Part 3: Episode III: Years Later...

Episode III: Years Later...


Well, that was getting kind of depressing back there.. Let's see how things are hanging in 3361....

...

Wait, WHAT?!

Music: Village Room Ambience


We now resume your regularly scheduled program of the Nier Show...


...starring Barbarian Gary Busey as Papa Nier.


"All right, I'm off."


Welcome to Nier and Yonah's house. It is a bit of a step-up from the burnt out Piggly-Wiggly they were holed up in earlier, to say the least.


"Mmm?"
"See, I was in it, and you were in it too, and we were riding around on this huge pink cloud, and then-"
Oh gods, this is going to end up with me dancing like a ballerina again, isn't it? Time to bail.
"Yonah? I'm sorry. I have to go. You can tell me when I get back."
"Oh, wait! Can you get me a book while you're out?"
"Sure. Now stay here and rest. We can't have your cough coming back."

Nier heads downstairs...


Apparently, Nier's home wastes a shit load of space on a staircase that wraps around the entire house, seeing as the exit to Yonah's room upstairs is on the left and he emerges on back on the right downstairs. But, that won't exactly be the first or remotely oddest architecture anomaly.


You may notice some shiny junk scattered about the room. These are, unsurprisingly, items. There are items all over the damn place and they respawn often, even in Nier's house. Medical herbs, the very most basic healing item, in particular are just growing on trees. Literally. There is a tree right outside you can pluck one off. But, that isn't a bad thing...at this point...

Nier heads outside...

Music: Village Outdoors


"I should go to the library and see what Popola's up to."


I've gotta say, Nier has a pretty swanky place. We will be stopping by here quite often to visit and check-up on Yonah.




Welcome to Nier's Village, the primary hub location of NIER. It is a safe haven we can return to in order to automatically heal up, obtain sidequests, and all that sort of jazz. Nier and Yonah live on the outskirts of town, but the place is pretty bustling with activities, shops, and what have you. We'll check that out later...


Right now, we are tasked with visiting Popola in the Library to the north end of the village, just a ways outside Nier's pad. So, let's go take care of that so we can get our bearings on this sudden random timeskip.


Just outside Nier's home is a mailbox. Mailboxes are save points. The idea is Nier is writing letters home to Yonah when he's out wrecking shit up and the like. How sweet.

A quick jog up the hill to the library...




Huh...that's one solid looking library. Popola, the closest thing the village has to an administrator, hangs out in the upper floor loft of the main hall of the fortress book depository.

Music: Village Room Ambience




Popola is usually at her desk here in her office. You'll notice the little word bubble above her head. Anyone with one of these is a trigger for a quest. A main line quest, usually in Popola's case. But, random jerks with sidequests will have the same deal. It is pretty handy for when wandering around town looking for work. But, we'll get to that later on as well.


"Her cough isn't any better."
"Hmm...that's worrisome. I hope she gets well soon."
"Me too. I feel so helpless. Other than making sure she eats properly, there just isn't much I can do for her. ...Most days I feel like a total failure."
"Oh, stop that! You're the finest father a girl could hope to have. What's little Yonah been up to today?"
<shrug> "I dunno...girly shit?"
"Well anyway, I was hoping you could take care of this for me. I got a request from someone in the shopping district. They need you to get some mutton from the northern plains."
"What from where now...?"
"Sheep meat. The field north of town."
"Ah...stabbing stuff. Nice. Got it. I'm on my way."


Popola also hooks us up with a map of the Northern Plains and gives a little tutorial. Basically, for the main quest: if you are stuck - run toward the RED X! There is no point in the game where the big RED X will lead you in the wrong direction. RED X! RED X!!!!


"Would you mind purchasing three medical herbs from the client while you're at it? I used my last one earlier. Here's some money."


Popola hooks us up with 1000 gold for the herbs. These...literally grow out of the ground everywhere. I picked up two just walking over here.


"Well then, buy some for Yonah while you're at it. "
"You don't have to-"
"It's okay. Really."
"Thank, Popola. ...For everything."
"Huh?"
"You know? All the work you give me. You've been telling the villagers that I'm for hire, haven't you?"
"Oh, that? It's nothing. They need help, and you need money to take care of Yonah. This way everyone wins."
"I suppose so."
"You know, you could always join the town guard if you wanted steady work instead of these odd-jobs."
"We've gone over this, Popola... I've seen those uniforms. They include a shirt... The day I wear a shirt is the day you put it on my cold dead body!"
"Okay, okay...it doesn't need to come to that. Just saying..."


So yeah, Nier's skill set is basically "burly guy...can carry heavy stuff and stab junk" so his jobs, and subsequently the sidequests of NIER, are...mostly along those limited lines. It seems Yonah has taken it upon herself to go fetch her own book, since Papa Nier probably forgot about her request about 1.62 seconds after it was made. That, or the last book he brought home was "An Outdoorsman's Guide to Skinning Big Game."


"Oh! Hey, Dad!"
"Dammit, Yonah. You know you're too sick to be outside! Look at you. Now your ribbon is coming undone and everything... That took me like an hour to put together. You know how bad I am with girl stuff!"
"S-sorry, Dad. I just thought...I thought maybe I'd go to the library and see if they had any books about my sickness."
"Yonah... Just let me worry about that, all right? You just need to eat and sleep and focus on getting better. If you do that, your illness will take care of itself."
"...You really think so?"
"Yeah, I do. Listen, I've got a lot of work to do, so I'll be back in a while. Okay?"
"Okay!"

Near heads back outside. We are treated to a fly over of the Village as Nier narrates the situation...

Music: Village Outdoors


"Our world is dying. Once thriving populations now lie decimated by plague and disease. ...The end has never felt so close."


"And if that wasn't enough, monsters called Shades now roam the land, threatening our very lives."


"But that's of no consequence to me. My daughter is sick, and my only concern is to give her a better life."


"I try my best, but I am only one man, and a hard one at that. So the kindness of the villagers has meant much."


"Nothing will stop me. I will fight for Yonah until the end."














"...Until the very end."






Village Narration



Music: Village Room Ambience
Music: Village Outdoors




Papa Nier Render - Cavia continues their tradition of heroes wearing beach oriented footwear. Oh well, at least it isn't Crocs like Caim...