Quick Look: NieR: Automata

You jest ( for other reasons), but if your game only has robots and androids, it kinda fits if those look off.

It's possible to install different gameplay changing things into your chip set. Like witch time( from bayonetta) , counters, shock waves to increase the range of your melee, exploding bullets, listening robots scream painfully as they die, etc. As well as different combinations of 2 different weapons and other pod related weapons and programs. So there's stuff there to expand the combat a bit.

It might be useful to consult a recap for something that happens at the beginning of the forest kingdom section and for a "couple" of characters. Other things related to the first NieR will pop up naturally in the form of text documents here and there.

Oh you rascal you, you know I mean 4k resolution ... although I haven't seen any PC benchmarks to see if its a good port or a bad port like we so lovingly get handed as PC gamers. I'm hoping it looks amazing at 4k it shouldn't be too taxing due to what I've seen on the PS4 in compare to other games but probably will end up having to play it at 1440p.

I wonder if there will be any chance of modding in case it is a bad port although it sounds like it has denuvo so that is more than likely out of the picture.

Looks like the preload I'm downloading on Steam is 45 gigs.

Finished my first playthrough and started by second. Pretty amazing game, especially once you start to see what the later playthroughs are going to add on. One comment - there is a fast-run that can get you around the environment pretty quickly if you just tap R2 and fast travel unlocks about halfway through. There's a little fetch-quest nature about the sidequests, but there also is some fun little stories and dialog hidden in there.

There's also a fair amount of weapon/shooting mix-up possible, especially if you use the lock-on and experiment with new weapons and chips. In fact if I had one criticism of the game it's that it's incredibly easy to customize yourself into a passive, shooting-focused style that makes it almost impossible to die. You can get auto-item and auto-heal chips which make you extremely survivable and allow you to mow through enemies and ping away at any bosses just by keeping range and dodging. Good way to just make it through the game, but you basically avoid the combat.

I'm still generally skipping past story talk, but the vague bits I've heard about the endings has pretty much sold me on the game (which I was already on board with, but it had been lower on my Gameaageddon 2017 priority list). Sounds like it scratches a similar itch to stuff like Undertale.

@alex You did not actually have to kill that tank, they would have left you alone. :(

So for people wondering, Route A (first playthrough) is tip-of-the-iceburg stuff where you experience the story with very little explanation of what's going on. In Route B, you learn a lot more about what's really going on, and in Route C...well, just play it...nothing substantial I can say that isn't spoilers. But I promise, it's fucking nuts

@alex The other game released in Japan was just Nier but with a different-looking protagonist. Young anime boy instead of old, haggard dude. The game was the same otherwise.

Does the crews' pronunciation of "automata" drive anyone else nuts? Because it irritates the shit out of me.

the 1st Nier was part of Game of the Year podcast discussion for best moment.

Patrick talked about the Ending of Nier, and it gotten me into hours of Nier lore videos.

And I'm so hyped for this game coming to the PC. Going to avoid all media of the game tho.

Sure, "awesome in every way" is 100% my own opinion. And maybe most of that is based on how I remembered it back in 2010. I'm just kind of just worried that when people who just listens to the podcast and watches the quick looks, and not reading the comments, are going to miss out on a great game if they are turned off by being told that Nier is more like a JRPG.

I can totally see that Automata has a smother combat system thanks to Platinum, and also that it's 2017 and not 2010. But calling Nier a JRPG is just straight up false.

Boy Vinny was in one of his moods for this one! Alex was barely able to keep up through the barrage of questions, not to mention the enemy bullets.

Alex please attack with your sword, or jump, or dodge, or run. Glad he seems to be enjoying it though, I really loved this game.

@ds9143: Nobody seems to say it right so I've stopped noticing.

What character do you get to play? 2B, or not 2B?

@petiew: The section I showed is one where it just so happened to make more sense to use your gun a lot. Don't worry. I slice and dice plenty of robots. I have a big axe to go with my sword now.

@alex: Good stuff. The dash has lots of invincibility and you can destroy the darker energy balls with a sword (in the flying sections as well) so if you get the hang of it you can be aggressive pretty much the whole time.

Hope you keep playing through.

It looks like this game is going to some Undertale style places, which as far as I know the original Nier did too. I wonder if there's room for a pacifist run in one of those playthroughs where you just dodge until the bosses give up, but without the conversation options of Undertale and that game's very loose definition of "bullets" I'm not sure if that's fun.

I beat this a few days ago, just doing trophy clean up now. The soundtrack is so good that I'm seriously considering importing a copy of the OST when it's released in Japan.

It's 2017 and I'm thinking about buying an actual CD.

Thanks for taking a look at this, Alex! Hopefully it continues to stick with you. The story really does continue to go places, I'm kind of still turning some things over in my head days later.

Ah Vinny, always cracking the jokes lol!

How long is each play through roughly? I don't see how someone can play through a game multiple times just to experience a story but apparently this game has like a dozen endings? Something like A-K routes that I was under the impression of. I have a hard time spending 10+ hours in ANY game so if it is like 20 hours a playthrough I don't know if I will ever make it through all the endings.

Preload almost done though and will know in a few hours! The PS 4 demo was great but the controller and weaker graphics was hard to enjoy.

@vinny: @alex: Alex mentions this a bit in the Quick Look, but I feel like I should emphasize that playing through the other main endings is very important to get the full experience. The ending A path is still "good", but I definitely would not have the same feelings for the game if I had stopped there.

The ending B path is more or less the same as Ending A, with some new stuff sprinkled throughout (which is why you could just make a beeline through it in a couple hours if you wanted), but the ending C path is very different and where Yoko Taro and Platinum really come together in the best way.

