A Difference of Perspective (Part 2) | A Nier Retrospective

[@twooty2148]

I believe Yoko Taro said in an interview once “You don’t have to be insane to kill someone. You just have to think you’re right.” You can see this statement is very apparent in the game and it makes a lot of sense

[@QuantumWalker13]

There's a line Popola gives in the late game when asked by the party to lay down her arms: "No one STOPS! It's way to late to STOP!" This line encapsulates one of the core themes of the story. It's not just that the wolves were attacked on the eve of the king's wedding, they have been aggressive for years and you the player fight them and are attacked unprovoked by them in the desert before the timeskip. The Brothers in the military base have spent years there being attacked by the drones, and their mother died there as well under different circumstances. The shadow lord has been trying to regain his daughter for over a millenium. And the Sisters Popola and Devola are literally incapable of defying their prime directive.This is true for most of the major plot beats of the game. The story is about people who will not concede any ground in the pursuit of their survival and happiness. Unfortunately, this means that even if the barriers of language, species, time, and knowledge didn't exist. Rarely would any two parties see any common ground and try to negotiate. The Shades and Replicants would never see eye to eye, and both fathers would never give up trying to regain their daughters. Ultimately things have been set in motion with no way to grind the gears to a halt. It's a good narrative if melodramatic in presentation.

[@Senumunu]

"Rarely would any two parties see any common ground and try to negotiate." well not in this case. there is nothing to negotiate about bcs there is no common ground. if the replicants refuse to merge with the shades again only conflict remains. interestingly this undermines the whole premise bcs the "soul" is used as a plot device quite transparently since its nature and properties are not specified. its obv still way better done than most other (especially video game) stories do it bcs of the interpersonal focus.

[@QuantumWalker13]

Facade is really the only location where both parties could have backed down prior to the attack on the den/death of Fyra. But the premise of the game isn't about groups reconciling their differences. It's the opposite as 1 man singlemindedly butchers his way through anything and everything to get his daughter back.

[@Senumunu]

@@QuantumWalker13 i agree. i meant the base premise of replicants and the shades for why everything is happening in the fist place. the reason for why the replicants (shells) all of a sudden develop their own personalities and why this is used interchangeably with them having souls. i feel that this part is not fleshed out enough and pushed aside for the personal conflict despite being the most important aspect. (outside of the interpersonal narratives ofc)

[@hondshoven8477]

@@Senumunu Thing is... I think it's not that important. Sentience is inevitable for anything remotly human-shaped in the Taro universe. "All of a sudden"? They spent centuries fighting legion under the orders of Maybe-Sentient-Androids. I wouldn't be surprised if early replicants had basic cognitive abilities to follow orders and developped through years and years of interactions with Totally-Not-Sentient-Androids. It being treated as replicant having souls is just the human framing for it, just like "disconnecting from the machine network" means individuality and sentience for machines in Automata. But if you want an explanation, Grimoire Nier speaks of a "bug" in the system leading to sentience. Any explanation beyond that would just turn into "magic did it" or some convoluted pseudo-science explanation... Or "Sci-fi magic did it".

[@Senumunu]

@@hondshoven8477 I know but it doesn't change the reality of assumming soul/sentience for the convenience of the plot but also acting like it is justified in a causal framework. This is always done in movies and tv shows as well. (Star Trek to name a big one) it demeans the particularity of the human mind/spirit and this is why i don't like it. Just be honest about your empathy advocacy and don't self servingly hide behind ambivalent concepts like soul or sentience.

[@andrewkos5560]

The first run of NieR's NG+ is still the best utilization I've ever seen of the concept in a video game.

[@KaiKrimson56]

It's also genius that in order to get Ending E you have to sacrifice your whole save file to give Kainé an opportunity to be completely human again, something most people would never consider doing to get an ending that completes a game.

[@Neotoribaru]

I was heartbroken during the second run of the game. I'm so glad I found people with such love for this game . Thank you for this wonderful essay

[@exultantblade50]

If only they had enough funds to let you play as Kaine. You're definitely pulled into her mind space, knowing what the shades are and what they're saying, yet going through with the killing anyways. It would have been consistent with the story in your second playthrough.

