Nier Automata: Is Platinum Games enough to save a franchise?

Slick, colourful combat is a good start, but questions remain over longevity.

Read the whole story

 

[Otacrow]

Wonderful to see the female character wearing sensible battle clothing. Who could ever think of going into battle without high heels and garter belt

 

[Poskito]

"less than the sum of its parts"

That's amusing, given 'Gestalt' means the exact opposite.

 

[alanmies]

This is one my most-anticipated games for 2017. An RPG with Platinum combat, it has the potential to be something phenomenal. Whether they're able to pull it off remains to be seen - while I really loved both Bayonettas (especially 2), I can't remember the plot pretty much at all and even when playing them it didn't really didn't make any sense. I hope SE does the bulk of the work in that department (not that they always nail it either, sometimes it can be awesome and sometimes just a JPRG-tropefest).

 

[...m...]

Otacrow[/url]":144p24f4]Wonderful to see the female character wearing sensible battle clothing. Who could ever think of going into battle without high heels and garter belt

...all that upskirt ventilation is clearly critical to maintaining thermal equilibrium in the heat of combat; the male character's going to have a hard time keeping up...

 

[CppThis]

Hot robot chicks with swords? Hells yeah!


That being said, as the OP alludes to the strength of an RPG is the story and 'usual RPG nonsense' so whether it really holds up won't be clear until the full game is ready.

 

[sarusa]

Just keep in mind that Platinum has done some terrible licensed games, so it's not an instant quality guarantee. Legend of Korra was pretty mediocre and had some really bad design. The new TMNT game (Mutants in Manhattan) is just execrably horrible - it's the first genuinely bad, no excuses, Platinum game. They're stretched too thin.

Then again, Metal Gear Revengeance was amaaaazing, Transformers : Mumble Something was pretty good, and I could feel the promise in Nier, so I've got my fingers firmly crossed for this, sounds like it could live up.

 

[Aelinsaar]

oldtaku[/url]":3lnezzhc]Just keep in mind that Platinum has done some terrible licensed games, so it's not an instant quality guarantee. Legend of Korra was pretty mediocre and had some really bad design. The new TMNT game (Mutants in Manhattan) is just execrably horrible - it's the first genuinely bad, no excuses, Platinum game. They're stretched too thin.

Then again, Metal Gear Revengeance was amaaaazing, Transformers : Mumble Something was pretty good, and I could feel the promise in Nier, so I've got my fingers firmly crossed for this, sounds like it could live up.

Exactly, but I don't think this is a bargain basement (from the outset) job like Korra. Still as you say, they're clearly willing to be hacks for money, even though they have the skills to make beautiful dreams come true.

Very wait and see, but I really want this to be good.

 

[axfelix]

Platinum's been doing licensed stuff for a while now -- the last really interesting original title of theirs was Vanquish, which was years ago (though their Metal Gear game was definitely not bad for a licensed title or for a post-PS2 Metal Gear game). The original Nier was also almost good in a lot of ways, and nicely evocative of a time when Japanese games weren't primarily convoluted and porn-y. I'd really like to see this turn out well for the sake of all involved.

 

[sarusa]

axfelix[/url]":2oya7zi3]Platinum's been doing licensed stuff for a while now -- the last really interesting original title of theirs was Vanquish, which was years ago

Don't forget Bayonetta 2! That was a couple years after Vanquish... True, Sega partly owns 'Bayonetta', and Nintendo owns the second game, but Bayonetta is Platinum to the core. And it was at least as inventive as Vanquish in mechanical terms.

( Though I still love Vanquish - some great news from earlier this year is that Platinum wants to put Vanquish on Steam. )

 

[tipsy.trex]

Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

 

[Aelinsaar]

tipsy.trex[/url]":2y3ffic2]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

 

[orangpelupa]

Sure the action looks awesome. But outside of action the animation looks stiff, the visual quality also inconsistent.

With 70% tailored to the usual RPG stuff rather than battle, doesn't those stuff will be more noticeable?

 

[tipsy.trex]

Aelinsaar[/url]":344ft74n]

tipsy.trex[/url]":344ft74n]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

 

[freedfromdeath]

That video was superb. I am a huge fan of hack and slash games and this pleases me greatly. Both the boy and the girl look sexy. Looking forward to this.

 

[billyok]

In before...

tipsy.trex[/url]":2n2iem0v]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

Oops, nevermind.

