Nier Automata - Review

There are a number of reasons I wanted to own a Playstation 4 & one of those was to play Nier Automata.  The original game, Nier was released back in 2010 & is a spin-off of the Drakengard Series.  I remember seeing it & thinking 'this looks interesting', I wasn't wrong.  I fell in love with the game; the story, characters, gameplay & music were all so good.  Naturally, when Nier Automata was announced I got very very excited, I may have even wet myself a little.


You know what's great?  Roast dinners.  There are different views as to what makes up a good roast dinner, for me, it has to have; meat, carrots, peas, stuffing made with sausages, potatoes (mashed & roasted if I really want to spoil myself), a generous serving of gravy & some red wine.  In my eyes you can't go too wrong with a roast; classic, filling, tasty & masquerading as something healthy but it knows it's not & it doesn't really care.  On occasion though, a roast can loose thread of itself, a good example of this would be fig & pancetta stuffing or triple nut & apple stuffing.  I have no problem with someone being a little creative with their recipe but apples, figs, nuts, pancetta?  Nope, that's a bridge too far for me.  Playing Nier Automata I had to ask myself was I eating a classic roast with a little creativeness thrown in or was eating something that should have been tasty but ended up just confusing my taste buds?


The picture below is of a Christmas challenge roast made at The Gravity (Hinkley, UK), it comes with a jug of gravy & contains 3000 calories.  Challenge excepted - skip the sprouts though.

The game is set many, many years in the future, 11945AD to be exact.  Aliens have invaded & all the humans have been forced to live on the moon.  Naturally, humanity wants it's planet back but how can they do this?  Well, the answer is simple - YoRHa, a small army of specially created androids with superior abilities, their sole purpose - reclaim Earth.


There are three main characters you can play as; 2B, 9S & A2. 2B is the central protagonist; combat unit, killer instinct, no time for small talk, has a nice dress.  There is 9S, a scanner used for recon, somewhat happy go lucky, very chatty & likes wearing shorts.  A2, rogue combat unit, catty, not very friendly, has lost her dress & doesn't seem to have noticed.  Playing as each character helps better understand their motivations & their role in the main story.


The game is full of genuine emotion & heart, this is most notable with the robots in the world. There are very real subjects tackled in the game, most notably; science, religion & philosophy.  The game manages to do all this without coming across as preachy which I really respected.

The good & bad thing about the story was the multiple endings, some of them were interesting & a lot of fun, others were - meh & overly convoluted.  While I like the concept of multiple endings 26 is far, far too many for any game to have.

The visuals were not what I was expecting from a triple A title, that being said they were far from poor.  The colour scheme & details used in the world are subtle & understated, a good example of this would be the City Ruins.  At first glance it looks like a dull dead city but then you notice how nature has taken over the area, the old buildings now have water flowing through them to create waterfalls & under the old freeways are rivers of fish.  The combination of these two elements work really well together.  Overall though one of my favorites areas is the Amusement Park, the visuals are impressive, fun & it made me smile just being there.


The designs of the main characters were not very inspiring with the exception of 2B, I am unsure if this was purposefully done as to not detract from the story itself.  The robots on the other hand looked interesting & had a lot of character.  The game may not be the most visually stunning but it some ways it was quite beautiful & I enjoyed traversing it, apart from the desert area because lets be honest deserts suck.


The soundtrack for the game is fantastic, epic & above all beautiful.  It is difficult for me to say it had one distinct sound that stuck out in my mind but it did remind me of the music used in the original Nier game, but this is no surprise due to a lot of the same artists working on both games. There were some pieces that reminded me of different anime I had watched over the years which I really liked. The artists that helped create this masterpiece were:


Keiichi Okabe;  who worked on the original Nier Game, Tekken 6/7 & the anime series Hourou Musuko.

Keigo Hoashi; who worked on Happy Wars (XBOX 360) & multiple anime series including; Money No Tenshi & Nanana's Buried Treasure.

Marina Kawano; who performs the vocals in Nier Automata & multiple anime series including; A-Channel, Natsume Yuujinchou & Nekomonogatari: Kuro

Nami Nakagawa; who also performs the vocals in both Nier Automata & original Nier along with other games such as; God Eater 2, Drakengard 3 & Tekken Tag Tournament.

