Nier: Automata is a confounding game.
One minute you're completely bewildered,
the next you're pondering thought-provoking questions,
and later you'll simply marvel at the spectacle.
It's a game that purposefully keeps you in the dark,
slowly unraveling its twisted narrative
while clearly enjoying the Alice in Wonderland madness it takes you through.
Despite its playfulness, dark humor, and absurdity, however,
the heart of Nier: Automata feels both relatable and valuable.
The story effectively illustrates how difficult it is for different groups to coexist
and how hatred is often predicated on misinformation.
To fully appreciate Automata, it's important to look back at the original Nier.
It's an overtly ambitious game, one that mashes up genres in intriguing ways.
Oftentimes, it's a straightforward action RPG,
but there are text adventure sections,
one area is reminiscent of Resident Evil,
and a bullet hell style is heavily incorporated in battles.
Yet fighting in Nier never feels above average.
There’s a certain irritating clumsiness to everything.
Combat is something you work through to appreciate the more excellent aspects,
namely the story, characters, and music.
This is not the case with Automata.
Platinum has made a combat system that lives up to the studio’s reputation
while also honoring the original game.
There’s a wide variety of weapons from swords, axes, bracers, and lances.
Depending on the weapons equipped, the combos available change.
Fighting looks and feels phenomenal.
You'll slash swords in giant sweeping arcs,
spin wildly on the ground in a whirlwind of death,
and launch enemies skyward.
Dodging at the right moment opens a window for devastating counterattacks.
On top of everything, the small robot that accompanies you
lays down continual fire and can be equipped with its own powerful weaponry
such as a long-range blast, a giant cyber hammer, and so on.
Playable characters can equip various chips
that significantly alter your skills and playstyle.
These elements together make for frantic, exciting fights.
With only a little practice, it’s possible to weave through enemy fire
and juggle multiple enemies at once.
It makes searching for new weapons or buying them from shops enticing
just to see what they'll contribute to the chaos.
Occasionally, you may find yourself overwhelmed
or backed into an awkward position where it’s difficult to get an ideal view.
It’s during such moments that combat can feel just a bit less refined
than some of the best pure action games.
To help compensate for the moments where things get hectic,
dodging is very generous and dodges are easily chained together,
providing a wide window to get out of harm’s way
and alleviating a lot of potential frustration.
Overall, the combat is excellent,
and there’s enough depth and variety to maintain interest
throughout Automata’s lengthy duration.
Without revealing too much, you play as three different androids
and each has a unique flavor.
2B, the first of the bunch, is a no-nonsense combat unit.
From a gameplay perspective, she’s the most straightforward of the three,
so it’s perfectly understandable that she’s who you start with.
9S, a capable reconnaissance unit, serves as a good foil to 2B.
Whereas 2B displays tremendous focus, 9S is impetuous and immature,
shrugging off those overseeing him with annoyed responses.
Yet 9S has an intense curiosity about the world around him
and a deep desire for approval.
Although these traits could have easily been exaggerated,
they’re never overbearing,
and they’re revealed just often enough to make 9S likeable.
His demeanor even softens up 2B, leading to touching moments between the two.
9S is less capable in combat than the other two playable characters
and he can only wield one weapon at a time whereas the others use two.
He makes up for the deficiency by being able to hack into enemies,
prompting a mini-game where you have to fly a small white ship
and blast away foes within a tight time limit,
often under a relentless stream of fire.
Successful hacking destroys weak foes outright
and does a considerable chunk of damage to stronger ones,
making it a useful tool.
Initially, hacking is enjoyable because of the sheer dexterity required.
Hacking also shifts the music into a chiptune rendition of whatever song is playing,
which is a clever touch that never really loses its charm.
But because you spend a lot of time playing as 9S,
hacking eventually does get tiresome by the end,
especially when you start seeing many of the same enemy configurations.
Of course, you don’t have to use hacking during combat,
but it’s strong enough that it makes little sense not to.
There’s a fair amount of hacking outside of fights as well,
and as a result, 9S is our least favorite of the three.
A2 is the most enigmatic of the protagonists,
usually abruptly arriving on the scene with little to say and a lot of anger in tow.
Although she plays very similarly to 2B,
there are a few unique mechanics that befit her personality.
The most prominent is Berserk Mode.
Activating it increases her attack strength
while also inflicting her with continual damage.
When the mode ends, she’s left with only a sliver of health
and she’s briefly unable to strike back.
