200°

Nier selling above Square Enix's expectations in Japan

Nier Replicant and Nier Gestalt are apparently selling above Square Enix's expectations as the games are becoming hard to find in Japan.

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examiner.com
GrieverSoul5115d ago

Im still on the fence for this game. I dont know but it doesnt appeal to me. These are the same guys who did Drakengard and boy did that game suck. Nier in Europe seems to be a washed version from one of those of Japan. Replicant is a X360 "exclusive" and Gestalt is a PS3 "exclusive" both in Japan right? Which version is the one for us?!

koehler835115d ago

Replicant is PS3 and Gestalt is 360. Gestalt (big, beefy dude) is the only one outside of Japan.

MetalFreakMike5115d ago

I agree with you GrieverSoul. Drakengard sucked bad and if this game is anything like it then I do not see it selling very well outside of Japan. I really been thinking about getting this game but the screen shots and the videos really do not sway me to really want to buy it. I might wait until they sell it for 30 then buy it.

Chris3995115d ago (Edited 5115d ago )

It had relatively high production values, lavish cut-scenes, infinite re-playability, upgradeable weapons, hidden stages, hidden characters and a story-line that changed with multiple play-throughs. There were several endings to it as well.

In terms of "value" the game was great, and I picked it up used for like $20 back in the day. The sequel was much the same.

If Nier is anything like Drakengard, it should be brilliant (and it sounds like they've kept the re-playability high with hidden scenes and whatnot). I have my copy on it's way from Amazon as we speak.

It is a shame that we got the steroid user hero though, I would have preferred the brother/ sister dynamic more than the angry, gruff father thing.

It's also a shame that this game will probably bomb in NA, reviews so far have been positive.

Smkt5115d ago

I'm playing Gestalt and loving it (other jrpgs i liked this gen were Vesperia and lost odyssey).. i would recommend it to anyone..

i like:
>the story..
>the dialogue... no one is batsh!t retarded..
>different gameplay.. 2d platformer, isometric, resident evil fixed camera.. hell even reading stuff and answering riddles..
>music
>replay value.. you need to play it 3 or 4 times to get everything
>art style.. sorrta has this SotC thing going on

i dislike:
>not much variety in locations
>backtracking
>graphics are like ps2/this gen launch titles..
>most of the side missions are fetch quests

seriously.. if you can overlook the graphics and the ugly he-man protagonist.. then you will really enjoy this game..

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97gsx5115d ago

A square-enix game soldout on the ps3? In japan? What a shock!!! Idiots....

97gsx5115d ago

Boosting as in turbos? or boasting? If you mean boosting yes if you mean boasting no. I have a 97 eclipse gsx, 91 rx7 turbo and a c6 vette. Had my gsx since highschool in 2000.

SpoonyRedMage5115d ago

Hmm, weird. estimations have the game at around 64K in Japan. SE must have really underestimated it.

In other news it's completely bombed in the UK, it didn't even enter the top 40.

Chris3995115d ago (Edited 5115d ago )

when the only people likely to buy such a niche title are Otakus and Japanophiles.

Hardly the Halo generation demographic looking for the latest Rollback on FPSes at the local Walmart. This isn't going to be a cult hit like Demon's Souls either, it'll be a weird title that goes out of print in like 3 months and sits in the bargain bin.

SE totally fvcked the pooch on this one.

More on your original point, I agree that SE must have had some pretty LOW expectations for this game if 64K is seen as a "success" in what is likely to be the most successful market for this game.

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200°

Remembering the Best JRPGs on the PS3

Get ready to embark on a journey filled with monsters, magic, and overpowered haircuts, because this list features the best JRPGs on the PS3.

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altarofgaming.com
shinoff2183266d ago (Edited 266d ago )

There wasn't that many. Thanks to the west's criticism. It was definitely lacking compared to every other ps system. Dont get me wrong there were a few good ones i know that.

jznrpg266d ago

Nier, Valkyrie Chronciles, Tales games , Ni No Kuni, Resonance of Fate, FF13’s, Ys8 just a few off the top of my head and there were a lot more.

CrimsonWing69266d ago (Edited 266d ago )

Not nearly to the degree of PS1 and PS2.

@shinoff2183 makes a good point that around the PS3/Xbox 360 gen is when the genre wasn’t as prevalent and began to shy away from turn-based. There’s some standouts for sure, but look at the PS1 and PS2 JRPG library and then compare that to the PS3 and PS4’s.

Theres definitely a decline in a selection of titles. Even worse was the quality seemed to take a massive hit as well. I think Lost Odyssey was a huge standout for that gen when you look at production values, then you look at something like Fairy Fencer on the PS3 and it’s kind of depressing.

But by that generation there was a shift from western developed games overtaking Japanese developed games. Back from the NES to PS2 Japanese games were the cream of the crop… I don’t know what happened but like midway into the PS3/360 life-time they became less so.

shinoff2183265d ago (Edited 265d ago )

Compared to the ps1 ps2 and he'll even ps4 ps3 doesn't hold a candle to either imo. It's also when turn based damn near disappeared. Again thanks to the west's criticism

Crimson I'd put money on the west being at fault, guys like Phil phish, and numerous others at that time were attacking jrpg and Japanese games in general pretty hard.