It is worth noting both Okabe & Hoashi are part of the musical group Monaca along with; Satoru Kosaki, Keiichi Hirokawa, Hidekazu Tanaka, Kakeru Ishihama,Kuniyuki Takahashi & Kazuhiro Nakamura who compose & work on anime music.


There are so many great pieces of music some of my favorites are; 'Alien Manifestation', 'Song of the Ancients', 'Goliath', 'City Ruins', 'Resistance Camp', 'Amusement Park', 'Beauvoir' & 'Weight of the World'.  It is hard for me to truly do justice when writing about the soundtrack due to it shear size & epicness, the soundtrack itself is spread over 3 CD's & is over 5 & half hours long.  I still think overall I prefer the original Nier score, but only marginally.

The gameplay was very interesting, I was expecting it just to be an open world hack & slash but ended up being a lot more.  I was really surprised when the prologue ended up being an old school side scrolling shooter.  When I was inside buildings the angle often changed from 3rd person view to a side scroller to a top down view & this was all done seamlessly.


The combat for the most part worked well & the weapons feel great, my favorites were the; Virtuous Treaty sword & POD C which basically fires out missiles.  There were some small things that were done in the game that I really liked.  If you are connected online you will come across players who have been killed, you can then retrieve their bodies, repair them & have them fight along side you or ignore them. Respawn areas called access points look like old vending machines.  I noticed that when 2B slides down ladders she hangs from the side when doing so,  I know it's only a small thing but it looks cool & it is the little things in life.  Then there is the cool mini game used when 9S is hacking that looks really good & makes up for him not being as nimble as 2B & A2.  The menus are easy going on the eyes due to the colour scheme, I will say initially I found them difficult to navigate. There is also little explanation given on how exactly the chips work & how they are set up.


The side quests on offer were really good & a lot better than many open world games, I really felt they were not just a distraction from the main story but instead added to it & the world around you.  I thought the Game Dev side quests were a nice touch & an interpretation of Romeo & Juliet performed by robots was priceless.  There were a lot of interesting side characters, two of my favorites were Pascal & Father Servo.  Pascal was great not only because of his old looking design but also I just really liked the character.  Father Servo is a warrior monk that simply wants to be the best fighter & needs your help to achieve it.


The more you play the game the more you are rewarded with story & insight into other characters including the robots themselves.  The gameplay as whole was pretty solid with exception of a few minor bugs it was very enjoyable.




So after 40 hours & getting 6 of the 26 endings how did I feel?  Pretty good, it was an enjoyable experience with very little to complain about.  Will I go back & play the other 20 endings?  Probably not but after checking some of the others out on YouTube I don't think I have lost out massively. Overall I would give this one a big monkey thumbs up.

Final Fantasy 15 - Review

Ever eaten a BBQ Pork Bun?  "A man who never eats a pork bun is never a whole man" - hats off to anyone who knows what game that is from.  Pork buns sound nice & look appealed, so whether you have had them before or it is your first time your likely to approach them with the same gusto. However on occasion when you bite into a pork bun you think, 'this is nice & fluffy but where is all the meat?' This game made me ask that question on more than one occasion, is there enough meat in the middle to make this tasty or is there too much fluffy dough?


I remember seeing gameplay of Final Fantasy XV & thought to myself that the game looked awesome.  I am not the world's biggest RPG fan, despite the fact that three of my favorite games of all time are RPGs. Final Fantasy X, Panzer Dragoon Saga & Persona 4 Golden (technically the last one is a JRPG but let's not split hairs).  What attracted me to the game is the same thing that seemed to attract a lot of others; open world & beautiful free flowing combat. Square Enix made sure the game appealed not only to newcomers but also to fans of the series.

The game is set in the world of Eos, there are two main continents; Lucis & Nilflheim.  The kingdom of Lucis is at war with the vastly more powerful & militarised Nilflheim.  Lucis's capital Insomnia so far has been unconquerable due to a protective barrier surrounding the city that is powered by a crystal & the life force of the King.  Naturally how to you create peace between two warring nations? Nukes!  No, they decided to go with marriage to help bond the two sides.  Enter Prince Noctis & Lady Lunafreya, they are childhood friends that have not seen each other in sometime. That being said neither seems unhappy about the prospect of getting married.  Naturally Prince Noctis has to go off with some of his loyal buddies for a road trip/bachelor party before getting married.


