Should I play Nier or Ico

Start with Nier. When you begin to get bored, play through Ico and then return to Nier.

Yeah, a second playthrough is absolutely required to get the most out of Nier. There's a lot more to the 2nd playthrough than just a new ending. After that you can just look up the 3rd and 4th endings on Youtube.

Thanks everyone. You guys were right, Ico is super short, I already beat it. Great game. Guess I'll go play Nier now. Anyone have an estimate of how long it will take to get the real ending?

Both ICO and Nier have some amazing aspects but they're both also very flawed games. The combat in ICO is so thoroughly awful in every respect, and makes up about half the game, that it nearly ruined it for me. Nier is just kind of middling in most respects.

Ico

Let's ask the more pressing question here. Is there a good reason to do all the side quests in Nier? I feel like I read somewhere that there is some sort of narrative business attached to completing all of them. Like there's an overarching narrative to the side quests or something. Can someone set me straight on that? Cause I'm considering going back through to finish out the achievements, cause that's a game I'd like to have a thousand points in, and I'm questioning how bad I want to catch stupid fish for assholes around town.

(Just a recommendation)

You should try out Castlevania: Lament of Innocence its on psn for 10 bucks. If your looking for another action adventure game.

I've been playing this game and its pretty kickass. You get to unlock different types of moves with the whip, and use different and pretty badass magic powers. The game kinda feels similar to games such as the original Devil May Cry, or onimusha. There's also some exploration and unlockables. Overall if your looking for a fun action game its worth checking out.

Didn't like Ico that much and haven't played Nier. I don't know why I'm posting here really. Fuck games.

I've been meaning to play Nier for a long time so I'd go with that.

If you're going for all the achievements it'll take 100 hours. If you critical path it then it can take 18-25 hours.

Ico is a wonderful atmospheric game that won't take you that long to beat so get that one out of the way first.

@animasta: Maybe you genuinely like Nier. You're lying when you say it's the best game you've ever played though. You know it. I know it. You're being way too protective of it because you know it's a game that most people didn't like and that's clouding your thinking.

This.

I think.

@falserelic: I would, but currently I'm in a situation where I can only play games I already have.

If you want I can hook you up with a code for Might and Magic 1-9 that I got from the GOG sale. That way you don't have to slog through Neir or pay money for things.

Different people have different tastes. And Nier has enough crazy, imaginative stuff in it that I could see why someone would say it's their all-time favorite.

@arbitrarywater: Might and Magic 1-9 is approximately 600 hours of gameplay (400 from VI alone). I think the dude's looking for something to tide him over until the lackadaisical Summer release schedule has passed, not planning for his retirement.

The thing about this whole "two playthroughs to get the most out of Nier" business - the second playthrough (and every subsequent one) starts you off at the game's halfway point. It's convenient. The third and fourth endings are probably not worth chasing after given you need to find all the weapons to unlock them (hence, YouTube) but I guess your desire to follow through with it would depend on how much you enjoyed the first two runs.

nope! I am not. No game has made me feel as emotional as I have with Nier... plus it's funny, it's charming, it tells it's story in ways games rarely do, and it does it so well that you're surprised it works as well as it does.

I really don't give a shit about gameplay beyond if it's good or not; great gameplay doesn't automatically mean it's one of my favorites. The story is the reason games resonate with me as much as some do, and Nier does it better than literally anyone else.

I mean unless you're one of those people that have such a strict definition of best that me admitted there's some problems with it would automatically make it not the best.

both

Ico, it's short and would be quick to get out of the way. Then you could jump fully into Nier.

They say that, if you've completed all of the side mission and maxed out all of the weapons, you can hear the game's director, Taro Yoko, laughing through the fourth ending.

@mento said:

Oh puh-lease. Might and Magic VI is only like 100 or so hours without a guide, but if he follows this speedrun he could do it in 42 minutes! It's World of Xeen you have to look out for, since it's two already lengthy games merged together. Once you get past those and ignore the first two, the rest fall in the 30-40 hour range.

As I understand it, Ico is a classic. I have not played it yet though. I have played Nier and I loved the shit out of it. It was so weird. And I really liked the characters. It is definitely not a polished game but it is definitely something worth trying. So please do give it a try

I will take your code if you are offering sir, but you may be disappointed how long it takes me to play them.

I finished both of these! How long could it possibly take to beat The Last of Us? Grumble grumble.

@hunter5024: Did you get ending B?

Last of us is like 15-20 hours.

All I could think about when I saw that someone was talking shit about Nier was that :@Animasta was going to let em' have it. Which BTW I agree with her cause Nier is awesome. So my vote is Nier.

@petiew: I did. I guess I'm just faster than him. Oh well.