History VideoGame / NieR

* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Popola]] attempts this on the group, but [[spoiler:Nier and Kainé escape thanks to Emil's HeroicSacrifice]]. [[spoiler:The boar Shade, Goose,]] has a better go at it.

** On NewGamePlus subsequent playthroughs. Not only you can understand boss banter [[spoiler:and it becomes clear they are not there to stop your progression (well, they are, in the sense that the Shadowlord is using them as cannon fodder, but that's not their own personal reason), they attack you because ''you entered their home and are slaughtering their loved ones'']] but collecting all weapons and going through all the endings will end with [[spoiler:your save files being erased.]] Also sidequests in general mock the player, with [=NPCs=] calling you that idiot who'll do anything for cash and one even giving zero reward.

* HopeSpot: The same infobook that reveals the NiceJobBreakingItHero nature of Nier's quest also says that even with that, there's still a small sliver of hope in ending D that mankind isn't completely screwed. Come ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' however, it's made abundantly clear that humanity does go extinct. [[spoiler:Ending E of the ''Replicant'' remake could also count as this, except Kainé and Emil are fully aware that the world might come to an end and choose to cherish their reunion with Nier regardless.]]

* HopeSpot: The same infobook that reveals the NiceJobBreakingItHero nature of Nier's quest also says that even with that, there's still a small sliver of hope in ending D that mankind isn't completely screwed. Come ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' however, it's made abundantly clear that humanity does go extinct. [[spoiler:Ending E of the ''Replicant'' remake could also count as this, except Kain&eacute and Emil are fully aware that the world will come to an end and choose to cherish their reunion with Nier regardless.]]

* HopeSpot: The same infobook that reveals the below NiceJobBreakingItHero also says that even with that, there's still a small sliver of hope in ending D that mankind isn't completely screwed.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Despite being an adult and having muscles Father Nier is only strong enough to use Short Swords in part 1.

* AddressingThePlayer: You can name Nier whatever you want at the start, so he's never called by name; but [[spoiler:you need to re-enter the name you gave him to get Endings A and D.]]

** Getting all the endings [[spoiler:can also be the case of this due to the requirement of collecting all weapons to see the endings from C and beyond. Several of these weapons are locked behind sidequest chains that don't make it obvious that you should pursue them. Unlocking Ending E in the remaster is also a little counter-intuitive, as while the steps required to do so are simple enough (just start a new file after ending D and play up to the Hook boss fight) the very existence of this ending, let alone how to unlock it, is never spelled out within the game.]]

* Getting all the endings [[spoiler:can also be the case of this due to the requirement of collecting all weapons to see the endings from C and beyond. Several of these weapons are locked behind sidequest chains that don't make it obvious that you should pursue them. Unlocking Ending E in the remaster is also a little counter-intuitive, as while the steps required to do so are simple enough (just start a new file after ending D and play up to the Hook boss fight) the very existence of this ending, let alone how to unlock it, is never spelled out within the game.]]

* TutorialFailure: The in-game instructions for the fishing minigame are flat-out wrong. Interestingly, the correct method is actually a lot simpler than the awful tutorial would have you believe.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: ''[=NieR=] Replicant'' features Nier as a teenage boy and a young adult after the TimeSkip; meanwhile, ''[=NieR=] Gestalt'' was developed for non-Japanese audiences with Nier as a gruff, muscular middle-aged man. Since ''[[AllThereInTheManual Grimoire Nier]]'' features mainly his ''Replicant'' version, that is considered the canonical version of the game.

** Though considering that you've just experienced [[spoiler:Kainé's DarkAndTroubledPast, the TearJerker backstory of each boss Shade, the absolute destruction of the Aerie, the betrayal of Popola and Devola, [[KillEmAll their deaths, and the deaths of Fyra, Emil, the King, his Advisor, the Men of the Mask, and Weiss]],]] this is a welcome whiplash.

* KillEmAll: Not in the game itself, whose endings are varying flavors of bittersweet, but creator interviews and Route B of ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' [[spoiler:reveal that humanity eventually went extinct as a result of the events of the game.]]

* BladeOnAStick: Nier can use lances in battle. This also seems to be a WeaponOfChoice for the people of Façade.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:The Grimoires (including Weiss) were originally humans who learned magic and were turned into books by the Gestalt Project, to ensure the operation would succeed. Of course, they were drugged and forced to fight to the death against their will...]]

* AlienSky: A subtle example — there is constant daylight, but the Sun is nowhere to be seen.
** ''[[AllThereInTheManual Grimoire Nier]]'' explains that the cataclysm caused the planet's axis to tilt towards the Sun; it's safe to assume the game takes place along the equator, where the temperature is more tolerable.

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Kainé is wearing little more than a skimpy nightdress, [[CombatStilettos high heels]], and some [[BandageBabe bandages]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] during younger Nier's first meeting with her. Any cutscene where she is not standing straight up (or is even turned around) includes a PantyShot or twelve, and even her panties have a CleavageWindow for her derriere.

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Kainé is wearing little more than a skimpy nightdress, [[CombatStilettos high heels]], and some [[BandageBabe bandages]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] during younger Nier's first meeting with her. Any cutscene where she is not standing straight up (or is even turned around) includes a panty shot or twelve, and even her panties have a CleavageWindow for her derriere.

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Kainé is wearing little more than a skimpy nightdress, [[CombatStilettos high heels]], and some [[BandageBabe bandages]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] during younger Nier's first meeting with her. Any cutscene where she is not standing straight up (or is even turned around) includes a PantyShot or twelve, and even her panties have a CleavageWindow for her derriere.

