I finally finished NieR: Automata ... And I'm ashamed I hadn't earlier

[JoaLoft]

[Fair wairning: small spoilers about NieR: Automata's plot and locations are included below.]

 

Although I should be coming up with plenty of excuses to exonerate myself from not finishing this game sooner, there is actually only one big reason why I put NieR: Automata on the backburner for two years ...

 

I own a huge backlog of games.

 

I've been covering games ever since I started out in 2005, and there has been an unmistakable evolution in the yearly release schedule of games: they have been periodically releasing more and more throughout the entire year once publishers noticed games can sell well outside of the usual Christmas holidays too. So, when one game hits my desk and I start playing it, I'm already saddling up for the next title to drop in the mail soon. Which is exactly what happened with NieR: Automata.

 

I had heard very positive things about the game - and in particular, its narrative structure - from other outlets and journalists once my copy arrived, and I was already sold on the solid gameplay mechanics, presentation and soundtrack from the amazing prologue once I started playing (because let's face it: PlatinumGames has yet to disappoint). But once I hit the alien ship, I stopped. I can not pinpoint what exactly kept me from continuing, but the disc went back into its jewel case and I moved on to the next release. However: I never forgot about the game and always kept coming back to the soundtrack throughout the past two years, wondering what other great tracks and plot twists would await me.

 

Seeing as how I've been trying to catch up to older titles in between newer releases, I press on in my stubborn conviction that I can slowly but surely crawl through my backlog, and this past month I decided to start up NieR: Automata again. I deleted my old save file to start fresh, having forgotten about some of the smaller plot details in the past two years. And this time, I stuck with it and played for a full week, finally finishing the entire story and acquiring the platinum trophy (without the use of the occasionally criticized trophy shop).

 

And my goodness, what a great experience it was. The philosophical debate lurking beneath the game's design, ever-present, is a huge part of the reason why it elevates this game above many others in the medium as a whole, and confronted me often with themes I seldomly expect to challenge traditional game design and, to an extent, my own reasoning.

 

Do machines, as disposable tools of a proxy war (which is the ideal set-up for this entire narrative structure), also not have the right to simply exist as individual entities who learn and grow and pursue the meaning of fulfillment, despite their non-organic composition?

How do machines perceive a complex concept such as "will" ? How does "will" interact with strict directives, and in the midst of this conflict: would the former win out over the latter within a machine's mental pattern as time and evolution progress?

Can machines create their own definitions of other complex concepts, effectively overwriting or adjusting previous notions based on personal experiences, and how does that influence their higher perception of reality?

 

In this enormous gray mass of moral ambiguity, where white and black only serve as theoretical extremes, there are no definitive answers. Just different perspectives in different contexts.

 

As I sit here, gazing at the remainder of my stack of unfinished games, contemplating the same existential questions the protagonists struggled with, I try to figure out what my next step should be. Leaving me with more questions than answers.

 

But i have learned a few things from my time with NieR: Automata, as with all things in life. One of which is probably the most prominent:

 

As soon as its reveal would get an official announcement, the next NieR game will be at the top of my must-play list.

Edited March 25, 2019 by Aponac1987
Adjusting the title

[Fr_0zt]

Top TOP game.  Hope we get a sequel at some point.

[Sigma999]

Definitely my fav game this gen so far , absolutely loved until the end , too bad , i haven't done the plat yet cause of the many endings to do , but i'll get back to it eventually .

[Pudimflam]

Still need to buy it but this gets me more excited!

[Saionji]

I m ashamed for not playing the first Nier on ps3 yet as that was also a very good game, not as good as Automata but definitely worth playing nonetheless. Its on my radar but yes I played Automata 1.5 year ago and still listening to the amazing soundtrack to this day.

[Beyondthegrave07]

@Aponac1987, NieR (PS3) has similar themes and gives you more insight on what's going on in NieR Automata. Also, if you never read any of the archives, they are definitely worth 15-20 minutes of your time. It explains so much of how the world is the way it is and delves in deeper on the machines. 

 

It's one of the few games that tells a story in a way that makes you question your own sense of morality and delivers a strong message about what it means to truly be "alive."

 

The twists and turns gave me knots in my stomach and once I got to Route C, I couldn't put the game down.

 

I used the trophy shop, but mostly because I thought it'd be a waste of time gathering weapons and all the materials to upgrade them.

[JoaLoft]

4 hours ago, Vizard-Ichigo-- said:

Top TOP game.  Hope we get a sequel at some point.

