I tried so hard to like this game. Probably too hard. The game gave me so many signs I'd end up very angry with it but I just didn't heed them. I love robots and questions about humanity - I kept trying to convince myself the annoying gameplay decisions would eventually pale in comparison to story pay-off. Now... I don't think I'll ever get to that payoff.

Let's start with the good first? The characters are interesting, I wanted to know more about them. I loved that it combined genres as far as combat went - though the hack and slash action got monotonous after a while I loved the shmup and twin stick shooter elements. Some scenes and bosses were great, like the entire first experience at the Amusement Park.

But then there's the bad.

I should have known the game was not for me when I first heard I'd have to play the game multiple times in order to experience the real story and ending.

I should have known the game was not for me when the ability to save had to be unlocked and dying on the first boss meant having to play the whole 30-40 minute intro again.

I should have known the game was not for me when the ability to access the menu (or have the menu be in English) had to be unlocked and I had to look up pictures of said menu to see how to invert the Y axis to make it playable for me.

I should have known the game was not for me when it took overly long to unlock the ability to fast travel, making me run through uninteresting environments in a way that just took a lot of time but didn't add much to the game. And when in playthrough 2 it didn't unlock any earlier.

I should have just stopped after ending A. Ending B added nothing to my enjoyment and in fact just made me angry that 90% of the content was the same. The beginning of playthrough C has changed my opinion of the game to outright hostile, as I had to endure the character getting a virus which messed up the game's visuals and disabled abilities while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off hoping I was doing the right thing or going to the right place. After I fell in a pit, which I could not get out of because my traversal and combat abilities were disabled, and died... that was enough. To add insult to injury the last checkpoint was not at the beginning of that scene, but a fair ways back. Surprising? No. Infuriating? Yes.

Goodbye Nier: Automata. Maybe I'll watch endings C, D, and E on YouTube.

Edit: Not looking to have my opinion changed on this... I just don't like it.

Rating: 10/10

Truth be told, if Nier: Automata wasn't a perfect 10 it would be a let down for me. I am a gigantic fan of the first one and think it's an underrated classic. For obvious reasons I will have to compare the two, because they are rather similar with a few distinct differences.

From the opening moments I could see how the formula from the first would come into play. The beginning of the first Nier hooked me a little bit more from a story perspective, but Automata introduced all the nifty genre blending right off the bat, which engaged me more in a gameplay sense. It's a good trade-off, one that I wouldn't necessarily prefer but don't dislike either. I'm on the fence, basically, about which beginning is better.

If I had to make the call, I would admit that the original satisfies me more narratively as a whole, but this is more fun to play. That's not me criticizing the way that either game approaches the situation, but I have to be truthful with myself. I was left feeling more with Nier, but we got a good Platinum Games here with the action... and when they get it right they are the best in the business at what they do.

So with that said, Automata still tells a compelling, emotional and layered story. The first one caught me off the bat because of the fact that you were a dad trying to help your sick child: I'm not a parent but the personal nature of it brought me on. Automata's first impressions are bigger, which ultimately is more important but you know how we humans reflect stronger on less substantial tragedies when it involves something more familiar, or easy to digest.

Something seems amiss as soon as you encounter the ruined city, and there's an uneasy feeling that permeates the entire experience. It gets more obvious as time goes on and you see more, but I won't ruin why. I'll just say that there are some truly harrowing moments as the game tackles its subject matter with finesse and asks us bigger questions than people may expect if they're coming into this with the idea that it's just a sexy robot woman hacking up other robots. I knew better so some of the surprise wasn't quite there for me, because when you've played the first one then you are more aware of the tricks.

That extends to the gameplay as well. I was initially afraid that they would jerk off at the beginning and have nothing else for the tank later, and while they don't really introduce anything fresh, the bullet hell/platforming mash-up still works well. I would have loved to play this without having knowledge of what has been done before, but alas, I already had this epiphany.

What Platinum did do was add their expertise to the combat. It still follows the formula in a lot of ways; you still use shoulder buttons to perform your abilities, and it's set up in a similar fashion to before. However, the hand-to-hand combat is less clunky and more kinetic. I suppose if there was a "weakness" to the first one it's this, but the button mashing never bothered me because as I said in a status before, I like games like that occasionally, such as Dynasty Warriors or Lollipop Chainsaw. Automata feels more like Bayonetta and this infinitely helps the game. Battles are simply more entertaining this time around.

Since this is now a series I guess, I can say that there isn't really another series where I need the music to be amazing. The original has one of the best, if not the best, soundtracks in all of gaming and this one had to live up to that standard. It does. The same composer is back leading the charge, and this makes every single second you spend in the game more inclusive.

I wrote about this in my first reactions, but when you reach the ruined city there's a minimalist--yet beautiful--tune that plays. It fully got me invested in my surroundings, which exactly what music should do. I didn't need anything else, I simply enjoyed walking around because it was so moody. Lots of games have fantastic soundtracks but few go that extra mile to be so integral to the experience. In fact, in a world so devoid of human substance, the reliance on vocals is such an excellent choice that it would be hard to imagine the game without it. The original Nier also did this.

