A bleak, depressing and utterly, utterly wonderful game, Taro Yoko’s Nier is a modern masterpiece, effortlessly blending a variety of game styles and ways to present a narrative to create a chaotic but coherent whole.

Developer: Cavia
Publisher: Square Enix
Available on: Xbox 360, PS3 (retail only)

Articles about Nier

Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead” - It seems that every time we get a new Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy or Persona release, we have the same old “we’re having a JRPG renaissance!” discussion. Well, dear reader, with my coverage of Death End Re;Quest on the horizon at the time of writing and plenty more RPGs in our shared futures, I’m here … Continue reading Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead” →

The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 1 – The Goosebump Effect - What game soundtracks make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end? Pete and Chris talk about the music that gives them the shivers. Plus the usual news and "what we've been playing" talk.

The MoeGamer Awards: Best Integration of Mechanics with Thematic Elements - The MoeGamer Awards are a series of made-up prizes that give me an excuse to celebrate games, concepts and communities I’ve particularly appreciated over the course of 2017. Find out more and suggest some categories here! Today’s suggestion comes to us from “riobravo79”, who doesn’t appear to have a website or Twitter or anything — not … Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards: Best Integration of Mechanics with Thematic Elements →

From the Archives: Drawing the Line - Any dedicated JRPG fan will know what an uphill struggle it is to get people who have found themselves drifting away from the genre to actually play one of your favorite games. All too often, people are keen to dismiss the whole genre as “Japanese bullshit” at best, depraved disgusting sexist paedophilic misogynist nonsense at worst. Ever-determined … Continue reading From the Archives: Drawing the Line →

Nier Automata: A Game Better With — And Because Of — Its Narrative - The question of whether or not games "need" narrative has arisen numerous times over the years, and it flared up once again around the release of Nier: Automata. Let's ponder it.

Nier Automata: Narrative, Themes and Characterisation - Nier creator Taro Yoko is fascinated with death -- so as you might expect, that's a concept that gets explored a lot throughout his work. That's not all, though!

Nier Automata: Introduction and History - In order to understand Nier: Automata and its predecessors, it's important to understand creator Taro Yoko -- well, as much as it's possible to understand him, anyway.

From the Archives: Birds Suddenly Appear Every Time You Are Nier - Nier is possibly one of Square Enix’s most misunderstood games. Released to a rather lukewarm critical response back in 2010, this Cavia-developed PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 action RPG, directed by Taro Yoko, is actually a fascinating game that is well worth your time and attention — so long as you have a bit of … Continue reading From the Archives: Birds Suddenly Appear Every Time You Are Nier →

The MoeGamer GameCast: Episode 6 – ZAWAZAWAZAWA - In this episode of the GameCast, we talk about the prevalence of “auteurs” in Japanese game development, NepNep in VR and one of the bleakest anime series I’ve ever seen. Music, as ever, is the work of MusMus, and the awesome retro font is by Style64. Other music in this episode remains the copyright of … Continue reading The MoeGamer GameCast: Episode 6 – ZAWAZAWAZAWA →

Ten Great RPGs That Came Out After Final Fantasy VII - As we saw recently, there are those among us who believe that the Japanese role-playing game has been in consistent decline since Final Fantasy VII, and that only now are we starting to see a “comeback”. We’ve already talked about how this is a load of old nonsense, and that in fact the role-playing game … Continue reading Ten Great RPGs That Came Out After Final Fantasy VII →

Are JRPGs Primed for a Comeback? No; They Never Went Away - If IGN’s Colin Moriarty is to be believed, then Japanese role-playing games have been in a “steep decline” since Final Fantasy VII. You and I, as fellow enthusiasts of Japanese gaming, both know that this is perhaps a somewhat questionable claim to make, but it’s also worth examining, particularly in light of the fact that Moriarty … Continue reading Are JRPGs Primed for a Comeback? No; They Never Went Away →

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