Nier: Automata Impressions

[CritialGaming]

^^My whole point is that there are other, better ways to do difficulty. Or at least there can be at this point. It isn't about "preserving the challenge" as much as it is about unnecessarily segregating the experience, based on experience. A person playing a game on "easy" could end up with a very different impression of a game vs someone playing on "hard", and indirectly influence a potential player to give it a try or not.

Challenge should be more superfluous and woven into the design, not tacked on like a cheap suit.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Is the original game worth picking up? Never played the series before.

Obviously it is going to depend on what you want out of it. If you like Nier Automatas story and characters or rather writing in general then quite possibly yes if you just like its gameplay then absolutely not.

I have not finished Nier yet (bought it late last year) but I find it a real mixed bag the sidequests are annoying as hell but I do them because the writing is great and I honestly want to hear the characters converse on them as well as find out more on the world also the combat in Nier while functional is for me at least not very engaging.

I will go back to Nier simply because I find the world, characters and story so compelling I feel the slog of some of the gameplay is worth it also you can skip pretty much all sidequests if you wish which may save your sanity.

As an overall product Nier Automata is much easier to recommend but Nier is different enough to be its own beast. It is also nice seeing how the world and landscape has changed from Nier to Automata.

Personal reasons why I have not finished Nier yet are I hate the sidequests but love the banter when doing them so sorta makes me do stuff I hate to get stuff I do not, the combat is not very engaging outside of a few encounters i.e bosses. Some of the drop rates for parts are annoyingly low and it is tedious to get them so much so that I pretty much stopped caring about the idea of fully upgrading weapons and finally their are other games I wanted to play that gave me more overall pleasure such as Nioh and Nier Automata.

I will warn you about Nier (and Drakengard), Taro hates 2 things above all others, children and completionists. Platinum was able to reign his hatred completionists in, but in previous games he had full creative control. To get all the endings usually requires you to grind until you despise the game. Drakengard 1 was the worst about it, but Nier was pretty bad too. There are plenty of skippable sidequests, but not all of them are skippable to get the final ending.

 

[Worgen]

I'm liking it but I have misgivings about the open world nature of it. It has a ton of side quests and the competitionist in me has to do them all before doing more of the story. Which makes me run the risk of getting bored and doing other things.

 

[Worgen]

I'm liking it but I have misgivings about the open world nature of it. It has a ton of side quests and the competitionist in me has to do them all before doing more of the story. Which makes me run the risk of getting bored and doing other things.

If it makes you feel any better, the quests aren't missable. You can do them in chapter select after completing ending C. The hassle is figuring out which chapters aren't so tied up in the story that they allow you to do the quests.

Actually it does help. I can finish the few I'm doing then just do more story and not worry about them so much.

 

[drednoahl]

I don't really consider this a Platinum game. The way I saw it even before playing the demo was that Platinum was basically coming in to spruce up Nier's combat. And, from playing the demo, that's exactly what they did. Automata is still a Nier game with the same director. Expecting a full-fledged Platinum combat system like Bayonetta wasn't going to happen.

Speaking of Bayonetta and as someone already mentioned, Bayonetta used "R2" for its dodge. I never had issue with that. I imagine you can remap the dodge to another button especially on PC and on PS4 you can remap all buttons for any game as well. I never have to use L3 for sprint again, I'm using R2 for sprint in Horizon for example.

My main concern for Automata is whether the characters will be good. The 1st game was carried by Kaine and Weiss and the main androids don't come off as interesting at all in Automata. Nier's story has some issues even more so after watching Super Bunnyhop's recent Nier video. Hopefully, you don't have to play Automata multiple times to reveal the whole story like the original, which wasn't near (pun unintended) that amazing enough to lock details behind multiple playthroughs.

The demo doesn't give the impression that Automata is Platinum at their best I agree, but the demo is effectively the beginning of the game before you can counter and use witch-time like mechanics. Late game is very similar to Bayonetta where taunting (not as important as dodge offset is in Bayonetta - thankfully imo because my hands cramp up playing Bayonetta now,) countering and witch time give a real risk/reward factor to the combat in Automata. For me the combat is sublime and really satisfying however it took a bit of testing different loadouts to find what I wanted.

