront's pier
The day the whole world died

And I was singin'
Bye, Bye, Mr. Grimoire Weiss
Bringin' Yonah back to home cost us the ultimtate price
While Popola was drinkin' lizards and mice
Singin' kuwata tsunowo vralai
Kuwata tsunowo vralai

Bye, Bye, Mr. Grimoire Weiss
Bringin' Yonah back to home cost us the ultimtate price
While Popola was drinkin' lizards and mice
Singin' kuwata tsunowo vralai
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[Sniper Honeyviper]

You should get Smithee to perform that for the Caviacast.

[protoblax]

I will contact him!
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[Lasakon]

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[Sniper Honeyviper]

Any reason for Sole Calibert in this thread?

[Lasakon]

Because I'm bad with internet.
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[protoblax]

Why did you have to do that to me Lasakon. There was Twitter talk many months back about the possibility of Kaine being included in the next SoulCalibur game, and my heart skyrocketed out of my chest when you posted that.

Also, Allen is down to record
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