[@joeyevola7881]

You can in the new one, but only for an hour or so 😔

[@giginoelani5880]

I remember getting ending A and going, "huh, that's a twist I wasn't expecting, but I thought the reveal would be even crazier." And then plating through route B and realizing the crazy part isn't the revelation itself, but the IMPLICATIONS of that revelation. I straight up sobbed during the Beepy fight.

[@ryujijitei]

I don't call Nier the greatest game of all time, or the best game I've ever played. I call it "the most important game in the world to me". It was the perfect game at the perfect time in my life, and I cherish the memories of the impact it had on me as a person so heavily that I refuse to ever replay it, lest those memories be overwritten. That's perhaps just a *tad* extreme, but it's telling of just how strongly the game resonated with me. I normally avoid most content related to the game, especially analyses, but I trusted you enough to watch this one...even if it took SEVERAL days of squirming around and being indecisive on whether or not I would. The game is one of the single most delicate subjects for me to try to discuss or open up about, especially after I have such extremely complicated feelings about Automata. Thank you for doing this, Foxcade. If it wasn't already obvious, this game means a lot to me.

[@thelarkascend1ng]

Spot on dude

[@MogekoMagica]

Kaine's speech is probably my favorite quote in gaming history. It seems so rabdomly vulgar and violent when you watch the games intro cinematic, but when you see it in context... it's fucking *beautiful.*

[@Alexlayer]

Which speech, though?

[@gunnarschlichting9886]

@@Alexlayer The one where she calls Weiss a little bitch. Right before the timeskip essentially.

[@OEpistimon]

WEISS, YOU DUMBASS

[@Wolf10media]

Same as love me, I want you to love me.

[@CycloneFox]

Also one of the best performances done by Laura Bailey.

[@lonewolffang]

Someone: sticks and stones may break my bones but word will never hurt me. Nier: shall we test that then?

[@genericscottishchannel1603]

big sadness on station.

[@VladDascaliuc]

Taro's work is interesting in itself, but it's even more interesting hearing what each person has to say about it. I enjoyed these videos a lot, and can't wait for the Automata (or the Drakengard 3) one.

[@c_Railyn]

26:23 The problem with requiring the completion of all of the game's side quests for the final endings would be that...you might not be able to manage it by the time you find out about the requirement. Once you hit the time skip, all the side quests you haven't completed are locked out. Subsequent playthroughs on the save file begin after said time skip. And those side quests being missable makes sense; after five years, people are usually either going to have found solutions to their problems or given up on them entirely. So they probably used the weapons as an attainable stand-in for the more appropriate requirement that would have been incredibly problematic to implement.

[@viviorunitia7039]

It's also a series "tradition" more or less. To get the last ending in Drakengard 1 you also needed all weapons (some of which were ridiculous to get and pretty much unattainable without using a guide). Not sure if that mechanic returned in Drakengard 2, but it returned in Drakengard 3 again. Automata was the only Yoko Taro game that dropped the weapons requirement.

[@DinoDave150]

@@viviorunitia7039 I think someone at PlatinumGames may have convinced Taro that something like that just takes a big, steaming dump on a game's pacing and is just tedious and boring to do.

[@Exile_Sky]

The collecting every weapon in the game for the true ending is a callback to Drakongard / Drag-On Dragoon. To get the ending to that game that leads to Neir, you had to get every weapon in the game, and have beaten the game every previous way. Note: There wasn't an extensive set of sidequests for Drag-On Dragoon, so only collecting every weapon works as a callback to the game.

[@souleatingpanda]

man i've heard all of the knowledge and lore Nier has to give, but I always click whenever someone has a Nier analysis. It's always a treat.

[@TheBitishDragon]

Yoko Taro's stories and games could only ever work as games, good or bad is subjective, it is however a truely deep and resonating exprience with theme's hardly any other dev teams or artists are willing to tackle.

[@organizedopinions8068]

No it'd work fine as a anime. There's plenty of good anime with similar plots and themes.

[@derangel9143]

@@organizedopinions8068 I disagree. There are anime with similar plot and themes, but none of them do what Taro's games do. No anime changes it's ending on multiple viewings. No anime erases itself upon a person seeing the "true" ending. The way Taro tells stories would not work in any other medium. Themes are only one part of a story, they are not the whole.

