Discussion Nier: Automata Writeup

[Christi Junior]

With the Nier: Automata anime still on-going, I thought I might as well finally share my 2 cents about the game itself.

Nier: Automata does seem like something of a Love it or Hate it game, most people falling in the former category, but people in the latter category being quite loud and forceful too. While I definitely did enjoy the game a ton, one Automata takedown on Gab of all places has always kinda stuck with me, with its contention that (and I'm just paraphrasing here) “in Yoko Taro’s world, there is no good and evil, only crying children”. When the game at one point portrays a mass-murdering, mountain-sized machine monster as, no joke, a sad, lonely child crying out for his mommy, I was definitely reminded of that description.

And there are definitely some very questionable story moments, like how hardened, cynical battle android 2B (B for Butt, since hers is the best in the business) has a minor crisis of conscience about killing unexpectedly human-like machine enemies, while her normally naïve, curious and open-minded partner 9S (S for Shota) repeatedly dismisses her concerns, basically going “fuck those machines, lol, no way they’re capable of thinking!” Given what we know, and also what we later learn about 9S’s personality, it seems odd that he would so uncritically toe the YoRHa party line like this, and ESPECIALLY (given what we learn about *her*) that 2B would encourage him to develop potentially dangerous, subversive thoughts (2B at other points will scold 9S merely for showing emotion). It really would make way more sense if the roles were reversed – which they actually are, a bit later in the story, with 9S voicing concerns about their supposedly soulless machine enemy being a bit too sentient for his liking, and 2B quickly dismissing said concerns – and THEN a bit later, a similar scene happens AGAIN, this time with the roles reverting back to how it was in the first scene.

It’s especially clumsy because we all know where the writers are going with this – the machines turning out to be Not So Different from our android heroes, and the righteousness of the whole ongoing war between android and machines, on behalf of their human and alien creators respectively, being called into question. It’s obvious that many of the machines we encounter aren’t just mindless pieces of junk programmed to wipe out humanity, and making our heroes so slow on the uptake just ends up being annoying and feeling forced rather than carefully setting the stage for organic character growth.

Later on, the game also raises heavy, existential questions without ever really attempting to deliver answers, or even giving the questions proper examination. And a late-game villain ends up at the end being depicted as shockingly chill – shocking because up ‘til that very point, it had showed an extremely disturbing appetite for gratuitous cruelty and sadism. Not to mention that the ending itself is just a bit too neat and tidy considering everything that went down before. And the game also has various minor moments that can be considered just a bit too artsy, maybe even pretentious.

And yet…I find that none of that really matters all that much. Not in a game capable of delivering scenes of incredible beauty and wonder, like your first visit to the Amusement Park, or Emil’s secret flower field. Not when the game can disturb and delight you alike with a location like the Copied City, or instill a subtle, yet profound sense of dread and doom with a song like The Tower. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Nier: Automata’s soundtrack is absolutely fantastic, though you probably already knew that. So many achingly beautiful, hauntingly emotional songs that are bound to leave a powerful impression. Not *quite* my favorite video game soundtrack of all time (Xenoblade 2 still holds that title), but definitely a top 10 contender. And when a game has such wonderful music, I’m willing to make a lot of allowances.

 

[Christi Junior]

Of course, Nier: Automata does boast plenty of other strengths as well, both as a game and in terms of storytelling. As a game, it gives you an unforgettable post-apocalyptic world that’s very fun and rewarding to explore. A once-hyper modern city, now ruined and overrun with plant life, might not be a location unique to Automata, but it does boast perhaps the most iconic video game depiction of such a place – so much so that when Kirby and the Forgotten Land embraced just that kind of setting, it was Nier: Automata parodies that people were making.

The game has lots of sidequests, many of them genuinely good, with compelling storylines that illuminate various aspects of the main plot (including some heavy foreshadowing about 2B’s true nature), explore core themes of the story or otherwise contribute to strong world building. Particular songs playing after you’ve completed specific sidequests make them feel like miniature adventures in their own right, complete with end credits themes, causing them to further stand out.

I also love the chip system in this game – given how your heroes are androids, you can upgrade your combat capabilities and otherwise gain a whole host of useful abilities through the use of plug-in chips, but each chip takes up a certain amount of limited total space, and you will endeavor to make use of as many useful chips as you can, each taking up as little space as possible. Basically, you want to go from powerful chips with Western Game Dev compression to powerful chips with Nintendo-quality compression. This happens not just by collecting superior new chips as sidequest rewards or finding them through exploration, enemies can drop good chips too, or even weak chips that will prove useful as long as they take up little space, since you can actually fuse multiple weak chips to produce much stronger chips that only take up slightly more space. It’s actually extremely satisfying to go from, say, a +3 ranged attack-boosting chip that takes up 13 slots to one that only takes up 7 slots, it just frees up so much space, which creates all sorts of new possibilities. It also makes exploration and even regular enemy encounters that much more rewarding.