Your group is comprised of:

Prince Noctis - group leader, part time cry baby & future King.
Gladiolus - the groups muscle & all round tough guy, you know he is tough as he has tribal tattoos & always has his arms on show.
Ignis - the smart guy in the group, as you know all smart guys wear glasses & are well spoken.
Prompto - the comic relief of the group, part kid brother & pain in the ass not just because he gets downed easily during battle.


The groups dynamic is fantastic & feels like they are all really friends rather than just sidekicks. There is character development & meaningful bonds between them all.  However three quarters of the way through some of this is soured for me.  I won't give away any spoilers but I'm pretty sure I am not the only one that felt this way.  There are some truly amazing & entertaining characters you meet along the way & as always I won't give details but you will know them when you meet them.  As a whole the main story is not bad but from time to time I had an issue with the pacing and if it were not for some of the side quests I think I would have felt a little unsatisfied with the story overall.

Does anyone else get excited watching E3, TGS, PAX & the many other games showcase conventions? Well I do, so many cool new games to see & look forward to.  Unfortunately when some of these games are released they are not as visually impressive as they were shown to be.
Final Fantasy XV is not one of these games.  It truly is a visual delight & roaming the open world feels fantastic.  I really don't want to spoil it for you but some of the enemies in the game look amazing.  One thing I will say is that summoning one of the astral's is jaw dropping, for those of you who have played it you know what I mean.  There are many great places to visit, two of my favorite were; Lestallum, which feels like a small Cuban town & the music reminded me of that performed by Buena Vista Social Club.  There is Altissia, which is a city surrounded by water & is definitely inspired by the city of Venice right down to the use of gondola's.  As always there are no short cuts with Final Fantasy cut sequences & the ones featured in the game look truly magnificent.  When it comes to visuals it really is hard to fault the game.


The music is composed by Yoko Shimomura who is famous for her work, most notably for the Kingdom Hearts series.  The score features some really nice pieces that are heavy on both piano & strings which I really loved.  Some of my favorite pieces were; 'Valse Di Fantastica', 'Omnis Lacrima', 'Apocalypsis Noctis', & 'Veiled in Black'.  Honorable mentions included; 'Relax & Reflect', 'Chocobo Theme', 'Veiled Aggression' & least we forget Prompto's humming of the classic victory song after some battles.


While there are many great pieces I felt the overall soundtrack was tarnished by some of the poor Country/Cajun/Bluegrass style pieces.  I can understand why this style of music was chosen but ended up coming across as a bad attempt at doing it.  The end result was a cheesy sound but not the good kind of cheese, however it did really grate on me.  Another out of play piece was the rendition of 'Stand By Me',  it features twice in the game & although the second time is more poignant it just didn't feel right.  Overall what could have been a very epic soundtrack was spoiled by a few bad choices.

Onto the gameplay!  The fighting mechanics are unlike any I have seen in an RPG before,  they take a little getting used to especially if you are more used to turn based combat.  Due to the pace of most battles I found myself sticking with melee weapons rather than magic.  While magic is really powerful (especially when you can craft your own spells) it is very easy to damage yourself or others in your party so sometimes it is just not worth the risk using it.  Each of your team can pull off special techniques & if performed correctly you will be able to perform a team link with them which can be devastating, in some cases turning the tide of the battle.  Taking on enemies big or small is a lot fun, apart from the Malboro who is still terrifying & it still sucks ass when he uses foul breath.


A feature I really loved in the game was camping.  It not only gives you the chance to bond with your team & enjoy one of Ignis's tasty meals but actually feels like a real reprieve from all hardships of the day.  While it is a great way to level up it is more beneficial if you visit a hotel, that being said I generally camped rather than paying to stay somewhere.


