Nier Automata JRPG Review

Page 2

Like Nier before it Automata feels like a work of art, a story with something meaningful and impactful to say, wrapped up in the perfect amount of humor and personally. It works perfectly as both a sequel to Nier and an entry point for newcomers. As a sequel it has subtle hints and cameos from the previous game, without stepping on the originals toes and cheapening that games impact. Though these hints and cameos don’t once get in the way of new players being able to jump in and enjoy Automata’s narrative. (though it should be noted through data logs and archives, Automata will give away a lot of the original games plot).

Being a fan of the series, recommending previous entries in the series to others always came with a big asterix “look, the gameplay is average and graphics are a certain kind of ugly but trust me its worth it for the story”. It feels great to say, that with Platinum’s involvement both has been unquestionably rectified. Automata has one of the most in-depth and enjoyable combat systems I’ve experienced in a long time, coupled with some incredible boss fights and weapon/ability unlocks made the game almost impossible to put down. The system has the perfect amount of risk reward and learning how to dodge and combine projectile abilities with melee is the key to success. It’s telling that enemies I felt were cheap and unfair in the beginning I was dispatching with incredible fines later on, it really is a system you learn as you play and by the end you’ll find yourself doing literal finger gymnastics, as you juggle projectile fire with well-timed dodge rolls and weapon set switching for longer combos.

The gameplay is just flat out fun and couple this with incredibly satisfying animations and physicals, that make every hit feel weighty. The variety in weapons and fire-modes is also greatly appreciated, spears and heavy swords play completely different, with heavy swords taking long slow hits and spears giving a straight point of damage and yet with the weapon sets can be combined into stylish flurries, as you masterfully dodge an enemies attack, counter with an air-juggle and then smash down to the remaining enemies, with a heavy ground pound.

Add on top of all the main weapon combinations and types, you also have projectiles from your pod (these work pretty much the same as Grimoire Weiss’s magic abilities from the original). You’ll start out with the basic but ever useful machine gun but eventually unlock missiles and electrical strikes, further more you’ll also have access to abilities, such as a laser strike, giant hammer strike, a bubble that slows down time and a good selection more. There’s so much depth and experimentation to be had with these and each one feels viable. Adding onto this even further are character specific abilities, you’ll unlock on subsequent playthroughs and the system is a dense and varied one that despite all the moving pieces, manages to be simple and easy to grasp. It’s just a lot of fun to play overall and I was surprised how well the combat worked in the semi open world environment the game has.

It feels like a perfect mix of deep combat and rpg design. Despite a lack of enemy variety, with most enemies just being variation of the main 4 or 5, the main story keeps the objectives varied and puts the player is new environments frequently enough to stave off any repetition. Though this is slightly less true of the side quests, which are mostly just different spins on the same pool of objectives, though they always felt worthwhile to do, both for the content loot you obtain and the world building they add. A simple find x number of fetch quest, ended with me learning valuable backstory on one of the main characters I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Nier Automata is simply a blast to play, I’d lose hours upon hours to the game just completing side quests and advancing the story. (Three sleepless nights in a row was enough to realise the game’s doing something right).

Graphically, Automata is a technically decent looking game raised to great due to some excellent art direction. The environments definitely aren’t giving games like Horizon: Zero Dawn a run for their money, however the environments are consistently varied and when the game starts to go into the more bizarre architectural structures it’s downright stunning. Character models (especially the main cast) are incredibly unique and striking (and no I’m not just talking about 2B’s “clothing”). Though npc’s lack the same level of care, being variations of the same few character assets, boss fights look incredible and the scale of the stages is impressive. The way the game uses perspective is also cool, like in the previous game, you can be playing in third person one minute and top down the next. The game is much bigger on the bullet hell sections now and even feeling like it borrows from Drakengard 3’s dragonback missions with the flight suits. The use of colour, such as certain areas or events being completely grey is a cool graphical addition and overall while the game isn’t a technical powerhouse, the designs and environments are consistently unique. It is a huge step up from previous entries in the series (You’ll no longer get the “dude is this a ps2 game?”)

Of course, a point that will come as no surprise to anyone, is that music and sound are exceptional. Keiichi Okabe delivers yet another beautiful and haunting soundtrack that fits and enriches the game’s atmosphere and tone perfectly. It’s one of the first soundtracks since … well his last soundtrack on Drakengard 3, where I have stopped and waited in an area just to enjoy the music. Every song feels perfectly made for the events that transpire. Songs like Birth of a Wish incorporate the game perfectly, creating a song that is beautiful and poignant to the events of the game and songs like City of Ruin are instant classics next to the songs of the original. While I don’t know if it’s quite on the original Nier’s level, its undoubtedly a close second and just a beautiful collection of music overall.

Read More