Disposable Media

Art, Music, Games, Life

You are here: Home / Archives for Nier

Square Enix announce a Nier Replicant remaster

By Leave a Comment

In the early hours of the morning (for us people in the UK, at least) we woke to discover news that a Nier Replicant remaster would be coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC. Here at Disposable Media, we covered Nier Automata once or twice when it was being released… but if you want to go back to the origins of the Nier story, you’d have to go all the way back to 2010. At the time, I wasn’t contributing to Disposable Media but the premise interested me enough to pick up Nier Gestalt, and whilst it wasn’t the most polished experience available on seventh-gen consoles, it stood out amongst a crowd of third-person action games and I admired the attempt to provide some kind of unique experience to players. The news that a Nier Replicant remaster is in the works, however, leaves us with some mixed feelings.

The fans’ desire for a Nier Replicant Remaster

Nier Replicant remaster

In 2010, the first Nier games to be released (if we exclude the Drakengard series which is connected to the games) were Nier Gestalt and Nier Replicant. Nier Replicant was an exclusive PS3 release for Japan, whilst Nier Gestalt was the game that most people reading this will have played. The name change wasn’t meaningless, as Gestalt told the tale of an older main character and his daughter, whilst Replicant recalled a story about a brother and sister. From what I understand, the events of the games were still pretty similar, but these character changes were the main difference. In any case, a Nier Replicant remaster should still be worth your time and attention; the game established a lot of the things you will have seen in Nier Automata – from the perspective shifts and the bullet hell, to the RPG sidequesting and the phenomenal music. I understand that Nier Automata left some Platinum fans disappointed because they were expecting a more streamlined character-action experience… but without the context provided by the older game, it’s easy to see why they would have mixed feelings. Indeed, ever since Nier Automata raised the profile of the Nier name, longtime fans were wondering if anyone would consider returning to the 2010 game.

The first details of the Nier Replicant remaster

Nier Replicant remaster

My own hopes were raised when a mini-site for Nier’s 10th anniversary was launched in early December of last year. There wasn’t much to see on the site at the time: only a logo, a news ticker and the option to listen to a piano rendition of the overworld theme (“Hills of Radiant Winds”), but fans were hopeful that the original Nier game may make a return in one way or another. Over time, the mini-site was updated with news of music concerts and miscellaneous livestreams, but there weren’t many hints of the game returning in any form. It’s only today that we have the first details of this Nier Replicant remaster – the game will be developed by Toylogic and apparently come with new and re-recorded music tracks, and new content. We understand that it will also be “fully voiced” – it’ll be interesting to see if that means every NPC in every town will have dialogue lines recorded, but that may be a little too optimistic.

Stay tuned

Here at my personal corner of Disposable Media HQ, I’ve just finished clearing out a bunch of old Xbox 360 games, including my copy of Nier Gestalt, so this news couldn’t be more welcome. It’s definitely a game packed with rough edges, but if you can play it without subconsciously comparing it to other games – and if you can appreciate that Nier 2010 is very much trying to do its own thing – you might appreciate why it has such a loyal following. Hopefully we’ll have more news on the Nier Replicant remaster soon.

Nier Automata Piano Collections – impressions

By Leave a Comment

It isn’t too much of an exaggeration to say that Nier Automata – just like Gestalt/Replicant before it – has a good soundtrack. 2017 was an excellent period for videogame music in general, whether you were getting into Persona 5’s tunes, turning up the dial whilst in the middle of Sonic Mania, or enjoying that atmospheric FFXII score all over again when playing the Zodiac Age remaster. It’s no secret that videogame soundtracks play a vital part in forging strong, lasting memories of our favourite titles, and Nier Automata excelled in this regard. From the powerful “Birth of a Wish (This Cannot Continue)” piece that plays when the androids first encounter Adam, through to the gentle track “Vague Hope” – playing as you reach one of the game’s conclusions – Nier Automata had plenty of memorable musical moments. (And that’s before we even get to the brilliant covers of songs from Gestalt and Replicant…) It helps that the game itself was captivating in its own right, with an intriguing storyline and engaging gameplay that made hours seem like minutes; however, even after I had seen the main endings, I would still listen to key pieces of music from the game. Although I’ve yet to pick up the main game soundtrack, I was interested in the announcement of the Nier Automata Piano Collections CD – a selection of tracks from the game covered by a number of musicians, all under the supervision of original composer Keiichi Okabe. I’ll admit that I was simultaneously nervous and excited to find out how well the diverse music of Nier Automata lent itself to piano compositions… however, since listening to it, I can safely say that there’s a lot to enjoy here.