 

[sarusa]

orangpelupa[/url]":1hfovpuc]Sure the action looks awesome. But outside of action the animation looks stiff, the visual quality also inconsistent.

With 70% tailored to the usual RPG stuff rather than battle, doesn't those stuff will be more noticeable?

We're willing to put up with a lot of ugliness in our RPGs as long as the mechanics, dialogue, and plot are good. Like The Last Story on Wii, that was... not pretty. But if you liked that kind of RPG, it was so good! Or going way back, Grandia II was pretty dang ugly and awkward because it was during the 2D to 3D transition, but the combat was so good who cares.

If the worst we can say about Nier Automata is that it's a little stiff outside of combat and is visually inconsistent, that will be awesome.

 

[Tridus]

The real question? How is the soundtrack?

The one thing Nier did have going for it was an amazing soundtrack. So much so that it reached #24 on the Japanese music charts (and stayed on the charts for 11 weeks!), won awards, and spawned new releases of its own.

It kind of bears specific watching in this case because of just how good it was. Hopefully Platinum doesn't lose that.

 

[sarusa]

Tridus[/url]":3smmq9wc]The real question? How is the soundtrack?

Keiichi Okabe and his studio (Monaca) are back for this, as is vocalist Emi Evans. Get pumped!

Edit: Here is actual music. The video could be a spoiler for one of the boss battles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq3_phBQA_Y

 

[Tridus]

oldtaku[/url]":xm6gxpvv]

Tridus[/url]":xm6gxpvv]The real question? How is the soundtrack?

Keiichi Okabe and his studio (Monaca) are back for this, as is vocalist Emi Evans. Get pumped!

Edit: Here is actual music. The video could be a spoiler for one of the boss battles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq3_phBQA_Y

Sweet! Thanks!

 

[gabest11]

While Nier was not perfect, it was one of the few games that made my purchase of a PS3 not a total waste. There are so few good RPGs on that generation of consoles, it's a real shame. Vanquish was also a great action game.

 

[MNP]

Is the author unfamiliar with Drakengaard and how it relates to Nier? The story of Nier is the best part.

 

[Aelinsaar]

tipsy.trex[/url]":4f842jza]

Aelinsaar[/url]":4f842jza]

tipsy.trex[/url]":4f842jza]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

It certainly taught me a lesson about some of my fellow hobbyists, the people who scream for change because the old is boring and predictable, only to realize just how hidebound they really are. It was a good game, that as you say missed the point of the story, and people lost their minds over that instead of a more reasonable, "Well that's half right..."

Again, I remember the hate, and it was hardly reasoned and "Well this is a good game to play, but misses the mark."

 

[immanuel_aj]

Oh, if they need constantly shifting enemy attack patterns and regular new sets of skills to learn, they can just pull a page out of almost any of the Final Fantasy games. If anyone who worked on Final Fantasy actually has some input into this project, there should be no problem for them to implement it.

 

[Araphiel]

I loved Nier. It is the only game I have played and beat 4x in a row to get all the endings.

 

[Akemi]

Aelinsaar[/url]":1bsffqgw]

tipsy.trex[/url]":1bsffqgw]

Aelinsaar[/url]":1bsffqgw]

tipsy.trex[/url]":1bsffqgw]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

It certainly taught me a lesson about some of my fellow hobbyists, the people who scream for change because the old is boring and predictable, only to realize just how hidebound they really are. It was a good game, that as you say missed the point of the story, and people lost their minds over that instead of a more reasonable, "Well that's half right..."

Again, I remember the hate, and it was hardly reasoned and "Well this is a good game to play, but misses the mark."

Pfft, gamers are always a whiny lot. Look at the ridiculous hubub over the ending to Mass Effect 3. Meanwhile it was the most refined game of the trilogy in terms of gameplay. Powers finally felt right, movement/cover worked better than the prior two titles, level design was improved, it brought back the RPG/management elements removed from the second title without going overboard with pointless items like the first title, and made loadouts actually important to gameplay by having the loadout determine the speed of recovery for your biotic/tech powers. Meanwhile, every time anyone brought up the game there was endless gnashing of teeth over the ending, while the same people ignored the 99.9% of the rest of the game and how much improved the overall gameplay was beyond the first two titles.

