Nier?

[coyotecraft]

I don't know what to think of this. My senses tell me to stay clear. I usually don't like hack n' slash games anyways. Looking at the title I can tell it's suppose to be another dark fantasy game where everything is drained of color except for the explosions of blood. Aren't people tried of that yet? I mean, I go to the ps3 section and thats all i see.

I'm only mildly interested because I was linked to this trailer. If the game is as entertaining as the girl screaming in the beginning I might try it out. Although I learned my lesson with Beyonetta that quirky characters don't make an interesting game.
So you've got Nier who's trying to save his daughter from a virus. Weiss, a floaty taking book. Kaine, the scantily clad, demon possessed, potty mouth, hermaphrodite swordswomen. And No.7, that creepy smiling demon thing.

There's also another game called Nier Replicant which will only be released in Japan. Apparently they think the second game won't appeal to western audiences. I wonder if it's more of the character designs they're worried about.

 

[united washcloth express]

Eh, it looks a little interesting from the trailer. It can't be any more generic than every other game Square Enix spews out these days. The battle system looks typical action based. I am just happy that it isn't hiding behind a menu system. The character designs look typical Square Enix Anime styled, but it looks as if Tetsuya Nomura is not involved. (Which is FANTASTIC)

I already don't like the weapon designs, but I can get over that if the gameplay is decent. I don't know, I might watch this one a bit.

Dark Fantasy ruling the PS3 section? Uh?

Oh! Upon further investigation, Square Enix is only publishing this title. It is being developed by Cavia. I'll definitely keep my eye on this one than.

 

[united washcloth express]

The difference between Nier and Nier Replicant:

The only difference between the two versions is confirmed to be aesthetics, and the relationship between Nier and Yonah.

Nier Replicant

-"The title character of the game, he is described as being an "unyielding protagonist" who is trying his best to find a cure for the Black Scrawl virus[4] which has infected his little sister, Yonah. He is younger and slimmer than the character Nier of Nier Gestalt."

Nier

-"The main character of the game, he is an older man described as being an "unyielding protagonist" who is trying to find a cure for the Black Scrawl virus[5] which has infected his daughter, Yonah by any means.[5] He is voiced by Jamieson Price in the English version"

Those are the only differences. The reason being for these changes is that "Square Enix announced that this was because they believe the younger Nier will appeal more to the Japanese audience, while they believe the older Nier will appeal more to Western audiences."

 

[coyotecraft]

It's the same people who made Drakenguard on the ps2.

Anyone know what the relationship between publisher and developer is like? Square is only publishing this. Apparently Square-enix is buying a lot of third party developers and publishing their games like supreme commander 2, Just Cause 2,and Kane & lynch 2. Now that they are publishing games rather then developing them, seeing a square-enix game doesn't mean anything to me anymore.

 

[Jason]

They're not really buying developers, they just bought Eidos a few years back, so any games they publish go under the name of... you guessed it, Square Enix.

 

[Jason]

Although for some odd reason, Square Enix published Modern Warfare 2 in Japan...

 

[coyotecraft]

Maybe they just like the number 2. Or instead of saying "two" you'll say "squared"... get it?

 

[united washcloth express]

Publishers call the shots and keep a large portion of the profits. Developers make the games. That's the relationship between developers and publishers in a nutshell.

The Publisher has certain features that they require the developer to put into their game. The developer generally must add these features to the game, as the rights of the game is usually given to the publisher during the deal, as game development is really expensive. Most developers do not have a choice, but to hand over the rights. After the features the publisher has demanded are implemented or scrapped, the developers may then collaborate with the publishers on what things they may want to change. Unless you work for LucasArts, developers with great track records are generally given more freedom to do what they wish by the publisher. While Cavia is not the most amazing studio, they have a decent enough track record where I believe that Square will allow them some freedom on what they wish to do. This is why I am interested to see how this game unfolds.

 

[Kuahewa huki 'ino]

Those are the only differences. The reason being for these changes is that "Square Enix announced that this was because they believe the younger Nier will appeal more to the Japanese audience, while they believe the older Nier will appeal more to Western audiences."

Knowing the bulk of Japanese video games and how they like to imply incestuous brother-sister relationships by pretty much any means available, this sounds like a horrible idea, short of a PR disaster only because video games aren't on that social level.

Enix has a very bad track record with subcontracted developers. Barring Tri-Ace because they're simply too big for it, I can't think of one that they haven't either cannibalized and laid off the entire staff of, or just tossed them aside once their most recent game fails to achieve international recognition.

 

[bacon]

While the game does not interest me personally, I can see why they would change the story. However, I still really don't find the story great or ground-breaking by any means and some things worry me such as the character doing whatever it takes to cure the disease. Is it me, or murdering people and killing beasts really fatherly like and overall, does the main character even look like a father. He honestly looks more like some warrior or something than a father. To me, the whole brother sister relationship makes more sense than the father daughter relationship, but opinions are opinions.

I do however like some of the enemy designs. The blood however, looks distasteful. o:

 

[coyotecraft]

I just remembered. There was some plot points removed from Drakengard in the western version because of incest . Apparently the hero's sister secretly had the hot's for her brother. There was also a character that was a pedophile. They took those details out of the cutscenes. The sister decided to kill herself rather then reveal her desire for her brother, but it wasn't that clear in the western game because of the censorship.

I wouldn't be surprised if incest was involved in Nier Replicant.