[@organizedopinions8068]

@@derangel9143 Neon Genesis Evangelion literally does just that but say less. You can appreciate the work but being a fanboy is another thing. You're being a fanboy. Taro is cool has great stories but his games are emulating anime that he's done before mixed in with a few original ideas. The erasing of the world or a person out of existence isnt new either. It's not like you can never play the game again once you do. Just like the anime. There's also other games that do that as well. It's simply not an original idea and one that's been done even in american movies and comics and even as far back as make your own adventure books/games. This is like saying some manga only work as manga or some anime only work as anime. It's not true. Some are just harder to adapt than others and thus require more time and care. Nothing that can be done in one medium is impossible in another.

[@Lucifronz]

@@organizedopinions8068 I disagree. The storytelling here has more impact because you're put in the driver's seat. You're the one being deceived by your own expectations. You're the one killing shades, believing they're all hostile monsters like any other game. You can't get that from a purely passive experience. It would always be lesser. Now that's only for Nier, but I'm sure there are many cases to be made for Taro's other work as well. I'll disagree with them when they say it can't work as anything other than a game, because it could technically work, but it would be lesser for it.

[@BlackfangDragon]

Originally the weapons were supposed to have stories attached to them. Since they were unable to include them originally they got included in side materials.

[@FlowerEmblem]

I played Automata first, and I really liked the weapon stories from there, so I thought that they were also part of the original Nier. Got really sad when I couldn't find them after playing the game, then got really confused when I looked up Grimoire Nier and found them there - I thought I overlooked them in the game for some reason. I guess it makes sense now.

[@christopherrichardson2945]

The remake will have weapon stories that’ll be easier to read (ala Automata)

[@KingSnickSnack]

Emil's story is the only story that made me cry ever in any fiction

[@default4677]

Iv'e waited all year long for a new video. took you long enough.

[@Speckmantelmade]

What I love about both NieR mainline games (haven't seen enough of Reincarnation yet to include it here) is that the environment isn't depressingly bleak. Yes, the 2010 version of NieR didn't have the prettiest graphics, but the remake really ramped it up in that department. So, while you're going through all of this tragic stuff, you sometimes just stop and notice how beautiful the world around you looks, despite the world being at the brink of collapse. Automata had me standing around in some places, listening to the nature sounds and thinking, "man, I love it here." Same with Replicant. No matter where, you can find beauty even in the darkest times.

[@MogekoMagica]

BTW, none of the endings are happy. The Shadowlord is the only thing keeping the shades in control and from going Berserk, when he dies they ruthlesslessly attack humanity. Yonah either dies to the Black Scrawl, or is mauled by shades alongside Kaine. 😢

[@mrultima9466]

Confirmed not true by other canonical stuff but ok

[@Cross-chan]

@@mrultima9466 Yonah dies to the Black Scrawl no matter what, Kainé seems to be immune to that after ending D, and seems to merely die of old age after all that's happened with Emil and new Replicant (possibly android?) Nier by her side. I'm sure some shades killed some replicants easier after the shadowlord died and they all go berserk, but they all surely died from Black Scrawl more likely within the next few years

[@Siegberg91]

We don’t even know if the project gestalt ever a chance of success for me it was already failing on so many ends. Sure, the Shadow Lord kept the leech on the shades, but they lost their humanity to great degree already. It was a desperate attempt from humanity to keep themselves alive without any real way to fix issues which were going to happen when project was going on. I think it does the story a disservice that all the fault is blamed on the Shadowlord and Nier. In some parts we can be happy that parts of us remain in the Android and machine forms even some of our better parts. We see how sadistic and selfish the shadows already became in Kaines shadow who for the most part just enjoyed making people suffer.

[@MogekoMagica]

@@mrultima9466 I mean i guess we can ignore the context literally explained in game

[@mrultima9466]

@@MogekoMagica Yeah no, nothing in the game says "Yonah and Kaine are immediately mauled by relapsing shades" which is the part I took issue with. Ending E disproves that, and is canon.

[@kuroxiii9481]

"And there's no happy ending" Ending E: Am I a joke to you?

[@mthsdcs]

Kind of. Taro is so good at ending a video game story that I wish he would just not expand on the endings, because both the ending E of Nier and the epilogue of Automata kinda undermine the bittersweet impact of each game's endings.

[@ryujijitei]

@@mthsdcs Nier was intended to include ending E in the actual game, but it was scrapped along with other planned elements due to the game's troubled development; however, the game greatly benefitted from it, and its inclusion in Grimoire Nier instead just serves as a really neat bonus for fans. Automata had no such issues in development, and thus its ending E was fully implemented, for better or worse. I think even irregardless of whether ending E had been included or not, Automata is the only example of Taro's reverse storywriting being an issue, imo. Scribe called the entirety of A/B routes the "20-hour prologue", and it's completely accurate.

