Nier:Automata

As pretty much everyone already knows, it’s not a good PC port. There are several issues with the port, the most commonly mentioned being the full screen resolution bug, but there’s several other issues, like non-native resolution for AO and bloom, PS2 quality potato textures, and the mouse lingering on the screen at all times, even when using a controller. Thankfully, Kaldaien’s FAR mod fixes the vast majority of those issues, while the PCGW and GPUnity’s Texture Pack resolve the rest. Once you’ve put a bit of effort into fixing the PC port, it’s probably the definitive edition of the game. It’s just a shame it’s not that “out of the box.”

The story is absolutely phenomenal. It’s one of the most unique techniques of storytelling that I’ve ever experienced in a video game. The story is told throughout multiple playthroughs from the perspectives of different characters. The first and second playthroughs are very similar, and can feel a tad bit repetitive, but the third playthrough is substantially different and effectively the second half of the story.

Unfortunately, I don’t have many positive remarks about the side quests. There’s a fuckton of side quests in this game. Most of them narratively contribute to worldbuilding, but gameplay-wise are just fetch quests. So, they felt mostly like a chore to me. I did practically all of them, leaving only the arenas incomplete. I honestly don’t feel that most of the side content was a great use of my time.

The NieR universe is pretty fascinating. I’ve never played the original Nier game, but I’ve read through the Wikipedia summary and watched several recap/analysis videos, and I feel like I have a decent grasp on the story now. Automata takes place thousands of years after the original game, so it’s more akin to a spin-off or spiritual successor than a direct sequel, but there’s still plenty of references and several characters from the original game that I wouldn’t have recognized were it not for reading up on the previous game.

The moment to moment gameplay is so fucking good. I went into it expecting a character action game that necessitated learning combos, like Bayonetta, but it’s not that type of game. It’s more of a hack-’n’-slash than it is character action. That said, the combat is amazing, especially after expanding your deck of plug-in chips (character upgrades). Each character controls differently as well, which kept combat feeling moderately fresh throughout the multiple playthroughs.

Holy fuck this game has a god-tier soundtrack. The tracks tie in so well to the storytelling and emotional beats of the game. It’s just so fucking good. It’s hard to pick a favorite track, but since I’m putting myself on the spot to do just that, I’m going to have to go with “The Sound of the End.”

I spent far more time with this game than I expected to. A great portion of my time was spent doing side quests that I don’t think were a valuable use of time, but every time I came back to the main quest, I just fell in love with the game, the world, and the characters. Ultimately, I’m walking away from this game sincerely hoping that Square Enix and Yoko Taro can put together a sequel that’s even bigger and better.