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

LotusHD

Banned
The game has officially released. There's nothing wrong with gifs as long as they don't show any spoiler related content.

Agreed:

qDwLWoy


EDIT: Well then...

If it isn't out of the way I'll do it but they're all fetch quests that make you go to different ends of the map sometimes which make them a chore.

True
 

killatopak

Gold Member
The game has officially released. There's nothing wrong with gifs as long as they don't show any spoiler related content.

Not in NA/EU

Uhh gifs aren't spoilers.

As long as it isn't spoilerish.

Which means any boss fight or cutscene is out of the question and maybe specific locations as well.

Edit: I imagine that will limit a lot of the gifs available to be posted so I recommended the spoiler thread instead until March 7 at least and maybe even until the EU release.
 

SilentRob

Member
Rob, will you review this game? And if so, any chance of english subtitles? It's pretty much the only review I'd like to watch/read (after I finish the game myself :p).

I understand it's a lot of work, though, so it's alright if it's not possible.

Hey, thanks, that's so nice of you :) I'm definitely working on one but likely won't be able to get subtitles ready in time, too. However, we'll probably give the community the opportunity to add subtitles. So we're definitely trying to get that going.
 
The spoiler thread isn't getting a lot of traffic, which means it's not getting bumped, which means it isn't getting a lot of traffic. It probably won't pick up until the Western release of the game.

A2 loses most of her clothes after you engage berserk mode by pressing L3+R3. 2B and 9S lose their clothes after self-destructing with L3+R3.

That said, those who have beaten the game should come on over to the NieR: Automata Spoiler Thread so we can attempt to make sense of what the FUCK just happened.

That really answers nothing of my questions at all.
 

Roussow

Member
Almost finished up with route B -- who knows though, they could toss a curve ball at me and it might continue to go on far longer than I expect. The second run starts out strong and is wrapping up well, but the new big gameplay hook they throw at you isn't quite as compelling as the traditional gameplay, it's good -- but it's started to get a little bloated in the middle there, fortunately the story revelations hit hard.

That said -- you can totally blaze through this game if you want to just go through the main content. Which is welcome given the structure.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
So for the most part, do y'all feel compelled to do the sidequests?

Yes. That said I'm treating this game like FFXV. Without the side quests, the game will feel short.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
Would be nice to know what the new patch does. I'll probably post it in the DF thread as well.

Edit: no framedrop patches then. It's still great though and it's nice to know the bugs are gonna be patched by the time I get to play it for the first time.
 
There are already two novellas released. Despite of that, automatas entire story is actually in the game, just like in the first nier.

I wouldn't say Nier's entire story is in the game at all. The absolute bare essentials are in there, but I feel like 90% of Nier lore is in the Grimoire and one-off comics and stage plays and radio shows and novels and limited edition whatevers and probably gachapons and Happy Meal toys, too. It sounds like Drakengard 3's story was pretty barebones until you bought all the DLC and read all the tie-in stuff, too. I strongly dislike that kind of cross-media stuff where you have to track down a dozen separate things to get the full picture, so I'd hate to see it happen again with Automata.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
What that do

Wut it do

I wouldn't say Nier's entire story is in the game at all. The absolute bare essentials are in there, but I feel like 90% of Nier lore is in the Grimoire and one-off comics and stage plays and radio shows and novels and limited edition whatevers and probably gachapons and Happy Meal toys, too. It sounds like Drakengard 3's story was pretty barebones until you bought all the DLC and read all the tie-in stuff, too. I strongly dislike that kind of cross-media stuff where you have to track down a dozen separate things to get the full picture, so I'd hate to see it happen again with Automata.

It honestly is only backstory stuff, that's why it is not neccesary to be included. Drakengard 3 was pretty bad about this, but i'd say Nier was pretty ok. They don't even take into consideration
ending E of Replicant just for consideration of Gestalt and western players

90% of the revelations of this game are explained in the game, and those that aren't are usually just shout outs to people who will understand them(aka hardcore yoko taro fanboys)
 

Slater

Banned
Wut it do



It honestly is only backstory stuff, that's why it is not neccesary to be included. Drakengard 3 was pretty bad about this, but i'd say Nier was pretty ok. They don't even take into consideration
ending E of Replicant just for consideration of Gestalt and western players

90% of the revelations of this game are explained in the game, and those that aren't are usually just shout outs to people who will understand them(aka hardcore yoko taro fanboys)

I have never, ever heard they didn't include ending E in the game as a consideration to western players and I've read the Grimoire.

Where you getting this? Conjure on your part again?
 
So for the most part, do y'all feel compelled to do the sidequests?

Yes, even if the side quests typically become simple fetch quests. It's kind of like Zelda: Majora's Mask since the side quests help the player become more attached to the world and its inhabitants, so you get a more complete experience by doing them. There are some side quests that aren't worth doing because of how little they add, but there's also some side quests that shouldn't be skipped over (ex. the
Lunar Tear side quest with Emil
).
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I have never, ever heard they didn't include ending E in the game as a consideration to western players and I've read the Grimoire.

Where you getting this? Conjure on your part again?

Huh? I'm saying
they don't allude to ending E in THIS game, and ending D is considered canon for consideration of those people who didn't play Replicant even though it had extra shit in it which tied back through Grimiore Nier. Obviously western players would know nothing about that stuff and so is not necessary to understand for this title in the least, the same goes for stageplay Yorha
 

Anko

Member
I'm done with A, B, C and D. I've done E up till a certain point. I'm not ready yet, if you know what I mean.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience. The OST release date being this late is painful and hard to endure. Perhaps I was way overlevelled or my chips were too OP but a lot of the fights were too simple on normal mode.