 

[evilpaul13]

"Passable story"? You either didn't finish the game or ragequit at the #@%&ty fishing mini-game like most of the professional reviewers on Metacritic clearly did. The story was the best part of the game. The combat and controls were janky. The many changes from typical third person action RPG to side scrolling platformer, to bird's eye view schmup, to text adventure, to isometric Diablo sort of thing, were all pretty weird and done with varying degrees of competence.

But he story, particularly when you get endings B, C, and D in the New Game+ (which lets you pick up from the midpoint in the and see things from entirely different perspectives) were amazing. The only fault I have with the story is that they don't really explain in-game how it ties in to Drakengard 1's final ending. I've seen other RPGs that do similar things showing the story from different perspectives that make you question the goodness of the main characters and whether the villains were really evil and cruel or even wrong like Suikoden III and Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter, but NieR took it to a whole other level.

NieR had lots of problems, but those were the janky combat, small game world, the sidequests pretty much all being backtracking and fetch quests, but the story wasn't one of them.

 

[evilpaul13]

Akemi[/url]":fef7ihsp]

Aelinsaar[/url]":fef7ihsp]

tipsy.trex[/url]":fef7ihsp]

Aelinsaar[/url]":fef7ihsp]

tipsy.trex[/url]":fef7ihsp]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

It certainly taught me a lesson about some of my fellow hobbyists, the people who scream for change because the old is boring and predictable, only to realize just how hidebound they really are. It was a good game, that as you say missed the point of the story, and people lost their minds over that instead of a more reasonable, "Well that's half right..."

Again, I remember the hate, and it was hardly reasoned and "Well this is a good game to play, but misses the mark."

Pfft, gamers are always a whiny lot. Look at the ridiculous hubub over the ending to Mass Effect 3. Meanwhile it was the most refined game of the trilogy in terms of gameplay. Powers finally felt right, movement/cover worked better than the prior two titles, level design was improved, it brought back the RPG/management elements removed from the second title without going overboard with pointless items like the first title, and made loadouts actually important to gameplay by having the loadout determine the speed of recovery for your biotic/tech powers. Meanwhile, every time anyone brought up the game there was endless gnashing of teeth over the ending, while the same people ignored the 99.9% of the rest of the game and how much improved the overall gameplay was beyond the first two titles.

Mass Effect 3, even with the utter garbage original ending, was amazing. And the original ending was a dumpster fire behind a barber shop and tire store. Completely terrible.

My response to the exposition dump NPC, playing it on release having heard about the ending controversy but avoiding spoilers, was to shoot him/her/it in the face. It didn't do anything, but the new ending DLC added an ending where that was an option. Which I still find hilarious.

 

[pizuz]

MNP[/url]":1el3ne0e]Is the author unfamiliar with Drakengaard and how it relates to Nier? The story of Nier is the best part.

Didn't play it myself, read The Dark Id's LP on SomethingAwful, instead, and I agree. The second playthrough turning the entire narrative on its head really got me a few times. Remember Beepy?

 

[AlainDenagai]

evilpaul13[/url]":1eez0kvy]

Akemi[/url]":1eez0kvy]

Aelinsaar[/url]":1eez0kvy]

tipsy.trex[/url]":1eez0kvy]

Aelinsaar[/url]":1eez0kvy]

tipsy.trex[/url]":1eez0kvy]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

It certainly taught me a lesson about some of my fellow hobbyists, the people who scream for change because the old is boring and predictable, only to realize just how hidebound they really are. It was a good game, that as you say missed the point of the story, and people lost their minds over that instead of a more reasonable, "Well that's half right..."

Again, I remember the hate, and it was hardly reasoned and "Well this is a good game to play, but misses the mark."

Pfft, gamers are always a whiny lot. Look at the ridiculous hubub over the ending to Mass Effect 3. Meanwhile it was the most refined game of the trilogy in terms of gameplay. Powers finally felt right, movement/cover worked better than the prior two titles, level design was improved, it brought back the RPG/management elements removed from the second title without going overboard with pointless items like the first title, and made loadouts actually important to gameplay by having the loadout determine the speed of recovery for your biotic/tech powers. Meanwhile, every time anyone brought up the game there was endless gnashing of teeth over the ending, while the same people ignored the 99.9% of the rest of the game and how much improved the overall gameplay was beyond the first two titles.

