NieR: Automata (2017)

I've finally got chance to give a try to this crazy popular videogame (it has nothing to do with main character's popularity in lewd artist community, right?), and unfortunately it turned out to be not nearly as good as i expected.

Pros:

1. Absolutely beautiful and majestic soundtrack.

2. Pretty fun and fast paced combat, Platinum Games never dissapoint.

3. Interesting cast of main characters.

4. Deep and intriguing lore and worldbuilding.

Cons:

1. Game is plagued with questionable game design choices, like prologue sequence that for whatever reason doesn't have autosave or forcing you to beat the game multiple times to see the entire picture and learn the full story. I didn't find it captivating enough to beat more than one time.

2. Very scarce variety of enemies, fighting same goofy looking round robots gets old quickly. Most boss designs are boring as well, especially compared to other popular games focused on boss fights, like Metal Gear Revengance or Dark Souls trilogy.

3. Incredibly bland, empty, desolated, bleak and monotonous locations. Nier Automata barely ever has anything to offer worthy of looking at, other than 2B's lower body. I know that it is set in post-apocalyptic world, and it is supposed to be artistic choice, but i've seen fair amount of grim post-apocalyptic setting in games, that still looked good and felt worth exploring.

4. UI is also generic and unappealing, not sure if it was an afterthought, or another questionable artistic choice, or i just don't get the genious of Yoko Taro.

5. Story despite being good (if you manage to understand it) is still way too hidden, confusing and convoluted for no reason to the point of feeling like an actual riddle. In my opinion no writer should ever do it for a product focused on wide audience of gamers, it only takes away of player's enjoyment.

Despite all the critique, Nier Automata is a solid 7/10 3rd person action/Hack-and-Slash game from very talented studio, i feel sad that i couldn't enjoy it as much as most people. It's clearly worth giving a try, especially during sales.

Love the narrative themes. Gameplay was interesting enough for about 50% of the time but often felt like I was forcing myself to do something I wasn't excited about just to get through to the next bit of narrative.

They do some really interesting and fun things with unexpected mechanics used as narrative devices, as expected from a Yoko Taro game, but ultimately there's a lot of unnecessary slog that has too little narrative payoff.

There are beautiful moments in the game. It has gorgeous, emotionally-engaging music. The characters are interesting. There is entertaining dialogue. There is a lot of delightfully surprising mechanics. The narrative themes are deep and provocative. But somehow the whole thing doesn't feel like a cohesive, engaging experience. I feel like I went to a sandwich restaurant and instead of being served a great sandwich they gave me a bunch of great ingredients and I had to make the sandwich myself.

Writing long reviews is not my thing so I’ll stay short and juicy:

Nier is a fantastic game with a great scenario. The graphics on NS are very decent and the game runs really well. The OST is one of the best I’ve ever heard

But:

The gameplay can be demanding. In my opinion, this is not an « easy » game - don’t play it until you have some experience. It can be very long and…. Boring, especially in the end.

Play it if you enjoyed : Bayonetta 2 and 3 Astral Chain

This was the first game that introduced me ever to the Nier series. It's not often I come across games with such difficult and complex endings.

The soundtrack is something I still listen to this very day ever since it's release, it's truly emotional. If you like Nier Automata, do check out it's previous games that are connected to it's world and lore.

First couple of hours: 5 stars, amazing game, eyegasm

Middle of the game, until end of route A: 3 stars

Route B: Rushed through it, can't say much except hacking sucked a bit

Route C: ZERO STARS. F*** this game.

I rage quit and uninstalled after that virus thing with 2B. I had to lower the difficulty to easy for that fighting section with 9S, where he almost loses his visual ability, and the game turns into a Gameboy screen. It was super difficult, and frustrating even on easy difficulty. Then, when I had to experience the same thing with 2B and died... That was it.

Let me start with a PSA. Many would tell you that Nier requires you to play the game multiple times to get the "true" ending. This is a misconception: you play the game once but each "act" is divided by credits and a title screen.

With that cleared up, here are my impressions.

I had my ups and downs with this game. It started strong, with a kickass intro that put action in the foreground, weird 4th-wall breaking stuff and then a beautiful and strangely serene ruined city as the main area. As I progressed with the story I was struck by all the strange characters and set pieces.

But by the middle of the first act --perhaps it was around the time that a fishing minigame suddenly became available--, it started to become annoying as it became clear that the game was padded out with a lot of generic fetch quests and unnecessary activities.

