I have a ridiculously long list of games that I want to play so I finally got a copy of this game.
I am about 3 hours into and and Wow, it is really great. The save system is a bit wonky so about an hour of that three hours was being annoyed getting past the first boss. You are only allowed to save at save points and the first save point you get to is after the first boss. So I died on him/it twice.
Most of what you do leading up to the first boss is just learning the mechanics of the game. So having to redo that three times was … annoying… but that makes you learn fight mechanics, so I appreciated that after I got him “down”.
Visually the game is great. The combat system is really intuitive and the game uses camera angles that are a bit jarring at first. Sometimes the camera angles feel like old school 90s arcade games. The aesthetic of the game is awesome.
The game seems to be very deliberately rolling out the story, so the experience so far has been very hack and slash. I am curious how that will play out. I am hoping that the story gets more involved the more I play the game.
Like I said I am only three hours into it and so far it has been fun!
I had a moment with the game where the etherial, unintelligible music seemed to make sense for a sec and it tripped me out, like I heard something about being altered by “strange reddish slime” and it sent me down a rabbit hole trying to find the lyrics only to discover it’s a made up language or something? Anyway, top shelf stuff!
Wait for the amusement park. I suggest good headphones - both location and the boss will blow your mind. This was the best shit I saw in my entire life
The crazy part is the true beauty of this game doesn’t reveal itself until such a long time. 3 hours in - literally nothing has happened yet. Keep playing, don’t stop even if you think you’ve seen it all - you haven’t.
I get that lotsa ppl love it and have nostalgia… But it was Waaaaaaaaaaay too weeby for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as happy starting at @ 2b’s booty as the next hetero cis gamer male… But the plot twists, ultra gravitas dialogue, teen robot angst paired w a post Apocalypse world that’s still all about hyper sexualized girlbots was all just… Too much for me to take seriously. The combat, while interesting, also became a very tedious exercise in juggling while holding down buttons and switching perspectives. It felt like old armored core… In the bad way.
Without spoiling anything, do make sure to enable the online features!
Will do. Several folks have said that.
If you’re having fun with it 3 hours in, just wait. This game fucking goes places …
Do not quit, make sure you play it to the [E]nd. And that’s all I’ll say about that.
The soundtrack is amazing and one of my favorites to put on in the background while I’m working. The story is definitely silly and paced oddly at times, but it has a lot of things to say that really spoke deeply to me. I get a bit choked up thinking about it still. Hope you continue to have fun, I think it’s reputation is well-warranted!
Read and listen to this comment. I made the mistake of quitting at the end of my first playthrough. This game is quite a trip.
100% this. Intentionally being cryptic here - even if you think you “get it” after two, you are wrong and know nothing John Snow. Keep playing…
Absolutely. I had the same problem as OP on the first boss and immediately put it down for the day after my first death, but when I got back to it the next day, I couldn’t put it down. Went through and got all endings and the game just kept rewarding me with more and more as I did.
Loved the soundtrack, loved the philosophical arguments, and that emotional rollercoaster punched me in the gut repeatedly and I just kept getting up for more.
Loved this one and the anime too.
Automata was good, but I found myself enjoying NieR (Gestalt, not Replicant) way more. Its older and less refined, but the story was more captivating, and I found the father a more charming character.
I played Replicant with all the replays to get real ending - the more you understand, the more horrifying the underlying message is.
I’m on the fence about buying it, but I’ve read that the game has mostly tedious fetch side-quests. Is that something you felt too?
Yes. A lot of traveling and quest repeating to get real ending is tedious. But it’s worth it
I don’t consider them tedious, but I generally dont end up doing all the side content, I just played the game and occasionally did the side quests between main story quests, so I wouldn’t be able to give you a good assessment on that.
For whatever reason eBay prices on the game have spiked dramatically, but you used to be able to get the game disk for Xbox 360 for like, $10. Its backwards compatible.
You could also just download and emulate the PS3 copy of NieR Gestalt for free if you are concerned about not liking it and buy the game later if you do.