Mass Effect 3, even with the utter garbage original ending, was amazing. And the original ending was a dumpster fire behind a barber shop and tire store. Completely terrible.

My response to the exposition dump NPC, playing it on release having heard about the ending controversy but avoiding spoilers, was to shoot him/her/it in the face. It didn't do anything, but the new ending DLC added an ending where that was an option. Which I still find hilarious.

Well, ME3 indeed had much better action gameplay than ME1 or 2, and the original "sky high expectations crushed then annihilated then put in a festering dumpster' ending (& the ninja cyber buffoon), grating as they might have been, didn't detract from what was in the end a great game.

To go back to topic (hum) about the female protagonist's clothing, she totally needs a mini-skirt as you might remember she is an android, requiring ample ventilation for heat dissipation and, yeah, makes total sense!

 

[Aelinsaar]

Akemi[/url]":2uylidxh]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2uylidxh]

tipsy.trex[/url]":2uylidxh]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2uylidxh]

tipsy.trex[/url]":2uylidxh]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

It certainly taught me a lesson about some of my fellow hobbyists, the people who scream for change because the old is boring and predictable, only to realize just how hidebound they really are. It was a good game, that as you say missed the point of the story, and people lost their minds over that instead of a more reasonable, "Well that's half right..."

Again, I remember the hate, and it was hardly reasoned and "Well this is a good game to play, but misses the mark."

Pfft, gamers are always a whiny lot. Look at the ridiculous hubub over the ending to Mass Effect 3. Meanwhile it was the most refined game of the trilogy in terms of gameplay. Powers finally felt right, movement/cover worked better than the prior two titles, level design was improved, it brought back the RPG/management elements removed from the second title without going overboard with pointless items like the first title, and made loadouts actually important to gameplay by having the loadout determine the speed of recovery for your biotic/tech powers. Meanwhile, every time anyone brought up the game there was endless gnashing of teeth over the ending, while the same people ignored the 99.9% of the rest of the game and how much improved the overall gameplay was beyond the first two titles.

Honestly, that's a great example to make your point too. I *despised* the ending of ME3, but the game itself was very solid. ME2 by contrast, I couldn't actually get through. ME1 was rough, but felt... full. ME2 felt janky. ME3 felt really good to play, it just hurt you at the end.

It was bizarre to see people react to that with incandescent fury though. I remember talking to someone on another site about it, and I said something along the lines of, "Get some perspective." They came back at me with, and I am not kidding here, "Don't give me the 'starving child in Africa' excuse!"

:|

 

[manboat]

Very disappointed with John's preview here. I'd love to see a comment from him as to whether he actually played (and finished) Nier as the article above reads as though he hasn't. If not, he absolutely owes it to himself as a videogames fan to play it - I guarantee he'd love it.

Nier had an astonishingly good soundtrack (which hit the charts in Japan as mentioned above), excellent writing, story and characterisation. It also had an amazing variety of gameplay - one moment you're playing a top-down Diablolike, then next a bullet hell shooter, then a text-adventure - it was bursting at the seams with new and creative ideas. Unfortunately it's greatest weakness was it's mediocre gameplay, especially the combat - which happily is the absolute speciality of Platinum Games, making me incredibly positive about the sequel.

Two other main points to address based on the article and the conversation above;

- Yes the main character has a 'sexualized' appearance, but please hold your judgement until playing the final game - the first game had a similar character that had excellent in-story reasons for the way they dress and turned out to be one of the best written characters in the game. Sort of a, "you will be ashamed of your words and deeds" situation, but without the bullshit.

-This is clearly not a reboot - that's patently false. This game draws heavily upon the plot of the first Nier (as people who've completed the first game will be able to tell from the enemy designs alone) and even Drakengard to some extent - I would strongly suggest that you'll get a LOT more out of the new game by playing the first Nier.

Overall I'm very optimistic about Automata - here's hoping it lives up to it's potential!

 

[Hydrogen]

tipsy.trex[/url]":1dy2ev8z]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

It says "Square Enix is hoping for similar sucess" as dmc, so he's probably being ironic.

 

[Jilkon]

What's with the Nier story dissing in this article? Have you actually played through the game two (or even better - four) times? I would rank Nier NG+ as one of my top moments in the PS3 generation. We're talking up there with Uncharted 2, The Last of Us, Journey and the likes. It's really that good. The fourth ending (Ending D) is also quite incredible in how far it goes.