Somewhat shockingly for a game developed by Platinum tho, combat is probably one of the game’s weakest points. Sure, it’s flashy and decently fun, with a handful of different weapon types on offer, but overall the combat comes across as really shallow, with very limited combos (really, button mashing attacks, Pod abuse and properly timed dodges is all you need) and different weapons of the same class generally feeling very samey. Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101 or Astral Chain, it most certainly is not. Worse still are the flying on-rail shooter sections, which usually way overstay their welcome and end up feeling really monotonous, with you just gunning down wave after wave after wave of generic enemies before one or two events of actual interest eventually occur.

Repetitive gameplay in general is a bit of an issue with Nier: Automata, seeing how you’re basically forced to play the first half the game *twice*, first as 2B and then as 9S. Since 2B and 9S are paired up for the vast majority of the game’s first half, this means you’ll be retreading a whole lot of familiar ground. Sure, there are some new scenes from the perspective of 9S, some other new scenes further exploring various villains and supporting characters, some new sidequests that take advantage of 9S’s hacking abilities, and eventually the adventures of 2B and 9S do somewhat diverge – but you’re still ultimately being forced to play through the same game twice.

And yet…I actually think it works. Maybe not from a strict gameplay perspective, but definitely from a storytelling perspective. Because the second half (which is actually presented as a straight up SEQUEL, and more than lives up to it) is not only full of absolute kino, but it’s perfectly set up by the way the first half is handled. At least for me, going over previous events with a somewhat fresh pair of eyes gave me a far greater sense of familiarity with the setting and the characters, a much greater feeling of understanding what was going on…and so when the “sequel” pulls out the rug from under you, it feels that much more shocking and impactful. The first couple of hours especially, beginning with the long-awaited operation to take back earth from the machines, and ending with a mind-blowing bridge scene are Peak Fiction, not only because of the content, but the way it as set up. BTW, kudos to the fanbase for NOT spoiling the defining twist, because I sure as hell didn’t see it coming, partly because I would have taken for granted that if an event like that actually happened, it would be something EVERYONE openly talked about.

Later on too, the hits keep coming, and there are just so many great moments, big and small – from the delightful banter between Pod 042 and A2 (A for Ass, because she *is* effectively 2B’s rival after all) and the backstory of redheaded twins Devola and Popola to the heartbreaking depiction of 9S’s descent into madness and a seemingly innocent stretch of sidequest filler suddenly turning into an incredibly tragic horror show. Despite some necessary comic relief, it’s emotionally draining stuff, but also incredibly compelling and memorable. The first half is quite good, but it’s the second half where Nier: Automata truly lives up to the hype.

 

[Christi Junior]

I’ve said before that 2B’s ass by itself easily earns Nier: Automata a +1 on my Based Morality Scale, and I stand by that. That booty is a true work of art, and damn, if it isn’t refreshing as hell to come across a game that actively Embraces the fanservice, and provides you with plenty of ways to fully admire 2B’s bare buttcheeks (God bless self-destruct mode!).

The game does also have various more questionable elements that simultaneously earn it a -1 though – mentions of lesbianism (though when you’re dealing with a community of non-fertile androids that are overwhelmingly female and extremely hot, is Yuri *actually* a bad thing?), that vague sense of non-judgmental moral relativism that I alluded to in the opening paragraph, a section of the game that can be considered anti-religion – all of these are quite easy to defend on their own, but I think the combined weight of them still justify a -1, which keep in mind, isn’t really that big of a deal, let alone a dealbreaker. For a story-heavy game from 2017, I’d say you’re getting off pretty easy (and 2B’s ass is also quite easy to get off to, heh heh).

While definitely flawed, Nier: Automata is widely beloved for good reasons – and with the Switch port being very competent, I’d be all for 2B being added to the next Smash Bros, especially if her addition could make Sakurai give up on appeasing the gay Japanese censors altogether, so we can also enjoy uncensored Pyra and Mythra, along with bad girl Mai Shiranui.

Oh, and somewhat related to topics of morality and wanting people to do the right thing, I did the Save Data Sacrifice at the end of the game. I’ll be honest and admit that I didn’t *actually* expect all my save data to really be Shoah’d, but it was an outcome I was okay with on the off chance that it happened, since I was kinda planning on replaying the game anyway (and indeed I did, not too many months later), and the help I myself had gotten from other players during the credits had been invaluable. Just wanted to get that Good Deed on the record :)

 

[PhantomXero1x]

As much as i love nier and nier automata and even owning a young nier fig, its pretty much tourist bait these days since ironically so many squarefags these days latch onto it and call kaine trans even tho not really spoiler she's literally fucking intersex. :/ otherwise its a great series.

 

[anru]

The soundtracks of the Nier series is top notch. Also the character designs are magnificent, certainly an amazing game series by Yoko Taro.

The Drakengard series is also awesome as well, could you make a review on that @Christi Junior ?

 

[Christi Junior]

Sorry, Automata is the only game in the franchise that I've played. Also, these writeups are generally older stuff I've already posted on various Fediverse instances, and which I'm posting to Varis so that they have a more permanent home that I can link to should the need arise.

I do have many older writeups left to post tho, I'm just spacing them apart so as not to Spam the forum.