クラシカリ · @Klashikari
10th Mar 2017 from TwitLonger
Spoiler free review for #NieRAutomata
As someone who never played DoD game or NieR, the initial announcement for NieR Automata didn't make me bat an eye whatsoever.
However, I was sort of interested after learning it had some connection with DoD (I pretty much was watching a friend streaming his playthrough of DoD3).
Months later, the internet raved a lot about 2B and stuff, and the footage of the demo definitely sparked my interest in the game, even though I didn't own a PS4 at that time.
In the end, as I planned to play Nioh and stuff, I bought a PS4 few days before Automata release in Japan, then got my physical copy a little more than a week after its release in Japan.
After clocking 42hours, I've done all the 26 endings and I'm on my way for the platinum trophy. In short: it was a hell of a ride, in a good sense of course.
Note that I didn't play any Platinum game prior Automata, and I only watched few videos about DoD and NieR to prepare myself for Automata.
Okay, now that the context has been explained a bit, here is my spoiler-free review (I will probably post a full spoiler one later).
In general, Automata graphics are pretty decent in my books. Of course, it isn't particularly fantastic by PS4 standards, but I believe the level of details was serviceable at the very least.
What was important to me though was the atmosphere and how fluid the game felt. And I can say Platinum games did an excellent job in that department as the art direction fitted Yoko Taro's story quite well, be it the post-apocalyptic setup, the cryptic and philosophical portions or the characters themselves (Not like it wasn't obvious already, but I bet some developers really liked 2B as the amount of details on her rendition and animations is outstanding).
Also, the game fared really well on PS4 pro with a framerate at 60FPS 90% of the time. The framerate dips are quite rare and don't really have a huge impact (it doesn't go lower than 40FPS IIRC).
But what about the gameplay then? Well, as someone who doesn't play Action RPG that often, to me it felt really good: the androids moveset and animations are fluid and diverse. You can feel the "impact" of the moves here and there, but still have some sense of elegance behind them (quite notable with 2B animations, especially with the 2 handed weapons).
I personally didn't feel like the game was a dumb button mashing so even though the action parts look like a simple hack'n slash at the first glance, it is genuinely enjoyable.
The game also offers clever tricks when it comes to camera works but also gameplay changes. The demo, which reflects the prologue of the game, was pretty straightforward when it threw at you a manic shooter phase.
Regarding the difficulty, I admit I generally played the game in normal, as hard difficulty wasn't particularly well tuned for the early part of the game, mostly due to the absence of chip/weapon optimization so you take way too much damage there. That being said, I think normal difficulty is pretty balanced for the first half of the game, but becomes a bit too easy for the latter part due to how the game scales highly characters' lvl stats, chips and weapons.
If we consider the lack of diverse non boss enemies, their very simple pattern and the really generous active window frame for the dodge mechanic, the game might feel too repetitive and/or easy at some point. I'd recommend not abusing healing items and avoid easy mode at all cost considering they really trivialize a lot of encounters in the process.
That being said, Automata wouldn't be so good if it wasn't for the story and atmosphere as a whole.
And as usual, Yoko Taro doesn't hold back it comes to characters struggling a fate worse than death. I must admit I never expected to be emotionally attached to the cast, especially since they are androids that are forced to repress their feelings due to the policies of their squad. Suffice to say, I was proven wrong and I could even sympathize with side characters and some antagonists in the process.
Yoko Taro (and probably other scripters/assistants helping him in that daunting task) managed to deliver a poignant story overall, which rarely fails to deliver sucker punches when you expect them the least. But it isn't just about the plot twist or the potential attachment you have for the characters: it is also the overarching themes and the general atmosphere of the game.
We got a share of "humanity survival is at stake" kind of stories, so Automata actually managed the tour de force in introducing various concepts in the package. It makes the story as a whole richer, although sometimes contrived or even nonsensical.
Of course, there are times some plot points/events feel shoehorned, but one (at least, me in this case) couldn't help but nod and accept the aftermath as a logical course of what happened up to now.
