NieR: Automata Review | Green Ornstein’s Bucket List of Games

You know those games you always heard were ground-breaking and era-defining but you never got round to playing? The ones you know, as a devout gamer, you must experience at some point in your life? 

Have you piled up 50 or so of these games over the years and need an excuse to play through them? 

...No? 

Well I do!

Welcome to Green Ornstein’s Bucket List of Games! Where we go through the classics, the gems, and the hyped to which we all went “Wow, I should play that...if I have time and it goes on sale”. 

Will these games ring true to their reputations or will all those recommendations have been for nothing? Either way, let’s have some fun.

Now throw on your maid outfit, slap on those blindfolds and lets get existential.

Are video games art?

Well yeah, obviously. The only people who’d disagree nowadays are those who’ve never played one. These aloof parents and suburban housewives use it as a scapegoat to blame for little Bobby’s antisocial tendencies, as they down their 3rd whisky and fornicate with the postman.

Point being: While there are games that smear the idea that video games can be taken seriously (thanks Fortnite (2017), ya dick), it’s nice to see games that epitomise what the medium is capable of; stories that could only work in the video game medium or are made more impactful through their unique mechanics. 

Yoko Taro’s NieR: Automata (2017) does both, which is why I highly recommend it.

Proposal: Explain Plot

The year is 11945AD. Earth was invaded by an onslaught of machines created by an alien race. With humanity on the brink of extinction, they take refuge on the moon and create YorHa, an Armada of highly skilled androids tasked to reclaim the planet. What follows is a seemingly endless proxy war for Earth between YorHa’s androids and the machines. 

You play as 2B, a stoic YorHa combat android accompanied by 9S, a curious and earnest hacker unit. You accompany the duo through the ongoing war, exploring the desolate planet and fighting mechanical monstrosities. However, all is not as it seems as you uncover secrets and learn the history of the war. This forces our duo to question the very purpose of their fight, and their existence. Oh yeah, you’re also blindfolded and dressed in skimpy Gothic attire. Because what’s an existential JRPG if not an excuse to get a bit kinky?

It took longer than it should have to find an actual gameplay screenshot of these 2. 

So… much… fanart.

This is the only example of Yoko Taro’s work I’ve played. My understanding is that the games in the franchise take place in the same universe but at vastly different time periods, changing from fantasy to science-fiction. It’s a renowned franchise in Japan but it's been rather overlooked in the West. Automata brings it into the mainstream, and we now see the plethora of other titles unveiled before us. 

Trust me, being able to read this won’t make it any less confusing. 

This may make Automata a questionable place to start, but thankfully it functions perfectly well as a contained story with its own themes and ideas. Aspects of previous games such as Drakkengard (2003) and the preceding NieR (2010) game are only passively mentioned or only referenced in lore descriptions. So while you’ll get some Easter eggs here and there, fret not. You don’t have to play the previous instalments to understand and enjoy Automata. 

As the androids question their purpose, humanity seems to grow more and more distant from them. The robots, in turn, are frequently left to fend for themselves, resulting in them trying to mimic human culture and develop societies, monarchies and even religions. It may seem like this game tackles its fair share of ideas and themes, and there’s some guaranteed WTF moments, but thankfully it doesn’t interfere with the gameplay.

Proposal: Detail Gameplay

The pairing with Platinum games was a match made in heaven as they’re best known for fast paced action games like Bayonetta (2009) and Vanquish (2010). One is a super-sexy hack-and-slash and the other is a third-person shooter with ROCKET SKATES! So we know Automata’s gameplay is in good, incredibly jittery hands. This combat provides the surface level to enjoy, should the more nuanced themes and ideas not be your cup of tea. It's a hack-and-slash AND a bullet-hell shooter merged into one - such variety and fast pace is certainly a unique experience that requires skill and quick reaction. This effectively acts as the icing on the multilayered cake, and you’re very welcome to enjoy it as just that if you so wish. I reckon the Gothic maid outfits and telekinetic swords help the game’s surface level appeal.

Oh yeah, you have 2 swords, light and heavy, and they hover on your back through some highly advanced technological means I’m sure, but let's just say they’re psychic. 

Nice to see that even swords adhere to social distancing. 

This lets you telekinetically fling your blades around for mid-range and Area of Effect damage. Despite it sounding like a feature that only exists because it sounded cool, it works to great effect.

Come to think of it, psychic swords, blindfolds, sex appeal…

Reminds me of someone... Look at that beard and tell me I'm wrong!

You also have a hovering pod helper that fires a range of projectiles while giving helpful advice like a militant Amazon Echo. As the game is a mix of hack-and-slash and bullet hell shooter, you need the pod to clear out obstacles in massive fights. 

