As promised, here is a full spoiler review for #NierAutomata

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As a reminder, this is a full spoiler review for Nier Automata, going more in depth than what I reviewed over here : http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1spmn16
Note that I finished the game completely (as in all endings and quests), so I won’t pull any punch in this review.
As such, anything you read below will spoil you HARD if you aren’t done with the game. You have been warned.

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The game structure in general is quite good in my opinion: when you consider the plot as a whole, exposing everything regarding 2B and 9S right from the get go with a single playthrough would be detrimental whereas having a mirror approach for both was pretty clever and pertinent.
It also expands the initial route quite well, although I wish they could simply shorten some parts (re-doing the desert part was kind of a drag).

But at the same time, I believe PG and Yoko Taro didn’t exploit that aspect of the game to its fullest potential.
This is merely my opinion, but the fact you have so much exposition for 9S made the "character balance" a bit debatable because other characters got shafted as result.
For instance, A2 suffers from major lack of characterization (and to some extent, 2B too). It is kind of silly to have Anemone’s past explored as well as some cryptic mentions about the Pearl Harbor operation in both the archives and A2’s memory exploration but absolutely nothing about herself quite directly.
It is all good and dandy to have seen her going through her hardass shell and warming up to Pascal and even 9S at the end (even though she just has 2B’s memories there), but that’s sadly about it. I’ve actually learned more about her by reading the translation of the stage play, but even then, you barely know her as the rogue YoRHa unit A2. To me, it would be as if we had Zero from DoD3 without that part explaining her past that lead to the birth of her sisters.

In contrast, I really liked how subtle 2B characterization was, involving many foreshadowing early on.
I initially wondered why she immediately asked 9S to drop the « -san » suffix and how fast she went emotional by the end of the prologue, while having some weird behaviour such as the « soothing voice » choice and her clenching her fist with the humanity council speech.
That being said, it is mostly foreshadowing, and it is quite unfortunate that 2B herself couldn’t really act the way she felt until shit hits the fan after the bunker incident. It gives the impression her death was borderline « pointless » considering she couldn’t even interact with 9S for real, and not even A2 could bring that matter up even with 2B's memory within the sword.

I won’t deny I appreciate 2B more compared to A2 (note that I’m not digging the whole waifu pointless drivel, so liking a character more doesn’t automatically make me dismiss the other), but this is exactly because both had way different circumstances and backstories that the whole « baton passing » felt really jarring in my books.
2B was really an endearing protagonist with few stuff left to be explored (such as her past with 9S before the multiple memory wipes) whereas A2 is literally thrown at us as a substitute. It isn’t only a shame regarding 2B, but also A2. To be frank, I just couldn’t empathize with the latter that well because I just didn’t know anything about her aside of what we know from Anemone and her archive parts. It is as if they needed to introduce A2 as Automata’s counterpart of Nier’s Kaine but couldn’t really have all the 3 androids together. So having A2 replacing 2B like that felt like a cheap trick because both characters are quite different lorewise but are “presented as the same melee char at your disposal”. Both got shafted in the process, and it isn’t really any better when their gameplay is practically the same, except A2 having a taunt instead of a spin attack and the berserk mode (not like you would use it anyway considering how insane the life drain penalty is, which makes it practically as useless as self destruction function anyway).

Meanwhile, 9S had an excellent characterization thorough the whole game, but I must admit it ended in a very abrupt fashion. His descent to madness was definitely natural and all, but there is… no conclusion, practically speaking. Having A2 curing the logic virus in him doesn’t change the fact he is hell-bent on revenge as this mental breakdown occured without the influence of the logic virus, whereas him succeeding in exacting his vengeance lead to something that has nearly nothing to do with it.
Why didn’t they just make use of 2B’s sword as a powerful memento and making 9S realize he lost his way after being cured in route C? This is particularly odd if you consider how he "coped" 2B’s death after Emil’s and the safekeeping questlines. In fact, I daresay that subquest would have made perfect sense as the actual epilogue after A2 managed to cleanse the logic virus.
While it was obvious the intent was to portray 9S quest for revenge as futile and pointless but ultimately humane, it just doesn’t feel right to not conclude his journey in some way: it doesn’t have to be an epiphany like I described above, but at least please make it go SOMEWHERE, instead of having 9S disappear in the background in route C or going on a merry trip with Adam and Eve in space in route D…
Meanwhile, some side characters also could have a much better treatment. The Commander and Anemone are the first ones to come in my mind regarding this issue.
Even though the commander has a huge role when it comes to regulating the YorRHA organization, she felt… just there. You don’t learn much about her aside of her resolve when she sent A2’s squadron to slaughter in the stage play but that’s about it. In the game, she is a seemly charismatic leader being toasted by treacherous means and that’s about it.
Why isn’t there any log/flashback about her handling the YoRHa project ? I’m a bit baffled the only thing I learned about her in the game was the fact she is kind of sloppy when it comes to personal belongings, and that’s thanks to Operator 6O. Being merely a NPC with few cutscenes just doesn’t feel right considering her position.

