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Why you should fish, farm, and ride in NIER

by: Chad -
More On: Nier
NIER, the new action-RPG game from Square Enix, will be shipped in 2 months.  You've likely been waiting for more information to be released about the game.  It appears that fishing and farming will play a role in NIER.

Players can cultivate a garden outside of the titular character's house.  Plant flowers, vegetables, fruit and more including rare seeds that produce a special result.  These items can help Nier in battle or to complete a quest.  Or, if you prefer fishing, learn that skill and try the sport on beaches and in rivers.  The press release makes alludes to achievements being unlocked for catching or growing something extremely rare. 

Finally, more details on in-game transportation were revealed.  The game world is large and will be made easier to traverse using various "vehicles."  One of these is a massive boar which is both transportation and weapon.  Another is a boat that can be used as expected. 

See these three aspects in action by looking at the new screens below and read more details in the press release.  NIER is now rated M for Mature and will be shipped on April 27. 

NIER™
Developer: cavia Inc.
Publisher: Square Enix, Inc.
Platforms: PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system/
Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft
Genre: Action-RPG
ESRB: M (Mature)
Ship Date: April 27, 2010

NIER ASSET PACKAGE CONTENT DESCRIPTION
“Cultivating, Fishing and Transportation”

It’s true… NIER is an intense Action-RPG game, but the adventure involves more than just hacking at Shades and casting powerful magic spells. Nier has a home and a daughter. He has a life to lead. Sometimes that involves a spot of fishing or some quiet time growing plants in his garden.

The Fishing and Cultivation gameplay in NIER adds moments of relief to the hectic pace of the epic adventure to save Nier’s daughter. And, with some work, these activities can also lead to completing upper level quests and making more money, money that can be used to purchase new and better weapons and other materials.

In addition, in a vast world like NIER, it can be tedious having to walk everywhere. That’s why Nier will obtain transportation options as the story progresses, including mountable Boars and boats. Below you will find some additional information to go along with the included Transportation screenshots.

CULTIVATING
Players will be able to participate in Cultivation in the garden just outside of Nier’s house. This ability becomes unlocked after progressing into the game.

There are a variety of seeds that Nier can plant in his garden, including flowers, vegetables, fruits, grains and more. In addition, there are rare seeds that are harder to obtain that will produce a special result, whether beneficial to Nier in battle or to complete a quest. Nier will find seeds as he explores the world, while others will fall from defeated enemies.

If the player provides proper care, they will harvest all kinds of materials, which can then be sold at stores throughout the world or given to a person in need. However, if he player forgets about their garden and leaves it unattended, the plantings will not survive.

Some more details:
1. There are several jobs that require certain types of flowers, fruits, or vegetables to be delivered to a client; these can be bought at a store, but you’ll have to grow them if you’re poor!
2. The rare seeds will let you grow rare plants.
1. Sometimes people in the world will ask you to grow these for them as part of a quest
2. Cultivating extremely rare items would certainly be an Achievement to be proud of

FISHING
Fishing is a skill that has to be learned. As the player travels the world and begins exploring the content, they will obtain fishing equipment and be encouraged to learn the trait. Nier can fish at the beaches as well as the rivers.

There are a wide variety of fish that can be caught on a successful fishing attempt. It’s not necessarily the case that Nier will always catch fish; sometimes there is nothing at all. In addition, what Nier catches will vary – sometimes he might catch a really valuable fish or he could catch something completely different.

More details regarding Fishing:
1. There are 20 things Nier can catch through Fishing; some are fish, some are junk
2. There is a progression of fishing quests that will increase Nier’s fishing skill, making it easier to catch certain fish. Nier can’t catch the bigger, more valuable fish until he reaches the appropriate Fishing skill level
3. There is at least one job where you need to catch sharks for a client
4. You can buy some of the fish from the Seaside Town fish vendor after you’ve caught them once
5. Catching a variety of fish and/or an exceedingly high-level fish would certainly be an Achievement to be proud of

TRANSPORTATION
To move around the vast world, Nier has the ability to use various vehicles. Each vehicle will be obtained as the player progresses through the game and fulfills certain conditions. Obtaining transport will allow the player to travel dramatically faster.

Among these vehicles is a mountable Boar. The player can obtain the mountable Boar by completing one of the side quests from an NPC within Nier’s own village.

The mountable Boar not only allows Nier to travel extremely quickly across the vast terrain, but it can be used as a weapon to charge, run over, and kill Shades while traveling. Once unlocked, Boars will be found sitting near the cities and towns just outside the gates, awaiting their master. The Boar’s intense loyalty means that Nier can call for it – anytime, anywhere -- and it will come to him.

In addition to Boars, Nier is also able to travel by boat. Boats become available to Nier after fulfilling conditions. The boat allows the player to travel from location to location very quickly.