Highlights from Nier Automata Piano Collections

Nier Automata Piano Collections

The Nier Automata Piano Collections CD has a selection of twelve tracks, and whist this might not seem like a big number when you consider how much music is in the main game soundtrack, I get the feeling that most of the best tunes are captured in this collection. Fittingly, the collection of tunes is bookended by Weight of the World (one of the main themes of the game) and Vague Hope (a tune you hear in one of the game’s endings); both of which are recreated as soothing, gentle melodies… although Weight of the World builds up nicely in the middle of the track, and Vague Hope toys with a slightly slower tempo at times which fits the tune’s “feel” extremely well. Elsewhere, the lonely, gentle atmosphere of the City Ruins piece is captured well (although the tune gets a little excited before it winds back down at the end), and my personal favourite piece is probably the Copied City rendition. I remember this theme being a complex and busy melody in the game (not to mention having a key piano part in there already), and hearing the piano rendition brought back memories of that moment in the game immediately.

Nier Automata Piano Collections – worth a preview

Nier Automata Piano Collections

If there are any downsides to the Nier Automata Piano Collections CD… well, you might not get as much out of it if you haven’t already played Nier Automata, although that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Also, the piano music is impressive but may feel slightly “stark” compared to the more fleshed-out pieces of music you hear in the game. As well as this, it might not be easy for everyone to get hold of – my own copy is a Japanese import, and although there are third-party sellers on Amazon UK at the time of writing, these could still be pricey. However, I believe a lot of the music is streamable on YouTube (again, at the time of writing), so track it down and – if you like what you hear – consider picking up the CD for all the high-quality tuneage you desire (and to support the people behind the collection, of course!)

Nier Automata Piano Collections is out now.

My Disposable 2017 – highlights from the year

By Leave a Comment

When I published my 2016 retrospective in late December of last year, I decided to cherry-pick a few key highs and lows of the year rather than listing out hundreds of different things. It’s a format that I was quite happy with, and considering how picky I have been this year there’s no harm in doing the same here. What follows, then, is my Disposable 2017 – a quick rundown of everything that I enjoyed this year. A lot of the highlights will be familiar if you’ve checked out previous reviews on this site, but it’s worth remembering what made the year so special. For me, at least…

RPG sequels in my Disposable 2017

my Disposable 2017

Let’s start with the games. 2016 could have been the most exciting year in gaming for me; a repeat of 2009 that saw a new mainline Street Fighter title and a new mainline Persona game released in the same twelve-month period. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be, but Persona 5 was still worth the wait even if it didn’t surpass the standards set by its predecessor. Yes, some one-off dungeon gimmicks outstay their welcome; yes, people might prefer 4’s intimate mystery to 5’s sprawling epic; yes, there are repeated character archetypes… (Not to mention the unshakeable feeling that P4 had more main characters that were instantly likeable.) However, it still plugs a nice 90-100hr slot for anyone with time on their hands. And on a more positive note: the presentation is better than ever, the sprawl of Shibuya is the liveliest location yet with lots of discoveries and distractions, and the battle system tweaks are welcome. I never really got to talk a lot about my admiration for the Persona series during Disposable Media’s break and subsequent relaunch, but I was simultaneously nervous and excited about the release of 5 – yes, it’s got to live up to one of my all-time favourite RPGs… but if it ends up improving on the formula it would be a phenomenal experience. In the end it fell short of my expectations, but I’ll still hold out for a bunch of spin-off announcements and maybe even get around to importing The Day Breakers.

