Lets just get this out of the way first... Nier is my favorite game, bar none. Figured I would share the Nier Automata review I have cooked up on here as the game means a lot to me, and the more people familiar with it, the better in my honest opinion.
---{ Gameplay }---
The fighting and overall gameplay in this game are some of the best controls and fighting mechanics I have felt in a game to date. Platinum games have outdone themselves with this one. Everything is extremely fluid, tight, and just feels 'good' to play. My gripe comes with only one thing really, the hacking mini game (see below):
During a certain section of this title, you're required to hack instead of using your strong/heavy attack. This is an interesting addition and one that I am not entirely unhappy with. That said, it can be a bit tedious and boring to hack smaller enemies when you want to dispatch them quickly. That said, it was always interesting to see what the devs were able to accomplish with the hacking mini-game, and I was always excited to see the layouts of the levels inside of larger/boss characters. At the end of the day, however, despite the difficulty ramping up in these instances, I would say that it grew a bit tedious even in these situations. I won't knock the game for its creativity, just that the amount of hacking chafed me a bit toward the end of route B.
---{ Graphics }---
The graphics in this game are sublime and really nail home the feeling desolation. The haunting environment the player is forced to endure within the confines of the limited play areas are shown with a somber, melancholic beauty. The grey and brown palates mixed with splashes of color here and there inspire hope and wonder while firmly rooting the player in the notion that the world has been lost and something truly catastrophic has happened.
Here's some examples of the AA options in the game:
the best possible option is to use SpecialK's built in SMAA as it tends to look the best just as an fyi if youre using that to mod the PC version.
---{ Audio }---
The sounds in this game are some of, if not the best sounds I have heard. The music is touching, melancholic and mysterious which really shook me to my core when playing. The songs match their locale perfectly and really add to the tone that Yoko is trying to portray. The fact that an entire language (Emi Evans' Chaos Language) was created for singing in/lore purposes is insane to me. I love the songs in this game and jam out to them in the car at times. There are so many bops on the soundtrack, its really a treat. Some notable favorites of mine:
City of Ruin
Peaceful Sleep
Memories of Dust
A Beautiful Song
Amusement Park
and many more to be honest
---{ PC Requirements }---
You need a relatively decent PC to play any game, but this one's requirements are nothing special by today's hardware. I ran the game flawlessly on a 5800X @ 4.8GHz and an RTX 3080, but it played spectacularly when I had a 980ti which is a 10-year-old GPU at this point. A modern iGPU should honestly be able to at least match the experience had on consoles, so I would say its playable on most nowadays.
---{ Difficulty }---
The game can be pretty difficult at the outset. Its systems and game-play are a bit strange, and the battling seems intimidating at first. It's at the several hour mark for me that things just 'clicked' into place in my head and now everything is as intuitive as moving my own arm. That said, the game was a tad difficult at first, until this 'click' happened. From then on, only certain enemies posed a challenge for me, and I would say the minute-to-minute gameplay is pretty satisfying but not THAT difficult.
---{ Audience }---
All of this got me to thinking- for its target audience, would someone younger really appreciate the themes present in this game, and be able to stick with it? I would say no, but the game-play and flashiness of everything definitely has universal appeal. The themes and tone of this game are dark, introspective, and a bit cerebral. I really don't feel that a child or teen would be generally able to appreciate these things to their fullest. As a 36-year-old gamer, I think the notion of humanity, existence, and exploring the idea of moral relativity appeals to me much more than it would have as a younger me. I would say the themes present in the story are adult to be sure, with younger folks being able to appreciate the game for other reasons like gameplay and fun factor.
---{ Story }---
The story in this game is peerless with the way the story is presented, and the level of polish is simply unmatched in my experience. This rings especially true with your average story playing out in a similarly mundane and predictable way a la Call of Duty or some other bro-shooter. I like those types of games for the competitive game-play and the immediate gratification, but I come back to this game for the plot every time. One way in which I think this game truly excels above the rest is in how it delivers the story in arcs. Each play-through is different in meaningful ways so you see different aspects and occurrences happening from another perspective. This really helps immerse you in the lore and such because being exposed to each character's point of view helps you feel like you are living through their individual experiences. Each play-through reveals more and more about the world to the player, and the unlocking of information and lore keeps me coming back despite having to play through the same sections again. Route B was fairly notorious for this in both games, having to play through most of the story again. In Automata, its significantly shorter though as much of the story is fast forwarded through to get to the new plot points. I haven't finished all 26 of the endings yet, and I know there are C through E left of the main narrative for me, but this game really makes me want to come back and experience everything it has to offer. It's THAT good.
Pros
- + Haunting soundtrack
- + Beautiful, albeit minimalist visuals
- + Tight aRPG fighting/gameplay in the usual PlatinumGames level of polish
- + 2B
Cons
- - Hacking mini-game was fun the first few times but grows tiresome after the 1000th enemy
- - Esoteric story which can be a bit hard to get into/follow at times
- - Requirement to replay portions already played to get all 26 (Lettered A-Z) endings
- - PC almost has a requirement to use SpecialK to play the game at its best. Quality of Life mods can really transform it
10
Gameplay
Slick, "tight", and lightning fast robo-slaying. Intuitive & interesting upgrade system, adding chips to your android player for upgrades. Interesting, albeit tedious hacking minigame.
8
Graphics
Desolate hellscapes sparsened with lush vegetation and pops of color. Slick characters, smooth camera movements and, of course, 2B/9S/A2 are all very well-crafted models.
10
Story
Haunting, ethereal, and introspective of humanity at large and the notion of what it means to be 'alive', human or not. This story will stick with you for some time.
10
Sound
I have this soundtrack playing regularly on my Spotify. No other game has gotten me this engrossed into its sound design. 'nuff said.
10
Replayability
26 Endings, with 5 main, and 21 gag endings. Extremely tight, satisfying combat leaves you wanting to play again and again.
10
out of 10
Overall
I could gush about this game all day, but I would really just like to see more people give it a shot. I played this after coming off of Nier: Replicant (remaster) and felt that this game is the culmination of Yoko Taro's storytelling/worldbuilding & artistic prowess rolled up into one package as his Magnum Opus. You will NOT be disappointed.
love those games as well. I actually really enjoy Infinite despite it being most people's "black sheep".
