Nier:Automata — The Greatest Game People Just Don’t Talk About Enough
Beyond sharing my thoughts on this game, I have a secondary and more important purpose for writing this review. Nier:Automata is one of the greatest video games I have ever had the privilege to play, and it disappoints me that the game receives so little discussion or coverage today in mainstream gaming circles relative to how outstanding it is. Where Nier:Automata stands today — as more of a niche cult game that gamers tend to stumble upon, rather than actively seek to play from public praise — is far from where this game deserves to be.
I hope that by writing this review, I can inform more people about the magnificence of this game and do my part in ensuring the legacy of this game lives on in the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere.
So why am I gushing with nothing but admiration for this game? Across all the factors that make up a game — gameplay, narrative / characters, setting, etc. — Nier:Automata hits a home run across almost all of them. It is a true accomplishment to nail one of the above categories, but Nier:Automata does a great job across the board, and succeeds making each aforementioned factor memorable with the level of polish and care dedicated to them.
The game also does a stellar job harmonizing the separate (and at times clashing) elements in the game to deliver a cohesive game with a unique identity. From gameplay that alternates across genres from action RPG to bullet-hell shooter, to the game’s focus complex themes centered around existentialism and philosophy, Nier:Automata in theory sounds like shoving a square peg into a round hole. Despite the game’s unconventionality, these pieces end up complementing each other well and fitting together which is a true testament to the genius of the game’s director, Yoko Taro. The unorthodox flavor of the game is perhaps one of its greatest strengths, as it gives the game its own charm and allows it to offer unique experiences that other games simply don’t provide. Playing Nier:Automata is like eating something for the first time, and experiencing new sensations and tastes you never knew existed.
Narrative
For the unaware, Nier:Automata takes place in the distant future, where machines have taken over the world and driven humans off the planet to the moon. A squadron of androids under Project YorHa are engaged in a perpetual war against the machines to reclaim Earth and restore mankind to its former glory.
I felt the narrative of Nier:Automata was incredibly thought-provoking and captivating. The game’s narrative struck a great balance between delivering an engaging and immersive plot, while drip feeding the player with more intricate details throughout to expand the player’s connection with the game world.
The central story of the game, spanning three acts, is excellent. It does a great job of exercising restraint, not revealing too much about the mysteries of the game’s world at once while regularly delivering surprises and memorable set-piece moments that add significance and scale to the journey of our protagonists. There’s always something new or unexpected that happens, which allows the game to carry forward the momentum it builds and constantly keep players on their toes. One of my only complaints about this game is that the second act of the game is essentially a repeat of the first with a few differences. I felt the amount of differences and new moments in the second act did not effectively outweigh the drudgery of having to repeat scenes I experienced already. I can respect why the developers decided to go down this route and I don’t think it’s inherently bad, but I would have preferred a heftier amount of changes to the second act to improve the game’s overall flow and pacing.
The game’s focus on philosophical and existential themes like free will and the meaning of life is handled extremely competently. It is presented in a very palpable way so the game doesn’t feel like an art film or lecture, but still interweaves these themes tightly within the story. The philosophical commentary underlying the game is one of the game’s most striking differentiators, and at times makes some portions of the game unsettling to experience. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the presentation of these topics as it encouraged me to reflect and critically re-evaluate each scene to understand the deeper underlying messages behind it. The game also pays tribute to many historical thought leaders in philosophy, and reading about how this is done subtly throughout the game absolutely blows my mind!
The characters in Nier:Automata are well-written, and I love how the game places characters with clashing personality traits together to really highlight each character’s unique traits and quirks. Each playable character has a satisfying story arc, which I attribute to the vulnerability and emotion of their performances and how game events drive each character to grow and change their perspective on the machines and the greater world.
The smaller details (side quests, optional cut-scenes, etc.) in the game ultimately enhance your appreciation and enjoyment of the game’s central themes, story and universe. For example, some supporting characters have entirely missable scenes that go over their unique backstories, and there are many subtle moments that foreshadow events and revelations that happen further down the plot. These details constantly evolve how you interpret and understand the events of the game over time and makes you feel like you’re getting a lot more in return for your investment into it.
Setting
Tying back to my point of Nier:Automata having a unique identity, the world map and varied environments throughout the game gives it a distinct feel and atmosphere. Although this game does not have the best graphics, the art direction of the game makes it easy to ignore some of these deficiencies. Each location in the game is so different visually and it is immediately apparent that care was taken to ensure that the design, layout and presentation of each individual area evokes different feelings and emotions.
Nier:Automata also expertly uses color to establish tone. Some people may dislike the dulled color palette of the game’s overworld, but I quite like it because it pairs well with the game’s often melancholy atmosphere.