I love the chip system in this.
You can basically automate certain actions to make the game easier the way you like. Don’t enjoy shooting? Automate it. Don’t like doding? You are now a master. Slashing? Any enemy that gets close gets auto slashed.
I had the automated shooting enabled all the time, because I didn’t want to hold the button down the entire time.
The only thing you are missing out is more chip space for cooler upgrades.
I felt like I always wanted more space, but the compromise for getting something big was also a nice way to manage difficulty. In a way, there was already too much space; I had to stop myself from using a loadout with absolutely broken healing.
I was tinkering around with that, and it looks reallly cool! Right now a bunch of my chiop slots are locked, I am certain that will change as I level or meet other thresholds.
I knew I was going to get hooked on this game really quick.
I’m glad for everyone that enjoyed this game and found a meaningful experience in it. Kind of wish it could’ve been the same for me. I found the whole experience, from combat through story, to be horrendous by any standard, and quit midway through. Then someone begged me to come back and give it a full shot. So, I completEd it all thE way to the Ending, and it got even worse.
Anyway, hopefully you do enjoy it; I could probably give a full-paragraph diatribe on what didn’t work for me, but art can be very subjective.
The game is a true masterpiece, one of the best works of art I’ve ever experienced. The pacing and story were amazing, even the boring and annoying parts are perfectly seasoned with new information so that your interest and investment to the story deepens
It’s a world and a story that flows like music, repeating the same melody over and over with new instruments joining in and swelling with each repetition. It constantly adds new information that recontextualizes the story entirely with masterful timing
I also don’t recommend the game to people. It was perfectly tuned in a way that no longer works, it was made for society a decade ago. Sadly, I don’t think you can get the same experience anymore… We just aren’t the same as we were then
Without spoilers, there are 5 major endings to the game, A-E, and you haven’t really “beat” the game until you have seen them all. There are 21 additional minor endings, F-Z, which are more or less optional.
Take advantage of the game’s online connectivity. Similar to Dark Souls, other players that died will leave messages and a bit of their loot in your world.
I hope you enjoy the game! Nier:Automata is one of my favorite video games of all time.
There’s also a 27th (non-alphabetical) “ending” that’s quite different from all the others. I think it was originally part of a DLC but it just came with the version on Steam when I played the game ~5 years ago.
Part of me is really confused they’re called “Endings”. Like, the “switch” after the first credits, to be vague, is the closest to that. But moving past that part, what you’re playing are “Chapters” where more stuff is happening. When you realize it’s a terminology switch, it becomes less “genre-breaking” and more just “a confusing, long game”.
I second this. Definitely the most emotionally involved in a game I’ve ever been, for better or worse.
spoilers
Only game that’s ever made me sob.
That sounds awesome!
What HarkMahlberg means is that the game isn’t finished when you reach the credits.
When you replay the game a second time, you get the story from a complete different perspective. And when you start again after beating the game again, you get again a totally different experience from a different perspective.
IMO, you should spoiler tag that.
It is.
These days I usually start games on hard mode or higher. But i remember that was a huge mistake with Nier Automata. Its not a problem on NG+, but without chips, the first play though of the intro is impossible on harder difficulties. After hours of trying to get through the flight, I finally gave in and lowered the difficulty until the first save.
Eat the fish.
…hmm so I got a prompt and fishing and did a bit of fishing. I was wondering if it was it was just an ingame mini game or if it had more significance.
Will do
You get some really great items while fishing. But also you should eat the fish. ;)
i love everything about nier automata except that it hijacks my camera all the damn time and even hijacks movement pretty often
Yeah, the first boss was kinda a deal-breaker for my partner, had to jump in after the fourth time.
The game and story unfolds after the first play through, so replaying it is kind of a must.
Yeah, the beginning of this game is a slog. I did not enjoy the first chapter at all, which sucks since the rest of the game is pretty chill and fun and the start does not represent it.
I was also playing it on the hardest difficulty which is not a good idea for your first playthrough of the first chapter…
