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Darth TNT
Sep 20, 2013
Live the dream kid, live the dream. :unsmith:

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Arkanumzilong
Sep 10, 2016

Josuke Higashikata posted:

Square-Enix say NieR is now a significant franchise moving forward because Automata has killed it in sales.

While I am happy to hear that
It also worries me due to how squeenix normally treats its significant franchises

Ryoga
Sep 10, 2003
Eternally Lost

Josuke Higashikata posted:

Square-Enix say NieR is now a significant franchise moving forward because Automata has killed it in sales.

Can't wait to see DrakeNier Zero: Red Eyes Profile.

Josuke Higashikata
Mar 7, 2013


How do you make a low budget awful quality Drakengard cash-in that isn't Drakengard 2 now that the Taroverse is prime milking material.

Is it possible to make a worse Drakengard than Drakengard 2?
I'm ready to find out.

jyrque
Sep 4, 2011

Gravy Boat 2k
Gun Soccer is finally greenlighted by Square Enix.

CommissarMega
Nov 18, 2008

THUNDERDOME LOSER
I unironically want Drakenier High School with Math Teacher Caim :allears:

CommissarMega fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Sep 22, 2017

Sage Grimm
Feb 18, 2013

Let's go explorin' little dude!
"..."

*scribbles DECIMATE on chalkboard*

The Sandman
Jun 23, 2013

Okay!

So, I've, like, designed a really sweet attack plan that I'm calling Attack Plan Ded Moroz, like "Deadmau5!"

WUB!

Josuke Higashikata posted:

How do you make a low budget awful quality Drakengard cash-in that isn't Drakengard 2 now that the Taroverse is prime milking material.

Is it possible to make a worse Drakengard than Drakengard 2?
I'm ready to find out.

There's Nowe that's possible.

Arkanumzilong
Sep 10, 2016

The Sandman posted:

There's Nowe that's possible.

You make a drakengard 4 staring nowe and manah's offspring as the protagonists

FeyerbrandX
Oct 9, 2012

Sage Grimm posted:

"..."

*scribbles DECIMATE on chalkboard*

*Now class find the remainder*

*And nullify it*

Omobono
Feb 19, 2013

That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

Please don't give them ideas.

E: although DrakeNier High could be made to work somehow, as long as it wouldn't take itself seriously.

Omobono fucked around with this message at 15:02 on Sep 22, 2017

Kuroyama
Sep 15, 2012
no fucking Anime in GiP

Omobono posted:

Please don't give them ideas.

E: although DrakeNier High could be made to work somehow, as long as it wouldn't take itself seriously.

Instead of a rhythm game, Drakengard 4's final route will be a dating sim.

Malachite_Dragon
Mar 31, 2010

Weaving Merry Christmas magic
Persona style Social links, you must have murdered enough people to make your party like you to get the good ending

McDragon
Sep 11, 2007

I was going to say a Nier world in Kingdom Hearts but no. Just let Taro Yoko design one. :kheldragar:

megane
Jun 20, 2008



Sora, Donald, Goofy, I'm glad you could finally loving make it. You're just in time to help me stab the poo poo out of my goddamn sisters... every... last... one.

RareAcumen
Dec 28, 2012




Josuke Higashikata posted:

Square-Enix say NieR is now a significant franchise moving forward because Automata has killed it in sales.

Should've let ol' Taro design Lara. At least they know better now.

Nina
Oct 9, 2016

Invisible werewolf (entirely visible, not actually a wolf)

McDragon posted:

I was going to say a Nier world in Kingdom Hearts but no. Just let Taro Yoko design one. :kheldragar:

I'm seriously rooting for Emil as a guest character. He's so iconic now

TheGreatEvilKing
Mar 28, 2016





jyrque posted:

Gun Soccer is finally greenlighted by Square Enix.

But this would be actually good...

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.
I can't wait until the inevitable Nier Automata mobile phone game

Andyzero
May 22, 2009

I used to spoil, I'm sorry.
The Nier level in Kingdom Hearts 5.

Yeowch!!! My Balls!!!
May 31, 2006

Andyzero posted:

The Nier level in Kingdom Hearts 5.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, we're an Everyman, a small excitable wizard, and a tall slow on the uptake murder machine under attack by some kind of weird half-human soulless things that are secretly just trying to get by, all because someone hosed with our heads and gave us artificial memories. Get out that keyblade and help us kill us already."