Each character has there own unique skill.  Noctis's is fishing which is okay but I did not find it as much fun as the version in the first Nier game.  Ignis's skill is cooking, this is quite a lot of fun as by picking up ingredients, eating in restaurants & diners he figures out new recipes.  Each of his meals offers some bonus to the team including increased health or extra XP.  Prompto's skill is photography which although in itself is not much use it can offer some fun dialogue between the team. Gladiolus's skill is Survival which is very useful, at the end of battle you pick up items - these drops increase the more you walk around the world.


There are a few ways in which to get around in Eos; walking, driving in Regalia & riding Chocobo's. Walking is rather slow, running is much better but make sure to keep an eye on Noctis's stamina as if he loses all of it he will need to catch his breath for a few moments.  There is a way round this which you can be found online.  Once you get the Regalia all fixed up you can start driving around, at the start this was fun but in a very short time I found myself handing the wheel off to Ignis or fast travelling between town & cities.   A friend described this well saying that it felt like you were stuck on a rail moving from point A to point B rather than actually driving, it ended up being my least favorite way to travel.  The third form of travel is Chocobo's - need I say more?  For those unfamiliar the yellow bird features heavily in the Final Fantasy series & is a fast, fun way to traverse all landscapes, they even have their own theme music.  Basically they are awesome, rent one as soon as you can.

The skill tree used to buy new abilities is really interesting & is broken down into different categories; Magic, Stats, Exploration, Combat, Teamwork, Techniques & Armiger.  You can buy abilities using AP, AP is gained easily by doing pretty much everything.  There are a few abilities that help boost this further.  I found exploration & teamwork were two skill trees I focused on heavily but there was nothing I really felt was an outright waste.  Leveling in the game was a lot easier than most RPGs & required little grinding, in the end I finished up on about level 63 which is more than enough to finish the game.

The elevator section late in the game really drove me nuts, it was frustrating & out of key with the rest of the game.  In all honesty what were the developers thinking?  Do you remember the first Assassins Creed?  You start with all your weapons & abilities but quickly get them all removed, slowly throughout the game you gain them back.  Imagine waiting until a really annoying area near the end of the game & doing that? Yep, that's what they did!  As a whole the gameplay was good but fell short of greatness due to a few minor annoyances & one large one.

So after 40+ of playing how did Final Fantasy XV fair?  I would say the game was very good & I definitely do not regret playing it.  Loved some of the characters, it was visually stunning, the combat was fluid & fun, also Chocobo's!  That all being said some of the story pacing along with sprinklings of poor music & one or two tedious areas stopped it from achieving it's full potential. 

360° of Awesome

For me next to the Sega Mega Drive the XBOX 360 had the biggest impact on my life.  Not only was it because my wife bought me this console which was not only really sweet but proved once again how awesome she is but also because graphically & gameplay wise everything became bigger & better.

To keep a little continuity with the rest of the blog so far I will select three games that really stood out to me.  It should be noted these are not necessarily my favorite games but they are titles that had a great impact on me.

The first time I saw this game was on day one the XBOX 360 was launched, I was visiting my brother in law & he had just bought it.  I was blown away from the first moment I laid eyes on it for so many reasons & any chance I got to steal the controller away from him & walk around the world I did.

The story starts with you trapped in a prison confined to a small dank cell that just feels grim even by prison standards. The Emperor visits you, I say visit I mean he is more fleeing for his life along with his body guards & your cell just happens to have a hidden escape route built into it.  Spoiler alert you go along with him into the sewers & it does not work out great.  The emperor knowing he is screwed gives you the Amulet of Kings & commands you to take it to Jauffre. I am not going to spoil anything else but that is the start of the main story which is really good.

Being honest I really like the main story but I really love all the different guild story lines. It is hard for me to even pick my favorite but gun to my head probably the Assassins Guild, I don't want to give anything away but it's a good one.

The music in the game helps create a fantastic, living, breathing world. For example when I am walking around in the city on a nice day it feels almost peaceful & like you don't have a care in the world.  When you are outside the city you feel exposed like at any moment you may be attacked & killed & your thankful for every moment you are still alive.

Graphically the game is stunning with rich environments & varied climates, the inside of buildings look just as good & are populated with many items & a crazy amount of readable books.  The only thing that lets the game down visually are the more human faces in the game that look really ugly & harsh especially compared with the other races.