The gameplay is fine. You essentially go from place to place fighting robots and talking to people. Combat is smooth and stylish, but not very deep -- I could easily get by with holding the fire button and spamming light attack and dodge. On top of that you have some crafting, upgrading and combining; all of those completely unnecessary. I ranted a bit about this, but the bottom line is that this game is in need of a good editing to remove a lot of unnecessary elements.

The world is pretty and sports the standard videogame biomes (city, forest, desert and factory) although the same areas are recycled too many times for my liking. This is one of those games in which your nominally fighting to save the entire planet, but every battle for survival happens in the same 20 blocks where every important character lives.

The story is less a symphony and more an improvised jam on top of a repeating base. Less of an actual plot and more of a bunch of scenes strung together by a common feel. And I say "feel" instead of "theme" because it's hard for me to grasp exactly what the game wants to say. Some scenes seem to revolve around the nature of consciousness, some of them are about connection, some are about trust and some are about weird anime nonsense.

What all beats have in common is that they are just plain weird and unsettling. The robots are perfectly designed for this. They are supposedly foot-soldiers designed by alien invaders but look like a rusted children toys. Their distorted voices never cease to feel robotic, but the voice acting fills them with emotion.

As for the overall plot, it's anyone's guess. Even after about 30 hours, crucial elements of the plot are still a misery to me. It might be because I missed some crucial exposition, or because I'm dumb, or because the game is intentionally vague and unclear, but it's not spoiler that a lot of story threads are left unexplored.

All that weirdness more than balances out the serviceable but repetitive combat and the bloated game mechanics.

I've been bindging Nier Automata's OST for the past weeks. It's so great. I particularly love the nonsense lyrics (the perfect way to avoid lyrics with dumb meaning but still get the musical range of the human voice).

Amusement Park is one of the standouts as it captures the weird, dark but also somewhat cute ambience of the game. I also really like music with vibraphone, which is arranged so well here.

Wow, so many people online that didn't delete their save because their wanted to 100% the game or something like that. Take that as more evidence of how players mistake busywork and achievement-hunting with actually experiencing a game.

Case in point: this resetera post from a player who says that they regret sacrificing their save because they wanted to continue playing to get all achievements and whatnot. However, 4 years on, I bet they probably remember the game much more strongly because of this. (Compare also to this Reddit post with a similar title, but who actually regrets not deleting because they actually understood that sacrificing your save is an integral part of the experience; remembering the pain that you cannot go back to it is the idea.)

That was a bold move, Nier: Automata. Actually deleting my savefile is a strong commitment to the theme. This final ending really elevated the game for me.

I still don't really get the story. Perhaps I missed some optional but crucial archives, perhaps I'm a bit thick, of perhaps it's not supposed to make sense. But I don't think it matters much.

Oh, I though that the various playthroughs where all the same story from different perspectives, but now I'm playing a whole continuation of the plot? Strange.

The more I go through the game, the more fascinating the plot and setting become. But also, the more I realise how shallow the gameplay is. 9S hacking minigame was fresh at the beginning, but then it never evolved a single bit. The game gives you a dozen or more different melee weapons and attack chips, but there are basically no hacking upgrades. No increase in health, time limit, damage, or other types of hacking bullets.

On the other hand, the game buries you with useless mechanics: crafting materials, chips, weapon enhancement, pod enhancement, skills, even --to @bmo's delight, I'm sure-- fishing! All of which are basically pointless since I'm able to breeze through almost any encounter without much if any upgrade.

Money is so ridiculously common that you can buy healing items by the hundred and still have enough cash to buy the Moon back from the humans. No reason to use anything but the smaller healing item, too, since you can pause and use as many as you like. This renders almost all defensive chips useless, since damage is just a nuisance.

Oh, and all those weapons? I haven't found any use for them, really. The starting sword seems to be the best one and I also found the apparently best slow sword really early in the game. The weapons merchant never had any weapon even close to what I had. So the hack-and-slash gameplay also didn't evolve very much. A2 was an opportunity to introduce new moves, but she plays exactly like B2, which not only is a disservice to gameplay variety but it also kind of undermines any investment in losing 2B; it's hard to mourn the loss of a character if they are replaced by a clone almost immediately.

Also I think I'm missing some esoteric crafting material to upgrade my pods, and I haven't had any reason to use any other pod skill than the laser blast. So add that to the pile of game mechanics that I never used and never had reason to use.

And the world is also similarly shallow. The first hours surprised me with the open-world design, but this tiny area is not enough to hold 30+ worth of game. Areas are recycled over and over as new objectives make you go back to the same zones multiple times. How many bosses do I need to fight on the same exact crater?

This game needs to be much leaner. Remove the crafting, remove all the crap items without any use, remove fishing, remove animal baiting and remove the boring sidequests that amount to nothing (that sokoban-like minigame is the first one on the chopping block). Then, add a couple more interesting hacking chips and more location variety.