Ni no kuni was probably my fav jrpg back then , and the blue dragon

GameBoyColor265d ago

Tales got kinda lucky here. When they took a chance and finally brought tales of graces f over west it sold like 250k lmao a lot of jrpgs did 500k or below. Disgaea was worse i think. Bamco decided to keep bringing more games over though.

Tapani266d ago (Edited 266d ago )

Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II were the best RPGs on PS3 made by Japanese developers. Everything else just fell short always. Ni No Kuni was a full package, an okayish game as well. Nier and Drakengard III had superb writing, setting and voice acting, however, the performance was a real drag on the gameplay. Traditional RPG-wise I'd actually say 360 had better JRPGs, and think that Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon were the best traditional JRPGs of the era. PS3 Valkyria Chronicles was okay, but it is closer to an SRPG.

Ryu Ga Gotoku games were also solid, they were still finding their footing and breaking new ground with new cities and formats.

PS3 was the era that almost made me quit gaming and I started playing on PC because I could not find good performance nor games on the system. PS4 got me back into it, and now PS5 is a mix in and between, I just play my PS4 library on the PS5 and rest on PC, just like during the PS3 era. The only new exclusive Sony JRPG is pretty much FFXVI and it is so streamlined and simplified from the normal RPG experience that I can't fit it into the genre anymore. Dragon Quest XII hopefully remedies all of this, but it is just one game.

These new games will all be on PC (while it does take 2-3 years to wait, and 6-12 months from launch to have them patched + fixed by modders) and they perform better on it. The only point in owning a PS5 is to play games a couple of years earlier, but for a hard-working family man like me, the quality of the experience is more important than playing it as soon as possible. And I can't do modern games at 30fps 720p after playing 120fps at 4K. For older games, that's okay.

PSX and PS2 though, those were the days...Still have a massive collections of classic RPGs in CD and DVD format and a phat PS3 to play them!

FinalFantasyFanatic265d ago

It's kinda like that, the PS3 generation was a bad time for JRPGs, especially with the Japanese feeling the need to westernize their games, shooters dominating that gen, the racism from western game journalists (it was bad, between G4, Phill Fish, and a slew of others), and the higher development costs...

It really made me miss the PS1/PS2 days of JRPGs, even the quality of half of those games during the 7th gen weren't as good. The 360 tried, but Microsoft's consoles weren't popular in Japan and no body in the West bought a Xbox for JRPGs (despite Xbox having Vesperia, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey).

on_line_forever265d ago

" It's kinda like that, the PS3 generation was a bad time for JRPGs, especially with the Japanese feeling the need to westernize their games "

This is when everything fall down and games looks not fun to play anymore except for few games like demon and dark souls for example

-Foxtrot266d ago (Edited 266d ago )

Nah. It's a bad trilogy of games

The only reason XIII-2 stands out is because XIII was so bad

When the bar is so low, anything after feels better.

goldwyncq266d ago

The monster catching mechanic was nice.

Eonjay266d ago

Don't understand the hate for it at all. Seems forced.

shinoff2183265d ago

Watching the credits roll on ff16 now it is good but , I'd really like to re try ff13 least it's turn based and would fill that gap for me.

FinalFantasyFanatic265d ago

They got better after the first one in the trilogy, not outstanding game though.

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CS7266d ago

Honestly, I played FFXIII a few years after release and maybe because it was after the hype cycle and I knew the flaws of the game, it actually became my favorite FF after VII.

I took off the mini map and never used auto battle and the stuff that mattered to me in an FF was just so well done.

The art and graphics were insane at the time
The music is still special
The story still lingers in memory more than a decade later
The RPG systems were decent

I never really got the hate for it, still have a soft spot for that game inside me.

goldwyncq266d ago

Still better than XV and XVI.

Yui_Suzumiya266d ago

Drakengard 3 goes for a small fortune nowadays

Knightofelemia266d ago (Edited 266d ago )

Only gripe I have with Ar Tonelico 3 is that Saki is annoying as hell whether English or in Japanese. Then Saki's English voice actor became Ionasal on Ar Nosurge she was a little annoying but not as bad. Johnny Young Bosch voicing Tatsumi I thought he did a great job. And Akiko Shikata with her vocals and the music from the games just went hand and hand.

DarkZane266d ago

I wish Ar No Surge and Ar Tonelico 3 would be remastered on PS4/PS5.

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70°

How Nier Connects to the Drakengard Series

Nier and Drakengard are two series that couldn't be more different in their setting and stories, but somehow they are still linked.

vTuro24440d ago

The world needs a Drakengard 1 and 3 remake.

50°

A NieR Retrospective with Yoko Taro, Yosuke Saito, and Keiichi Okabe

Shuhei Yoshida chats with Yoko Taro, Yosuke Saito, and Keiichi Okabe about their work in the NieR series.