The next point I want to make concerning setting came from a review of the game published from Skill Up on YouTube. Skill Up’s review of the game made a great point about the locations in the game that I strongly agree with and felt compelled to highlight here. In Skill Up’s review, he argues that players develop an intimate connection with each area in the game mainly because the player rotates through the same locations multiple times over the story, experiencing new things each visit. Although the reuse of areas might sound unappealing to some, this design choice ultimately succeeds in increasing your immersion within the world itself as you end up learning and memorizing the nooks, crannies and distinct features of each area. You even feel a sense of nostalgia when you revisit a location after being away from it for a while. The deep connection you develop with Nier:Automata’s assortment of environments is a step above many other video games I’ve played. I could honestly boot this game up after not playing it for five years and immediately know where everything is.
Music
The music in this game…. Holy shit.
Nier:Automata indisputably has one of the most legendary soundtracks ever to grace a video game. Even saying legendary sounds like an understatement. It is THAT good.
The game’s soundtrack is almost universally regarded by fans and critics alike as one of the game’s crowning achievements, and the game took home not one, not two, but three best video game soundtrack awards in 2017/18. You could very easily make the case to buy this game just to listen to the music alone.
What I personally think makes the music in the game work is that it always fits perfectly with the broader scene to elevate the emotions underlie it. For instance, you have intense, up-tempo music during intense combat encounters, and sombre melodies that play after more sad or heartfelt scenes. These tracks often slowly crescendo or switch in real-time to achieve the maximum effect and leave the biggest impression possible.
I must give my sincere thanks to Keiichi Okabe — the game’s composer — for giving Nier:Automata players the opportunity to listen to his compositions while playing the game.
Gameplay
The game’s combat is intensely enjoyable because of how consistent and fluid it is. This achievement in combat is truly remarkable considering how fast-paced and hectic the combat encounters are, as there is a constant need to stay mobile, dodge attacks and switch between projectile and close-range attacks to progress. The main reason why combat feels good is that the responsiveness of your button inputs is almost surgically precise. You always feel like you are in full control, with your character responding 100% in accordance with what you press with no risk of doing something unintended.
The game also features alternative forms of combat such as top-down bullet hell sequences and side-scrolling 2D combat. These contrasting portions of the game are surprisingly fun and play extremely well because they feel so similar to the third person aspects of the game, embracing the same core combat principles (projectiles, same degree of snappiness, etc.). In my opinion, Nier:Automata boasts the smoothest and snappiest combat I’ve encountered in a third-person video game.
Nier:Automata also features a number of RPG elements, as you are able to customize your character’s abilities and weapons. There are three customizable parts for your character — your chipset, pod and weapon. Since you play as an android, you can equip different “chips” that grant you different bonuses in combat like additional health, damage, movement speed, etc. Your pod is a small floating robot that follows your character, and provides ranged support in combat by firing projectiles. The pod can unleash a more powerful charged attack (Pod Program) with a cooldown, and there are 17 different ones to choose from with different effects. Weapon is self-explanatory, and both your weapon and pod can be upgraded to increase damage as well as other passive effects in combat.
In the grand scheme of things though, these customizations do not contribute that much towards your performance in battle as mastery of the game’s movement system and learning how to evade attacks is paramount. Despite this, the game never really put me in a position where I had to switch up my character’s build to move forward — I never had to change my chipset or switch my Pod Program in response to a tough encounter or boss. All weapons in the game are also really close together from a damage perspective, meaning that there isn’t much payoff towards switching weapons of the same upgrade level. Although I think the customization system in the game, especially for chipsets, is intuitive, simple to understand and offers players with the freedom to craft their own playstyle, I wish there was more of an incentive or need for players to switch their equipment more often. I do think the game’s customization is solid, and I feel this adjustment would make it feel more important and central to the game’s combat.
The next point here is 100% subjective, and most likely attributed to how I approached the game rather than how it was designed. I felt the game slowly got less and less challenging as I progressed, I never truly felt like I was ever in danger of getting a game over. The levels of enemies just didn’t scale high enough for most fights to be challenging after a while, but I guess I have only myself to blame for that with my chipset as well as completing 90% of all side quests before the game’s final missions!
Closing Remarks — Why Don’t People Talk About This Game More?
As you can tell, I love so many things about Nier:Automata and it kind of baffles me that it took so long for me to get around to playing it.
Initially, I was on the fence about playing this game and at first glance the game just had more unknowns that made it a harder purchase to justify compared to other games with a more familiar presentation. The lack of mainstream attention surrounding the game only distanced me from learning about this game further as other mainstream titles were more frequently recommended and presented to me.
When you ask a typical gamer of what games they would recommend from this generation, Nier:Automata often does not come top of mind. I feel like a significant percentage of gamers in North America — including those who are fans of action-RPG games — have never heard of Nier:Automata before, or know only a few small details about the game and don’t have enough knowledge to formulate an opinion on it. I personally only know one person who has completed this game, and even though I’ve had many lengthy conversations about gaming with friends I can only remember having one brief conversation about Nier:Automata prior to purchasing the game. The under-penetration of this game has dulled the significance of this game’s achievements and is what threatens the game leaving behind a lasting impact.