[@Aimela136]

@@ryujijitei Hm, I wonder if Replicant's re-release will include ending E... I certainly hope so.

[@RuYevon]

We got it :)

[@scotcheggable]

Ending e just emphasised that everyone is doomed, because the tree houses the data on everyone's genetic code and it's breaking down.

[@milkusimu4775]

I played Nier Gestalt SO much when it first released, there was just something so compelling about the story and the characters, I wanted to learn every last bit I could about all of the lore. It really felt like you were going through all of the character's experiences with them. I just finished Nier Replicant last night and I feel like I'm still processing it all. I think they really did it justice with the remaster, it looks absolutely amazing and hasn't lost any of it's original heart. I genuinely think Nier is the best game I've ever played, and I loved how deeply you delved into it in this video. Thank you !

[@chrisyleenz]

Wow, thank you for uploading this series, I'm speechless. Please don't ever remove these masterpiece videos, my friend has just started Nier Automata recommended by me, and I've only just finished Replicant, so I would love for him to be able to watch these videos one day when he also finishes Replicant. Your videos are, by far the best one I've watched, explanations are very detailed and clear, thank you!!!

[@JoshGolus]

Great work as usual, Fox. I've been watching for about a year, and each video seems to show off your talent for analysis and narration more and more. I know that long-form video essays are exhausting to make, but the work is apparent here and in every video. Keep up the good work!

[@Foxcade]

That's greatly appreciated to hear, and will do!!

[@Negameleon]

I like to think of Yoko Taro as a realized version of both Hideo Kojima and Suda 51. All three could be considered "auteurs", but I think Yoko Taro is the only one who somehow manages to get his vision across in its entirety.

[@RekkaAlexiel]

Damn, dude, the turn around time you've got with these videos is amazing! Great work! Now let me continue with a couple comments. I get it, I'm nit-picking with a couple of these, but it's not my intention on putting you down for it. I was taught that constructive criticism is a good thing, so please take it as such. :) @0:22 - This is an unrelated, non-Yokoverse image being used as a stand-in for what it looks like when people are infected with WCS. It does not appear in any of the official books from DOD or NIeR, although it was featured in one of the videos by Clemps, in which he thought this was a sign that Caim was RedEye, a statement he later retracted. Even so, this has relentlessly stayed in the minds of fans. @0:47 - "...resulting in the Gestalts and Replicants each developing their own sentience." The Gestalts were always sentient, although some relapsed right away. The Replicants were originally only empty bags of flesh with no mind, no soul. They were used as mindless drones to battle the Legion, gather up the particles of Maso to ship it off into another universe in order to purge the world of the WCS. What happened was the Replicants, although they had no soul, began to "awaken" and believe that they were in fact real humans. Of course, it didn't help that Gestalts looked like shadowy monsters to them... It's not that the Replicants "forgot their original purpose" as much as something unexpected awoke within them, totally unforeseen by the creators of the Project. @3:03 - I believe the term "intersex" might be the more modernly accepted term over "hermaphrodite". Both are technically accurate, but one is perhaps more appropriate than the other. @7:55 - It's certainly lightly implied in the game, but Emil is gay and has a super crush on Nier. This was confirmed by Yoko several years ago. You can even witness some more of this on the Drama CD. @13:56 - Keiichi is pronounced as "Kay-eachy". @15:43 - Her name is Emi Evans. Although her birth name is in fact "Emiko", she does not go by that name. @31:08 - Yoko was never a full-time employee of Cavia. His college buddy Iwasaki Takuya was the one who brought him on as the director for NieR because he had been scheduled to direct something else. It was still pretty much freelance work that Yoko did for him. What web browser game were you referring to here? And, what's that last bit of the video...?? Planning on doing more...?? Maybe about Automata? :D Can't wait!

[@roaringviking5693]

Keiichi isn't pronounced like that, but it's an uphill battle to try and explain how it should be pronounced. Something like Keh-itchy, but with a longer "eh" is the closest explanation I can think of.

