Well, more like WMG time. Really. I have no idea what the plot really is since the game's not exactly straightforward about a lot of points and I don't have access to any clarifications that have have popped up in Japanese publications. Still waiting on someone to translate Grimoire NieR. But here's my take on it, and will be considered a WIP for a
very long time. It may never get finished for all I know. Anyways, on with the show! First off, story summary.
So we know that the game begins with "Nier" and "Yonah" along in a broken city. They're hiding from the Shades/monsters, but they don't know where they're coming from. It's also snowing during the summer, so it's probably something called a "nuclear winter." However, the "snow" might not even be snow but salt instead. Salt features prominently in the game's reports and dreams from the Forest of Myth. It's also known that Grimoire Noir is there with "Nier," who he eventually asks for help with defending "Yonah." And then when all of the Shades have been taken out, "Nier" checks up on "Yonah" only to see that she has the Black Scrawl. My guess is that she either knowingly or accidentally come in contact with Grimoire Noir, and is undergoing the Gestalt process. In other words, her soul is being decoded to be taken out of her body. Oh, and she's been coughing all this time. Reason? She's probably suffering from the White Chlorination disease. Chloride is a pretty deadly irritant, usually in the form of mustard gas, but there's that mention of salt... Maybe her body's turning into salt? That could explain the subcutaneous tissue mutations mentioned in the loading screen reports. After screaming for help, the game fast forwards to the start of the game.
1312/~1400 years later (Gestalt/RepliCant)
Nier's been taking care of Yonah for a period of time already, taking on jobs to get enough money to lessen her symptoms. Eventually, he tells her about the Lunar Tear and she goes looking for it. At the Lost Shrine. Grimoire Weiss/Weiss/"Weiss-y" is also found there, sealed up, until Nier forcefully removes him from the barrier and awakening Hansel and Gretel. Yes, that's really their names. And then, here's the kicker. Not too many Shades attack you while trying to retrieve Yonah. They start attacking once you have Weiss. The Shades also don't look like they should be bleeding the way they do, and the fact that Weiss absorbs their blood. Noir did it as well during the prologue. So then, what's causing the Shades to attack you when in possession of Weiss? Probably because he's the "false truth" mentioned in the DLC? He's also been stripped of "his" powers, so he and Nier have to go looking for the Sealed Verses. This launches the first half of the game. Dark Blast and Dark Lance here.
Next off, to the Aerie in hopes of finding a Sealed Verse. This is an interesting town once you get to Ending B. The idea is to hunt down massive Shades because Nier believes that it's the key to finding the Sealed Verses and curing Yonah's Black Scrawl. But... You find Kaine. She's not exactly happy to see you. Eventually, a massive Shade does show up and you team up to take it down. Dark Hand here.
Back home, Yonah's feeling even worse, so it's off to Seafront to get a Shaman Fish. Coming here also kicks off a sidequest chain involving the lighthouse lady. Not important to the plot, but it's a nice side-story to go along with the world. It probably made a few people cry too. Oh, and the fisherman. The dialogue between him, Nier and Weiss is absolutely hilarious, but really hits you once you finish the entire chain in the second half of the game. Once you get the fish and the letter from the postman for Popola, it's back home, then to the Junk Heap to get your weapon upgraded before going back to the Aerie.
At the Junk Heap, you need to get the Titanium Alloy for your upgrade. You also meet Jakob and Gideon. After getting the upgrade, the brothers ask you try finding their mother, who's been missing for a week now. So, you go in while Weiss berates you a bit for "meddling" in others' affairs. Eventually, you make it to the deepest parts of the Junk Heap, face off against the boss there (a giant face and detached hands) and find the mother... with her lover. Dead. Weiss had a feeling that there was something going on, while Nier wanted to find her for the brothers' sake. Turned out that the mother wanted to elope with her lover as she had several items with her that hinted to that direction. Nier takes her perfume back to Jakob, and no matter what answer you give Gideon, he'll think that you're lying about his mother being dead. Jakob was already suspicious about her activities, but forgives her for it. He understood that she never wanted to stay there, and a little more info from Grimoire NieR, was actually abused by her husband. After all, she's human, and thus prone to mistakes. Dark Gluttony and next off, the Aerie.
Now that you're back at the Aerie, and you see many Shades. You help out Kaine here, taking out the smaller Shades then eventually the much larger one. It turns out that Kaine wants revenge against it for killing her Grandma (but you don't actually know that until the 2nd time through the game). Once she exacts revenge, she lands on a platform and intends to die there as she's got nothing left to live for. Nier will have none of that, and Weiss obviously disagrees. They eventually convince Kaine to accompany them as she tries to find meaning to her life. Off to Facade as she learns that Yonah has the Black Scrawl and there might be some info there. Dark Phantasm here.