 

There is no (un)official word yet on a sequel being in production, but I remember Square Enix saying past year that its sales have far exceeded their expectations. And at the end of the day, everything revolves around money, so it is highly likely a sequel is secretly in production.

 

4 hours ago, Sigma999 said:

Definitely my fav game this gen so far , absolutely loved until the end , too bad , i haven't done the plat yet cause of the many endings to do , but i'll get back to it eventually .

 

The multiple endings only take about an hour and a half to unlock, if you only unlocked endings A, B, C, D and E (the unmissable ones). Definitely try to get the platinum trophy, if only to demonstrate the pride that you invested so much time in such a fantastic game, completing most of its content.

 

4 hours ago, Pudimflam said:

Still need to buy it but this gets me more excited!

 

Get it! You won't regret it, especially now that the GOTY (Game of the YoRHa) edition has been out for about a month for a great price, which includes the full game, some extras and the "3C3C1D119440927" expansion. Over here in Belgium it's €39,99 so I can imagine it's a very similar price point in other European countries and North America.

 

4 hours ago, Saionji said:

I m ashamed for not playing the first Nier on ps3 yet as that was also a very good game, not as good as Automata but definitely worth playing nonetheless. Its on my radar but yes I played Automata 1.5 year ago and still listening to the amazing soundtrack to this day.

 

Agreed, the soundtrack is one of the all-time greats. It won Best Music Score back at 2017's VGAs, and for good reason! "Bipolar Nightmare", the "Amusement Park" and "A Beautiful Song" were the three tracks I came back to listen to over the years, and when I'd finished the entire game, I listened to the entire album. So many fantastic tracks, the whole thing oozes with very high quality.

 

3 hours ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

@Aponac1987, NieR (PS3) has similar themes and gives you more insight on what's going on in NieR Automata. Also, if you never read any of the archives, they are definitely worth 15-20 minutes of your time. It explains so much of how the world is the way it is and delves in deeper on the machines. 

 

It's one of the few games that tells a story in a way that makes you question your own sense of morality and delivers a strong message about what it means to truly be "alive."

 

The twists and turns gave me knots in my stomach and once I got to Route C, I couldn't put the game down.

 

I used the trophy shop, but mostly because I thought it'd be a waste of time gathering weapons and all the materials to upgrade them.

 

I've read a portion of the archives, but I have not read all of them. I will need to start it up again soon and go through all of the archives then, thanks for the suggestion!

 

Spoiler

The end of Route B (with 9S) and Route C are the parts where the game gained a lot of traction after 2B's ending, I felt. There was some downtime during the first half of Route B because you're pretty much doing everything over again you did with 2B before, just with 9S this time around. It was only after they get split up after the Grün boss fight that things really started to speed up, mostly because you're learning new story details and experiencing certain events from his perspective. And Route C is where I got very heavily invested again: the game just throws one big plot twist after another in your face, supported by excellent presentation (i.e. the many visual effects that take place at certain narrative intersections, such as when 9S gets attacked by the EMP blasts and 2B is slowly succumbing to the virus).

 

And as for the trophies: I personally stayed away from the trophy shop because I wanted to keep that sense of accomplishment intact. I didn't want to unlock any trophies by purchasing them from the in-game shop, despite the fact that gathering all the necessary materials can be a royal pain in the butt. Especially the simple and elaborate gadgets to upgrade the pods took quite some time to collect, I was glad to be done with those!

Edited March 25, 2019 by Aponac1987
Marked a paragraph because of potential spoilers

[Kristycism]

3 hours ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

I used the trophy shop, but mostly because I thought it'd be a waste of time gathering weapons and all the materials to upgrade them.

 

But by doing that you also missed out on stuff related to Emil. I don’t want to say much more because spoilers, but it was a good story point. Plus you can buy most materials for weapon upgrades.

 

Pod materials are another story though. I couldn’t be bothered gathering Pure Water for an hour or more, so I did buy that trophy. Did the rest myself though.

[Beyondthegrave07]

1 minute ago, Kristycism said:

 

But by doing that you also missed out on stuff related to Emil. I don’t want to say much more because spoilers, but it was a good story point. Plus you can buy most materials for weapon upgrades.

 

Pod materials are another story though. I couldn’t be bothered gathering Pure Water for an hour or more, so I did buy that trophy. Did the rest myself though.

I saw his secret hideout and his backstory through the missions though. Didn't know there was more to it. I did 90% of the missions so I felt like I didn't miss much in the lore. It's also why I read the archives as well.

[Kristycism]

1 minute ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

I saw his secret hideout and his backstory through the missions though. Didn't know there was more to it. I did 90% of the missions so I felt like I didn't miss much in the lore. It's also why I read the archives as well.

