Nier is a game with obvious, easily identifiable problems, but it is also a game that does other things well enough those negatives are forgivable. Sure, the endless backtracking and fetch quests will wear on you after a while, but probably not until you have seen two of the four endings and played...

Square Enix opted to release another game this spring, following the launch of their highly anticipated tactical RPG (or whatever you wanna call it) Final Fantasy XIII. NIER was developed by Cavia, a company with a long history and a lot of console games under its belt, not the least of which is...

There's plenty to do in this new world and it's all accompanied by a great soundtrack; and I enjoyed some of the boss fights

You won't be immersed into the game's setting; the story and characters are too bland; the whole game is too repetitive thanks to a vast array of meaningless quests you're sent to complete in a generally boring and empty world

It may not be the prettiest or most polished action-RPG experience available, but Square Enix's Nier is still a fun title in its own right, creatively melding hack-n-slash gameplay with traditional RPG elements, and topped off with a bizarre, yet engrossing story.

Utterly bizarre and engrossing story; great dialogue and character interactions; very cool boss fights

Sadly, these characters represent glimmers of personality in an otherwise unexciting world. There are a few sights with a bit of artistic flair, such as a village in the desert populated by masked eccentrics. You spend more time, however, in Nier's overlarge, unattractive green fields.

Varied elements pulled from different genres; Some cool camera transitions; Great soundtrack

Unending fetch quests; Tedious puzzle sequences; Story takes way too long to get interesting; Combat is easy and boring

You can tell a lot about a game by its name. Nier, for example, is a collection of perfectly fine letters arranged in a nonsensical way. The arranger could have done worse (Iern, Rnei, Einr), and also much better (Erin, Rein).

You can never be sure exactly what you are in for with a Square Enix game. They will usually be epic RPGs with sumptuous graphics, evocative soundtracks and spiky haired angst-ridden emo teenagers playing with swords and magic without proper adult supervision.

The game does start out a bit slow. The storyline is a bit confusing when you start it. The first part has you fighting monsters in a snowy city, and the next part is "1,300 years later." The story can be very mind boggling, unless you actually play through the game.

NIER is Square Enix's latest effort at producing a game that isn't called Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. Two versions, Nier Gestalt and Nier Replicant, were announced in Japan for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 respectively.

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In Japan there are two versions of Nier . Both are the same game, with the only difference being an aesthetically different lead character. The PS3 version has a traditional Japanese and weedy looking, teenage hero, whilst the 360 gets a muscle bound, old and grizzled protagonist.