The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

I finally started playing Nier again, and as I continued, I basically fell completely in love with it. It’s creative, heartfelt, and weird. I love it. But I’ll talk about that more once I finish it.

What I want to talk about today is Nier’s main character. I believe his offical name is, oddly enough, Nier, though I was tricked into naming him Alexis because the game was kind of unclear why I was typing in a name!
Basically, I just kind of love his design.

I remember all the discussions about the design of Frank West, and how they set out to make an “ugly character.” They wanted to make something that would appeal to western audiences, something that wasn’t a “pretty boy.” Nier is much this kind of character. So much so that, apparently, they released a second version of the game in Japan which is exactly the same, but they replaced him with a Teenage Pretty Boy, which just kind of blows my mind. I don’t know why they would do that to a character who is very deep and very different from your normal protagonist. Even just looking at Nier, you can just tell. This is an older man, middle-aged or maybe even older, with greying hair. He’s strong, sure, but not a buff, “sexy” strong. Instead, he is a hardened over years of hardship strong. He doesn’t look like any other game protagonist, and they don’t achieve that by making him look super-crazy. He’s just a type of guy you don’t see.

I feel like his character (Again, at least as far as I’ve gotten. I haven’t beaten my first playthrough yet) is also a departure from the norm. He’s a “good guy” who is out to help people, but he does it in a very real way. His heart is in the right place, but he doesn’t always feel he can solve any problem he comes across. (At one point he asks, “But what could I do? I’m just a big, dumb guy who hits things. What you need is a doctor.”) At the same time, it’s not in a dramatic despair way. If he can’t help, he can’t, which sucks, but that’s really all there is to it. He has a lower intelligence stat, but a high wisdom, if you’re using DnD sort of terms. When he’s nice, he’s doing it because he feels it’s important, but also because he is definitely getting something out of it. He’s helping his daughter in all he does, but if he can help out some others on the way, all the better. He’s a single father who is a bit awkward around his daughter, trying to be a good dad while also having to run around and fight to cure her of illness.

Is any of this rambling making sense? He’s a powerful character because his looks dodge stereotypes in a mostly realistic way, and his character is built with actual realistic motivations for doing the huge number of bullshit things your normal RPG hero does everyday. On top of that, the dialog and banter in the game is really top notch and by far the best thing about it thus far. This, from a game where you can ride a boar and use it to DRIFT AROUND CORNERS. So yeah, this is pretty solid dialog I’m talking about here, and the voice actor for Nier does a great job of selling it, too.

Nier is certainly one of the strongest, most well-thought-out protagonists I’ve seen since, say, Francis York Morgan. (That’s supposed to be a compliment. If there’s one thing about Deadly Premonition that works, it’s that Francis York Morgan is a completely realized and internally consistent character who is completely interesting to watch and learn things about.) I really look forward to seeing the rest of the game, and the twists it supposedly throws into things. If you enjoy games that are sometimes a little off, but do really amazing, interesting stuff in the game design space, you really should give Nier a shot as well. I waited awhile, but I’m very glad I got to it.