 

Yeah, there’s more to his story - in the present of the game, not a backstory like in his side missions. You can probably find it on YouTube if you’re curious about it, I just don’t want to give more details in case anyone reads this thread that hasn’t played yet as it’ll be a spoiler. But it was really sad and made me tear up more than most of the main story.

 

Was an odd decision by the Devs to lock it behind weapon upgrades though :/ not sure why they did that as a lot of people probably won’t have seen it as a result.

[Beyondthegrave07]

15 minutes ago, Kristycism said:

Was an odd decision by the Devs to lock it behind weapon upgrades though :/ not sure why they did that as a lot of people probably won’t have seen it as a result.

Yeah, that is really weird. Would never had guessed anything special would happen if I upgraded all the weapons! Haha! I'll have to go look it up.

[zeero7uk]

 

Excellent game, excellent plot and Soundtrack too. I really wish they would Remaster Nier1. I never got to play it. 

[Lava_Yuki]

I quite liked the game design, characters and battle system but didn't really enjoy the actual story itself. I did Emil's events via the side quests, some of the other subquests related to weapon rewards and almost all the endings besides maybe Emils one, but then just bought the rest of the trophies in the trophy shop after getting all the endings except Emils as I was too lazy and wanted to move on to other plats. Most of the side quests were too boring and random to invest time in, so I didn't want to do them all. I do wish they had more proper side quests that revealed more about the main characters.

 

It would be cool if they did a HD remake of the previous Nier games, I never got a chance to play them on ps3 as I never even knew about Nier at all until Nier Automata came out. 

[Redgrave]

Glad you liked the game. I remember when I got it I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did especially since I barely knew anything about the series other than it's connection to one of the Drakengard endings. It's become one of my favorites for sure though and definitely recommend it to anyone.

 

That credits sequence though eh? It was a really bittersweet way to end the game I thought. The whole thing about leaving encouraging messages for other struggling players and having it where other players sacrifice themselves/save data for you was really nice. I would love to see other games do something like that again because it's a pretty heartwarming way of having a "you're not alone" sort of thing.

[JoaLoft]

13 minutes ago, zer007uk said:

 

Excellent game, excellent plot and Soundtrack too. I really wish they would Remaster Nier1. I never got to play it. 

 

12 minutes ago, Lava_Yuki said:

I quite liked the game design, characters and battle system but didn't really enjoy the actual story itself. I did Emil's events via the side quests, some of the other subquests related to weapon rewards and almost all the endings besides maybe Emils one, but then just bought the rest of the trophies in the trophy shop after getting all the endings except Emils as I was too lazy and wanted to move on to other plats. Most of the side quests were too boring and random to invest time in, so I didn't want to do them all. I do wish they had more proper side quests that revealed more about the main characters.

 

It would be cool if they did a HD remake of the previous Nier games, I never got a chance to play them on ps3 as I never even knew about Nier at all until Nier Automata came out. 

 

Would love to see a full remake of the original NieR game as well, although I read up on the events preceding this game's.

 

And @Lava_Yuki: that is one of the small gripes I have with the game, the sidequests could have been less cookie cutter, and could have been more original. Although ...

 

Spoiler

... The "Amnesia" sidequest where you track down the murderer with the red scarf did give me a tidbit of information which made my jaw drop at the end of the game. When you restore the android's memories and reveal that she, as a quest giver, was the actual killer: she states she's an E-model. E standing for "Executioner". So when A2 tells 9S that 2B is actually a cover name for 2E, I instantly understood what it meant. In that sense, that particular sidequest does provide you with a small detail which turns out to have big ramifications in the character development later on.

 

4 minutes ago, Redgrave said:

Glad you liked the game. I remember when I got it I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did especially since I barely knew anything about the series other than it's connection to one of the Drakengard endings. It's become one of my favorites for sure though and definitely recommend it to anyone.

 

That credits sequence though eh? It was a really bittersweet way to end the game I thought. The whole thing about leaving encouraging messages for other struggling players and having it where other players sacrifice themselves/save data for you was really nice. I would love to see other games do something like that again because it's a pretty heartwarming way of having a "you're not alone" sort of thing.

 

The credits sequence was a brilliant piece of narrative and game design, taking a typically passive part of a medium (be it a movie or game) and turning it into an actual instrument to bring the story to a close. Including the credits as part of the entire interactive experience was the cherry on an already scrumptious big cake. And I'm happy they included this, granting players a glimmer of hope for our three heroic protagonists.