[@mattshuey1]

On the route C requirements being the weapons and not the sidequests: Sidequests are what life is in Nier, but collecting the weapons is you creating an intricate rube goldberg device that has one function in severing any hope at a peaceful happy resolution. The route itself becomes a weapon against what goal you thought you were moving toward consciously. Everything deliberately falls into place for the ultimate failing of mankind, each step considered (in its own context) and acted upon to move toward the goal Taro wanted to show. It is comically tragic in how it has to fall into place, the timespan needed to see it for what it is. It itself is a weapon not unlike any of the weapons you methodically hunt down and do anything to acquire.

[@jvccr7533]

Oh, this came quicker than anticipated (or maybe I didn't pay enough attention last video) Ah, I will actually go against what is youtube code and go to sleep, because that is what I intended to do. This'll be a good watch tomorrow post-work.

[@denchua]

31:28 "but we'll save that for another time" When? Next week? :D

[@davidcole2913]

It was so weird for me to learn that the voice actor for Kainé, also voiced Lucina in Fire Emblem Awakening. Right from the opening that plays at the title screen I was drawn to Kainé. It made so much sense when I learned who the VA was.

[@UberWraith]

And she is even the english voice of Chun Li in most of her incarnations since SFIV (MvC3, SFIV series, SFV series)... and Serah Farron in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. Yup, the kind and angelic Serah is also the foul-mouthed Kainé.

[@Lucifronz]

Laura Bailey has done a lot of voice-work in the gaming industry. Her voice to me is as recognizable as Nolan North, Liam O'Brien, Troy Baker and a few others. Personally, I've never been a fan of hearing the same voices over and over in game after game, but it's not like they can help that they're popular. They're certainly not going to quit their jobs, nor would I expect or want them to.

[@joseurbina3835]

When it comes the impossible, it’s always gonna be you that gets the job done, awesome work *Furball.*

[@Hydrolion1998]

This is a great way to start off your channel this decade! Any video essay about something as profound as Nier is welcomed, and especially as well made as this one.

[@PaulHofreiter]

I am so glad I played this game blind, the reveals were really powerful. However, if you see someone who just watched this and haven’t played it, I still recommend it - it might have its flaws but it’s a masterpiece in terms of its experience and storytelling. And the music is probably the best in any game that you’ll ever hear - I remember when I played it the first time, I went to the fountain and listened to the song of the ancients over and over, probably 15 minutes straight and tears filled my eyes because it was just so beautiful and sad at the same time. That kind of describes the game too.

[@bryanfrye8770]

The Emil Storyline breaks my heart.....

[@mikigirl18]

Seriously, that boy had suffered so much for so long. Longer than any character, no matter WHEN in the series. And he's still so damn sweet. You just want to protect that boy no matter what.

[@DonChalant]

Nier was my favorite game of the last decade and its something truly special to me.

[@poulpe6299]

Just discovered your channel with Part 1, thanks for putting part 2 up so quick ! I binged all the rest of your videos in the meantime and you're really doing some great work!

[@Anonymous88desu]

The game have torn my heart into pieces, and now, by this video, I have lived through that feelings again. Also, very interesting analysis. Thank you, man. Great video.

[@zaieaart6500]

I'm glad people are still making nier vods!

[@HatredSonneillon]

So I played Nier so long ago that I couldn't remember much of it, I remember loving it so much though because of the weirdness and tragic stories. Yet at almost every section I was thinking, "Did I even get to that part of the game?" I was certain that I had beaten the game but this had me questioning myself if I really did. Even though I didn't remember a lot of what happened in the game, I remembered the same emotions I had when listening to the story explanation and I was hit with the nostalgia every time. I definitely remember having my save file deleted and I hadn't touched the game since and i remember that final ending. I was so excited when Automata was announce because i knew that I have always wanted more of Nier as the experience definitely stuck with me ever since I first played and beat it and for something to do that, it must have been profound to me in some capacity. This series helped reminded me of why it was, Thank you ^^

[@Bastxsoftpaw]

This release while I was watching part one. What a pleasant surprise

[@purgatoriprytania5382]

What an amazing couple of videos mining through the depths of this game. Kudos, sir.

[@AndyKazama2]

My biggest grievance with this game is the exposition dump you get during the Devola and Popola fight to explain the Gestalt project. Other than that, spot on game.

[@imanicartwright4463]

Neir and automata are two of my favorite games because the stories are so...human. it's melodramatic and operatic. I love these games and it's director.