To make things even more aweinspiring (or heartwrenching, your call), Automata OST is once again handled by Okabe from Monaca. Incidentally, even if I didn't play NieR, I already listened to its OST and it was downright gorgeous. Regarding Automata, Okabe didn't fail to deliver, and I would say that its OST is borderline god-like. So many epic but also melanchic and soul crushing tones left and right to the point it would be really difficult for me to pinpoint a top5 among them.
The OST not only make the boss fights even more epic, but they also make the atmosphere sink in quite admirably.
However, it is obviously not perfect. While the game managed to make me hooked most of the time, it was also frustrating how much I was left in the dark as the player but also as a "reader of Automata's story".
You see, I understand pretty well Yoko's approach in general. However, I have hard time to accept the "multimedia" one when it comes to a game delivering a story of that kind. It is quite a pity that some characters backstories are explained outright outside of the game. I'm not even talking about cameo, but about some characters that are only in Automata: although their motivations are clear, the lack of proper backstory hurt a lot in the process.
It is a bit difficult to go on without spoiling anything, but I think Automata could have been even richer if there were "prequel" chapter sequences directly tied to Automata plot era and stuff like that. I'd gladly welcome them if they decide to expand the plot with DLC, but I really think they ought to add more details to certain characters for the game proper.
Regarding other flaws, I must admit the "open world" aspect of Automata is actually quite lackluster in general. The number of invisible walls is quite baffling for a game of such caliber, not even comparing it to AAA games, mind you. This is particularly noticeable in the ruin and desert areas. The latter even outright prevent you to jump over some obstacles and you have to take a huge detour more often than not.
The open world aspect also lack a lot in term of lifeforms diversity. Sure, it is a post-apocalyptic setup, but I think it wouldn't have hurt to add more "life" to the game in general, even if we have to keep in mind that humanity has fallen in Automata.
Speaking of the open world, the number of area/environments is a bit on the low side, while the map is deceivingly big as the actual explorable areas are much more limited than what you can see on the map.
Another issue I had that is partly tied with the difficulty: the replay value being a bit impaired for odd reason. Without much details, after being done with a certain ending, the game offers a chapter skip at the player's convenience so it becomes infinitely easier to track down quests but also endings. However, the difficulty setting only change the enemies HP and damage output, not their level whatsoever. This has the unfortunate side-effect that the general level range of the enemies are still the same for the given part of the game. So if you level cap your characters, you can't really redo earlier boss fights without stomping them, even if you gimp yourself by not using chips. You gotta redo the game with a clean save state if you want to redo these bosses, which is quite annoing for midgame ones.
Following this issue, I'm not sure about the ending system in Automata. 26 endings look crazy at first, but please note that only the first 5 endings have a meaning in there and ending Y being a bit special in that regard. The other 20 endings are basically dead ends or joke ends altogether. The good news is that you don't have to replay a complete playthrough for them thanks to the chapter skip. However, the "ending" term becomes a bit pointless in such case.
This is also true for Route A and Route B which are actually only a part of the game, and other routes actually extends the story instead of being an alternative route. So it isn't surprising if you see people wondering why the game "ended so abruptly". It just didn't: end A is merely a fragment for the overall plot and you have to do route B before continuing the story.
That issue is also tied with what I stated before regarding certain characters: there are things left in the dark, most likely in a deliberate fashion, and I thought it was a shame they just couldn't replicate route A and B contrast for the second part of the game to expand certain characters backstories and motivations.
Finally, there are still a lot of missing information left and right, but I think I shouldn't expecting a lot in that regard considering how fans had to play with a giant puzzle when it comes to piecing together DoD and NieR lore as a whole.
In any case, those issues are definitely not major to the point of ruining the game. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it quite a lot thanks to its engaging and appealing gameplay, intricate and rich plot, endearing characters and fantastic atmosphere.
I usually don't give a score, but if I were to, it would be a solid 8/10, leaning heaviling towards 9.