 

[KGFish]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2a62wtxp]

Akemi[/url]":2a62wtxp]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2a62wtxp]

tipsy.trex[/url]":2a62wtxp]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2a62wtxp]

tipsy.trex[/url]":2a62wtxp]Invoking the Devil may Cry reboot in the first paragraph honestly makes me concerned for this reviewer.

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

It certainly taught me a lesson about some of my fellow hobbyists, the people who scream for change because the old is boring and predictable, only to realize just how hidebound they really are. It was a good game, that as you say missed the point of the story, and people lost their minds over that instead of a more reasonable, "Well that's half right..."

Again, I remember the hate, and it was hardly reasoned and "Well this is a good game to play, but misses the mark."

Pfft, gamers are always a whiny lot. Look at the ridiculous hubub over the ending to Mass Effect 3. Meanwhile it was the most refined game of the trilogy in terms of gameplay. Powers finally felt right, movement/cover worked better than the prior two titles, level design was improved, it brought back the RPG/management elements removed from the second title without going overboard with pointless items like the first title, and made loadouts actually important to gameplay by having the loadout determine the speed of recovery for your biotic/tech powers. Meanwhile, every time anyone brought up the game there was endless gnashing of teeth over the ending, while the same people ignored the 99.9% of the rest of the game and how much improved the overall gameplay was beyond the first two titles.

Honestly, that's a great example to make your point too. I *despised* the ending of ME3, but the game itself was very solid. ME2 by contrast, I couldn't actually get through. ME1 was rough, but felt... full. ME2 felt janky. ME3 felt really good to play, it just hurt you at the end.

It was bizarre to see people react to that with incandescent fury though. I remember talking to someone on another site about it, and I said something along the lines of, "Get some perspective." They came back at me with, and I am not kidding here, "Don't give me the 'starving child in Africa' excuse!"

:|

I seem to have been the only one who actually enjoyed the combat and exploration aspect of the first two games, and disliked how the combat mechanics worked in 3. Specifically, I actually didn't like the heavy emphasis on cover.

The entire combat strategy was to preserve cover for as long as possible. Everything else was secondary. Granted, playing on the hardest setting on the first go-around may have been a bit too much (things became noticeably easier once powers and weaponry were properly upgraded), but every fight was literally "trigger enemies, run to cover, keep enemies from overrunning your cover." Even the multiplayer showed just how important cover was once when the devs introduces new enemies that were specifically designed to render cover useless. Also, with how good powers were, reducing the recharge time of powers became the #1 priority in loadout - to the point I regularly ran a Wrex with a light assault rifle and no shotgun, just so that I could minimize the recharge time of his charge.

That meant that story was the reason that I played ME3, and we all know how that went. ME1 and ME2, clunky inventory system and eternal elevator trips included, were still better than ME3. YMMV, but you'd be wrong.

 

[neoritter]

Otacrow[/url]":1ncsws5n]Wonderful to see the female character wearing sensible battle clothing. Who could ever think of going into battle without high heels and garter belt

How else are you going to chop peoples/things heads off when you kick them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TQRJqUbl-Q&t=0m37s

 

[Aelinsaar]

KGFish[/url]":37uwz0og]

Aelinsaar[/url]":37uwz0og]

Akemi[/url]":37uwz0og]

Aelinsaar[/url]":37uwz0og]

tipsy.trex[/url]":37uwz0og]

Aelinsaar[/url]":37uwz0og]

The hate for that game was so stupidly overblown and petty compared to what it actually played like.

On its own, it was fine. Fun, even. Terrible soundtrack though.
As a Devil May Cry game, it is one of the few examples of a game that objectively missed the point of the series and suffers in comparison.
And it's really a moot point now. It way undersold and appears to have ended the series. I feel that says enough about the reboot.

It certainly taught me a lesson about some of my fellow hobbyists, the people who scream for change because the old is boring and predictable, only to realize just how hidebound they really are. It was a good game, that as you say missed the point of the story, and people lost their minds over that instead of a more reasonable, "Well that's half right..."

Again, I remember the hate, and it was hardly reasoned and "Well this is a good game to play, but misses the mark."