Anemone suffered from this issue as well, even though she "assists" 2B, 9S and A2 more often than most NPC in the game. This is inherent to the resistance as a whole but… the resistance also felt as good as thin air considering you are just using the place as a HUB without them doing much except… logistics?
Hell, the only NPC having an actual role in the conflict was Jackass, mostly with her actions in the desert and the Intel she could gather over time.
But even if the game gives more importance to the protagonists, it just felt too odd that all the other characters had barely any impact in the lore as far as Automata plot went.

Another character that wasn’t given justice was Emil.
I can’t say I have the full picture when it comes to Emil in the original cast of Nier, it was quite obvious his role and destiny were quite important in the previous game.
While it didn’t really bother me that he acted like a cheerful comic relief, the more serious part regarding his character in Automata was a bit questionable.
I absolutely loved how his questline went, being a very honest but powerful fanservice to those who played NieR, but OTOH, the leadup to end Y was disappointing considering the boss was had the exact same attack pattern and design than the one we had to face as A2 in the desert, except with a much higher level and damage output.
Not only the boss was kind of a letdown, but as much they tried to put a very emotional weight to that ending, it is unfortunate that it doesn’t go anywhere. Sure, it sort of gives a “closure” to Emil’s clone’s journey, but it was so abrupt it was difficult to really feel that “the Emil from NieR did all of this for sake of this world and his friends”. Surely I think it needed a proper epilogue and a REAL boss fight considering his role in the franchise. Then again, just having him as a cameo was plenty enough too, so doing a half baked job by making him more than a cameo wasn’t a smart move I think.

That goes without saying that the characters still have their moments thanks to some subquests, but these are just a fleeting moment if you consider the impact of such subquests compared to the whole story.

In a way, I think the only other character that has been fleshed correctly was Pascal. Be it with the main storyline or the subquests, Pascal was really a consistent character, quite likeable and pressed interesting questions left and right (the Old World questline involving data about nuke was quite telling about how serious his pacifism is and how lucid he is too).
This really made him a full fledged character instead of a mere questgiver. For the record, I initially thought Yoko would turn him mad after what happened to the villagers, but his fate was even more heart wrenching after what happened to the kids. So yeah, I got vastly more attached to him than the vast majority of the characters, which is good news and bad news at the same time.


Now that I’ve covered the important characters, let’s see the plot…

Well, as I stated in the spoiler free review, the plot was really appealing in its narrative and presentation. Yoko and his team did a great job in fleshing out 2B, 9S and A2’s journey (if we ignore the characterization mishaps).
However, I can’t say I’m totally satisfied with the plot in its detailed content. The structure itself is pretty good as I stated above, but there are so many holes to fill that I’m wondering if he isn’t just holding back for a sequel or more novella/manga or DLC.

The following list isn’t exhaustive, but it points out the major plot parts I wished they addressed a bit more
-The alien in general: is there anything aside of their « search and destroy/conquest » mentality? Adam's explanations were particularly lackluster as he merely explained how they met their demise at the end of their own creation.
-How actually went the fight between Emil and the aliens? We know that Emil had to clone himself endlessly and the Aliens managed to exterminate humanity anyway, but… how?
-Where is the original Emil?
-Where and who are the androids behind the YoRHa project and the humanity council? Surely they can’t be your average android joe considering they know stuff that even the commander didn’t know
-More details about handling the "new generation of androids" with the YoRHa project : sure, they left a backdoor in the bunker system so the machines could hack their way to the Moon and obliterate it but… they had to know that the machines would learn about the truth too, which means there was a huge risk the machines would be even more dangerous by learning that critical information. Also losing the bunker seems to be an extremely stupid move as even if androids on Earth wouldn’t know about the truth regarding Humanity, learning that their elite organization got toasted remotely doesn’t bode too well. Like at all.
-What exactly happened to the Gestalts and Replicants between Nier era and Automata era ? They keep saying "humans" were wiped off by the aliens, but were they the only few "natural humans" left ? Or does it include the Gestalts and/or the Replicants ?
-What was A2 doing all this time? Just hunting machines for years after being abandoned by the bunker ? How did she manage to maintain her body then? It is quite obvious in the game that she doesn’t have any assisting unit telling her what’s wrong (cf Pod telling her the fuel filter is in bad shape) and Anemone's reactions pretty much confirm they never met ever since the conclusion of the Pearl harbor mission.
-As stated before, more stuff regarding 2B and 9S before the plot kicks in. 2B, like A2, suffers from the lack of introspection and monologues quite badly. Her life as 2E could have been interesting too
-What happened to the genetic data for the Gestalts and Replicants ? AFAIK they sent it to the Moon in the last ditch of effort but then what ?

I don’t expect we will have answers for most of these questions anytime soon, but frankly, I think Automata felt quite incomplete in its lore compared to DoD and Nier (and that’s coming from someone who learnt DoD and NieR lore with videos, LP and wikis). Sure, they all have their mythos and unanswered questions, but these details aren’t so problematic compared to what’s missing in Automata.