@steveurkel: I finished my first playthrough at around 15 hours, doing plenty of sidequests. The second playthrough I got through in maybe around 7 hours? You could probably do it faster if you rush it. Third playthrough is something kind of different which I won't spoil either. Altogether I got the last main ending (it goes A through E) at around 34 hours after doing over half the game's sidequests, according to the completion tracker in the menu screen.

There are 26 endings. But only A-E (I think?) matter. For example, you can blow yourself up in the bunker. That will get you ending U I believe, in which some text will pop up and say how you just blew up the bunker and all the androids died. Then the credits speed through in about 2 seconds. I can't say how long each one is because it all depends on whether you try to min-max, do sidequests, or what. I've been doing all the sidequests and stuff as soon as I could and I'm about 50 hours in, and something like midway through Route C. If I was rushing through everything on easy difficulty, I could probably get to where I am now in about 10 hours though. More if I don't skip cutscenes or speed through dialogue. All your equipment, levels, items, sidequest progress, and everything carries over between playthroughs though, so nothing's missable and you do eventually unlock a chapter select sort of thing.

@steveurkel: There are 26 endings, but only A to E are real endings, and you only need 3 playthroughs to see them. Path A is probably the longest at around 12-15 hours (depending on side content), B is the shortest and can be completed in at least half that if you focus on the story, C maybe more like 10 hours?

Although I had over 60 hours by the time I put it down, so it can be a pretty long game if you want it to be. But I did basically everything.

Just played the demo of this and was rather impressed. Can't say it was on my radar much.

@steveurkel: You are only really replaying anything one time and that's for ending B which is from the perspective of 9S instead of 2B. After that the story moves forward and after ending C you gain access to a chapter select so you won't have to do any Full playthroughs of the game for other endings.

After we got to the boss, I went to PSN and bought it - This game's got styylle. Lord knows when I'll get round to playing it, mind - I've got Horizon and Nioh not started yet.

The soundtrack in the first game was really something special.

If you would have told me a few months ago that the GB crew would like a Yakuza and Nier game I wouldn't have believed you.

And I think this game might even be better still.

There's some best moment worthy stuff in this game and it's almost entirely due to excellent use of its soundtrack.

If anyone cares just thought I'd mention the correct pronunciation is "aw-tom-uh-tuh". Hate to be that dude but as a software engineer I flinch a bit every time I hear "auto-motta".

@artmaddox: I find it odd that mispronunciation is so common with this game, given that it's a game about androids and machines, aka, automatons. I have never in my life heard anyone pronounce it "auto-mattons."

This game feels so damn good. I honestly haven't played a game this crazy and refreshing for a long while now. Man the game of the year conversations are going to be a blood bath after everything from these first 4 months drop.

I assume that it's just not a very familiar word to many people and you look at once, say it however you say, and then that's just how that is.

The realization of "Oh right..like an automaton" might come later but too late now.

This game looks like it has some lovely charm to it

Question: As someone who doesn't play action games really at all (mg5 is probably the closest I have come and the idea of playing Fury scares me senseless) but loves anime/anime stories and digs the music and the idea this goes into the anime philosophy - is this worth getting and playing on easy?

Also I would likely buy the music from this seperatly.

@zaldar: I think so. Easy includes a suite of Easy mode only equipment that serve to automate a lot of the games systems so you could really just get in there and experience the weird goings on.

@efesell: Yeah I definitely understand it's not a word that comes up very often in the average person's lexicon. I just know some people (like myself) appreciate a heads-up when they're pronouncing something wrong.

If you play on Easy you can hit L2 to toggle auto mode which auto dodges almost every attack and shoots for you and is super easy. Give it a shot.

In a word: yes.

However: as someone who also doesn't really play action games and isn't great at the ones that I have played, the moment to moment combat in Automata is practically simple for me playing on Normal. Bosses get somewhat more involved, and the hacking minigames later on can get a bit tense.

Get it for the story, though, for sure. Before that, though, If you have no experience with the first game, check out one of the many recent recap videos floating around, one was even linked earlier in these comments I believe.

@zaldar: I suggest starting on normal and dropping to easy if/when you have to. I don't play many action games either, but I picked this one up very quick and had a lot of fun playing it.

It helps a lot that the game is surprisingly heavy on RPG mechanics and stats. Lack of skill can often be made up for in levels, item usage, and smart plug-in chip allocation.

Its a little unfortunate that Alex didn't know about lock on and using healing items without pausing, which makes the game look boring.

This is a game better served by learning to play without locking on though so that's a plus.

This game looks fantastic and fun

This was weird to watch, if Alex is as far in as he is then surely he's aware of the dual weapon combo system and the lockon system that changes how evade and your equiped abilities can function which is what makes the game fun and satisfying, not the shooting.... Like he went and pulled a drew and skipped out on all the crucial fun stuff that makes this game so damn fun to play.

Hell he didn't even use the run button that progressively speeds up 2B faster and faster which is bad ass at full speed cause you just book through the game world.

Seems he's misrepresented the game somewhat with his play style in this video. Kinda paints it in an unfairly negative light as a result :(

@lazyaza: Uh it seems he's havin a good time with it and others are seeing that it's a pretty rad game so maybe you are exaggerating just a liiiitle bit.

@lazyaza: It's a little unfortunate he didn't show off almost any of the melee combat, but there is a free demo out there that lets you experience that part of the game yourself. I'm glad he at least showed off a different perspective of the game than what you get out of the demo.

I wish he had picked up the spear prior to this stage though. The spear combos are dope.

I love that Vinny keeps pronouncing "9S" as "Nines."