I'm on the second playthrough and I've got to say that I don't understand people who complain about the repetition. Yes, you play the same main missions, but with a character that has a completely different play-style. Side-quests are also different (and you don't need to re-play completed ones) and you get many different cutscenes. Besides, the main story is rather short and can be completed in a few hours, so it's clear that the whole game is more than just 2B's story. I finished 2B story in ~10 hours with many side-tracks and now I'm blasting through it again now that I know what to do and fast-travel locations are all available from the start.

It occurred to me that this template of playing the same story from different perspectives seems much more common in Japanese games than in western games. At least I remember that the Senra Kagura games have the same structure. I wonder if it's Rashomon's influence. :P

First off, this game's not bad. I'm just a bit confused by the ridiculously insane amounts of hype it gets.

I've seen statements about how the story was the most emotional piece of storytelling people have experienced in any form of media. Okay? It's really just a predictable -- and slightly-less-nonsensical-than-most-animes -- anime. The big Route B revelation that humans are extinct seemed more like a big elephant in the room which I wondered why nobody was addressing for the first 15-20hrs of the game.

I've seen people say how the first time they got to the amusement park, it was the single most amazing moment they've ever had in gaming. I wonder if they played the same game as I did.

I've seen high praise for the extremely nuanced battle system. To me, it felt slow & clunky, with little more than light & heavy attacks. And you can shoot.

I've seen people gush about the multiple endings. I really just wish that Routes A & B were combined, so I didn't have to replay the same 10+hrs with a handful of extra scenes. And I guess deleting my save data is one way to make me at peace with not trying to find more possible endings.

The cutscenes (on PC) had an unusual amount of choppiness. But aside from that, the presentation was consistently entertaining.

On the brighter side, the music is great, and they do some really cool things with it (songs have vocal, non-vocal, 8bit, & alternate language variants depending on the game's events). I'm a metalhead at heart, and this music is the furthest thing from metal. Yet somehow, the tunes -- sugary lyrics and all -- were completely enjoyable for me. Maybe it's best that the vast majority of the lyrics weren't in English.

The wildly varied gameplay modes (hack & slash, twin stick shooter, bullet-hell scroller, etc) are creative and put some fun twists on the gameplay.

I don't know how to end this review. Emil's kinda weird, too, I guess?

I was so ready to get my mind blown away by this game because I've heard and read so many good things about it...but I was not impressed at all.

The beginning is so underwhelming, it feels like it's supposed to be epic and involve me in the story but I don't understand why just throw me in the action with a modern version of space invaders? Characters I haven't even seen the face of are dying and obviously I don't care because I have got no context at all. I think a proper cutscene would have done a lot to just make me feel for them at least a little bit.

Then the 2D action which feels kinda out of place in a game like this, especially when it's used a lot throughout the games. I did not know I was in for a repetitive 2D platform experience alternated with some miniature spaceship action, all choices that to me make it impossible to relate or care for my characters. The poorly animated cutscenes that really didn't tell me anything about the story if not making me more confused didn't help either.

I think it's unreasonable to expect me to replay a game I didn't even enjoy the first time around to "experience the full story". If this story is incomplete why even roll the credits so early on?

I give it three stars because it looks tight, the combat is smooth and the music is definitely a highlight, but without a story or interesting characters/enemies to back it up the experience is definitely bland and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

While the game has some flaws (the melodrama and occasionally grindy gameplay being the biggest), there's too much that this game does well, and too many moments where I literally said, "Oh my god I love this game," to not give it 5 stars.

Having not played the previous NieR games, I had no problem jumping in to the strange world since its strangeness is kind of the point. The writers are really clever in how they refer to events and info from the previous games: if you've played them, you'll know what they're talking about and it will deepen your understanding of the current narrative; if you haven't, the references are vague enough to add a sense of mystery to the game without making you really feel like you're missing out. (Although I would have payed more attention to Emil if I'd known he was from the previous games. As it is I'm feeling antsy for another DA:I playthrough so I'm gonna leave his final quest (and the ony ending I haven't gotten yet) for another time.)

Without getting to spoilerific, the recursion (especially from route A to route B) was excellently executed, and I honestly did not see that coming. Far and away the best recursive gameplay I've seen.

Endings C, D, and E (especially E) legitimately made me feel emotions.