I loved the combat; especially when using a sword & shield, fighting an enemy really feels like a battle. Timing your attacks & blocks is key to success when taking on enemies. Then you have magic which could be quiet good but I felt there were sometimes too many spells & a few that were just not very useful.

The game as a whole is fantastic & while there are flaws in it they are negligible beside all the greatness the game has to offer.  I have pumped 100's of hours into Oblivion & I know I will put in many more hours.  The world is so big I did not even touch on a fraction of what it has to offer, I can't recommend you play Oblivion enough.

This is a game that I only played in the last two years even though it came out in 2011. I can't believe I missed it because it is a really fantastic game.  I sunk a lot of hours into it & found it & found it hard to put down - even now I am thinking about going down stairs turning on my 360 & playing it.

You play as Nier, a father desperately searching for a cure to a disease called the Black Scrawl to help you daughter Yonah.  On your quest to find a cure you come across a talking book, you might say he is an audio book....what? That's funny. Your new friend, Grimoire Weiss suggests working together to help find a cure to save your daughter.  The story starts simple but branches out into something amazing & imaginative.

The music balances between being very peaceful & relaxed to epic & fast paced.  This works really well in the game & helps put more emphasis on tough battles & boss fights, it also reminds you to relax when you can.  I ran around for hours listening to the same tracks play over & over again & never got bored of them.

While graphically it is not as sharp as other games out at the same time it looks amazing all the same. I really like the character designs especially all the details in their outfits & weapons.  I love the rural & sometimes beaten up looking areas that really help create a beautiful world.

The gameplay itself is really fun but at the start can feel a little tough as you are quite weak & your magic is not very strong.  As the game progresses you get stronger & really feel the difference when facing enemies.  For me some of the most fun I had was completing side missions especially the fishing ones, in the beginning it can my a little fiddly but later on you just really want to catch every type of fish there is.

Overall an excellent game, with a memorable sounds track & many great characters - well worth your time.

I really enjoyed the original but for me Gears of War 2 surpassed the first in every way.  Better cover system, graphics, gameplay & story.  For me it did everything a good sequel should do & more, one of favorite additions was Horde Mode.  My wife & I spent so many nights killing legions of Locusts & trying not to get cornered by one of those little exploding guys - which was almost an instant death if you did not kill him quick enough.

The game is set a few months after the Lightmass Bomb was detonated under ground & killed a ton of the locusts. However in the wake of this the liquid imulsion was vaporised & caused a new fun disease named Rustlung.  With resources tight & the humans running out of options they decide to invade the locust stronghold & destroy them.  Spoiler alert, it turns out it won't be that easy!

I love the music in the game, it moves from grim despair to feeling like you are just about to be chain sawed into bloody chunks. Because of this the game never really lets you relax or have a breather which helps create some intense gameplay.

Graphically it looks amazing & has more varied locations than the original.  One of my favorite areas is when you are driving over a frozen lake being attacked & trying not to fall into holes being opened up by the enemy.  I am not going to spoil it by saying any more, I will simply say it is awesome!

The gameplay is fast, furious & never really lets up on you.  The constant pressure makes the game addictive & even when you get killed it just makes you thirsty for more. I love the improved cover system & this time if you get knocked down your AI allies will try to pick you up rather than leaving you on the ground bleeding out. Dom, Baird & Cole really feel like part of your team & when they get dropped you always want to rush over & help them. The enemies are varied; some of them are like bullet sponges & others can be kicked or chain sawed - personally the lancer chainsaw is my favorite weapon to kill enemies.

How can I sum this game up? It's a fun violent fueled game filled with guns, guts & a lot of heart.  If you like tough battles, chain saws & team work this game is for you.

It's over again & was far too short, as mentioned at the start of the post I could almost give over an entire blog just to talk about the awesomeness that is this console. As I always do I leave you with a list of suggested titles that are well worth checking out:

Asura's Wrath
Bioshock Infinite
Borderlands
Catherine
Crysis 2
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Far Cry 3
Halo 4
Mass Effect 2
Saint's Row 3
Sonic Sega All Star Racing
Spec Ops the Line
Walking Dead by Tell Tale Games


Next time I will be looking at the Wii, see you then!