NieR: Automata (2017)

I tried liking this game but I really coudn't in the end. The gameplay is addictive and it has somewhat of an interesting story, but I hated everything else.

The map and quest system are a mess. Traveling around is tedious and repetitive... you either have to use the same paths over and over or use a slow teleport system all the time. This seriously hindered my interest in the siquests because of how much it took me to go from point A to B always. I ended up not doing most of them.

The fact you have to play the game multiple times felt unnnecessary. The game could've been easily made to played once swaping between characters. I hated playing as 9S. Worst character I've ever seen. It's also super confusing to play as multiple characters while sharing the same exp, weapons, itens and quests... why do that?

I also gotta add that I hate this japanese/anime style of characters where everyone looks and acts like an emo 16yo. I cringed so hard when I saw the villians Adam and Eve beeing portrait as 2 ripped shirtless 16yo boys with anime hair.

In the end, I felt like this game could've been great (for me) with a few tweaks here and there. I think I'll stay away from anime and open world games for a while.

The game is full of subtle jabs at video game tropes and rehashes and the story is interesting in that I may have skipped sections without even knowing it.

The NewGame+ as 9S started out interesting as well but got tedious after only a couple of hours. I ended up giving up about a quarter of the way through his playback and haven’t come back since.

Which is a shame because there’s a ton of overlapping content in there that rewards interested players, but the combat lost its shine after the first play through and the terrible PC optimization holds this title back from greatness.

PC Notes: 4k@60Hz using a 3090

I really loved this game. You play an android either 2B, 9S or A2 throughout different sections of the story. Your task given you by your superiors is to destroy the machines that have taken over the earth and driven the humans to the moon. Thats the basic premise.

Theres a great sense of atmosphere the whole time you are playing. From the environment, player character/npc and enemy design to all of the music that is beautiful yet sad. The story emotionally got to me as well, making me fall in love with the 3 main characters. Theres lots of twists that I think were pulled off well, with many mindblowing moments. The side quests are also well done with all of them having really deep payoff moments. The combat is really fluid really reminding me of Kingdom Hearts' style. One thing that I can't deny made me angry about it was the hacking minigame. I was fine with them at first especially when they related to story elements but during one section of ascending a tower you have to repeatedly play them as they get more difficult. I hated that section soo much. It made me soo frustrated. Also the graphics weren't the greatest, they weren't bad necessarily they just didn't seem next gen to me ,but that's a welcome trade for me for everything else the game gives.The environments are cool to explore to see what's next if a little bit washed out sometimes, but that might be intentional adding to the sense of loneliness and isolation. The music really surprised me throughout with beautiful vocal parts. Theres also a great dreamlike quality that kept making me coming back. The questions this game asks are really interesting as well, things like why am I here? What's my purpose? And what really matters?

Cons: -The hacking mechanic frustrated me to no end -Not the best graphics

Pros: -Fun and fluid combat -Great deep thinking side quests -Diverse environments -Beautiful reflective music -Character arcs that really pay off -Awesome story that asks the big questions

Overall, I loved this game. Its not without its flaws and probably not for everyone but it was soo worth it for me. This was exactly the type of game I wanted when I first sat down to play, even though I didn't know it at the time. 😜