The first Nier game was graft I agree, although I think the story was really good after I'd done the 'A' ending and got some way through 'B.' I'm not that bothered by the characters in Automata - with their eyes covered the models have limited expression, and where I am in my playthrough now I don't think I'm supposed to care about them or even like them. In all my time gaming finishing Nier properly is one of the most incredible experiences I've had, but I'm in no rush to repeat that. Nier Automata is much more playable though; just for the hell of it I'll grind for half an hour and I'm having fun. I am happy to see the different endings because they are much easier to get than the one's in the first Nier.

That said I am not liking the invisible walls at all....seriously Automata has like the worst invisible walls I've seen for a long while.

 

[BrawlMan]

I like this games, but I loathe the save system. Some of the bosses are bullshit and certain gimmicks can wear thin too. Otherwise, story I love, music is spectacular, and I can't wait to unlock the rest of the endings. I am currently on path C right now.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

That said I am not liking the invisible walls at all....seriously Automata has like the worst invisible walls I've seen for a long while.

Yeah, that's the first thing I noticed when I got into the city ruins.

"Hey, I wonder what's through that door..."
"Oh, you thought that was a door? Nope, it's a wall."
"Well I wonder what's in that crack between the buildings..."
"Fuck you, more walls."

I don't even understand why they did it. There are tons of spots where the models could fit through doors and cracks in the environment, and everything on the other side is clearly modeled (even if it is totally useless space), so why not allow us to go there? A tiny empty room filled with debris is fine, an invisible wall in front of the tiny empty room filled with debris is annoying.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I'm done with it and... I liked it, a lot, even.

It wasn't as good of a an action game as most of Platinum's actual action games and that's fine because there are some concessions to be made when you want to to that kind of combat in the context of a fully fleshed out RPG. But as an Action RPG it worked fairly well, it was one of the few games in the genre where the combat was enjoyable for its own sake which is more than one can say for Witcher 3, Final Fantasy XV or any given Elder Scrolls game. It was fast, dynamic and overall pretty satisfying. I can dig it.

The meat of the game is obviously in the story and the themes it explores and overall it did explore them well. I'm unfamiliar with the first Nier or the Drakengard games, all I knew about Yoko Taro was that he's some quirky japanese man in a mask who has a reputation of making very subversive fantasy games and now that I've played Automata I kinda feel bad for having missed out on his other games. Automata is certainly a game that has a lot to say. All of its characters are robots but with these robots it tells a story about what it means to be human. I'd hate to spoil the game for anyone so I'm not gonna get deeper into that but Nier Automata is a game that asks a lot of pretty difficult questions and presents a lot of pretty uncomfortable answers.

Also, it made a better point about the nature of war than any game about actual war (with maybe Spec Ops: The Line being the exception) ever did. Gotta give it some credit for that.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I'm having so much fun with Automata. I'm 11 hours in and let's just say that the City Ruins are the least interesting environment in the game. I still can't get over the Amusement Park and how creepy yet charming it is. They do go places with the simplistic enemy designs later, you're literally at the start of the game.

The controls are a bit weird yes but you'll get used to them after a while. The combat is very Bayonetta which can only be a good thing and I like how for once the gun you have is actually more effective than a pea shooter unlike every other character action game released since Devil May Cry.

EDIT: Just got to the start of route 3 and holy fucking shit. I was not ready for the game to just drop so many bombs on me within one hour. Automata has exceeded all of my expectations and then some.

Spoiler

RIP 2B. I thought the Bunker blowing up was shocking but damn I was not expecting her to just drop 10 minutes after. I hope she comes back but I don't think she will, the death scene was just so perfectly done. The gameplay leading up to her death was very well done too, a lot of the time the MC dying in a cutscene can feel shitty because "wtf give me control and i'd have ruined that guy" but Automata really hammered home how utterly fucked 2B was. Mission objective was pretty clearly implied as: Find a hole to crawl into and die quietly. The soldiers were just the final kick in the teeth.

