Ths weekend, a trailer had appeared for Square Enix’s all-original IP Nier, something which got me excited due to the promise of what looked like brutal hack n’ slash combat. Fresh new details have recently been appeared on the official site, however, that has rained on my parade a little — not least because it’s being developed by the same chaps who did Bullet Witch and Drakengard 2. Oh dear.
The game is set in “a crumbling world plagued by disease and dark, unrecognizable creatures,” which pretty much makes it sound like Los Angeles. The hero of this piece is the eponymous Nier, whose daughter has been infected with the “Black Scrawl Virus,” for which he must find a cure. He’ll need to use “chain attacks and crushing magic abilities” in order to help her. Most people just use a hospital.
The game’s hero and his motivation seem quite original, so for that it definitely deserves praise. It’s always good to see a Square Enix protagonist who isn’t some doe-eyed, floppy haired, pederast fantasy. Still, anything connected to the Drakengard series tends to make me spew up a black mass of writhing, oily tentacles, so I’ll be treading cautiously with this one.
