Now that they're an expansion ago, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Do you like them? Dislike them? Why? Do they feel like they belong? Were they still fun? If the mechanics simply fun, would you have preferred the same mechanics but in a much more 14 appropriate theme? Did you enjoy the story? What about the post quests story? Did it fit in 14? Do you see them as cursed and forever ruining Alliance Roulette now?
Tell me!
I loved the Nier raids. The soundtrack in particular for them was awesome, and they're the reason I'm now almost finished playing Nier Replicant and getting ready for Automata - I've thoroughly enjoyed Replicant, and I probably would've never even known it existed if not for the crossover in FFXIV. I still enjoy doing them when they pop up in Alliance roulette, especially the 1st and 3rd ones (the 2nd was so-so for me). I had no issue with the theme and I thought they tied it in nicely with the dwarves. The entire game is full of references to past FF games, so I see the theme they used as completely "appropriate." Only strange part for me was what happened at the very end and the apparent unresolved cliffhanger it ended on, but now that I'm playing the Nier games themselves, it's making a bit more "sense" as to the why it ended like that.
The plot was eh. Would have preferred something a little more conclusive (and a little more extreme, but I suppose limitations of T rating can only take you so far in a Yoko Taro story) but it was alright.
The raids themselves were pretty fun, though I wish the final one were more mechanically dense. I know they didn't want to make something as hard as Orbonne again, but I think they overcorrected. I think they could have made the finally raid a little crazier, at least the final boss could have been. But overall I still enjoyed it all, gameplay wise I'd put Nier right after Ivalice (with Ivalice being the best).
Story and lore? Terrible. Yoko Taro is an overrated clown and after him trashing potential for something nice and original in XIV for... *that* I have no interest in touching any more of his "work".
Gameplay was passable but nothing special. Well, I guess lasering another alliance on that one boss in second raid always makes me giggle.
I would give you a more complete answer but the fact that they never ever proc because of the disaster that is the alliance raid roulette means they have long since faded from my memory
But seriously, gameplay was better than most alliance raids (orbonne fun scaith and OZMA being the exceptions) storyline made no sense and it left with me with no desire to play nier, like crossovers from the old FF games I don’t even know until someone tells me because they fit in so well and I don’t play the old FF games but damn if this didn’t feel like a marketing billboard in Limsa in comparison
As a fan of Nier I really enjoyed the overall feel of the expansions, and really liked the story. It has some great characters and lines. I will say I kinda hope we do not get anything third-party like it again, mostly because I would rather we get some more FF14-specific lore.
The story was ok but I enjoyed the hell out of the raids. Copied Factory is probably my favorite alliance raid in both aesthetics and fight design. Nier Automata's music is top tier and continued into FF14.
I liked the raids back in ShB and I still like them now. But tbh, the theme is really out of place for the game and even to this day feels jarring for me.
The story to it was a confusing mess, played it on two different character and it made me 'HUH??? wat'
I loved the music but it's a shame we didn't get to fight the twins from Automata...A game I really loved. But I enjoyed the raids alot personally. Less the bullet hell corridors tho.
Need to replay them again, on launch I found them easier than Ivalice which is my favorite raid series due to the difficulty and reliance on others