[bmg_ps]

Glad of the love you are giving to this game.

People who haven't played Nier, please do! This game is one of the few I consider a masterpiece. 

 

[gerboize]

I have nothing to add. You beautifully summarized how I feel about this game. I finished it a few hours ago and... damn. I really hate myself for not giving it a chance a little sooner.

[Killbomb]

I'm in the minority I know but after I finished route A, I had no desire to continue any further. The gameplay just wasn't that enjoyable to me and the story wasn't compelling. I would even say that I enjoyed the gameplay and story much more in the original Nier, which I played on Xbox 360.

 

Might go back to finish Automata someday though if for no other reason than to get a relatively easy Platinum.

[Erkawest]

I remember how epic the Opera boss fight was, scary as fk with the theme and awesome music during the fight. I didn't check any guides so when I got to that part I was like wtfffff. I was scared shtless. The creepy atmosphere just felt right and left me ultimately amazed, how could one have created such a badass boss intro, full fight and end? 

 

Watching vids about the intro still sends shivers down my spine

Edited April 7, 2019 by Erkawest

[Hatteii]

I’ve just finished Nier:Automata and I genuinely feel a little sad. Not becaue I didn’t enjoy the game but because I now have nothing to follow it. I’m now worried my next game that I play won’t be nearly (haha nierly) as fufilling

[JoaLoft]

On 26-3-2019 at 0:01 AM, bmg_ps said:

Glad of the love you are giving to this game.

People who haven't played Nier, please do! This game is one of the few I consider a masterpiece.

 

On 7-4-2019 at 9:22 PM, gerboize said:

I have nothing to add. You beautifully summarized how I feel about this game. I finished it a few hours ago and... damn. I really hate myself for not giving it a chance a little sooner.

 

Pretty damn great, I agree. One of those games that lingers in the back of your mind for a few days after you completely finish it. Had the same thing with BioShock Infinite's crazy ending back in the day!

 

On 7-4-2019 at 10:22 PM, Killbomb said:

I'm in the minority I know but after I finished route A, I had no desire to continue any further. The gameplay just wasn't that enjoyable to me and the story wasn't compelling. I would even say that I enjoyed the gameplay and story much more in the original Nier, which I played on Xbox 360.

 

Might go back to finish Automata someday though if for no other reason than to get a relatively easy Platinum.

 

The end of Route A is not that fulfilling, I agree. Hence the textbox popping up after the credits, stating that the game is meant to be played several times in order to complete it. Once you approach the end of Route B, things get really interesting and once Route C kicks in, it's just one straight and satisfying (yet long) sprint to the finish.

 

Definitely consider picking it up again and continuing the game. You won't regret it. At least, I didn't.

 

On 7-4-2019 at 11:12 PM, Erkawest said:

I remember how epic the Opera boss fight was, scary as fk with the theme and awesome music during the fight. I didn't check any guides so when I got to that part I was like wtfffff. I was scared shtless. The creepy atmosphere just felt right and left me ultimately amazed, how could one have created such a badass boss intro, full fight and end? 

 

Watching vids about the intro still sends shivers down my spine

 

One of the best boss fights in the whole game, agreed. Although the game is full of excellent music. I was already sold when "Bipolar Nightmare" started to play during the prologue.

 

On 7-4-2019 at 11:22 PM, Hatteii said:

I’ve just finished Nier:Automata and I genuinely feel a little sad. Not becaue I didn’t enjoy the game but because I now have nothing to follow it. I’m now worried my next game that I play won’t be nearly (haha nierly) as fufilling

 

Wait for a NieR 3 announcement?

 

Cherish the great experience you had with this one, and just move on to the next game. You'll come across something else sooner or later that'll blow your mind again, be it a highly-marketed AAA-game or a sleeper hit.

[Khalashnikovf]

I started to play Nier about 1,5 year ago and I was not so much happy with it so I dropped that. But I heard only a good words about it and how deep it is and so on.... So I through that 1,5 year got into half of a play and then it got my full attention. Oh boy, oh mama, oh papa, oh sonny, oooooh brother, please move! I finished that first playthrough in one sitting (last 7 hours). Then (WTF, the game just only started ,!?!?!?!?) I finished B run in two days and that same day started C run. Finished that one day after and day after I finished plat.
The story, characters, map, gameplay, SOUNDTRACK (Why its not on the iTunes?  ), humanity ... boy Im broken after this game. Last time I sat with one game for whole three days was like 10 years ago... but this one ... Im broken but also full of hope. Glory to the Mankind!