Frionnel
May 7, 2010

Friends are what make testing worth it.
Kingdom Hearts NieR means that every keyblade will get horrible weapons stories? Because i'd love to find out that Sweet Memories was created when a princess of a far-away land tore out the heart of it's baby child or whatever.

GOI
Aug 26, 2015
The main problem of 2 is it try's to pretend it is something it's not.

An artificial weapon created as the super weapon of two warring factions and has gained a will of it's own that prevents it from using it's power when following someone else's orders. I think that's a Drakengard enough character what do you lot think.

Well good to see that pascal is still nice and kind also sorry pascal but this is a yoko tara world so your village changes of surviving are dropping as the routes continue.

Also Caim would make a great Nobody ally since he would be a super baddass who basically doesn't care about anything expecassilay if someone befriend angelus(Red)

Pata Pata Pata Pon
Jun 20, 2007

Andyzero posted:

The Nier level in Kingdom Hearts 5.

This is literally the only thing that would ever get me to play a Kingdom Hearts game again.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

McDragon posted:

I was going to say a Nier world in Kingdom Hearts but no. Just let Taro Yoko design one. :kheldragar:
gently caress it, have Caim and Angelus be a bonus boss fight that can TPK from minute one unless you know precisely how to dodge their attacks. Which requires carefully listening to the boss fight music because the dodge times are synced up to sections of the song's melody.


Jokes aside, Keichi Okabe and Yoko Shimomura working as a tag-team on the soundtrack would be absolutely glorious.

Magil of Shadow
Dec 28, 2009

Proposal: Form a friendly relationship immediately.

"You have GOT to be kidding me"

AradoBalanga posted:

gently caress it, have Caim and Angelus be a bonus boss fight that can TPK from minute one unless you know precisely how to dodge their attacks. Which requires carefully listening to the boss fight music because the dodge times are synced up to sections of the song's melody.


Jokes aside, Keichi Okabe and Yoko Shimomura working as a tag-team on the soundtrack would be absolutely glorious.

Going BACK to the joke for a second, I would straight up LOVE to see Caim, in some way or another, be a bonus boss for the series. gently caress having Sephiroth for the third time in a row, gimme someone more deserving of the hype.


Then, at the end of the fight, Caim goes and reveals that he too has a Keyblade, because if we're going balls out, we might as well go all the way.

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


They should give you a choice between going up against Caim or Angelus, and make Angelus the easier fight.

Qrr
Aug 14, 2015


ultrafilter posted:

They should give you a choice between going up against Caim or Angelus, and make Angelus the easier fight.

That's what Drakengard 2 did. For all the issues that game had, it's fantastic that, when the main characters are faced with the choice of either killing a dragon or a human, they choose correctly and go for the dragon.

AirborneNinja
Jul 27, 2009

Caim and Angelus were handled very well in Drakengard 2.

i am tim!
Jan 5, 2005

God damn it, where are my ant keys?! I'm gonna miss my flight!
Yeah, for all the other "bad sequel" type faults Drakengard 2 has I'm a little shocked that they didn't mess up the main characters from the previous game. They really hit the nail on the head with Caim.

Malachite_Dragon
Mar 31, 2010

Weaving Merry Christmas magic
To be fair, "murder-happy mute with a chip on his shoulder the size of a small continent that only got bigger after what happened to Angelus" is hard to gently caress up.

Stephen9001
Oct 28, 2013

Malachite_Dragon posted:

To be fair, "murder-happy mute with a chip on his shoulder the size of a small continent that only got bigger after what happened to Angelus" is hard to gently caress up.

I disagree. All they had to do to gently caress it up was a cliched "murder man see's the error of his ways and stops being such a murder man". Or have him somehow "get over" what happend to Angelus.

I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude.

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Stephen9001 posted:

I disagree. All they had to do to gently caress it up was a cliched "murder man see's the error of his ways and stops being such a murder man". Or have him somehow "get over" what happend to Angelus.

Well, I guess he kind of does save Nowe and give some approval of what he's doing, but only as a means to an end to save Angelus from tortured madness.

