Zero Punctuation: Nier Automata

[Rakor]

Don't forget the ending where you disconnect your own OS chip and die. No really.

 

[normalguycap]

What yahtzee said at 4:33 was exactly like the Stanley Parable and I applaud him pointing that out.

 

[Anaphyis]

Wow, you figured out the big plot twist. Which isn't supposed to be a twist at all because, you know, in the first game YOU DID THAT. So yeah, duh. Pat yourself on the shoulder for figuring out what others, who have actually played the first game to any extent, already knew going into the game. And which the game itself treats with basically no fanfare. Almost like it's not supposed to be a big revelation at all. Good reading there. No wonder you struggled with the rest of the plot.

 

[Fox12]

It's a pretty great, weird little game. I found that it did a pretty good job of paying off on the promise as well.

"...was a lot less clever than it thought it was. Despite its lofty philisophical ambitions, the plot wasn't making any kind of actual point. It just dropped a lot of existential thematic elements on the garage floor..."

-see: Just about any edgy Japanese anime, game, or [probably] pop novel. (Evangelion, Elfen Lied, Ergo Proxy, Persona 3, etc.)

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

Not sure why Eva's included in that list, given that it's basically the Ulysses of anime. Or cinema in general, actually.

 

[Broderick]

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.

On a side note, let's just say you wont be playing the same exact story each play through; With the second one taking less time than the first, but still adding stuff the first playthrough did not.

 

[PhiMed]

So, what I've gathered is that it's Silent Hill 2, but more Japanese, with better combat. Additionally, you're old now, so you aren't as slobbernocked by "game-changing" symbolic revelations.

I know you didn't draw this parallel, but think about the "hit over the head" symbolism from SH2. You're shitting on a game you wanted to like for doing the things the game you liked did. So I'll draw that parallel, in a Poincare' half plane, with a #3 pencil, because WEIRD.

I was going to pass on this one, but I think I'm in now.

 

[normalguycap]

This game was a massive let down. Has none of the philosophy or video game meta I was promised. Average at best and completely shallow experience on every level. 80 hours and 100%, fight me.

 

[Schadrach]

I heard a lot of good things about Nier: Automata, but I'm one of those weird individuals that can't jump into a game without first playing the prequels. Even if Nier: Automata is largely disconnected from Nier and Drakengard, the fact that I know I'll be missing hidden meanings by not playing those two first would drive me bonkers.

Although... when it comes to sequels wasn't Nier the sequel to Drakengard's 4th ending while Nier: Automata the sequel to Nier's 5th ending or some convoluted BS like that?

Let's see if I can remember this:

Drakengard 3 comes first.
Drakengard is a sequel to one of Drakengard 3's endings.
Drakengard 2 is a sequel to Drakengard's first ending (first ending is best ending, the more of a completionist you are, the worse it gets -- leave well enough the fuck alone!)
Nier: Replicant and Nier: Gestalt are sequels to Drakengard's 4th ending (you know how I said each ending gets worse, by this point the events of Drakengard have caused a kaiju to attack Japan because things couldn't get worse without dragging Earth into it, the PC and his dragon end up being shot down by fighter jets). The game is set on Earth c. 3400AD. The difference between Gestalt and Replicant is that in one you play Yonah's father and in the other her brother, also the brother one was only released in Japan and was XBox exclusive while the father version was PS3 exclusive.
Nier: Automata is in the same world as Nier, set far into the future after Nier.

 

[Kristoffer Bailey]

I honestly don't get what everyone is seeing in this game cause I wasn't very impressed by it. Yahtzee hit the nail on the head about the characters being bland and the plot not making any actual point. Just a bunch of Existential thematic elements puked up on you. It definitely thought it was more clever than it actually was. . . I don't think it's a BAD game, but average in my eyes. The music is really good though.