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NieR: Automata |OT| "I wouldn't expect too much from this game if I were you."

J_Viper

Member
And done. Got the Achievement for the "final" ending.

After finishing Route A, I would have told you that, despite it's numerous flaws, Nier was the most interesting game I played this year so far.

However, the more time I spent with it past it's first ending, the more I started to dislike it.

Route B felt like an enormous waste of time The combat is made worse in Route B for reasons I can't get into without a slight spoiler. Then there's the barrage of hacking sequences the game throws at you again and again and again and again. I'm not sure who's idea it was to spam that fucking hacking mini game, but I hope they don't return for a sequel. Sure, there's like 5 new lines of important dialogue that set the stage for things to come in the next play-through, but there could have been a better way to integrate that into the first play -through.

Route C begins strong, and the narrative is entertaining throughout, but the gameplay quickly grows dull, as I'm going through the same bland environments for a third time until the last few hours, where the game succumbs to the dreaded "rule of three" trope which completely destroys the pacing. By the last few combat sections, I enabled all auto-chips and messed around on my phone until they finished themselves. The lack of variety in the combat could barley sustain an eight hour game, let alone a near 40 hour experience. And again, THOSE FUCKING HACKING MINIGAMES WOULDN'T STOP

I'm disappointed. The writing, voice work, and soundtrack were great from beginning to end, but it's too bad the game crumbled in quality after the initial run though. I feel like I would've been better off not going back for more after Route A.
 
It took me until 36hrs in to realize I could lock on during hacking..

Huge amounts of sadness, anger, and happiness flowed thru me

5UsJ6op.jpg
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Can someone help me on C route? Specifically
the giant desert caterpillar,
when it breaks apart there's seemingly nowhere to stand and attack where I'm not getting
hit by shots from out of camera, especially when trying to activate berserk mode
 

Ferrio

Banned
Can someone help me on C route? Specifically
the giant desert caterpillar,
when it breaks apart there's seemingly nowhere to stand and attack where I'm not getting
hit by shots from out of camera, especially when trying to activate berserk mode

Overload chip and anti chain damage chips to help. Overload dodges should give you plenty of time.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Overload chip and anti chain damage chips to help. Overload dodges should give you plenty of time.
Damnit not working. There's just too much shit on screen.
Sweeping lasers and cascades of shots from all directions, I burn through like three healing items every single time it breaks apart and I only have 7
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Damnit not working. There's just too much shit on screen.
Sweeping lasers and cascades of shots from all directions, I burn through like three healing items every single time it breaks apart and I only have 7

I remember jumping and dodging in the air a lot.

But yeah that fight sucks.
 
Damnit not working. There's just too much shit on screen.
Sweeping lasers and cascades of shots from all directions, I burn through like three healing items every single time it breaks apart and I only have 7
At the point of the game you're at, you should be able to afford 99 of every healing item no problem. They're dirt cheap.
 

Mezoly

Member
Just finished Route A. So my main question [general question not a big spoiler]
is the unresolved plot questions will be resolved in the subsequent routes? Because I feel Route A explained almost nothing

Also which other pods are good to use? For Route A, I only used the hammer and Laser.
 
Just finished Route A. So my main question [general question not a big spoiler]
is the unresolved plot questions will be resolved in the subsequent routes? Because I feel Route A explained almost nothing

Also which other pods are good to use? For Route A, I only used the hammer and Laser.

Yes, all the dropped plot points should be nagging at you. Just keep them in the back of your head.

Mirage and Blade are good for area damage/crowd control. Also, some of the best pod programs are ones that can't be bought.
 

Mezoly

Member
Yes, all the dropped plot points should be nagging at you. Just keep them in the back of your head.

Mirage and Blade are good for area damage/crowd control. Also, some of the best pod programs are ones that can't be bought.

Cool Thanks.

I have Mirage and Blade so I will experiment with them.
 
I preordered this game on a whim because it looked beautiful and I wanted to try something different for a change. I didn't know how the save system worked until I died for the first time, losing all of my progress and having the restart the entire first part of the game again. I almost refunded it then, but, there is something about this game I like and I can't quite explain what or why.

I continued playing until finally I was able to save for the first time! After that I realized just what kind of game this is. It's a perfect blend of many games - Castlevania, Dark Souls, etc. I got to the open world and killed a moose, then killed some robots beating on what I thought was a vending machine but turns out to be a "access point" to allow you to save when you're in it's general vicinity.