Thinking about it, the most fun I had with a game in my Disposable 2017 was probably with Nier Automata. The original Nier was a niche action RPG that had an engrossing, twisting storyline, wonderfully memorable settlements, unique bullet-hell magic combat, a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, superb camera tricks and an unfortunate amount of rough edges and jank. With Platinum Games at the helm of Nier Automata, fans were hopeful that the gameplay could be tightened and – provided that the RPG roots were respected – this could be a surprise classic. In the end, Platinum followed the format of the original more faithfully than I ever expected. Seamless shifts from 2D to 3D are everywhere, sidequests, levelling and customisation are all present and correct and multiple playthroughs are surprising and rewarding. At a time where Scalebound was getting cancelled and TMNT looked ropey, I can’t pretend that I didn’t have my doubts for a moment, but Automata more than makes up for those moments of uncertainty. And yes, I know that some Platinum fans were new to Nier and got burned when they realised that it wasn’t a pure character action game, but I don’t think it’s fair to criticise the game because of this. If that were the case, we may as well start criticising Dropmix for not demanding beat-perfect button presses, or slam Dissidia for its lack of turn-based combat. Developers are allowed to do different things, and you can’t criticise a game because you didn’t know its genre.

Top tracks of my Disposable 2017

my Disposable 2017

Whilst away from the joypad I’ve enjoyed a lot of great music during my Disposable 2017 – The Upbeats released two superb new EPs with De-Evolution Part III in March and Punks in November, not to mention the remix collection Re-Evolution. All of these have numerous tracks worth recommending, and have provided me with a bunch of new favourites. Playlists were made and re-made, tracks were added and removed all of the time, standouts were picked and re-picked, but in general The Upbeats’ output this year has been remarkable. Elsewhere, Major Lazer’s Know No Better EP had an annoyingly catchy opening track with some fun extra tunes (including one of the most misleading build-ups in Jump) and a few notables on the remix collection that was released later in the year – meanwhile, Shobaleader One returned with a set of covers that are much more immediately likeable than d’Demonstrator’s offering, ditching the vocoder in favour of revitalised classic instrumental jams. (Going from work to the high street to pick up Electrak and Nier Automata was a particularly fun Friday afternoon.)

Even though a variety of artists released a lot of good material over the course of the year, my most played tunes of my Disposable 2017 probably come from The Upbeats; despite the fact that there are a few tracks on De-Evolution Part III and Punks that aren’t all that memorable, I’m still not bored of the standouts. The Upbeats have proven that they can handle slow tunes, fast beats, aggressive tones and more restrained vibes, and it’s this diversity that keeps me coming back. The title track of Punks is quick and catchy, but Oddity has slow beats and fun wobbly sounds; meanwhile, Veiled is a haunting and moody piece from De-Evolution III which is contrasted by the relentless title track.

My Disposable 2017 – a solid year

I can’t say that any of these highlights are my New Favourite Thing Ever – Nier Automata has its flaws, P5 isn’t as good as P4, older Upbeats and Major Lazer releases probably have more standout tracks than the latest ones – but they represent a small part of what has been a fine year. As for the future? The Prodigy have already announced a new album for “early next year”, we should finally see the releases of Dissidia and Dragonball FighterZ and there will surely be some surprises along the way. As always, let us know what you’ve enjoyed this year and what you look forward to in the next twelve months.

Nier Automata review (PS4)

By Leave a Comment

As I finish the last of the three main campaigns of Nier Automata and chapter-select my way to the other conclusions (there are about 26 endings to the game but only a handful of them are “proper” endings) I was left with so many thoughts and feelings. The true ending wraps things up perfectly and is sublime from a gameplay, narrative, and emotional standpoint. When I realised what was going on, and the implications of what was going on, I was left speechless. And it almost makes up for the varying quality of the gameplay.

