#culturesmash
Music wasn't what brought singer Emi Evans to Japan. But it's what made her stay—and what is making her famous. With her work on Dark Souls and Nier, the British-born singer is quickly creating a name for herself. More »
The temptation was just too much. Even with the car payment, the mortgage, and the hospital bills from having your squeedlyspooch removed, you still couldn't resist dropping the tantalizingly reasonable 250 clams for a new PlayStation 3. And who can blame you? We went out and bought a second PS3 that we have absolutely no use for, it was that enticing of a proposition.
But now that you've got the system, these tough economic times have left you with very little money for actual games. What's a gamer like you to do? You can't even sell your squeedlyspooch on the black market.
Thankfully, Amazon has your back, as they have both recognized and seized the opportunity to get that skrill provide valuable savings by shoveling a big ol' pile of discounted PS3 titles in your face. The sale is an eclectic mix, to be certain: Bulletstorm and Def Jam Rapstar aren't often mentioned in the same sentence, for instance, and while some titles may be better than others, this still seems like a good way to get some use out of your new console.
At a $20 price point, we'd have no problem recommending Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers to any Wii owner looking for a totally unique new experience. Luckily, Amazon has dropped Square Enix's telekinetic adventure to just that price as part of its Deal of the Day.
In addition, Amazon is selling another starkly non-traditional Final Fantasy game, the PSP's Dissidia: Final Fantasy, at a special one-day price of $14.99. It's normally $20 in stores and on PSN -- which means that you should probably buy it along with something else to qualify for free shipping, or you're not really saving anything.
Cavia, developer of games like Nier, Drakengard, and the Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles series, used to be a subsidiary of parent company AQ Interactive. Now, according to Siliconera's translation of a 4Gamer interview with director Trao Yokoo, the company has been dissolved, with its staff absorbed into AQ Interactive.
Current plans for the team are as yet unannounced, so we don't know if the former Cavia will continue making games for third parties. Officially, however, its last game was Nier, which is kind of an unfortunate note on which to leave.
#nsfw
Along with a younger version of the protagonist, role-playing game Nier (read our review!) is getting new downloadable outfits. One of which sure is saucy! More »
Kmart isn't a name we turn to often for game deals, but the retailer has made a pretty strong case for our continued attention, with a bunch of limited-time deals that are, frankly, a little ridiculous. How about paying for just the good half of Final Fantasy XIII? At $30, that's essentially what Kmart is offering.
Time-release RPGs not for you? How about Bayonetta, Metro 2033, or Modern Warfare 2 for $30 each? Even Nier's been marked down to $44.99, though that game is ridiculous on its own merits. These deals are only available through May 10, and can be found both online and in-store. See the full list of weekly discounts after the break.
#review
Can one hideously ugly man facing impossible odds to save his daughter from a mysterious disease make for a beautiful action role-playing game? Find out in our review of Square Enix's Nier. More »
I played four long hours of Nier with the full intention of completing a review of the game. But after reaching the point you see in the video above, I, in my capacity as reviews editor, decided that it was inadvisable to continue with that plan. I have a beloved wife and cat that depend on my continued sanity and a TV that I can't currently afford to replace, should I be prompted to put it through my living room window.
What I played of Nier up to this point had some nice touches, like solid music and voice acting, but the game felt a generation or two behind what I'd hope for in an open-world action-RPG, specifically in terms of graphics and mission design. Also, the design team was seemingly in dire need of staff members in possession of human souls.
You know, so, just something to remember for Nier 2: Souls.
Protip: There's another beach that's not the beach right next to the old dude that gives you the fishing pole. I ended up trying that spot and catching the fish. But by then, the damage was done, and my spirit had been broken, sadly.
Ostensibly, this trailer is intended to introduce the traveling companions accompanying the title character of Square Enix's Nier. But, to us, it reveals just how sensitive Nier himself is. He isn't just good for glowering, yelling about his daughter, and fighting, as this trailer reveals. He is also willing to provide words of encouragement to his ally, Kaine -- who returns the favor elsewhere in the trailer by totally kicking Nier in the face to save him from a giant creature.
Nier even offers sympathy to a weird-looking monster guy who is having a crisis of conscience after a battle. And he'll be able to help you feel better about what's going on in your life on April 27.
#art
Upcoming Japanese action role-playing game Nier is getting an English language comic book. How does it compare to the original Japanese art? More »
By the time you've seen every slime creature, creepy blank-faced monster and human-vs-book argument Nier has to offer, developer Cavia will have more ready for you. Square Enix executive producer Yosuke Saito told Xbox.com (translated by Andriasang) that the team began work on DLC immediately after completing the Famitsu-approved action RPG.
Saito also relayed an alarmingly obscure connection between Nier and a previous Cavia game. Evidently, Nier is set after the events of one of Drakengard's optional endings, in which Japan's landmark Tokyo Tower is visible (impaling a dragon!). That's right -- as if Nier wasn't baffling enough, now it's loosely connected to a possible ending from a relatively obscure game.
#subversion
From the moment I broke Mario through the ceiling of Super Mario Bros. World 1-2 to bypass the next few levels of that game, I've assumed an essential part of playing video games is being subversive. More »
Want to understand what Nierr's all about, you know, besides yelling at books? Square Enix is giving us all a chance to study the backstory of Cavia's action RPG, with a Nier comic series produced by DC's Wildstorm Studios. The three-part series will tell three separate, but overlapping, stories in the Nier universe before the game's April 27 release date.
In addition to introducing the main characters -- including Nier himself, his "disease-stricken" daughter, Yonah, a "conflicted" companion in Kaine, and the talking book "with an attitude," Grimoire Weiss -- the comics will reveal what caused the "Black Scrawl" disease and the cataclysmic event that led to the condition of the world (as it is in the game).
The Nier comics will be available on the Nier website, and through the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store. See the cover of the first issue after the break.
#squareenix
DC's Wildstorm imprint makes video game comic book magic once more with Nier, a three-part online comic book series detailing the fall of humanity and its lasting effects in Square Enix's upcoming action RPG. More »
Did you read the news of Japan's Nier release date with abject jealousy, wishing you had such a clear idea when you'd get to play Cavia's cursing-at-a-book simulation? Seethe no more -- Square Enix announced the North American release date, and it's April 27, only five days after the game arrives in Japan!
Of course, real Nier fans are going to have to import Nier Replicant to get the full story, and that means learning Japanese is also a requirement. But it's a small price to pay to learn more about some shirtless guy who fights giant sinewy oil-monsters to rescue his daughter.
And here we thought Bayonetta had cornered the giant black cannibalistic things summoned from the ether market, but the tail-end of this Nier trailer suggests there's some incoming competition in that department. There are other parts of the trailer worth pointing out (or, perhaps, worth pointing at ... and laughing about), too, like how Square Enix proclaims Nier to be "THE NEXT GREAT STORY FROM SQUARE ENIX" or how it begins with another one of those rants. Is every character in Nier going to be so darn self-absorbed?