There is balancing issue here as the pod is probably more useful than the blades; if you’re in a pinch, you can just keep your distance and heal while your pod does all the work. If you're patient and keep tapping the dodge button, the pod gives you a cheap and easier means of progressing through the game. There's one boss fight where you get wounded and the game goes “oh no, now you can’t use close range weapons! You can only use the pod to attack!” And I was there thinking “what close range options? Oh yeah the swords…”

The heavy sword in particular just gathered dust since I’d get through with the faster lighter sword when completely surrounded. It’s also rather tedious to upgrade it. Both the swords and the pod can be upgraded with certain materials you can find in the open world. However, they’re so vague and unclear on how to acquire them. With any materials you do come across, the pod and light sword take priority. After some time, this ironically makes the light sword deal more damage than the heavy one. Though if it's any consolation, you can still powered through the game without upgrading anything, and with the starting weapons. There isn't much incentive to collect and upgrade as the starting blades fulfilled their necessary duty.

Also, as I previously stated, the ranged attacks take precedence after a while. There are even sections where you pilot flight units in which it goes beyond bullet-hell and into bullet-divine comedy. They are huge in scale and enjoyable sections, so the game certainly does variety better and smoother than Insomniac’s Spider-Ma… I mean most AAA titles.

Proposal: Discuss Unique Mechanics

What I really appreciate in the game is how good a job it does at making you feel like an Android, typically breaking the 4th wall to do so. After the prologue mission you go under-maintenance whereby you’re instructed to test your vision and sound capabilities (where you, the player, can set brightness and volume). 

Very slick, Taro.

There are some ideas borrowed from other games that are used to good effect. One that sticks out in my mind is the Dark Souls (2011) mechanic where you leave a mark where you last died and must return to retrieve your equipment, with the potential risk of dying again and losing it all. Nowadays it's hard to find games that don’t nick something from Dark Souls, but in this case it’s used to good effect. Since they are android bodies, it makes sense for your AI consciousness to simply be uploaded to another vessel when you die.

The items you risk losing upon death are chips that offer buffs such as auto-heal and more damage. It’s interesting as there was a limited total space, and each chip took up a unique amount of space. They’re split into categories (attack, defense and support) and it's wise to balance them and swap them out based on circumstances. There are also some which you can swap out that display components of the HUD e.g. health bars, damage output and the mini map which you can remove to make more room. It functions both as a way to let you customise the HUD and adds again to that feeling of being an Android where you shut down unnecessary systems (in this case, conventional HUD interfaces) to divert power elsewhere. There’s even one for your OS that if you remove, you instantly die. Its essentially a suicide button for the hell of it.

After you get the healing chips, however, you can just stack them and you’ll barely ever be in any real danger. Unfortunately, similar to the pods, the chip system leads to even more balancing issues. With the right combination and some creativity, you can concoct something completely OP rather easily. This leads to a game-breaking moment when you unlock a berserk mode late in the game; you deal more damage but your health slowly depletes, and you’re defenceless for a while when it ends. Should you use this sparingly and for the most essential fights? Or should you mass equip the chips that restore health based on the damage you deal to enemies, creating an infinite loop of high damage and high restoration?

I, with my weak will, chose the latter.

I did initially have some issues with the open world. There are side quests, but they are only there for their own sake, or money and EXP. While there are some nice little stories woven into them, they don’t add to the overall whole, alter the game world or impact the endings. It’s a bit of a wasted opportunity. The game has such rich story elements, and the lack of a broader narrative weakens the effect. In fact, it begs the question - does the game need an open world at all? Nevertheless, while it’s not the most expansive, it is somewhat necessary. You end up exploring all of it in due time because of the game's most interesting narrative mechanic...

That is to say, the “true” ending is only available once you replay the game a few times. You play it once as 2B, then in your second playthrough you experience the same events from 9S’s point of view (or lack thereof on account of the blindfolds). Then, on your third playthrough, you take on the 2nd half of the story and alternate between the 2 leads.

It’s a really fascinating way to tell a narrative and it allows for moments where characters you met, and even bosses you fought, gain more depth in the 9S playthrough. His fighting style substitutes a heavy attack with an ability to hack enemies. This constitutes an entirely bullet-hell mini game in the style of Asteroids (1979). It does feel rather repetitive, but I ended up preferring it to the heavy sword which I never used. 

You might say this game becomes a “hack”-and-slash?

No. of regrets: 0

In fact, I’d argue that despite appearing as a deteuragonist in the beginning, 9S is ultimately the story’s protagonist as he undergoes the most significant change as the events unfold.

Proposal: Recommend NieR: Automata

To conclude, NieR: Automata is not easy to summarise (which is ironic as that’s what I’m trying to do here). It’s complex to a fault, but Yoko Taro’s storytelling, Keichi Okabe’s score and Platinum Games’ pace all weave together the unique feel of NieR: Automata. It's a game worth getting invested in and there are many gut punches that will have you crying into your 2B love pillows. Whether the existential elements and philosophical references will tickle your fancy, or if you think playing as sexy blindfolded ninja maids juxtapose any notion that this game is deep, there’s one thing for certain:

You’ll remember NieR: Automata, for one reason or another. After finishing it, you’ll find that sinking feeling you’ll get when there’s no more of the game to play. And that kind of experience is what we as gamers strive for.

Or you could unlock the obscure 20 or so alternative endings...

Or just watch the YouTube compilation of them, you lazy sod.

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Fancy feeling miserable? We know you do! We all do... That's why you should read Cowboy Bebop: Only the Lonely by The Curmudgeon.

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