[@guidofedeli851]

More NieR is always welcome. And years after falling in love with it, it's great to learn more/see different perspectives about it, like its thematic usage of language. Thinking back it should have been obvious what the game was doing with the Words system, but it quite literally flew over my head. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on Automata.

[@RadioFade]

Oh man, I got emotional near the end of this one. Thank you for such a thoughtful analysis, friend.

[@15awesomehighfive]

Sharing your fascination for language, I really enjoyed the perspective you brought to that section and your thoughts on the game as a whole. Thanks for some great videos.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

There IS an ending E, where Memory tree spits out Nier and restores everyone's memories. And although its in the manual and not the game itself, Taro talks about it as if its canon. That said, in Drakenier, all endings are canon anyway.

[@RuYevon]

Great videos (this and part 1!). I ended up here after finishing the remake and had a lot of similar thoughts. I didn't know about the way the music was created, that's so cool. I loved this game in spite of its flaws... One thing I wish more people acknowledged was kaine's outfit and when the camera zooms in on her in a gross way. And I don't think the romantic element in Replicant works so well. But she and Emil are such a great characters, I'll never forget them.

[@goatsplitter]

Great videos. I loved Nier. I never thought it'd get a sequel and was so happy for Automata. Knowing how well automata sold, I really hope there will be a continuation of some sorts, either in actuality or just in spirit.

[@Exigentable]

I may be hungover but I am going to enjoy the shit outta this. Thanks fox.

[@synysterpain]

I'm a huge kingdom hearts fan and it's crazy I never saw the similarities in concept of Gesalts and replicants lol great video though. I came here after finishing the remake. O been wanting to play nier and watch this, so im glad the remake made it possible.

[@eliasmendes2198]

I loved this game, at the time, I loved the music, the world building, it's the game that introduced me to replayability to find the true ending of the game

[@TDSFounder]

The tragedy is that Devola and Popola were right. The different motivations meant they'd fight against one another, so there was no good endings that could have been had. The language barrier didn't help things either.

[@RavagingTiger]

I'm so happy they made a remake for this game I just got the A ending, I have always heard of Neir specially from Clemps lol and loved Automata so I'm so happy I finally getting a chance to play through it myself and love ever second of it amazing video essay my dude

[@Lucifronz]

27:54 I'm pretty sure you actually can keep your save via PSN's cloud save feature. Clemps made an off-hand joke about it in his video. Besides, I guarantee there's data somewhere in there that says whether or not the save should be available that you can delete. Might take away the impact of the moment, but there's little the developers can do to stop you from getting back your old save if you're prepared.

[@cleduc5059]

"Blood is sounds, sounds are words, and words are power." - Grimoire Weiss

[@beansfebreeze]

Thank you for reminding me why I like these games so much. I hate to think that genuine art like this stands nearly no chance of being played these days when put up against all the shiny, new AAA releases.

[@Annnoura]

Fantastic work with this essay.

[@TheMrManiax]

Gestalt is btw a german word^^your pronounciation put a smile on my face x). I really like your Retrospectives gj dude

[@fernsbaronia1998]

A game ahead of its time.

[@SwordsmanOrion]

The original NieR is something special. It's not the most fun game to play, it has a lot of annoying elements within the game to deal with, but it was absolutely worth it to put up with all the negative parts of the game. After all 4 endings were achieved, it is still the game I think about the most to this day. The characters, the lore, the world building, and especially the incredible music all are things I still think about. Even after playing Automata, which is obvious more fun to play, I still like the original NieR more because it is just plain more memorable to me. The story is just so much more interesting, the ideas behind the world and why things the way they are are just so much more fascinating to me than those in Automata. And I'll die on the hill of saying original NieR has a better soundtrack than Automata does too. It makes better use of the soundtrack too.

[@christopherrichardson2945]

The remake looks to be the best of both worlds

[@inksplatter5559]

BEEPY! *sobs* That was the part that broke me.

[@Star-cs3vh]

A nier video yay also great effort on this video and also the later parts of nier are the most heartbreaking parts of it

[@yarh79]

Loved the full retrospective There may be people who may think it's a complete miss and some who think it's a great masterpiece (like me) but both opinions are really OK depending how do you see it and what do you think it's the most important thing about the experience. NieR is beautiful! Maybe not in the outside but only if you learn to understand about the inside

[@AlexLopezMan]

platinum this one was insane and I love it

[@esk8jaimes]

Looking forward to the follow up to this one.