By the time you play as A2, you'll already be very familiar with the combat
and Berserk Mode is a great way to reinvigorate things by ratcheting up the risk.
As great as cleaving through groups of iron enemies is,
it’s really the bizarre and thoughtful narrative
that makes Nier: Automata such a special game.
The basic premise is that a machine army
controlled by invading aliens has decimated earth,
forcing what’s left of humanity to flee to the moon.
Specialized androids, created to fight back against the aliens,
are trying to reclaim the planet and make it hospitable for mankind once again.
On the surface, the plot sounds like little more than hokey comic book sci-fi,
but Automata uses its various factions to explore fascinating topics.
The machines aren’t just one monolithic group,
but splintered into small tribes trying to figure out how to exist
in a barren world that’s largely theirs.
Some of the machines proclaim a king and devote everything to protecting it.
Another group simply wants nothing more than peace.
Still others mimic human sex acts even though they can’t procreate.
The androids were taught that all machines are mindless killers
who deserve nothing more than to be ripped apart.
When the same androids discover behavior that contradicts this information,
there’s understandable hesitation and confusion.
The same confusion is only further amplified
when machines do exhibit the awful tendencies the androids were told to expect.
Automata demonstrates the dangers of blindly labeling an entire group
and how difficult it is to face evidence that undermines everything you believe in.
Although it’s very possible to enjoy the story of Automata on its own,
playing through the original Nier helps make sense of a few important things
and allows specific scenes to resonate more strongly.
Despite tackling some complex subject matter,
Automata doesn’t feel like its moralizing.
It presents issues without preaching about them,
often acknowledging that there’s rarely a comprehensive and satisfactory answer,
much like the real world.
Automata also feels very aware of itself.
A sometimes crude, sometimes sly sense of humor
prevents the game from wallowing in its own ideas.
There’s a delightful character named Jackass, for instance.
It’s true that contemplating the nature of man
through machines is well covered in sci-fi,
but Automata’s unconventional structure
as well as its smart use of restraint and excess gives weight to the narrative.
Like director Yoko Taro’s other games, Nier: Automata has multiple endings
and you'll need to see the five main endings to get the entire story.
The second ending retreads much of the same ground as the first.
Although it does offer a different perspective
on important events as well as several revelations,
it’s a relative low point when compared to the rest of the experience
since you’re essentially playing the same thing twice.
The third ending doesn’t follow the same structure,
continuing from the point where the first two left off.
In fact, many of the best moments in the entire game
come after the second ending,
making the preceding sections almost feel like a prologue.
The world is put to far better use than the one found in the original Nier,
providing a more seamless sense of exploration
through city ruins, forests, and desert areas.
Some of the side quests scattered throughout the world have satisfying payoffs.
Although the actual tasks at hand are typical,
the process may offer contextual information or an added dose of humor.
Not every quest is like this, in fact a good number are fairly bland,
but there are enough fulfilling ones to incentivize engagement with the world
rather than constantly darting toward the next story beat.
On a technical level, Automata does suffer some minor problems.
Textures can look rough under scrutiny,
and there’s stuttering that occurs when sprinting through the world.
For us, it never amounts to more than brief hiccups
that don’t impact our ability to fight effectively, but it is noticeable.
Thankfully, a strong artistic direction does help make up for it.
Arriving at the amusement park for the first time as fireworks light up the sky
is just one of many impressive sights.
Many have praised the musical score of the original Nier as one of its strongest aspects,
and as with nearly every other element of the game,
Automata improves in this area as well.
What makes it so incredible is how effectively it can elicit strong emotions
at just the right moment.
During battle, the twangy, staccato guitar fits perfectly
with the driving rhythm of combat, amplifying the intensity.
Yet there are other songs where the chorus of machines
is haunting, unnatural, and yet strangely soothing,
suiting the conflicting nature of the game’s narrative themes.
Although there are standout tracks, the score as whole is consistently strong.
True authorship is a rare thing to find in games,
yet it’s very present in Nier: Automata.
Like Yoko Taro’s past work,
Automata challenges gaming norms through narrative structure,
subjects discussed, and even how the nature of games
can be used to convey ideas that other mediums can’t.
In the past, appreciating these things
meant accepting middling or even poor technical and mechanical aspects.
With Nier: Automata, far fewer excuses are necessary.
It’s a bold, stylish, and intelligent game that leaves an indelible mark.
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