I am still early on in my first playthrough and I love every bit of it now. I'm glad I stuck with it and I look forward to playing some more of it when I've got the time. I hope the original Nier and Drakengard games come to PC so I can play through them at some point too.
 

TissueBox

Member
Seriously Vague Hope (Spring Rain) is one of the most beautiful things I've heard all year. One of those that touch on the sort of brooding emotional angst I loved about OG Nier's, though it sucks we never got to hear this rendition in the game..
 
Seriously Vague Hope (Spring Rain) is one of the most beautiful things I've heard all year. One of those that touch on the sort of brooding emotional angst I loved about OG Nier's, though it sucks we never got to hear this rendition in the game..
It would've been the perfect backing track for the
Ending E post-credits scene
.

I don't think the amount of additional tears that would've been shed in that case would've been very good for my ducts, though.
 

TissueBox

Member
I think possessed by a disease is still my favourite track.

It evokes a sort of manic anxiety like no other.

Yea arguably the GOAT. That ominous, frenetic amalgam is so good... and at this point practically a trademark.

It would've been the perfect backing track for the
Ending E post-credits scene
.

I don't think the amount of additional tears that would've been shed in that case would've been very good for my ducts, though.

MY LACRIMAL GLANDS!!
 

Golnei

Member
I think possessed by a disease is still my favourite track.

It evokes a sort of manic anxiety like no other.

While both versions are great, I think I ended up preferring the live rendition from last year's concert to the one that's actually in the game. The degree of post-processing on the vocals dilutes their impact a little bit, especially for the longer sustained sections.

Seriously Vague Hope (Spring Rain) is one of the most beautiful things I've heard all year. One of those that touch on the sort of brooding emotional angst I loved about OG Nier's, though it sucks we never got to hear this rendition in the game..

I wonder why it ended up not being played anywhere - was it just not finished in time, was an accompanying sequence cut; did it get removed and replaced with an existing track after being deemed a poor fit for the scene it was originally written for?
 

Robiin

Member
Just went through the Become as Gods segment. How long have I got left on this first playthrough? Because I'm seeing people say this is a 40 hour game with THREE playthroughs, and I'm at like 20 hours now! I know I'm a slow player but I feel like I'll be done by he 100 hour mark...
 

Ferrio

Banned
Just went through the Become as Gods segment. How long have I got left on this first playthrough? Because I'm seeing people say this is a 40 hour game with THREE playthroughs, and I'm at like 20 hours now! I know I'm a slow player but I feel like I'll be done by he 100 hour mark...

You're nearing the end of the first playthrough.
 

Golnei

Member
Just went through the Become as Gods segment. How long have I got left on this first playthrough? Because I'm seeing people say this is a 40 hour game with THREE playthroughs, and I'm at like 20 hours now! I know I'm a slow player but I feel like I'll be done by he 100 hour mark...

If you've been doing a lot of sidequests, route B will be a lot shorter than A - while there are some new ones on that path, the bulk are shared. Route C is also not as long as A.
 
At the point of the game you're at, you should be able to afford 99 of every healing item no problem. They're dirt cheap.

Word - know it's not the prettiest way of doing things but on that boss I just stocked up on dozens of health items for barely any money (relatively) and spammed dodging. Certainly an aesthetically cool looking boss but a rare miss-step in a game full of fun boss fights.
 
Also which other pods are good to use? For Route A, I only used the hammer and Laser.

I really like the A130 Bomb, particularly when it's charged up and with 2 pods. It can take a lil while to get going but it's great for big mobs and how it follows your lock-ons is really satisfying.
 

Szadek

Member
Finally unlocked fast travel. That should be very helpful.
I like running around in this world, but the backtracking would get too much after a while.

As for the lastest twist:
I was wondering if the aliens even existed to begin with ,since I don't trust the information of the commader, but it turns out that they are all dead.
Very intersting stuff.
 
S

Steve.1981

Unconfirmed Member
Playing through Route B, I'm enjoying
all the new cutscenes and stuff that further flesh out the world and it's characters.
This feels like such a fresh take on narrative design to me. I don't remember ever playing a game that approached it's story in this way (how did I miss the original NieR? I'm honestly kicking myself!). I'm really into it.

The hacking isn't great. I don't hate it or anything but, considering how often you jump into that separate mini-game as 9S, there's just not much variety there to keep it engaging or interesting. At least each hacking attempt is short (so far anyway), so it hasn't become a frustration (yet). It's cool that I can set 2B to an aggressive approach and hang back as she wrecks stuff.

I have to say as well, the music is just fantastic. Simply running around exploring each zone, listening to the different "themes" has been a pleasure.
 
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