It's not often a game can kill off Based Girl and survive but Automata pulls it off.

 

[Zach Wymore]

This game doesn't come close to being GOTY imo nor a 'must have', but it at the very least is worth trying out.

To avoid any spoilers, i'll be as non-specific as possible.
:The game is incredibly short for one. Getting 100 percent completion (weapons, skills, pods, chips, index, quests, etc) only took me roughly 33 hours, and that was while consistently playing on hardmode.
:This game doesn't quite qualify as a genuine 'open world' though many claim the game to be so. Each area is rather small or clustered with obstructions/ invisible walls, thus making it a very linear experience.
:While combat/movement mechanics are fluent, repetition sets in fast. You don't feel a sense of accomplishment for anything you do.

What really drives the nail in the coffin for me is the fact that this game should be thriving with its story telling and the characters involved. Everyone is boring or follows a typical trope of some kind. 2B is basically every would-be lonewolf badass you've ever seen in jrpgs or anime. 9s is the epitome of wimp trying to get into the spotlight (or at the very least, get out of the friendzone). A2 is a slightly less bland version of 2B. These 3 playable characters get about as much color and development in their life collectively as a side quest npc you only meet once. Now imagine how bad it is for the actual side characters. You can't get attached to anyone or anything in here, even if the game desperately name drops and refers to things from previous titles. This measly attempt at nostalgia barely adds a sense of importance to the world you are involved in and the 'people' around you.

TL;DR

Bland characters, small bland world with no sense of pace in story telling, fun yet repetitive combat. Too short a game.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

This game doesn't come close to being GOTY imo nor a 'must have', but it at the very least is worth trying out.

To avoid any spoilers, i'll be as non-specific as possible.
:The game is incredibly short for one. Getting 100 percent completion (weapons, skills, pods, chips, index, quests, etc) only took me roughly 33 hours, and that was while consistently playing on hardmode.
:This game doesn't quite qualify as a genuine 'open world' though many claim the game to be so. Each area is rather small or clustered with obstructions/ invisible walls, thus making it a very linear experience.
:While combat/movement mechanics are fluent, repetition sets in fast. You don't feel a sense of accomplishment for anything you do.

What really drives the nail in the coffin for me is the fact that this game should be thriving with its story telling and the characters involved. Everyone is boring or follows a typical trope of some kind. 2B is basically every would-be lonewolf badass you've ever seen in jrpgs or anime. 9s is the epitome of wimp trying to get into the spotlight (or at the very least, get out of the friendzone). A2 is a slightly less bland version of 2B. These 3 playable characters get about as much color and development in their life collectively as a side quest npc you only meet once. Now imagine how bad it is for the actual side characters. You can't get attached to anyone or anything in here, even if the game desperately name drops and refers to things from previous titles. This measly attempt at nostalgia barely adds a sense of importance to the world you are involved in and the 'people' around you.

TL;DR

Bland characters, small bland world with no sense of pace in story telling, fun yet repetitive combat. Too short a game.

Did we even play the same game?

You got 100% completion in 33 hours? How? It took me roughly 30 hours just to finish the A and B endings. I mean, I was playing at a somewhat leisurely pace and didn't fast travel as much as I probably should, but I was still doing every sidequest so I can't imagine it taking someone less than 40 hours to get 100% completion unless they knew some optimal path through the game. I'd agree that this isn't a genuinely open world game, but it's definitely not linear as you would say.

As far as characterization I feel like you're WAY off.

2B is the lone wolf badass? If she's supposed to be a lone wolf than why does she have a partner during almost every playable section of the game? Partners who she clearly cares about. She's also the most trusting of the playable characters.

9S is the epitome of a wimp? If anything he's more of the lone wolf. His model is literally made for solo missions, he's snarky and sarcastic, and at the start of the game he's the one most eager to fight the machines, constantly reminding 2B that machines are their enemy and that they don't have thoughts or feelings.