Nier:Automata’s underrepresentation versus other top hits from this gaming generation gets more disheartening once you take into account the overwhelming critical acclaim the game got from critics. I even went on a few “games of the decade” lists, and I was surprised to see Nier:Automata listed at a higher frequency than I was expecting. Nier:Automata was featured on a number of lists from reputable sources like Eurogamer and Kotaku, and were at times ranked higher than titles with more mainstream popularity like God of War and Skyrim. In reality, Nier:Automata is often never in the same conversation as God of War or Skyrim (in more general gaming circles) and this is a fate that a game as great as Nier:Automata simply does not deserve.
The dichotomy between the gushing praise Nier:Automata received from critics, with the game being described as a generation defining title at times, and the general lack of discussion surrounding the game these days fascinates me greatly and warrants further exploration. I feel like there are a number of reasons as to why Nier:Automata may have gotten overlooked outside of hardcore gaming communities, particularly outside of Japan. I’ve listed them down here, in no particular order:
Nier:Automata is part of a larger franchise.
Nier:Automata is a spiritual successor to Nier, released in 2010 for the PS3. Nier itself is a spin-off of the Drakengard game series, with the first title of the franchise released in 2003.
Nier:Automata’s association with the Nier / Drakengard franchise can dissuade some gamers from committing to this game with the preconceived notion that knowledge of prior events from the earlier games is needed to understand and enjoy this one. Thankfully, this notion couldn’t be further from the truth as Nier:Automata’s narrative is largely unrelated to its predecessor — just a few references with really no implications on the greater plot.
The game is unorthodox.
This is the reason why it took me so long to get this game. Nier:Automata does so many things different from other games — multiple endings, focus on existential and philosophical themes, the protagonist looks like a dominatrix, etc. There are so many peculiar aspects bundled in Nier:Automata that really subvert and challenge what gamers are comfortable with, making the game easy to dismiss at first glance.
The game came out in 2017.
What other generation defining title came out in 2017? Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Breath of the Wild is overwhelmingly viewed as the best game that was released in the past decade, being ranked 1st in EIGHTEEN individual “best games of the decade lists” from a study conducted by Metacritic. Both games were also released within four days of each other in North America, meaning that both games would have competed against each other for sales and media coverage during their launch windows.
Facing stiff competition from Breath of the Wild and other titles like Horizon Zero Dawn and Super Mario Odyssey in 2017, Nier:Automata might not have been able to shine as bright as it could have during its first year of release with the spotlight being shared with many other universally acclaimed games. If Nier:Automata came out during different year, it is possible it would have had a considerably easier time standing out and capturing mainstream awareness with fewer big titles vying for people’s time and attention.
The game is just plain hard to get nowadays.
A new copy of Nier:Automata is still relatively expensive compared to other acclaimed games which have received permanent price cuts (e.g. Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War) or go on sale at a much higher frequency. For example, Spider-Man for the PS4 — which is sold for the same price as the latest edition of Nier:Automata — went on sale 4 times in 2020 alone compared to Nier which only went on sale 4 times in the past 2 years.
Although the game is cheaper than newly released titles, $40 ($53CAD) makes it a hefty purchase for a game that was released in 2017 and does act as a barrier to entry for players wanting to try out the game, steering the player towards cheaper alternatives. I’m hoping that the game will become more accessible financially to gamers in the coming years, either with a more permanent price cut or availability on more subscription-based services (it’s on XBOX Game Pass right now, which is a great start).
For people who are into buying a new or pre-owned physical copy of the game, good luck getting one. From personal experience, the game is not stocked in many stores anymore and only a handful of used copies are in circulation.
In all honesty, I hope that my assessment of Nier:Automata’s lasting legacy is inaccurate and that the game actually has left a wider impact than I know.
I’m hoping that a greater number of people and game publishers than I expect have heard of the game and have drawn inspiration from it to produce similar works with same standard of excellence.
I’m hoping that Nier:Automata isn’t be the last game of its kind, but just the first of many that will end up capturing the imagination of gamers around the world.
Nevertheless, I know that today there are gamers within my social circle who may have not heard of this game or given it a chance yet. As someone who was touched by the beauty of Nier:Automata, I feel a sense of responsibility to spread the gospel of this great game and let others know why it is so worth playing and experiencing. I really think that Nier:Automata is a game that will positively shift your perspective on gaming as a whole and open your eyes to the possibilities and experiences that can be delivered through gaming. As a call to action to any gamers reading and just hearing about this game for the first time, I implore you to continue your exploration of this game and try it out if you ever get the chance.
Nier:Automata is an experience that wholeheartedly epitomizes the magic of video games. It shows us that games the have an innate ability to move and inspire people in ways that other mediums simply cannot. It shows us why video games are important, why they matter.