That being said, the themes were definitely present in this game, and I must say End E was particularly brilliant to show how much we got attached to 2B & co and how the player involvement was considered in there.
Not only the shooting minigame felt like an attempt to defeat the ones who were behind the game, but also gives a very powerful meaning to helping others.
Ultimately, it doesn't really has the same impact as deleting NieR's existence (and your data) in the original NieR game, but it is quite powerful nonetheless.

Now that I’m done with the characters and lore, I will cover a bit more about the gameplay and points related to that section.
As I stated before, the battle system in general felt really satisfying as not only it is fluid, but it is also quite intuitive and natural to handle. But then again, it is a bit too simple and abusable so normal mode felt like a breeze by the time you reach the carrier escort mission
I think they should have created a real crafting system for the chips so we aren’t stuck with annoying RNG when it comes to these. Hard mode is extremely frustrating early on because even if you unlock a lot of memory space for the chips, not having stuff like weapon attack up,melee defense, offensive heal or anti chain damage is really hard to handle at some points.
Sure, the dodge mechanic almost breaks the game, but OTOH, a mere mistake can basically kill you in hard mode. Seeing mobs able to two shots you easily makes you wonder why there is even a super hard mode alongside as that one is there for the "no damage" kind of challenge, so hard mode featuring such punishing parameters doesn't make much sense here.

Speaking of breaking mechanic, I think they should have reworked the hacking system in combat. While I have no real issue with it when it comes to scripted hacking sequences in the game, hacking in combat is tedious as it just breaks the momentum of the fight considering you have to stop doing anything and hacks the target then have fun with the minigame. At the same time, hacking is way too powerful due to the damage dealt to the enemies.
Even if they say 9S isn’t made for combat, the hacking system just tells us otherwise. I think they should have made 9S reliant on both hacking and normal weapons. If hacking was used for initial debuff on the target (applying a debuff after the channeling is done without going through to the minigame), that would have been more interesting than instantgib them with a shooter minigame which gets old quite quickly if I may add.

Also, it is a pity that the weapons themselves don’t really have that much difference aside of few stats, some passive skills and in rare occasions the number of moves for their combo set. I didn’t expect a unique moveset for all the weapons, but at least something that makes you choose a weapon depending of its inherent properties instead of merely looks and base damage.

As for the game maps… as I said, the open world aspect has a lot left to be desired, particularly because of the numerous invisible walls left and right. The desert zone is the biggest offender in that department : not only you are forced to go to so many detours because your android can’t jump over a dumb rock or go through a door in an abandoned building, but the zone is much smaller thanks to the walls and the veeeery convenient sandstorm. Sure, there is one part denying you the oasis if you don’t take a detour, but there are other parts of the map that forbid you to go any further for no legit reason.

I really wished the debug mode was more flexible than just having bunch of mobs spawned wherever you want.
If we could copy our savestate with different values, it could have given a much better replay value experience. The lack of boss rush or level scaling system hurt the game quite a lot in my opinion because you pretty much must use a new save state if you want to try again the bosses without being grossly overpowered.
The chapter skip feature is a godsent by itself, but only for ending and quest tracking sake. As it is right now, it doesn’t really help the replay value unless you really want to roflstomp bosses with your androids at lvl99.

Speaking of android, another pet peeve of mine was the absolute lack of « character switch » in the game. I understand they wanted us to enjoy the game in route A first, then tease us with the plot twists in route B, but being character locked in some situations just doesn’t feel right. Locked chests aside, it is just annoying to be forced to redo the same chapters because you realize that you should bring 9S for a given quest or 2B instead.
I think they should give us the ability to freely switch between 2B/A2 and 9S after respectively Route B and route D, but lock the plot perspective at the start of a playthrough. That way, it wouldn't feel repetitive, especially in replaying route A/B as there isn't any switch between the characters compared to C/D.

Regarding subquests, while a lot of them are nice enough thanks to the added lore and so forth, they aren’t particularly thrilling by a any stretch of imagination. Most are the usual fedex type of quest you can find in most MMO without any scripted event whatsoever.
This issue is particularly more annoying when a lot of NPC and enemies are quite generic, making the whole bland quest issue worse than it already is.

Overall, I might be whining a lot in that spoiler review, but I can’t really add much about the praise I’ve mentioned in the other review already (I mean, what can I say about the music aside of being absolutely amazing by themselves and carefully timed in the game ?), while my complaints would mostly spoil people for obvious reasons.
So while I really enjoyed the game for what it tried to convey, it still had a lot of awkward features and moments overall, so I can only recommend it as a « (very) good game », not a fantastic one (but it had a lot of fantastic moment too !). It’s arguably not a « ultra niche » game like what DoD and Nier were, but definitely not a masterpiece that anyone can enjoy. Hence why it « only » got a 8/10 if I were to give a score.

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