Nier: Automata Review
Nier: Automata (Japanese: ニーア オートマタ
Hepburn: Nīa Ōtomata, stylized as NieR: Automata) is an action role-playing
hack and slash game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix for
PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows. Nier: Automata is a sequel to the 2010
video game Nier, which is set in the world of the Drakengard series. The
narrative of Nier: Automata is set during a war that is raging between machines
created by alien visitors and what remains of humanity, which is told from the
perspective of a combat android (2B), her companion (9S), and a fugitive
prototype (A2).
With a post-apocalyptic open world setting, we are delivered
this great tale of partnered up androids that are ordered to go to Earth and
work alongside what remains of humanity in their fight against an alien created
robotic race. 2B is a combat android who is accompanied by her reconnaissance
android partner 9S and they fight on behalf of YoRHa. YoRHa are like a defence
force made up of androids and governed by humans and their base is off planet
and away from the poverty stricken Earth. Intertwined story telling with
multiple off shooting narrative arcs and a variety of life like characters each
with their own motives all collide together to deliver a heartwarming/pounding
experience.
Nier: Automata blends multiple gaming genres wonderfully but
primarily it is a 3rd person hack and slash role playing adventure
game. The 3rd person combat lends itself very respectfully to the
likes of a DMC (Devil May Cry) title, given subtle changes and holds of buttons
within any given sequence can drastically affect the outcome of the combination
performed on screen. There are two main variations of attack and they are heavy
and light (Strange concept I know) with these two different attacks are two
different weapons associated to each attack. This being said there is not really
a “heavy” or “light” weapon type class but more to the point, a
lighter weapon type still can be slotted in the heavy weapon slot and be swung
in a manner that will provided more damage as opposed to its counterpart.
The amount of variation that is offered in just how the
weapons are slotted in your inventory gives a greater appreciation as to how the
game is crafted and just how vast almost every aspect is. This level of
freedom tends to lead to a conclusive setup that is individualised not only to
the players' play style, but to what is required in the game. The brilliance of
Nier: Automata then starts to shine through, when a boss fight or a new enemy
rolls on in that does not seem to be overly phased by your primary play style,
you are easily swayed to change things up. It is not until now that the
multiple set up slots not only make sense, but become very convenient. The
developers have already made it clear that you cannot complete this game with a
singular approach.
The visually stunning animations of battle coupled with a
musical score that could rival any Final Fantasy title make for one of the most
excitement filled exhilarating experiences of this genre. The camera is very
intuitive but also has the capacity to change from open world to a 2D
platformer style and even top down bird’s eye view without any heads up or hesitation. This not only enhances your current situation, it also does it so flawlessly
that it is welcomed and not an off putting experience.
I made reference to the musical composition and just how
powerful it is and in saying this I am trying to stray away from overused words
like "epic" but would be more comfortable with adjectives like "bold" and "pronounced". The music is brought to us by composer Keiichi Okabe, who worked on
both Nier and Drakengard 3. He returned as the composer with his studio band
Monaca, creating the music alongside fellow member Keigo Hoashi. The height of
the music composition for me was a boss battle in an Opera type hall, the way
the intense action married up with the strength of the music was truly euphoric, both on a sophisticated level but also primordial.
There is a lot of story to be told in Nier: Automata and for
a majority of the time it is delivered conclusively well during missions and
with the interactions between the main characters, but sometimes it can be long
winded and drawn out hidden within “fetch quest” side missions that at the time
feel to serve very little purpose. The sometimes odd nature of a character or
their demands when partaking in a side mission will take a long time to come
full circle… if it ever does. There is a lot of decision based interactions
within the main quests of this title and each answer can ultimately help alter
the outcome of the game, given that I know there is at least three different
endings. When surmising though I feel there is a very large story here which
gives validity to life like feel of the environment, you actually feel like you
are making a difference.
As far as an RPG (role playing game) goes Nier: Automata is
as unique and complex as all its other glowing features. It lives by all of the
rules that govern an RPG title like experience, levelling up, looting, crafting,
questing and consumerism to name a few but then it does have few other aspects
that help raise it above your average RPG title. There are few titles in modern
gaming that concentrate on such an intricate level of character composition and
if I had to pluck one from my head I would quote Final Fantasy again. One of
the mechanics that relies a lot on observation and a little grey matter is setting
up your performance chip with different mods that are scavenged, bought and crafted.
To try and explain I’ll use the crudest examples of upgrades available
to aid understanding. So to start off we have, say twenty slots available to us
in order to upgrade and a Level 1 upgrade to speed consumes five slots and Level
2 upgrade to strength consumes ten slots, we then have five remaining. As far as I
can gather this represents a circuit board within your android and by applying
upgrades to it you use up a certain amount of space. With further levelling, more slots become available but this is not where it is more interesting or
intricate. Your complete HUD (heads up display) is governed and controlled by
certain mods within this circuit board, Your HUD is completely controlled by
what aspects you want on there. It is rather mind blowing when you break it
down and definitely something you need to experience if you are an avid RPG
player.
I have raved about how this game is brilliant and quite
unique but it is not without a couple of flaws also and I wouldn't be completely neutral
if I didn’t present these to you also. Sometimes and not even in graphically
intense areas, the game has suffered from some pretty damning frame rate drops, causing the
spelunking to feel cumbersome and more like a chore. I also have to note the
amount of fetch style quests for side characters that sometimes lack the spark
of the main roster, these fetch quest also highlighted how much expansive area
there is to cover with very little to do in between.
Given the abundant amount of time that can be spent playing
this game and uncovering hidden secrets along the way, it is not hard to recommend
on just a value for money stand point but there are so many more reasons to
give this the good old thumbs up approval. It is truly a Japanese inspired RPG
but does not lack the quirks of western society. The single best element
of this game was the gigantic boss battles. These were not only harder and stronger
opponents but often used a lot of varying combat mechanics. These battles were
also much more than a “fight”, they were a cinematic masterstroke, I can recommend
this game for these battles alone. So I am guessing it is with no surprise I am
giving this game a 9/10.
Red
Aussie Gamers Express
Aussie Gamers Express