So... You end up in Facade. You can't get in, until Kaine signals to the guards. Now comes the next problem, you don't understand a damn thing the people are saying! Not even Grimoire Weiss understands them. When you make it over to the King's Mansion, you can't get in due to the language barrier, so you go back to the entrance where you meet Fyra. She's mute, so she signs everything. Then gives you a tour while giving Weiss enough to go on about their language and dispensing a few rules here and there because of their Cloud Cuckoolanderness. When they try to see the Prince (the King's dead), it turns out that he's missing. And no one can find him because of all the rules getting in the way. Kaine knows of Rule 1024, and requests to rescue the Prince. Fyra even signs "Screw the rules!" and helps you get to the Barren Temple. She can't enter it due to the rules, so she heads back to Facade. While you're inside the Temple, you have to follow the rules or else... Kaine finds out the hard way and is transported elsewhere. So now you have to find both Kaine and the Prince. After going through the place, following rules (and hopefully not landing in the sand like an idiot), you fight a rather strange boss that requires either pretty good sniping skills, or the mentality to just smash everything in sight. As it turns out, the Prince was looking for a certain mask that the King is required to wear. Cue a funny little Zelda-esque fanfare. After taking the King back, Nier asks about the Black Scrawl. The King's father died from it and there haven't been advances in treating it. Dark Wall here and back to the Village to check up on Yonah.
Yonah's obviously worried, so she asks you to spend the night. You do, and then you get a really messed up dream. About the Forest of Myth and a Sealed Verse. Yonah also had the same dream... After learning more about that Forest from Popola and reading a really weird letter about a dream from them, off you go~ When you get there, you speak with the Mayor, then catch the Deathdream. Cue Interface Screw! Text adventure time! The mayor's dream is based on finding the origins of the Dreamdeath virus and how to exit it. Because it's based on what a human thinks and dreams about, the imagination is all it takes to cure it, but you're also bound by the rules of the words. The mayor is cured, then it's off to cure the other two residents. Dark Execution here. The woman's dream is really creepy... Almost straight out of a horror book. She was locked up in a castle that was being flooded and wanted to get out desperately. Nier breaks her out of the cell, and you proceed through the castle (north and east all the way). You encounter truly macabre sights like dinner guests pinned onto their seats in a rather spectacularly brutal fashion. Well, as brutal as you can get with only text. When you escape the castle, you find out that she's a woman, and she's cured. Off to the last guy. The dream starts off wandering through a desert until you reach the City of Art. Along the way, Nier's a complete idiot about seeing water/mirages, so much that Weiss smacks him with the cover. Inside of the City, it feels somewhat familiar to him... Full of skyscrapers, different building types, statues. All of it, "modern art." Then you're given a classic riddle to solve, then you free the final resident. Now... why would those sights seems so familiar to people who've never seen a city? Nier doesn't bother thinking much on it, and heads off to home after confirming with the mayor that everyone's free from the curse.
After getting home, Yonah asks if you could do her a favour: help her pen pal. Who happens to be a boy. In the Southern Plains. So off you go. At the manor, everything goes monochrome... and the butler Sebastian escorts you to the dining hall. Kaine falls asleep, you go adventuring! It evokes the feeling of the past survival horror games, like biohazard/Resident evil with the camera angles. Funny enough, the manor manages to creep out Weiss enough to make you go back to check on Kaine. She's also left, and more than likely gotten lost. After going through the courtyard with the "statues," you meet Emil. You get a map and you try to find Sebastian in his quarters. And there's a room that has a sink open its tap to fill it up with "blood." After finding the butler, it turns out that it was him writing the letters to lure Nier to the manor... to help them find a cure for Emil's eyes. He agrees, and they make their way over to the library. While inside to check up on the books, a sentient book attacks. Defeating the Red Book nets you Dark Whirlwind here. The book also explodes leaving a page about how to cure a petrification curse written in code. This gives Emil some hope. After going outside, Kaine has a little chat with Emil, telling him to petrify her if the Shade possessing her goes out of control and that his eyes have a purpose.
How that all the Verses have been collected, Grimoire Noir needs to be tracked down. Checking up on Yonah reveals that her cough had gotten worse, and she needs more medicine. Popola just ran out herself, so you need to get vapor moss. That's when you see Emil wander through the gates by himself... With a warning that there's a huge Shade attack coming, which strikes right when you hear about it. Cue massive boss fight that you probably shouldn't screw around in because those medium-sized Shades aren't that likely to drop Healing Salves. The giant Shade can revive/regenerate parts, so the only real strategy they have is to continue pushing it back while everyone gets to safety at the library. Unfortunately, the Shade reaches the library but you do manage to reduce its size to stuff into the basement. But before you can even think about celebrating, Nier gets stabbed from behind. It narrowly misses his heart, and Grimoire Noir appears with the Shadowlord. Noir tries to get Weiss to merge with him to bring about a new paradise, which garners a rather funny bit from Kaine, including calling him a "little bitch." He snaps out of it, and you proceed to beat up another book. Only this time, you have no magic and need to earn it back. The Shadowlord manages to get away with Yonah, which is really Yonah's Replicant, and Nier gets stabbed again. This time, protecting Weiss. They escape, Kaine's losing control and the Shade is threatening to get out. The only option is to petrify Kaine, so you do so...
Part 1 done.