Minor spoilers: In another example, you walk into an amusement park early on and the robots are anything but hostile as they throw around confetti and dance. There is literally no danger for most of your visit, but the song that plays adds depth; there's something more menacing going on during this juncture even as it comes across as a celebration. A boss battle later demonstrates this.

Neither Nier are graphically intensive. I would say that the environments have great art design but are rather boring in the sense that they don't have a lot of detail. There's a lot of variety and little touches that are truly expressive, but as you walk around you notice that environments follow a pattern. This doesn't bother me, but if you were to critique the technical features, I don't think it stacks up. I've said before and I will say again that art design trumps technical prowess, so it's a non-issue but still worth mentioning to those who may remark that it's more like a PS3 game in this regard. I still think the world is interesting.

However, let's call a spade a spade and say that the music is a big part of this. The world building is tremendous because they've married music and visuals in an astounding way that less talented developers cannot.

I needed this game after so many huge open worlds. There are certainly side-quests to do and places to explore, but it's ultimately a more linear tale. There are walls everywhere, both physical and invisible, and in a post-Breath of the Wild world that might be a bit much for some people. I don't think every game needs to offer that kind of BotW freedom.

It's a playful game that messes with conventions, but you can complete it in under 10 hours if you don't do many other missions. It's more of an action game than an RPG in that regard. What it does is propose replay value to counteract that. If you beat the game once then you aren't getting the full story so you have to do it a few more times to witness the entire plot unfold. I'm iffy on this method, and was with the first one as well. Part of me would rather they just find a way to work the story in on the first playthrough, but I understand the desire to incorporate it this way because it gives the player a way to see things in a different light each time. It's not like you simply replay the exact same game either, as they differ quite a bit.

Automata won't be the talking point Zelda is this year, but I sincerely believe it's just as good in different ways. They are apples and oranges outside of the fact that they are both technically open worlds, and Zelda is clearly more of an innovation, but they are both brilliant.

[Indirect Spoilers below. Do yourself and favor and don't read any reviews or material about this game until you play through it yourself.]

Everyone has that game that represents ultimate nostalgia. For me, it's my first JRPG: Final Fantasy IX. I played the game at least 5 times, and probably will never bore of it. When I try to plumb the depths of my love for this game, it comes down to two elements: place and characters. Very few games capture a sense of place like FF9 did: the rains of Freya's Burmecia, the airships of Lindblum, throwing down cards in the back alleys of Treno - they still send shivers up my spine. As for characters, Vivi is my all time favorite, maybe because I was playing the game at a similar time of pre-teen self discovery. I could go on about others, but the depth of this game for me is really about the places and the characters.

Why am I talking about this in a review of Nier: Automata? Because N:A is the first game that I can remember which matched the love I have for FF9 in its various places and characters. N:A is a game of much smaller scope, in terms of limited locales and limited playable characters, but the level of detail and the emotion poured into all corners of this world and its characters reminded me a lot of FF9.

I think most of the attention is Nier: Automata is on its game design, perfectly using the medium of gameplay to convey its story and themes. I love this, too - especially coming fresh off a play of a game that embodies ludo-narrative dissonance more than most (Cyberpunk 2077). While this level of game craftsmanship rivals the best the medium has to offer, I really do think it's the journeys of 2B, 9S, and A2 through the City Ruins, the Desert, the Forest Kingdom, etc. which will stick with me for years and decades to come.

The delivery of the plot was a slow burn that felt incredibly mysterious and interesting, in a way that reminded me of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3. While I've heard that playing as Raiden instead of Snake in MGS2 was an inspiration for the "Route B" re-play through N:A's story, I think the overall mystery of plot reveals is a closer analogue. The way that MGS will subtlely drop a name that you only heard about once before hours earlier is something that N:A does throughout. It makes replaying incredibly enjoyable, and I think that's one of the key reasons for Route B. The injection of small but crucial differences in that second playthrough reward the astute player. That said, this "slow burn" of a game still wraps up in about 30 hours, which puts long games full of filler quests to shame. Here, almost every quest matters and adds to the world or the intrigue, with much of them heavily foreshadowing later reveals in great ways.

To add one last comparison to the mix, N:A has an additional rare quality that was exemplified most in Persona 5 -- the ability to change how you see pretty much everything around you. Persona 5's concept of "palaces", manifest the internal sins and complexities of the human soul while showing the possibility and hope of change that we are all capable of, especially with the love of friends and family. As I look out into the world now, I'm reminded of this double edged sword: the inner demons we all carry, but also the beauty that can be unlocked when someone is truly loved. In N:A's case, the new lens that has been added to my view of the world is a lens of interrogating purpose. What is driving this person forward? How true are the assumptions and foundations that purpose is built on? How unstable will they become if those foundations are a lie? This lens can bring the dark feelings of nihilism, but that's only if we allow ourselves to frame existence as something which requires a goal and destination. I think Adam, in ultimately resigning himself to death and giving up the eternal fight, learned this too (the same lesson that 9S learned in other ways): it's enough to just be, alongside someone else.

P.S. I played this game on PC, which was a horrific experience. It may have been worth it in the end because once you have all the mods working correctly, this 2017 game does look really beautiful. Even then, the FPS drops the more you play it, so you have to constantly relaunch the exe. I'd recommend most folks play this on consoles where you don't need to spend 2 hours just getting it to go full-screen.