Nier Automata is a truer follow-up to the 2010 game than we could have ever hoped for; the gameplay is tightened, the combat is slick, but it hasn’t been streamlined into a character action game and instead retains the RPG tenets of the original. You’ll do fetch quests, gather materials, go from A to B and quick-travel across several unique regions. More notably, you’ll level up through play and face enemies that are at a much higher level than you; enemies that will decimate your health bar in one hit if you try your luck. Through levelling and player customisation, the typical skill barrier associated with character action now has a number of RPG elements to support you. Take plug-in chips for instance – they offer various buffs and effects but take up a certain amount of “storage” depending on how good they are. Certain chips offer typical buffs like increased damage, better healing effects etc, but other chips can turn it into a completely new game – there’s one that grants health after every enemy kill (think rally in Bloodborne) and another that slows down time whilst retaining character speed after a successful dodge (hello Bayonetta). It’s one of Platinum’s most rewarding systems yet, and it means that a bit of levelling or chip tweaking can turn defeat into victory.

Nier Automata – split personality

Nier Automata

Plug-in chips and levelling aren’t the only deviations from the character-action formula; Nier Automata has more of the classic shoot ‘em up action seen in the demo as well as a new gameplay feature introduced after the first playthrough that adds an interesting new dynamic to much of the rest of the game. (This isn’t the only time this happens as you go through the three campaigns, but I found that it was the biggest gameplay shift.) And even though the world and town may feel small-scale compared to other RPGs you play, there’s still enough going on to prevent you from feeling like you can’t progress. Enemy levels are displayed as you fight them (this may be optional based on interface plug-in chips; I’m not sure) and so you instantly know if you’re going into an area that will be too challenging, encouraging you to level up and do sidequests until you’re ready.

There’s also a lot of variety in the environments you’ll explore – the 2010 game had the likes of Façade, Seafront and the Aerie peppered around its central hub, and Automata has its own desert in addition to an amusement park, a forest and more abstract areas later on. Even though the shifts feel a bit disjointed as you speed from place to place, each one feels distinct in its culture and identity. And remember that a lot of time spent in the areas will involve a finely-tuned combat system that is satisfying in itself but transformative when plug-in chips are involved.

Nier Automata – rough moments

Nier Automata

It is, however, a Nier game. Even with Platinum at the helm there’s always the risk of some dodgy moments when Nier is involved, and Automata isn’t without its problems. Some platforming can be fiddly, camera shifts can come at the worst possible time, you can end up underlevelled if you hurry through things, and the 3D map – as good as it is – can still be hard to wrap your head around at first. At the same time, just like in the original Nier, you’ll forgive these blemishes just to see where the story takes you, and the underlevelling only happens if you try and treat it like a straight character-action game rather than embracing the RPG roots of the series. (On a personal note I’d also recommend rotating your saves and/or backing up saves to the cloud, just in case you over-use the manual saves and wind up in an impossible situation. Ahem.)

There is a risk that with all the genre-bending Nier Automata shows you all of its tricks too soon, and that certainly begins to ring true in the third playthrough. That said, even when you think it’s running out of ideas the gameplay is so satisfying that you’ll want to keep going anyway. Finish the three main routes and a chapter select opens up, allowing you to see alternate conclusions for the third route and, ultimately, one of the most majestic ways a game has been wrapped up in some time. In that moment, it’s easy to gloss over the flaws you noticed along the way – it’s easy to let emotion drown out cold analysis. At the same time, don’t we spend evenings with videogames for moments just like the gameplay and narrative highs of Nier: Automata? So yes, this is a recommendation. If you enjoyed the original Nier, you shouldn’t let the Platinum logo put you off. If you want to see character action in a more fleshed-out world, this is worthy of your attention. And I can only hope that this gains enough attention to make up for the first game’s niche status.

