I just wrapped up NieR: Automata a couple days ago (PC – Gamepass). I had originally purchased this game at full price (on Steam) the day it was released, solely on the hype-train of promo’s and internet discussions, normally behavior I stay away from but it is fun to get caught up in the zeitgeist of the moment sometimes. I don’t regret it.
So I played and finished the game originally back in early 2017. I enjoyed it and thought it was a fun game; at the time I didn’t complete many games (I’m making that a priority now, finishing things, games or otherwise) so it was a bit of an accomplishment at the time. Problem was; unknown to me at the time, this game has to be played through three separate times to complete the full game. The idea of playing through the same stuff two more times was appalling due to my limited free time so I said once was enough and missed a lot.
Fast-forward to 2021 – I’ve read and known by this point that the game has 26 endings and 5 of them are required to actually finish the game; which requires three separate playthrough’s. I decided to retry the game and commit to finishing it properly. I’ve now done this.
The Stuff I Liked
Combat is a lot of fun, you get to smash up robots into a flurry of particle effects and exploding robot parts, over and over and over. I’m a simple man. The combat is satisfying for whatever reason.
I liked the story, to me personally I’ve seen this before and that’s okay but if you haven’t, it’ll probably be pretty awesome; it’s a great starting point if your unfamiliar with the territory.
I enjoyed the characters and their different perspectives of said story. I didn’t like the way this was handled (see below) but I liked it overall. Each character mattered, had some history and definitely felt unique.
I liked the way game abilities were handled, the player has full control over what they wish to use with their character; playing as an android you have a chunk of memory available to you and you can slot whatever ‘programs’ you want into that chunk, and swap things in and out as needed. That’s actually pretty cool and gives the player a lot of control which I always love. You have limits and it becomes it’s own little puzzle but the choices are your own and I love that.
I really liked the (and this won’t be appreciated by everyone) way the game morphed from one game design to another. For example; the game constantly switches between a traditional action-combat type of game to a top-down bullet-hell shooter type of game, and it works really well.
To further that point, my favorite game play was probably the hacking sequences where the game jumps from action-combat to top-down bullet-hell/puzzle hacking in an instant. This is handled so well in fact that I believe there is an honestly rewarding hacking game buried in this hacking mini-game. Game developers: check this sequence out and build and design a game around this relatively simplistic mechanic, I think you’ll have something with legs.
NieR:Automata gets a positive thumbs up from me. Having put 30 hours into the game I can look back and say I enjoyed the game. The combat was probably what propelled me through the game followed by the story. The combat is very enjoyable because it doesn’t require a great amount of skill or finesse but it also isn’t mindless button mashing (at least not entirely). The story is god and serviceable but it is NOT the ‘best game ever’ blah blah blah; to me.
The Criticisms
While the story kept me going (it is good), in the end I don’t feel it deserves the amount or level of praise it continues to receive. The problem for me is the game requires 3 full playthrough’s to complete and that the story itself is very disconnected in it’s telling and is also very abstract. Mind you, it’s a good story, it really is, but fully grasping it should NOT require playing a game three times and making sense of 30’s hours of your life through wiki, reddit and blog articles. It’s a good story conveyed poorly. At the same time I get what they were after, they wanted to tell a story from multiple perspectives and in so doing; some of those perspectives are cut-off from the full truth at different points; how else do you tell such a story? At the very least you tell the story in a sequential way that is understandable and digestible to the player. They tried an innovative story-telling method and I just think the story as good as it is; suffered, a lot for it that decision.
Alright that out of the way; the story IS good, if your willing to piece the thing together it very good. The story focuses heavily around artificial life and existentialism. If you are into either of those concepts you will probably dig this game. I won’t say anything further so as not to spoil anything. But….
(A Xenogears Aside)
I personally savor existentialism so anytime it shows up in a game or story I’m very interested. However! There are also better games if this IS your thing. I would simply suggest starting with Xenogears; a very dated (early 1998) Playstation (original) game that mechanically wasn’t terribly different from others games around the same era; in fact I would argue the game-play itself wasn’t particularly good overall; it was serviceable, it did have the early 3D and rotatable camera (I really liked this at the time) but the combat was derivative of other RPG’s of the time. That all being said, if you are into existentialism and legendary (srsly) story-telling then you really ought to check out Xenogears and can accept that the game is both old and the gameplay is probably a bit lacking although the mechs are pretty cool; play this game. Also; don’t give up until at least 5-6 hours in; it doesn’t remotely pickup until then; in fact it feels completely rote up until that point. If you aren’t hooked by that point; just drop it, it isn’t for you.
Back to Automata
Artistically, Automata is really, really good. Some folks don’t like the aesthetic but I found it very good. The colors are a bit saturated but they aren’t boring and the stylized characters are obviously very noticeable and memorable. The amount of art created from independent artists of the 2B character has got to be up there with some of the most popular characters in gaming. I understand the character is meant to be attractive, but it isn’t your standard attire; she’s blind-folded to begin with!; and she’s an android; okay it’s absurd but that’s okay.
The game depicts a game well-after humans so we have cities falling apart and the natural world taking over combined with robots and machines meshed into that landscape. It’s pretty cool and while it’s definitely dystopian in feel, it isn’t the same dark dystopian of a lot of other games, stories and worlds. There are a many unique and beautiful sections and sets in the game.
The Takeaway
Above anything else I’ve written, as I’ve had my problems with the game but enjoyed it overall, the greatest takeaway for me is that this game, love it or hate it; it is memorable. I forget a lot of things, but I will not forget this game. The characters physical depictions are unique; the atmosphere, themes and general art direction are very memorable. We have a game that depicts things like an amusements park, a forest, a castle and a factory, which are completely normal if not background noise to the modern human, standing out and being unforgettable in the way they are portrayed in this game. That in itself has got to be an achievement for the developers. I won’t forget it and that’s a pretty big deal.
Eden Devblog 