Search Results for:

Nier

April 25th

…seek to examine the state and legacy of celebrated, popular franchises through the lens of their most recent tentpole releases (don’t fact check me there on Tetris, there’s like a zillion of those).

  • We’re All* Connected — KRITIQAL Nate Kiernan reflects on Tetris Effect as the apex culimination of Tetris as a vapid, relentlessly-copyrighted Brand–even if it is really pretty in the moment.
  • ‘Nier Replicant’ Beautifully Updates a Classic Oddity, but Can’t Replace It | VICE Dia Lacina savours in the return of Nier to acclaim and attention, while wrestling with the state and nature of canonicity

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May 2nd

…Likewise, ecocriticism is part of it, but not the whole thing. Instead, I might suggest reading these pieces as a series, in the order presented, as a collective walk through the bleak futures we’re accustomed to in speculative fiction, the contemporary crises that inform that bleakness, and the out-of-the-box ideas that point the way toward brighter futures.

  • Game Pile: Syndicate Wars | press.exe Talen Lee revisits Syndicate‘s less-loved sequel, finding a lot of charm in its systems and personality, even if the whole package is a little clunkier than the original.
  • Nier: Automata and The Future of

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May 22nd

…NieR Reincarnation in such detail here. At the same time, the proliferation of handheld-PC platforms suggests an ongoing blurring of boundaries between these historical platform categories with valuable takeaways for developers and critics alike.

  • Here’s Why The Steam Deck Needs a Better Screen | Kotaku Claire Jackson offers a thoughtful analysis of the Steam Deck’s present and future viability as a reading device and a platform for interactive fiction.
  • Difficulty Spikes, Gacha Mechanics, and Luck-Based Progression: Is ‘NieR Reincarnation’ Worth Playing? | Epilogue Gaming Flora Eloise measures how Yoko Taro’s twisty storytelling holds up in a gacha-driven

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September 19th

…talks about ‘Nier – More than just a fishing mini-game’ [mirror]:

Nier is a game about games, a pastiche of the action-adventure/RPG genre and often more besides. To really appreciate what it has to offer you’ve got to be aware of at least some of the clichés it addresses, games it pays homage to and tropes it twists and borrows.

Also discussing Nier this week is Jeff Feeser of Spectacle Rock, who alludes to a line from Bioshock in his piece titled ‘A Slave Cannot Disobey’ [mirror].

At the PopMatters Moving Pixels blog, Kris Ligman…

April 9th

…objectivity from another angle: the act of (self-)observation itself changes the nature of what is being observed.

  • “Glory to Mankind,” by Ed Smith – Bullet Points Monthly Ed Smith argues that Nier: Automata is misanthropic, nihilistic, and misses opportunities to embrace humanity’s complexities.
  • The Trouble with Bodies – First Person Scholar Cayla Coats makes a compelling argument for reading Nier: Automata as a transgender narrative.

    • “The entire conflict of the game is one of problematic bodies. The Gestalts’ inability to control their corresponding Replicants signifies a collective anxiety and mistrust of anatomy—the fear of the…

    July 8th

    …the USA. A live stream of the piece is currently running on Twitch, where it is hoped it will continue 24/7 for one year.

  • “The Erotic Death Drive of Nier: Automata,” by Julie Muncy – Bullet Points Monthly Julie Muncy eloquently argues for a queer reading of Nier: Automata’s horny robots.

    • “For the tragic heroes and villains of Nier: Automata, “the little death” is just death. A sword piercing imitation flesh, blood against leather, eyes locked in love and hate both.”

    The heavy lifting

    There were two pieces this week about a lack

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    Visual Essay Jam roundup

    …focus in on a single game, isolating or creating connections between its most interesting design elements.

    Mark Wonnacott explores types and visual sources of weapon and monster designs from Final Fantasy VII in WEAPONS and monsters. Before Violence is a montage of the gritty shooting violence of Kane & Lynch 2 with its comparatively serene menu screens. Nier and Existentialism exposes well-spotted connections between Nier and other Japanese media that share visual and narrative existential themes, and Infinite Jam uncovers the historical sources of Bioshock Infinite’s patriotic and religious imagery. Beegentle digs into The Vanishing of Ethan Carter to

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    February 26

    …Farr, Aveline’s black heritage and racial markers problematize the series’ otherwise straightforward “Assassin = Good; Templar = Bad” conflict.

  • Gender, Race, and Robot Dinos in Horizon Zero Dawn – Waypoint Danielle Riendeau writes her part of Waypoint’s letter series on Horizon Dawn Zero about how surprisingly beautiful and personal the game felt in spite of its robot dinosaurs.
  • Hardcore Girls and Bullet Hell: A Conversation with the Makers of ‘Nier: Automata’ At Waypoint, Sayem Ahmed sits down with Taro Yoko, Yosuke Saito and Takahisa Taura, three of the main creative voices behind Nier: Automata, to discuss the game’s…

    • March 13th

    We spend time in caves, bedrooms, and bathrooms this week as games critics discuss how to make games cute, politically relevant, and intimate. This week’s roundup comes a little late, but it’s a good one!

    Back to the cave

    We start with some thoughts on storytelling with regard to dire situations, and how visual and narrative techniques can work with the player’s desire to move ahead and explore.

    • Framing Dystopia | ZAM – The Largest Collection of Online Gaming Information Douglas Fry discusses art works placed into the contexts of videogame worlds.
    • Nier, Part

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    Geometric image from Nier: Automata

    April 2nd

    Wondering how to get started on games criticism? This week’s writing happened to feature some great overview articles that give readers an introduction to specific topics, as well as deeper dives on particular games.

    Erode symbols

    It’s a great time for writing on games and architecture right now, and this week has two treasures in that field.

    • An Empty Artifice | Nier Automata | Heterotopias Devin Raposo’s short essay on space in Nier Automata is illustrated by some striking images.
    • Modeling Spatial Game Design with Pinball | vextro leeroy lewin discusses simulation, representation, and

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