The Dark Id
Aug 13, 2005

Why
you
know
I
LOVE
THIS SHIT !!!!
[citation needed]
Episode XC: The Lord of the Valley


Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)




It’s not happening, 9S. That nickname is NEVER happening. 2B could be surrounded by molten lava in a volcano while the Grotesqueries descend upon her and the only way of getting out of that pinch is to call you “Nines” and she’d still go “Ehh... I’m good.” Let it go, man...



Today’s expedition finally takes us to the Forest Zone after weeks of avoiding it in favor of messing about with every favor, errand and assorted task found across post-apocalyptic Japan. But we’ve got a few things to take care of before we progress fully with main plot threads.



First up, there’s another locked chest that 9S needs to address located just to the right of the entrance to the shopping mall ruins. Appropriately enough, it contains a Department Store Flyer. Let’s see the hot sales on tap this weekend only (while supplies last)!



You hate to see local businesses driven out by the ill effects of late stage capitalism and also an encroaching apocalypse stifling their ability to stay competitive in these trying times.

Music: ENDS



Apparently it’s something called a “shopping center” or “mall.” Records say, human teens used to loiter here to pass the time between sleep and educational training.
What’s a “teen”?
...I have no idea.






Before we progress, there’s one small bit of business we need to attend to in order to stay up to date on our completionism streak. Despite not having actually met Emil in this timeline, we’ve still got the key to his Kainé sanctuary at the bottom of the mall. Let’s head down there briefly.


Music: Kainé Salvation




Yep. Still real pretty. So why are we back down here, other than to enjoy the music and take in the atmosphere?



Well there’s another locked chest in here to loot. Hey, Emil invited us down here... in another continuity that both has and has not occurred... I’m sure he’s cool with 9S rummaging through junk and stuffing it in his pocket. He’s a nice boy like that. Appropriately, there is another Project Gestalt report. Let’s see what we’ve got...



Eh... What’s the worst that can happen with the artificial humans gaining sapience? What, is one of them going to flip their poo poo and go on a genocidal rampage resulting in the complete collapse of the program and the dooming of humanity? What are the odds of that even happening? Tch. What’s next? An alien invasion. File this poo poo under “not a problem” and don’t waste my time with these frivolous worrywart reports.

Music: ENDS





We might find reason to return to the Kainé memorial one more time before the game ends. But that’s long off in the future. For now, let’s get back on track with meeting the Top Boy all over again...





Um... What’s that?
An orb.
Hey there, guys! What’s up!?
It’s talking.
Correction: A talking orb.
Hey, what’s up with the blindfolds? I used to wear one of those a long time ago. I wasn’t blind or anything. My eyes turned people into stone. Long story. I bet it’d be real hard to wear one now. It’d probably just slide off unless you tied it REAL tight. But I’ll give it a tr—
This thing’s weird, 2B. Let’s kill it.
Wait, what? No! Hold on!
Good idea.
Nooooooo! <speeds off>



Okay, what WAS that?!
Proposal: Newly rebranded mascot character of franchise due to unusual appearance.
...A what now?
No further data found.
Let’s just go.
Er, right.



Music: Forest Kingdom (Quiet)




The way to the Forest Zone is now open. The Resistance has already set up shop here thanks to that earlier sidequest. You guys couldn’t have opened that gate for us? Thanks for nothing, guys.





As before, we’re immediately attacked by the Forest Kingdom’s patrolling soldiers as soon as we enter the Forest Zone proper. Gameplaywise, the remainder of this chapter is identical. We simply need to fi—



Music: ENDS





This forest we are stationed in... It is hot. Humid. Unhygienic. A punishing hell for machine lifeforms. None should have to live in such a place.
......
I have decided. I shall make this our kingdom and declare our independence!

After a long silence, one of the machines raises its hand.



What’s a kingdom?
Well, it’s... sort of... like... a large house. And inside this house, all of our people live together as family.
Fam... ily...



<fist pumps> I suppose a family might be... good?
<jumps> Yeah! Families are good!




Music: Forest Kingdom (Quiet)




—ind this chest hidden beneath a tree just to the northwest of the bridge connecting the two halves of the Forest Zone. Doing a quick hack-job with 9S results in...



No idea what this is supposed to be referencing. But the last time anything involved dolls and the woods in this series it was a bad scene involving a magic songstress who stuffed the souls of soldiers she boned into magic golems and... You know what? Forget it. Let’s just continue on our way.



Before we head into the Forest Kingdom’s stronghold to the south, we’ve got one final proper sidequest left in Route B. Indeed, this one was available back in Route A but we opted to pass it by due to it being WAY out of our league for the first run of the game.





If we head south from the City Ruins entrance to the Forest Zone, just past the cave were we picked up the Dragoon Lance and found a Lunar Tear for Emil’s Memories sidequest, there is a series of rocky outcroppings we can use to descend into the ravine dividing the Forest Zone in two.

Music: ENDS





The path down into the valley is mostly un-noteworthy, other than a chest containing Power Up Part M (a unique part needed to bring one of our Pods to Level 3.) However, as we reach the very bottom we come upon a non-hostile Enhanced Stubby hanging out by the entrance to a cavern. What’s your deal, little buddy?



Then you must be here to kill me. I’ve lived long enough. I only ask that you not make it too painful.
<Spare her.>
Why do you not strike?
Because you have no desire to fight. You’re like the machines in Pascal’s village. If you don’t attempt to harm us, we have no cause for quarrel.
You know Pascal? I see... Still, you should be careful.
Of what?
Some of our kind can be violent. They are beyond our control. They attack everything they see, be it friend or foe. Many of these machines are waiting in the canyon ahead. You would be wise to keep your distance.



Thus begins the final proper sidequest of Route B: the Lord of the Valley. Which involves completely ignoring this machine’s warning and going hog on any hostiles we find ahead.



Proposal: Unit 2B should eliminate the hostile machines.



One of those clunky, video game rear end boxes that exist solely to prevent sequence breaking must be shoved out of the way in order to reach further into the valley. There’s actually another way to get into the area ahead, as you’ll see in a moment.





Look at all the corpses. Is this some kind of graveyard?

No. Graveyard isn’t the right word. Nor is scrap heap, which I’m sure would be your follow up, you little racist. This is more of a... suicide pit.



You may be able to tell from the mini-map’s overlay, but looking up we can see that this is the bottom of the ravine with the rope bridge connecting the City Ruins to the shopping mall ruins.







In fact, there’s an elevator here that leads to an obscured path leading back to the City Ruins. Why would an elevator be installed there of all places? Look, would you want to climb all the way up that incline if you fell in that hole and didn’t die? I didn’t think so.





It’s fully possible for 9S or 2B to cast themselves down to the bottom of the ravine from the bridge. It’s very ill-advised, since it will drop their HP to critical levels (you cannot actually die from fall damage.) But, at least there’s a quick way to return to the surface.





The reason we opted out of this quest in Route A was that it is populated by Level 40-45 enemies that would wreck 2B’s day if we attempted this early. This is another one of those quests, like the Escort Parade, that I feel like it was a mistake to have been triggered during the first playthrough of the game.



Still, they’re not the real issue. This large lad who drops in after the first wave is destroyed, however, is quite an issue. Also it may be slightly chatty...



There’s more!
KILL... KILL... SUCH PAIN... KILL ME...
What’s it saying?
Don’t listen to it, 2B!
KILL... PLEASE... KILL... ME... PLEASE KILL ME.





Meet the Dying Goliath Biped. Other than looking like a 30 foot tall pin cushion and the death wish, this Goliath has no remarkable traits from any of the dozens of other models we’ve taken down. Other than it being Level 50 on top of having a huge mountain of HP. This is the real reason we didn’t take this quest with 2B. Unlike the Golden Machines, which just took forever and a day to kill, this one does likewise but could also one-shot 2B for the duration of Route A.







Of course now, we don’t have to worry about being insta-gibbed by a mistake in a prolonged battle since 9S can just hang back, hack it twice and grant the Dying Goliath its wish. Where’s the YoRHa androids wielding 20 foot stakes? I feel like we’re missing out.



It was talking. Maybe that machine who sent us here knows something about this. We should try asking her.



Yeah, we could do that. But we’ve still got business to attend to down in this canyon. Near the waterfall where the Dying Goliath fell are a pair of chests. One has an electronic lock and the other is free to open. Going with 9S’s specialty reveals a Weapon Shop Flyer.



It’s good to see Accord’s time traveling, pan-dimensional weapon acquisition and flipping enterprise is thriving. Canonically, the only relevant thing from Drakengard 2 to the rest of the Drakenier series was that at some point Accord stopped by that timeline to grab a few spiffy weapons nobody was using any more. The end. That’s literally it.



Fittingly, the unlocked chest next to the flyer contains a free sample of Accord’s wares.



The Phoenix Dagger is a returning weapon from the original NieR. In that game it was purchased from a vendor in the town of Seafront for a hefty sum. This go around, the Phoenix Dagger gains ATK Speed Up with its upgrades. At maximum level, it is augmented with Phoenix Flash which grants a random chance of restoring HP when damaging enemies. Overall, it’s nothing special. But the weapon story...

Phoenix Dagger posted:



The girl lay there on the day of her wedding. Her parents and
beloved were dead, and she herself had been violated in front of
their corpses. As she swore to kill those who had done this
terrible deed, a shining songbird appeared.

"Allow me to grant your wish," said the bird. "Wish upon this
dagger, and never forget this hatred that you feel." The girl
grasped the weapon and spat out a tearful curse: "I vow not to
forget. Please! Give them a painful death!"

Time passed, and eventually, she got her revenge. Years later,
when she was an old woman, the songbird appeared anew. "What
of your vow?" it asked. But she did not understand. And come
to think of it, what became of her beloved dagger?"

That night, bandits broke into her house, assaulted her daughter,
and murdered her grandchild. The songbird then reappeared with
a single question: "How long will your hatred burn this time?”

Welp... That one was a bit dark. The previous incarnation of this weapon’s story just had a bird tell a girl that her man was a cheating busta, so when he returned and as much was confirmed she cut his heart out. You know... so it wouldn’t wander again. I guess Accord really punched up the grim dark for modern consumption. You know how jaded these androids get after a few thousand years of endless war.

Anyway, back to the quest giver we go...


Music: Voice of No Return (Vocal)




We have a question about the machines in the canyon.
Yes. Very dangerous. You should avoid them.
Actually, we already took care of them.
You what!?
......
...I see. Then perhaps they can finally reach heaven.
Come again?
Many machines have thrown themselves into that canyon of late. They were trying to hurt themselves beyond repair. You found the remains of those who succeeded... and fought those who did not. I know not what would drive them to do such a thing... But I pray regardless that their souls might reach heaven. ...Here. A gift for you. Thank you for killing them.





For our efforts we get a suite of sort of useless chips. Taunt Up can be used to exploit high level enemies like the Lord of the Valley into being dealt with early in exchange for absolutely guaranteeing it will one-shot our androids if they flub it. In any case, that concludes the final sidequest of Route B. Our total completion is now at 80%. Hmm...



The Canyon Machine also becomes a Plug-in Chip vendor and is capable of fusing chips if we cannot be bothered to go back to the Bunker or Resistance Camp merchants. Nothing this machine sells is of any particular note. As 2B and 9S depart from the valley, they have one final conversation about the mission.



Souls and heaven, huh? Do either of those things exist?
They’ll find out in the end.
......
And so will we.
Okay, that’s grim.



Tune in next time as we close out this chapter with an assault on the Forest Kingdom's castle, the collection of the final Route B weapons and maybe a cameo by the third android on the box cover for another minute or two as NieR: Automata continues!






Video: Episode 90 Highlight Reel
(You should probably watch this.)





Kainé’s Hut Concept Art – I never realized it’s supposed to be one of those Aerie shipping containers houses broken open and tilted on its side.

The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Sep 25, 2017

Genocyber
Jun 4, 2012

i am tim! posted:

Yeah, for all the other "bad sequel" type faults Drakengard 2 has I'm a little shocked that they didn't mess up the main characters from the previous game. They really hit the nail on the head with Caim.

I mean they basically just made him Black Swordsman Guts. That just so happens to work with his previously established character.

Cirina
Feb 15, 2013

Operation complete.
I'm pretty sure that Enhanced Machine has one feature that the other chip combiners don't have, which is that it can combine chips past +6.

Iretep
Nov 10, 2009
its not much of a feature since theres never any point making chips past +6 im pretty sure.

Qrr
Aug 14, 2015


Eopia posted:

I'm pretty sure that Enhanced Machine has one feature that the other chip combiners don't have, which is that it can combine chips past +6.

Oh wow I'd wondered where +7 and higher chips came from. Huh.

DeafNote
Jun 4, 2014

Only Happy When It Rains
loving birds man

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Nervous
Jan 25, 2005

Why, hello, my little slice of pecan pie.
wrong thread.

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