When Cavia’s action RPG NieR discharged in 2010, it didn’t build a lot of of a bearing. Despite having a heavily praised narrative, the gameplay merely didn’t delay its finish of the discount. This crystal rectifier to Associate in Nursing overall mixed reception, and as a result, several players (including myself) ne'er fully fledged the journey of Nier and his girl Yonah. Seven years later, though, the sport has received the standing of a “cult classic” and a sequel going down thousands of years within the future referred to as NieR: Automata was developed by gifted Japanese developer PlatinumGames.
It’s here wherever vision meets style, as director Yoko Taro’s script is totally complete due to a stellar combat system that produces Automata the maximum amount fun to play because it is to observe the story unfold. Players management numerous androids throughout the sport, and begin off au fait of 2B — a combat unit that is aware of its approach around a blade. She’s joined by a partner, a talented hacker named 9S, on her mission to destroy the machines that have condemned Earth.
Taking down these machines isn’t simple, though. These robotic foes are available a range of shapes and sizes, and 2B can ought to use her skillful dodge maneuver if she’s to accomplish the mission in one piece. the good half regarding the fast combat is simply however customizable it's, because the player will install numerous programs that alter 2B’s skills and skills.
After the primary story arc, I had equipped the android with chips that allowed her to drain health from enemies she was damaging, and could switch between special attacks on the fly. Those that are having issues juggling the various robots they’ll be fighting (and it definitely gets challenging) can even equip auto-abilities that can allow the androids to basically fight on their own at a press of the left trigger, which is an awesome addition that even has a logical explanation in-game.
While much of the action is reminiscent of other third-person character action games, NieR: Automata isn’t afraid to change genres at the slightest camera pan. At a moment’s notice, the camera may shift to a top-down perspective, and the game begins to play like a twin-stick shooter. Several seconds later, it’s suddenly a two-dimensional platformer. This may sound like it would lead to a disjointed experience, but the fundamental gameplay controls never change despite these shifts – helping the game keep its identity, no matter how often it may throw a seemingly random element at the player.
Despite the combat being stellar, it’s also where the game’s few faults lie. NieR: Automata often throws a lot of enemies at the player, and since you’re exploring a pretty vast open-world (albeit one that has a few more walled areas than I would’ve liked), this can lead to some instances of the framerate dropping a considerable amount. This typically occurred while I was running away from a group of enemies, not fighting them, but it did occur occasionally within combat as well. Hopefully, the PC version (which comes out next week) will run better, but my PS4 Pro regularly suffered from slowdown and graphical pop-in when I was dashing through the environment.
These issues though, and a few smaller ones like the frustrating to use in-game map, aren’t enough to detract from what’s otherwise a phenomenal experience. This goes beyond the satisfying swordplay, as the story is immediately captivating. Early on, 2B and 9S destroy their enemy — the machines — without a second thought. This begins to change as the mission goes on though, as machines begin to speak and display various acts of human behavior.
The storytelling in NieR: Automata is second to none, and it brilliantly takes advantage of the medium that it’s in. While it’ll take over 20 hours to complete the game, players will likely end up seeing the credits wrap after around 10. However, you’ll want to replay it in order to see things from several different perspectives, from which the big picture really starts to become clear. Those that have played the original may be hip to some of the shocking reveals sooner than others, but the story is self-contained enough for myself, someone new to the series, to still be absolutely enamored with it (to the point where I’m going to track down a copy of the 2010 release immediately).
The amount of emotions that NieR‘s story was able to get out of me is particularly impressive when you consider that the entire cast is comprised of androids and robots. It’s strange to type this, but all of the characters are truly humanized by the time the game’s fifth main ending is seen (there’s 22 in total — although the majority are gag endings that are easily missed). It’s hard to speak about a lot of what this title does really well without spoiling it, but Automata fully embraces that it’s a video game. There are certain gameplay moments (including the incredible end credits) that are absolutely mind-blowing, and this isn’t because of a story twist, but rather due to how the game manages to connect players into the overall experience.
NieR: Automata isn’t without problems, but it’s also a truly groundbreaking game. It won’t push a single genre forward, however it has the potential to modification the entire medium. It takes advantage of player interactivity in ways in which I’ve ne'er seen before so as to form Associate in Nursing implausibly unforgettable expertise that’s a joy from commencing to finish. Anyone who’s fascinated by what vice will try this books and films cannot must expertise Yoko Taro and PlatinumGames’ masterpiece.