Nier Automata

Nier Automata is out now for PS4 and will be released on PC on March 17th

Nier Automata demo released this week

By Leave a Comment

The Nier Automata demo represents a first look at what could either be the biggest squandering of a golden opportunity or the refinement of a flawed gem. The first Nier game – Gestalt on Xbox 360 or Replicant on PS3 – had a fantastic story, great world-building and character arcs, and a beautiful soundtrack. However, it was let down by flabby gameplay sequences, woolly combat and rough edges. As soon as it was announced that Platinum would be helping out on Nier Automata, fans of Gestalt and Replicant were delighted, as it potentially meant a game that delivered on both its gameplay and story. More than a year after the announcement of the new Nier game, a gameplay demo has been released. And, naturally, I’ve spent some time with it already.

Nier Automata demo – slick moves and orb shooting

Nier Automata demo

Let’s begin with the obvious point – as soon as you get your hands on the controls this feels like a Platinum game in terms of movement and combat; movement is fast and fluid, you have a dodge which goes far and in multiple directions, and you can cancel from attacks to dodges. Furthermore, the Nier Automata demo starts you off with an air-dodge and double jump, and attacks have light and heavy variants, as well as special enders. Meanwhile, your “pod” droid fires for as long as you hold down the trigger and its shots can be aimed in multiple directions. So far, so Platinum, but the Nier DNA makes itself known soon enough; waves of red orbs are shot from enemies and can be destroyed with shots or melee attacks. Additionally, enemies have lifebars and damage numbers fly off as they take hits, so the RPG roots are clear.

Nier Automata demo – a fresh perspective

Nier Automata demo

What’s also clear is that Platinum liked the original game’s perspective shifts – the Nier Automata demo is constantly going between side-on, overhead and conventional 3D views; at times it almost feels like it beats the player over the head with these camera tricks, shouting “hey, remember? Remember when Nier did this?” but maybe the full game will relax things a little. There was one moment where the perspective shifts worked against the gameplay – enemies can spawn from small containers in one top-down sequence and it’s possible for 2B to enter one of these containers and be in a bad spot whilst the player can’t see what’s going on – but for the most part It was fine.

Nier Automata demo – promising combat and unproven questing

Nier Automata demo

The Nier Automata demo is all about showing off the combat – it’s at its best when mobile enemies approach 2B at close-quarters whilst shots from wall-mounted cannons also head towards her, as it forces the player to manage the crowd and switch between melee and ranged attacks on the fly. In the previous game you generally had to deal with one threat or the other – removing the bullets of an enemy so that you could close in on that enemy and deliver melee damage. Later on, one phase of the Nier Automata demo’s boss showcases some similarly impressive bullet hell, where clusters and waves of projectiles are belched out and rockets rain from the sky. This is where the gameplay truly feels like Nier Deluxe – a more refined version of the original formula – and I would welcome more of it.

The one aspect of the game that’s never really shown off during the Nier Automata demo is the RPG and story side of the game – the character arcs, the settlements, the quests to pick up, the jaw-dropping twists. Just like Gestalt and Replicant felt like missed opportunities with their rough combat and platfoming, Automata could feel like a waste if it’s “just” another Platinum game with none of the hybrid gameplay of the original. However, it’s understandable that Taro might want the story and RPG elements to be kept under wraps if the narrative is anything like the original’s. From what I have played now, I feel confident that Platinum will do what Platinum does best, but I appreciate that we’re still in the dark about the bits that made the original Nier so special in the first place. If the slick combat is there but the questing and story are afterthoughts, we could find that Automata and Gestalt/Replicant are two halves of the one of the finest games ever made, neither one delivering on both gameplay and narrative.

Nier Automata demo

Nier Automata will be released on PS4 in March 2017. A PC release has also been confirmed but not yet dated.

Join Us…


Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy