Zero Punctuation: Nier Automata

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I'm still on the fence about this one. Jim loved it, Yahtzee can stomach it. Not sure where that falls on the critical spectrum.

Both of them liked Horizon: Zero Dawn?

I'm kind of fencesitting ... I found DG3 really really fun. And I don't know why, either. And the thing is that if Autamata is the same way, then I can just play DG3.

DG3 also has dragons.

 

[jedisensei]

Regarding the symbolism of the name "9S", in networking the reliability of a network is often expressed with a series of "nines," [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_availability#.22Nines.22] (eg. "five nines" = 99.999% availability, which translates into fractional seconds of downtime measured over a full year).

Not knowing the plot of the game, however, I can offer no speculation as to the significance of this information.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I'm still on the fence about this one. Jim loved it, Yahtzee can stomach it. Not sure where that falls on the critical spectrum.

Both of them liked Horizon: Zero Dawn?

I'm kind of fencesitting ... I found DG3 really really fun. And I don't know why, either. And the thing is that if Autamata is the same way, then I can just play DG3.

DG3 also has dragons.

D3 had the best dragon.

Though did you play any of the DLC stuff?

 

[major_chaos]

EDIT: Also I just read a quick plot summary of Drakenguard and I'd like to know where summoning magical creatures and a little girl that will blow up the world if she dies come into the equation.

Spoiler

In the final and hardest to get ending in Drakengrad 1 the protagonist and his dragon chase a giant monster through a portal that spits them out in the skies over modern day "real world" Tokyo. Protagonist kills the giant monster and is almost instantly murdered by jet fighters. The energy(?) of the corpses of magical beings turns out to interact very badly with "our" world, leading to the post Apocalypse of Nier

I might not have remembered that 100% right, but its something along those lines.

OT: Not mentioned in this review: The music. Holy shit that music. It's been a while since I played a game where the soundtrack actually stood out, let alone hit this hard.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

EDIT: Also I just read a quick plot summary of Drakenguard and I'd like to know where summoning magical creatures and a little girl that will blow up the world if she dies come into the equation.

Spoiler

In the final and hardest to get ending in Drakengrad 1 the protagonist and his dragon chase a giant monster through a portal that spits them out in the skies over modern day "real world" Tokyo. Protagonist kills the giant monster and is almost instantly murdered by jet fighters. The energy(?) of the corpses of magical beings turns out to interact very badly with "our" world, leading to the post Apocalypse of Nier

I might not have remembered that 100% right, but its something along those lines.

OT: Not mentioned in this review: The music. Holy shit that music. It's been a while since I played a game where the soundtrack actually stood out, let alone hit this hard.

Spoiler

The queen beast dissolved into massless salt and spread across Shinjuku. Coming into contact with the salt caused people to be possessed by the queen beast like the empire was in Drakengard, including one person directly controlled by her (red eyes). The big difference is that since the beast made it into the real world, she added transformation to her possession turning the possessed into giants made of salt. It spread like a disease (referred to as White Chlorination Syndrome). It was a problem because there's no cure to being possessed by a pan dimensional god on a trail of vengeance.

 

[Tanis]

Wait...why did the name get changed?

 

[Ima Lemming]

EDIT: Also I just read a quick plot summary of Drakenguard and I'd like to know where summoning magical creatures and a little girl that will blow up the world if she dies come into the equation.

Spoiler

In the final and hardest to get ending in Drakengrad 1 the protagonist and his dragon chase a giant monster through a portal that spits them out in the skies over modern day "real world" Tokyo. Protagonist kills the giant monster and is almost instantly murdered by jet fighters. The energy(?) of the corpses of magical beings turns out to interact very badly with "our" world, leading to the post Apocalypse of Nier

Spoiler

The queen beast dissolved into massless salt and spread across Shinjuku. Coming into contact with the salt caused people to be possessed by the queen beast like the empire was in Drakengard, including one person directly controlled by her (red eyes). The big difference is that since the beast made it into the real world, she added transformation to her possession turning the possessed into giants made of salt. It spread like a disease (referred to as White Chlorination Syndrome). It was a problem because there's no cure to being possessed by a pan dimensional god on a trail of vengeance.

Spoiler

Were they turned into giants made of salt? I read the infected were offered a pact with the queen, and if they refused they turned into a pile of salt.

In either case, it's only particles from the monster queen that turn humans into slaves to the monster queen. But the particles of the dragon can actually grant real-world humans magic powers as discovered in an Akira-esque experiment Emil was part of, and they were then used to make a pair of books that tear the survivors' souls from their bodies, and make new bodies that are resistant to the monster queen's corruption who would then kill all the infected humans then merge back with oh god my nose is bleeding

 

[Hawki]

So I guess in a game where the line between man and machine is blurred, the question is whether 2B or not 2B.

 

[Pinky's Brain]

This is such a cliche for me at this point it's really annoying.

All "serious" media do this. Plot arcs, closure and moral judgement are gauche.

Though I agree it's annoying, too DEEP for me.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

D3 had the best dragon.

Spoiler

Though did you play any of the DLC stuff?

No! I got into DG3 really late... I feel like DG3 needs a remastered PC/PS4 release done right because they royally screwed up with localization processes.

I dislike how they handle Playstation DLC stuff. How they handled it (and continue to handle it well into the PS4 lifetime) was/is pure and utter bollocks, and I was never going to open myself up to that ball of chaos to play a old-not old-PS3 (game's not even that old, 3 years ...) that was PS3 only because they counldn't get the revenue together.

Is it worth it trying to download stuff to an ancient PS3 through PS Store to play some of the DLC if it is still even extant?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

EDIT: Also I just read a quick plot summary of Drakenguard and I'd like to know where summoning magical creatures and a little girl that will blow up the world if she dies come into the equation.

Spoiler

In the final and hardest to get ending in Drakengrad 1 the protagonist and his dragon chase a giant monster through a portal that spits them out in the skies over modern day "real world" Tokyo. Protagonist kills the giant monster and is almost instantly murdered by jet fighters. The energy(?) of the corpses of magical beings turns out to interact very badly with "our" world, leading to the post Apocalypse of Nier

Spoiler

The queen beast dissolved into massless salt and spread across Shinjuku. Coming into contact with the salt caused people to be possessed by the queen beast like the empire was in Drakengard, including one person directly controlled by her (red eyes). The big difference is that since the beast made it into the real world, she added transformation to her possession turning the possessed into giants made of salt. It spread like a disease (referred to as White Chlorination Syndrome). It was a problem because there's no cure to being possessed by a pan dimensional god on a trail of vengeance.

Spoiler

Were they turned into giants made of salt? I read the infected were offered a pact with the queen, and if they refused they turned into a pile of salt.

In either case, it's only particles from the monster queen that turn humans into slaves to the monster queen. But the particles of the dragon can actually grant real-world humans magic powers as discovered in an Akira-esque experiment Emil was part of, and they were then used to make a pair of books that tear the survivors' souls from their bodies, and make new bodies that are resistant to the monster queen's corruption who would then kill all the infected humans then merge back with oh god my nose is bleeding

Spoiler

That too, if you went with the pact, you became a salt giant.

D3 had the best dragon.

Spoiler

Though did you play any of the DLC stuff?

No! I got into DG3 really late... I feel like DG3 needs a remastered PC/PS4 release done right because they royally screwed up with localization processes.

I dislike how they handle Playstation store stuff. How they handled it (and continue to handle it well into the PS4 lifetime) was pure and utter balls, and I was never going to open myself up to that ball of chaos to play a old-not old-PS3 that was PS3 only because they counldn't get the revenue together.

Is it worth it trying to download stuff to an ancient PS3 through PS Store to play some of the DLC if it is still even extant?

It's probably better to just look up videos on it. The big draw gameplay wise to the DLCs is that they dropped major cash on you to upgrade your weapons. Plot wise, we get a closer look at the intoners, and they are definitely worth seeing. Especially 2, 3, and 4.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

It's probably better to just look up videos on it. The big draw gameplay wise to the DLCs is that they dropped major cash on you to upgrade your weapons. Plot wise, we get a closer look at the intoners, and they are definitely worth seeing. Especially 2, 3, and 4.

I always feel somewhat cheated watching let's plays of games I owned that I'd love to have another spin with, but to do so means sacrificing not buying something on principle (PS Store being PS store; IOW garbage) ...

I think I'll replay the game from scratch, get all three endings, and then re-evaluate buying all the Intoner DLC stuff ... sure as shit I am not paying $3 for a costume and weapon skin change and a 5% increase in weapon damage.

Besides, I like Zero's original look better, anyways. I'd cosplay that.

D3 is not an old game, and I'd happily rebuy it with all DLC stuff in a remastered package for PS4 or PC with a modest mid-range price entry. Even if it costs more than the individual DLC I want put together.

Why the fuck are games less convenient now than they were when I was a kid and digital distribution was yet still a pipedream?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

It's probably better to just look up videos on it. The big draw gameplay wise to the DLCs is that they dropped major cash on you to upgrade your weapons. Plot wise, we get a closer look at the intoners, and they are definitely worth seeing. Especially 2, 3, and 4.

I always feel somewhat cheated watching let's plays of games I owned that I'd love to have another spin with, but to do so means sacrificing not buying something on principle (PS Store being PS store; IOW garbage) ...

I think I'll replay the game from scratch, get all three endings, and then re-evaluate buying all the Intoner DLC stuff ... sure as shit I am not paying 3 dollars for a costume and weapon skin change and a 5% increase in weapon damage.

Besides, I like Zero's original look better, anyways. I'd cosplay that.

I'm not going to say they're not fun. Just short. But the storyline's contained within are definitely worth looking at.

Also, next best Drakengard dragon

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I'm not going to say they're not fun. Just short. But the storyline's contained within are definitely worth looking at.

Also, next best Drakengard dragon

Spoiler

Heh!

Well, that sells it ... instead of buying Automata, I'll just replay D3 and chance the minefield that is playstation digital distribution if my nostalgia for a new game that feels somewhat old holds up to critique and I end up buying all the Intoner DLC stuff!

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I'm not going to say they're not fun. Just short. But the storyline's contained within are definitely worth looking at.

Also, next best Drakengard dragon

Spoiler

Heh!

Well, that sells it ... instead of buying Automata, I'll just replay D3 and chance the minefield that is playstation digital distribution if my nostalgia for a new game that feels somewhat old holds up to critique and I end up buying all the Intoner DLC stuff!

Thanks for the feedback!

You should still get Automata at some point, GotY. 2017 is over, everyone else can go home.

 

[Dalisclock]

So, quick question: When we talk about "Play through the game 3 times to get the whole story", how long is a playhtrough on average? Because I can handle this much more with 10 hours per playthrough then 30 hours per playthrough.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

So, quick question: When we talk about "Play through the game 3 times to get the whole story", how long is a playhtrough on average? Because I can handle this much more with 10 hours per playthrough then 30 hours per playthrough.

It depends. The first playthrough will probably be the longest because of sidequests and exploration. After the first, they're much quicker because you won't be redoing sidequests and you'll already know where you're going.

In all, the game took me ~40 hours to get the major endings, though I skipped 3(?) sidequests.

 

[Jburton9]

Ah nice catch! Yeah then the dev totally nailed it : )

The lead dev is a trippy guy and he made a trippy game all in generally good fun. I watched TB's run with it and like Jim seemed to generally enjoy it but they also came away with "Hmmm still uncertain why it is I enjoy it.."

It kinda feels like he designed it to be that way, especially after I found this .gif of some interview with him.

Spoiler

 

[Dalisclock]

So, quick question: When we talk about "Play through the game 3 times to get the whole story", how long is a playhtrough on average? Because I can handle this much more with 10 hours per playthrough then 30 hours per playthrough.

It depends. The first playthrough will probably be the longest because of sidequests and exploration. After the first, they're much quicker because you won't be redoing sidequests and you'll already know where you're going.

In all, the game took me ~40 hours to get the major endings, though I skipped 3(?) sidequests.

Ok. Thanks. 40ish hours seems reasonable for this sort of thing.

 

[THM]

This an odd question, but...why was this review put on the site under 'Team Hollywood', when they're usually under Yahtzee's name?

OT: Hmmmm...proobably gonna pass. Interesting look, though.