* AdultFear: Your relative is terminally ill with no apparent cure, when it's already hard enough to make ends meet.

* CreepyChild: One of the short stories also included a Shade in Seafront who takes the form of a creepy little girl.

* CultSoundtrack: The most acclaimed part of the game initially, standing out for its ethereal and haunting vocal tracks. Even as the game gradually received acclaim for its story and characters, the music is still consistently highlighted as a big part of its appeal.
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: At the end (and sometimes in the middle) of a boss fight the hero strikes his enemy with a spell you do have in the gameplay, but an insanely stronger version. Normal Dark Hands lets you pummel the enemies with magical fists larger than a human body, cutscene version crumples a monster larger than a building in its palms.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The western version is normally portrayed as this in trailers, with less emphasis on the plot and more on the fighting style and gore, plus a much grittier, more ruthless protagonist.

* DidntSeeThatComing: Project Gestalt was created to [[spoiler:save humanity from the White Chlorination Syndrome, separating their souls from their bodies before these could be infected by the disease, and creating soulless Replicants to inhabit later, once the disease had vanished]]. They didn't foresee [[spoiler:Replicants gaining sentience]]...

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Most of the canonical extras and out of game material such as the short stories published in Grimoire Nier range from melancholy to very dark, and then we have Emil's drama cd. Where he fights some aliens and shoots Emil Beams. Aliens have nothing to do with the rest of the game or story and yet here they are. This is also the furthest forward we ever see, that is until ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' came out.

[[caption-width-right:350:For the sake of one person, he would destroy everything]]

** The last thing the player does in endings A and D is type the name they gave to the protagonist. [[spoiler:And again in Ending E.]]

* ButThouMust: Thou ''must'' enter a pact with Grimoire Weiss at the Lost Shrine, otherwise the game will keep sending out Shades until you die or accept the pact.

** The weapons from the DLC, "The World Of The Recycled Vessel", rewards the player with weapons, which, besides being quite powerful, are references to [[VideoGame/{{Drakengard}} Caim]].
** In the remaster, one of Yonah's journals mentions running into a random travler named [[VideoGame/Drakengard3 Accord]].

* DeathIsASadThing: Every single death is treated as a significant, tragic, and often pointless occurrence. Their loved ones are always shown to be deeply affected, with even nameless background characters getting a few minutes to be mourned by the main characters. Everytime Nier dies a sidequest where someone dies, both versions of the character are somber and saddened by the update.

** ProtagonistCenteredMorality: During the first playthrough, Nier comes across as very likable and sympathetic. However [[spoiler:the end of the game and the entirety of route B shows that the situation isn't what the players or Nier himself thought, and that during the game he was responsible for murdering countless people, even children, all while being none the wiser because of the forms the Gestalts took. It isn't even that Nier was consciously doing this, he simply didn't know any better and was acting according to what he thought was right based on what he knew, which just makes it even more tragic. In short, it critiques the idea that we should only care about the events of a story in relation to the protagonist, or gloss over the more horrible things they might do, because they aren't the only people whose lives matter. Every story has more than one side to it and sometimes you're the one who happens to be wrong.]]

*** Friendship and relationships are not an excuse for not thinking your actions through. Nier shows time and time again that just invoking ThePowerOfFriendship is shockingly self-centered of him, through this act he is basically saying that his motives are better than that of his opponents because he is doing them for another person, thus dismissing his opponent as people and their reasoning, or even ability to make meaningful connections of their own. Ultimately it is Nier's inability to empathize and him hiding behind his friends in order to justify his actions [[spoiler:that leads to the end of the human race]]

** DarkIsEvil: [[spoiler:The creepy Shades]] [[DarkIsNotEvil are not actually evil,]] but due to the behavior and appearance of the Shades, everyone assumes they are. This leads to a number of [[spoiler:Shades to invoke ThenLetMeBeEvil out of desperation to survive]].

* BodyBackupDrive: The end goal of Project Gestalt was to survive the White Chlorination Syndrome by [[spoiler:separting human souls into Gestalts, which would then inhabit Replicants based on their data. Things went wrong when the Replicants developed intelligence while the Gestalts began to relapse]].

** The dream sequences with the tree Sleeping Beauty are similar to that of Thousand Years of Time stories in ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'

** Everyone dies, it's not pretty, it's not fair and it's never glorious. It's sad, it can be very painful and it's always scary. Nevertheless, everyone dies, and pretending that there is a magical solution that will avert this is an immature and toxic fantasy. The events of the game unfold because Nier doesn't know when to quit in the search of a cure for Yonah's disease, even in the face of little actual evidence, and people don't stop him because they can't break it to him that such a thing cannot possibly exist, [[spoiler:or are using his fantasies for their own gain]]. This only results in [[spoiler:Yonah dying alone, not even able to remember Nier]].
** ThePowerOfFriendship doesn't automatically result in moral righteousness, and it's definitely no excuse to not think for yourself. Nier often tries to justify his actions by claiming that he is doing it for his friends, but such a thing is nothing more than an excuse to satisfy his own bloodlust by using peer pressure. Moreover, he denies the causes of his opponents without caring that they too have friends and family they are trying to protect, effectively denying their ability to have meaningful conections or causes of their own because it would be inconvenient to his point of view. [[spoiler:The result? ''All of humanity is doomed to death'']].