Pfft, gamers are always a whiny lot. Look at the ridiculous hubub over the ending to Mass Effect 3. Meanwhile it was the most refined game of the trilogy in terms of gameplay. Powers finally felt right, movement/cover worked better than the prior two titles, level design was improved, it brought back the RPG/management elements removed from the second title without going overboard with pointless items like the first title, and made loadouts actually important to gameplay by having the loadout determine the speed of recovery for your biotic/tech powers. Meanwhile, every time anyone brought up the game there was endless gnashing of teeth over the ending, while the same people ignored the 99.9% of the rest of the game and how much improved the overall gameplay was beyond the first two titles.

Honestly, that's a great example to make your point too. I *despised* the ending of ME3, but the game itself was very solid. ME2 by contrast, I couldn't actually get through. ME1 was rough, but felt... full. ME2 felt janky. ME3 felt really good to play, it just hurt you at the end.

It was bizarre to see people react to that with incandescent fury though. I remember talking to someone on another site about it, and I said something along the lines of, "Get some perspective." They came back at me with, and I am not kidding here, "Don't give me the 'starving child in Africa' excuse!"

:|

I seem to have been the only one who actually enjoyed the combat and exploration aspect of the first two games, and disliked how the combat mechanics worked in 3. Specifically, I actually didn't like the heavy emphasis on cover.

The entire combat strategy was to preserve cover for as long as possible. Everything else was secondary. Granted, playing on the hardest setting on the first go-around may have been a bit too much (things became noticeably easier once powers and weaponry were properly upgraded), but every fight was literally "trigger enemies, run to cover, keep enemies from overrunning your cover." Even the multiplayer showed just how important cover was once when the devs introduces new enemies that were specifically designed to render cover useless. Also, with how good powers were, reducing the recharge time of powers became the #1 priority in loadout - to the point I regularly ran a Wrex with a light assault rifle and no shotgun, just so that I could minimize the recharge time of his charge.

That meant that story was the reason that I played ME3, and we all know how that went. ME1 and ME2, clunky inventory system and eternal elevator trips included, were still better than ME3. YMMV, but you'd be wrong.

I just despised ME2 to be honest... it took away elements from 1 that were RPG focused, and replaced it with the beginnings of the cover shooter that would emerge in 3. I don't mind cover shooters, and I love RPG's, but halfway between the two fucked with me in ways no game has before or since. I grant you, that's probably a "me" issue.

ME1 is my favorite in the series, and I really do wish they'd tried to improve it as an RPG, rather than change it. That being said, once they did and arrived at a cover shooter in ME3... I liked that too. There are damned few decent sci-fi or fantasy shooters out there, and I'm almost as hungry for them as I am for a good RPG.

That being said, I think the story peaked after ME1... giant electronic space squid is not as impressive in reality as they are in a threat-laden dialogue.

 

[polerin]

...m...[/url]"ul7ebr5]

Otacrow[/url]"ul7ebr5]Wonderful to see the female character wearing sensible battle clothing. Who could ever think of going into battle without high heels and garter belt

...all that upskirt ventilation is clearly critical to maintaining thermal equilibrium in the heat of combat; the male character's going to have a hard time keeping up...

Damnit, that is supposed to be a guy isn't it.

*sighs and goes back to waiting for athletic!butch characters*

 

[Katana314]

evilpaul13[/url]":1as6r1hg]"Passable story"? You either didn't finish the game or ragequit at the #@%&ty fishing mini-game like most of the professional reviewers on Metacritic clearly did. The story was the best part of the game.

Hey hey, cool down.

I've run into this myself, too. A game has a GREAT story, but you only realize that when you've reached the ending and put the whole experience in perspective, realizing how relevant those scenes were that you initially didn't care about.

Even if someone didn't finish, it *can* be a valid criticism that indicates not enough of the mystery was revealed at a good pace. For instance, I felt like the game Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective gave a good number of "WTF how is that POSSIBLE?" reveals at a decent spacing throughout the game. They all *answered* questions as well as adding new ones (some stories just do the latter, and lose my attention because "It's all a conspiracy" is just the catch-all explanation). It's sad when a great story is missed out on because of these writing missteps. I've dropped a number of series/games, but others I've finished even in spite of extreme length simply because they constantly kept me hooked.

Haven't played Nier, but I'm looking for any good old PS3 games I'd missed, so maybe that would be one to look into. Hopefully I can get past any pacing issues.

 

[Saikaici]

That boss has a slight Madoka witch feel to it. Good stuff.