16 Years Ago Today, Square Enix Revolutionized Storytelling in Video Games With 'Nier'

Profits in the video game industry have boomed in recent years. Typically, more money means bigger, more expensive, and riskier products. 16 years ago, publisher Square Enix and developer Cavia took one of the biggest gambles possible with a video game, and that game has since gone down in history as a testament to what is possible with creative storytelling in video games.

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the original release of Nierin Asia and Australia (the game would release in Europe on April 23 and in North America on April 27). The action JRPG would break away from Square Enix's popular franchises, such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, and serve as a spin-off of the classic Drakengard series. While the gameplay design is often criticized, the story and narrative design were widely praised.

Featuring a unique way of telling its story, Nier allows players to play through the game multiple times from a different story perspective, slowly adding more lore, characterization, and endings to the base story. After "finishing" the game once, players can then continue playing the game, go back in the story to the point where they free one of the main characters, and continue playing the game again until they reach the end again.

Then a second ending is unlocked, and players can do it again to obtain the third and fourth endings. Each playthrough adds more story to the experience, and also introduces new elements that were not present on the first playthrough, requiring multiple playthroughs to fully "complete" the game.

At the end of the fourth playthrough, Nier goes meta and actually deletes the users' save files until the player gets the final, new ending, which was added with the remastered game, Nier Replicant, which was released in 2021 (similar to experiences players might have had with a Metal Gear Solid game).

An expanded narrative structure would be used again in the game's sequel, Nier: Automata. Nier: Automata's critical and commercial success would allow the remaster of the original Nier to see the light of day.

Nier's narrative design would go on to serve as inspiration for several rougelike titles and even Silent Hill f, which released in September 2025.

According to Metacritic, the original version of Nier is sitting at a 67 metascore, but an 8.6 user score. Most reviews praise the game's story and unique structure, but criticize the gameplay elements.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 6:50 PM.