[@acemaison2834]

Amazing retrospective I can’t wait to see the Neir:Autamata one next. This game and franchise I hope will become very popular like persona to show people to keep a open mind. Thanks for the vid :3

[@MrJIR93]

24:04 Hell in the japanese version, mind you I don't know a lick of japanese but this term is so cliche that even I understood that it was meant to be intentional, the game outright calls the Shadowlord "Maou" which means Demon Lord and is perhaps the most typical title for the main bad guy in an RPG. It actually serves the idea of the story even better should you know how Yoko Taro operates, I had played both Drakengard 1 and 3 before playing Nier by pure coincidence and when my friend told me it was the same guy that directed those other two and told me of what they called him in japanese I immediately grew suspicious because there was no way the guy who made both Caim "stab children because revenge" and Zero "fuck a bunch of pidgeons in the form of guys" would make a story THAT straightforward and predictable.

[@MrDarksol]

Now we move on to Kira Buckland being an android with a good ass, Kyle having the MOST worst week ever and Cherami hates robots. My friend:It's the Kira Buckland hour! Won't that be fun? Me and my friend:YEAH!!!!

[@GameBoysUK]

Fantastic video, i love this franchise

[@SublimeMarc]

Thanks! Happy new year

[@duncanthaw6858]

I can confirm hearing words or even entire sentences in Kaine's OST. It's mostly a word salad though (beside many many random syllables of course).

[@megahozer13]

Loved every minute

[@Burnout6010]

NieR 1 is such an unique game, there really is nothing like it

[@powerpc127]

28:40 I only played through the game once. I'm reminded of the common complaint you addressed in part 1 about the gameplay being repetitive. Literally the only reason I didn't replay it (I looked up the other endings online) was because the thought of grappling with the combat for a few hours more just to catch some story points seemed overwhelming. Now I realize how the second playthrough is most effective if you actually play the whole way through with Kaine's translations and I wish I had done it. I missed out on a critical piece of the story because I didn't want to stomach any more of the combat. I think Nier is a great story, but not a great game. I've played RPG's several times through before when I enjoyed the combat (see Tales of Symphonia), but this one was too much. (Hopefully Nier can still love itself and embrace its bad combat as a part of what it is, hehe.) This has me excited to try Automata, though. I loved Bayonetta and Vanquish, and I'm going to download it next weekend.

[@Lucifronz]

3:11 Noooo, hold on a moment here. This is _exactly_ like Quiet. The justification might be better, but Yoko Taro is just as much of a perv as Kojima, he's just honest about it. He likes women and isn't too much of a pussy to admit he enjoys seeing them half-naked. (No offense, Kojima, but we all know you're just making excuses with Quiet.) She isn't half-naked as a plot device. That's a secondary reason so that the character being half-naked makes sense to the player. It's justification all the same.

[@Foxcade]

The major difference is that the way Kaine dresses is informed by her character and actually feeds into her arc. Queit being half naked is justified through massive plot contrivances so that she can be half naked. There is not character justification for her dressing like that other than "She absorbs sunlight that way. Now watch her wiggle in the shower." Yoko Taro is honest that he just likes cute girls, but at least Kaine's design is well defined by it.

[@Lucifronz]

@@Foxcade Alright, just making sure we're on the same page. Though on that topic, I really don't get why Kojima can't just admit he's attracted to women. It's 2020, come out of the closet already. We'll accept you.

[@Foxcade]

I think most would have shrug at Queit if Kojima just admitted to it, but he always makes a point about how "tragic" the ladies are in his games that it becomes eye rolling when you actually learn how he attempts to justify fan service. Last good Kojima female character was Eva and Big Boss.

[@Lucifronz]

@@Foxcade Honestly, I kind of liked Quiet. But I think it's mostly the doomed romance aspect of it that attracted my attention and that kinda suggests her primary qualities involve relationships and therefore I can understand why other people _might_ not like her since she doesn't really do much to further the "feminist cause". At the end of the day she exists to be a conflicted romance for Venom Snake and a plot device more than an individual, though to be fair, the fact that she can't speak limits the depths of her personality. At least from the player's perspective. I don't have a problem with men or women in games existing purely for a single purpose, even if it's just to be eye candy or a romance subplot or whatever. Fact is not every character has to be special. Though the criticism would still be valid, I guess. And I agree on Boss (I assume you meant her and accidentally added "Big" out of habit), in particular. She might be my favorite character in the entire MGS series. I guess I'm drawn to tragic writing. It's why Yoko Taro's work is hooking me effortlessly right now.

