What was the Japanese reception to Nier crossover?

[Iscah]

Unlike crystal tower and ivalice which made attempts to incorporate things into FFXIV's lore, this was just lazily tacked on. And as much as I love Nier I will not give them a pass on this. They dropped the ball big time. Which is frustrating because there's no reason it couldn't have gotten the CT/Ivalice treatment and worked this into the actual lore and story of FFXIV. They just deliberately chose to go for the lazy crossover story instead.

I don't really want it to integrate itself into the rest of the lore, but the simple thing it needed (and failed) to do was tell an internally coherent story. Maybe you don't get every reference but it should still be an enjoyable story with characters who have personalities and motivations, and the third act should resolve the ideas introduced in earlier ones instead of being completely out of left field.

[Maltothoris]

One thing that confuses me is why they didn't use voice acting in fights to the same effect as Orbonne Monastery. I feel like that really made things more memorable and was hoping that it would become a trend going forward.

I wouldn't be surprise if they feared some sort of backlash considering they most likely wouldn't of been able to get a hold of the LA-based voice actors that were the voice actors for nier in both regards. It would of meant no Kira Buckland or Kyle McCarley for their respective characters. Personally, I wouldn't care as long the voice acting was good but I've seen the flame wars that can result in different casting or maybe those two had different obligations at the time and couldn't voice their characters. Who knows but the developers.

[Mikita]

Very small sample, but from talking with FC and LS friends (in Japanese on a Japanese server) about the final Nier raid after it was released, a couple things came up a few times:

- The story was a bit anti-climactic or seemed somewhat disjointed, especially if you didn't play the Nier games (most people had not). We're hoping that more of it will make sense with the ongoing weekly content that was unlocked.
- They were hoping for armor styled more after A2 as rewards from the 3rd raid, so there was some disappointment with what we got.

Otherwise, most of my friends were just enjoying the fun and chaos of running newly released content and I haven't really heard real complaints. Then again, complaining openly isn't such a thing here.

[CKNovel]

I genuinely enjoyed it, from the theme, boss fights, and music. Story was somewhat so-so at parts but I can't complain. Most people I know enjoyed at least the raids themselves if not the story.

You just see more complaints as more people are inclined to come to a forum to complain about something than to praise it. Those who are happy with something are usually content with that, with the occasional person wanting to share how happy they are about it.

Those who aren't happy are more likely to go public with it.

I understand the logic, but you can't hide all Nier flaws behind a "Yes but the happy people don't talk".
How about we take it the other way and try to find people who didn't liked Ivalice, Shadow of Mhach or Crystal Tower?
I tried to find topic about complains on Ivalice and Shadow of Mhach but all I found was complains about Ozma difficulty and how players were wiping in Weeping City, how they were giving up.
I also found complaints about how Orbonne Monastery was confusing for those who absolutely didn't touched FFT, how Ultima was badly introduced, you see her, you kill her. Also the glamours were not great.

But those are the only complaints I could find, if someone else can find more, we'd have a much better metric when it comes to feedback.
I even found praise topic aswell.

But Nier is the only raid series so far with such a conflict and negative feedback.
In short: There was much less complaint about previous raid tiers and Ivalice was more praised than negatively criticized.

[MorionQ]

Apparently the raid actually explained a tiny plot hole/loose detail from Drakengard??

[Jandor]

Remember when people were theorizing that maybe the androids were left-over creations of the Ancients? I believe there was even a quest that hinted at it.

Would have been nice if that'd gone anywhere.

[VirusChris]

I'm more disappointed we didn't get to interactive with 2B and 9S that much. THAT'S what I'm most upset about. I didn't mind my Dwarf buddies, but I came for the Androids! Not them!

I even hoped for A2 to show up somehow. I love the raid, it's great fighting them and I haven't played the Drakengard series (I have brought Drakengard 3 with all DLC, but I haven't started it yet) and haven't finished Nier: Automata, but I got the reference in the fights.

However, that was it. References. Even if there's subtle hints for those invested greatly in the Drakengard/Nier lore.

I honestly, think if the story had more Quests to do and and expanded on the Nier characters it might've been a better experience overall. However, in the end... I was barely a crossover. I never got to learn more about the characters being in the FF universe or how they react to others.

The bloody FFXV crossover had better interaction as Noctis hanged out with our WoL and other NPCs and learned about his friends and fight enemies from his world.

So, far the 3rd week of the Rebuild Village Quests sheds a bit more light. However, I'm angry we learn what 2B and 9S did behind the scenes... via messages left behind from another character.

[ItMe]

I understand the logic, but you can't hide all Nier flaws behind a "Yes but the happy people don't talk".

I feel it's extra relevant here because the initial response was so extremely negative that a lot of happy people dont wanna voice their joy only for it to get attacked by a mob.
I'm thoroughly satisfied with the raid, and yet this is my first post even indicating that because I just don't wanna get into it.

Remember when people were theorizing that maybe the androids were left-over creations of the Ancients? I believe there was even a quest that hinted at it.

Would have been nice if that'd gone anywhere.

How could that have remotely been lore consistent?
Do you remember what this quote is?
How could it have gone anywhere if it was just a theory the community generated?

[Wyssahtyn]

How could that have remotely been lore consistent?
Do you remember what this quote is?
How could it have gone anywhere if it was just a theory the community generated?

Responsible Creation sidequest: "... I've been credited with a few popular concepts, I'm proud to say. I'm hoping that my latest will be equally well received: autonomous figures. ... Autonomy notwithstanding, these creations know no fear. They are wholly devoid of emotion, and will without hesitation or resistance engage in any dangerous activity─even if death is assured."

People took the above quotes to mean the Nier androids. Personally I always figured the simpler explanation would be golems or any of the other already extant autonomous creations already present in the lore.

[ItMe]

snip

I had no idea people were connecting that line with Nier.
I'm with you here, I figured it referred to some kind of Allagan tech.
Thanks for the information~