Finally, it's just a fun game. The chip system (oh man, having HUD elements be optional--so good) and variety of weapons give you plenty of combat options to experiment with (the combat is mainly where NieR draws comparisons with Kingdom Hearts, both on-the-ground and airborne, but the item-collection/crafting is also very similar), the environment is a lot more interesting than your typical post-apocalypse (YOU CAN RIDE A MOOSE), and there's plenty of humor sprinkled throughout.

I'm definitely going to check out the previous NieR games, and I'm excited to see if they keep going.

In a world where gaming often feels uninspired and repetitive, NieR: Automata comes and breaks the rules and delivers an experience that feels entirely new in all areas. The story and plot is incredibly captivating and connected with me like few games have. The genre-mashing combat is insanely fun with a smooth hack and slash backbone combined with authentic feeling bullet hell moments. The overall graphics style is breath taking in parts and combined with an amazing soundtrack the presentation is endearing. This is easily one of the best games I've played in recent years and possibly one of the greatest games of all time.

Story

NieR: Automata follows the story of androids 2B and 9S, who are part of Operation YoRHa that seeks to reclaim the world from machines. The story develops through understanding the greater context of the world and empathising with different perspectives. There are many different meanings, endings, tales and emotions explored throughout the game and most of them connected with me in a way that is incredibly rare in the industry. Only a handful of games have had such a powerful emotional and cognitive connection, but none have done it so regularly with most story elements.

The relationship between the main characters has a great level of development, especially considering the amount of direct dialogue between them is not that large. What results is an almost unspoken synergy that develops naturally and feels very organic. Dialogue with supporting characters is great as well, with a mixture of very funny and incredibly sad moments. Something that NieR: Automata does very well is expanding character's history without overloading the player, this results in the player gradually learning about these characters and keeps the plot/quests very interesting.

Just as an aside, I have not played the original Nier. Before starting the game I watched a summary of the original, in saying that the connection between the games is minimal with only a couple of references here and there. I would still recommend watching a summary of the original game, though not entirely necessary.

Gameplay

Taro's games have not typically had great gameplay, which is why I was so excited to hear that Taro and Platinum have worked together to make this game. With Platinum in charge of the gameplay I knew it would be in good hands. The gameplay of NieR: Automata is a mix of many genres, and surprisingly they are all a joy to play. The three main styles are 3rd person hack and slash action in true Platinum style, twin stick shooter and shoot 'em up/bullet hell with several other styles sprinkled throughout.

The hack and slash combat is an absolute blast as would be expected. Throughout the game I never once got tired of the combat and executing seemingly infinite combos with perfect dodge counters is incredibly rewarding. The different weapon types change the combat styles and a combining these weapons makes for an enjoyable and visceral experience. The shoot 'em up moments are surprisingly very great. I was a little hesitant when I knew the game had these moments and feared it would be a lame gimmick, I am very glad I was wrong. The gameplay during these parts feels very traditional which is great.

The only thing that I didn't really like was the difficulty settings. There are 4 settings: Easy, Normal, Hard and Very Hard. Easy is very customisable with optional auto controls (such as dodge) this setting is for people who don't particularly care for the gameplay and is a cool addition. I played on Normal, and I found it to be too easy mostly because I always seemed to be overleveled, I only died a few times. Hard however was a really large step up above Normal, and when I tried it I got pretty stomped even by lowly robots. Very Hard says that you die in one shot, I didn't test it, but I assume it actually means that which would make the game almost impossible (not my taste but glad it exists). I think the game could've really done with an enemy level scaling option and my qualms about the difficulty would've been basically invalid, my next playthrough will definitely be on Hard.

Presentation

It's very hard to talk about the graphics of this game. On one hand the overall detail and quality is quite low, particularly in some environments mostly due to poor textures. On the other hand the style of the game is great and reminds me a lot of Shadow of the Colossus, there are many beautiful zones and moments in the game and overall I love the graphics of this game. Whilst the level of detail might not be the greatest the style is definitely king. The combat and movement animations are incredibly smooth despite the 60fps cap, the facial animations were slightly above average I'd say. Cutscenes are unfortunately rendered in low resolution (900p@30fps I believe) and this did detract from these moments and I would've preferred to see them rendered in native resolution.

The soundtrack is incredible, and as soon as it is released I will be buying it. The most notable tracks feature an incredible choir that are an absolute joy to listen to. Battles are generally done with instrumentals only except in key moments and boss battles, the music added a lot to the game especially in boss battles and exploration.

"I see a bunch of games on the shelf, but I don't get as excited as I used to. I gave it some thought why am I not excited? The number of well made games has increased, but at the same time the number of games that makes my heart beat and give the feeling of "I have no idea what to expect" that excitement has gone down. [...] I want to strongly believe there is still a huge potential for games." -Yoko Taro, 2014