[@aos-archive]

I only watched someone play this game and was BLOWN away by the idea of erasing your existence that included wiping your game save.

[@cephasokoro9504]

I can't wait to see what u have to say after playing the remake,if u are gonna play it that is,also this retrospective was beautiful,I was looking for something similar to kingdom hearts in some way and thanks to this video I think I found it

[@burnt_ramen9757]

your first video got me replaying it and damn I forgot how depressing it was

[@Sieben77]

Great, very informative retroperspecive and analysis of a (also) great game I'll probably never play - although, who knows? Anyway, it was a one hour of a well-spend time, I guess now I'm waiting for a video on Automata.

[@doubledamn2599]

When you say 'not the last we heard from Nier', I hope you go into at least some stuff from the databook Grimoire NIER, or at the very minimum, the short story And Then There Were None, which gives the origins of the Grimoires Weiss, Noir, Rubrum along with as many as ten other Grimoire that never showed up in either game.

[@xemnasxiii3992]

Hey I'm part of the people who think NieR has a better and memorable soundtrack than it's follow up

[@allan4775]

Amazing video, great job Fox

[@acidreighn]

yay part2!!!

[@johnnyscifi]

What kind of person comes up with this kinda brilliant world building/story telling!!

[@TDSFounder]

Yoko Taro, who as we've seen in the first video, is a bit eccentric but brilliant.

[@Schneeregen_]

I've heard there is an ending E, but it's in a radio play or something if I remember correctly.

[@TadpoleSuperhero]

Was curious, seeing you talk mostly about Drakengard 1 in relation to Nier during this retrospective, if you're going to dive into Drakengard 3? That has a lot of elements that tie into Nier and Automata as well, and it seemed odd to leave it out of this discussion. Otherwise an excellent analysis that goes deeper and more thoughtful than most anything else I've seen. Hope to see more videos like this from you in the future, I love this kind of stuff and you did it so well!

[@Xxandrew01]

Very well done video man. Wish a Nier Remaster would happen. I so want to play that one since I only played and beat Nier Automata.

[@tedphantasia4387]

Happy New Year Foxcade!!

[@Foxcade]

Happy New Year!

[@Agenta-df3gb]

Can anyone tell me which song it is that starts at 23:12. I've listened to NieR's entire OST but I don't remember that track.

[@IReiteThat]

Nier OST - The Ultimate Weapon

[@Agenta-df3gb]

@@IReiteThat TY for the answer.

[@hyperam4594]

I watch this a year and a half ago thinking I'll never be able to play this game... glad I'm able to

[@Alestor10]

I loved your DMC videos and this 2 parts where amazingly done, I really hope you make Automata videos just like these :) cheers for you

[@noahkaa1846]

love the video, would love to see one on automata as well, and maybe a connection video on both games

[@CelestiaLily]

Noah Kaa good news! foxcade's already made a nier automata video - it's on his channel from 2 years ago :D

[@semagage]

Might've already been said by someone, but yonah is not the only example of replicant and gestalt merging (and I don't mean in the manner that kaine and tyrann are merged), in that the people of the Aerie are merged gestalt and replicant, that's why they hide from outsiders and another aspect of their casting out of kaine (that last part may be me misremembering)

[@thirosgaming7981]

it’s been 2 years… please… the blueballs from sequel vid baiting…

[@Fomortiis100]

NieR needs a remake. Not only would it benefit from improved visuals, gameplay and performance, but its themes are more relevant now than they ever have been.

[@JoeViking74]

Well said, my good sir.

[@mouseboy507]

Gonna have to give this game a play.

[@archetype694]

Loved the video. Looking forward to Automata 🙂☮️.

[@evilkingganon707]

That Automata video is never coming, is it...

[@RhizometricReality]

Looking forward to that Automata retrospective

[@Mojavekight17]

Happy new year

[@bswift1991]

Love you foxcade

[@Foxcade]

I'm not sure if I'm there yet, but I like spending time with you.

[@bswift1991]

@@Foxcade I feel that.