Now, on to my major complaints about Nier Automata. Firstly, the localisation.

(spoiler warning for some minor side quests)
As a disclaimer, I played it with Japanese audio only and with English text. So I've been comparing the spoken Japanese to its translated subtitles. I believe there was a mistake in A2's line right after the fight with her. That aside, I want to talk about how they've been getting the tone of some lines entirely wrong. One example (from memory so it might differ slightly) would be with Father Servo's quest. (spoilers for the ending of the Father Servo quest) At the end of the quest,
Father Servo is content at having found a worthy opponent and chooses to fight our leads to the death. In English, 9S comes off as an asshole who is relieved that Father Servo is finally out of their hair. He also curses in these lines. In Japanese however, that was not the case at all. He thought his pursuit of strength and eventual death was foolish, yes as he did in English, but he was sympathetic more than anything. Not at all like in English where he went more along the lines of "Good riddance. That idiotic fool."

Another example would be a sidequest from Pascal's village where you're supposed to go look for a child machine who has run away after a spat with the family. In English, 9S is impatient and swears constantly at the child, almost aggressive even. However he's anything but in Japanese. "Quit whining" and all that. It just didn't exist in the Japanese script. Now why would anyone add something like that? He was patiently coaxing a child in Japanese. He was an impatient asshole in English.

There was excessive swearing for A2 and 9S. Yes, the two of them do swear at times, A2 more than 9S, but the English localisation often added more than what had originally existed in the Japanese script. In Japanese, 9S started swearing mainly only after a certain event in C, but he swore with some frequency in English even before said events. As for A2, I felt that these additional swear words just made her angrier than she is supposed to be. It changes the tone entirely. It changes their personality even. I understand that previous entries had lots of swearing too but now it just made me wonder if they were added to make it seem seem edgier than it actually was. It was akin to translating a simple "let's go" to "let's get out of this goddamn place". Their personalities probably seem a little different to me than it would to someone who played the localisation. Now, I don't know how these subtitles compared to the actual performance of the English dub, but I don't think the subtitles would be entirely different from the actual English script. I don't expect a literal translation but changing the personality of the character is something I simply cannot approve.

(spoiler warning for route C/D ending)
Of the characters, I found 9S the least likeable past the first two routes. I don't like Eren of Attack on Titan and I found 9S to be similar to him. His motivation as a character was just
him wanting to fuck 2B, as Adam put it. He started getting on my nerves. I just didn't get why anyone would want to give their life for him. Annoyingly, at least three women gave their lives for him. The feminist in me wanted to scream because to me he was just an annoying selfish brat who didn't deserve the help. He hardly gave a shit about anyone other than 2B and 21O (see his lack of reluctance in abandoning the commander, him rushing to help 2B only and him not reporting the noise he noticed). Playing as 9S was not enjoyable either. I didn't like hacking regularly and he was slow in his attacks. Understandable as he wasn't a fighter model like the other two but if that's the case don't make us play as him so much. A2 is similar to 2B aside from the dash and holding the square button so she was at least as enjoyable as 2B.

I do still have some locked doors and route E past the save deletion option, but did they ever explain zombification? I got that Eve's madness may have driven some of the machines mad but why did it happen in Pascal's village? They were not part of the network so how did it happen?

I also do wish they gave A2 more screen time. Rather than explain her history via a series of novels, I wish they showed some of it to us. The same for Popola and Devola. I wish we had seen more of them. These three are my favourite characters and (route c spoiler)
with the death of Popola and Devola (who are supposedly the last of their models)
, I'm not inclined to hope for a third in the series :< Again, I wished they gave us some of their memories from Devola's pov too rather than just Popola. We always knew, from Nier, that Popola would lose herself to her rage should any harm come to Devola but I want to know how Devola feels too. I'd probably want to hunt some of the novels down huh. I did pick Japanese up for this type of thing (Yes, I ship them. Bite me.).
 

Ferr986

Member
I have never, ever heard they didn't include ending E in the game as a consideration to western players and I've read the Grimoire.

Where you getting this? Conjure on your part again?

Honestly, I wish Automata would ignore Nier's ending C,D,E. They're the worst part of that story IMO.

Also I hope the different routes are more Nier and less Drakengard
in the sense that it's the same story in every route with added things for the player, but without changing what is happening to the characters, instead of new shit.
 

corn_fest

Member
So just to confirm, I gather that there are
5 "real" endings, correct? (A - E).
And the rest are basically joke/"bad ends"?
(# of endings spoilers)

Looking forward to starting the game soon, but there are enough other games out that I would like to play as efficiently as possible while still seeing all the story content.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
i hope this supposed good rating streak carries over to the bigger sites

One thing I noticed from the few reviews there are is that it seems like they have played and maybe even is a fan NieR themselves. Meaning at the very least, they know there are multiple endinga in a Yoko Taro game.

I fear mainstream review sites will gloss over this fact.
 
One thing I noticed from the few reviews there are is that it seems like they have played and maybe even is a fan NieR themselves. Meaning at the very least, they know there are multiple endinga in a Yoko Taro game.

I fear mainstream review sites will gloss over this fact.

We know the review guide told reviewers that the ending isn't the one they think it is and to keep going.

Also in game it is pretty hard to not realize there is more to it.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Honestly, I wish Automata would ignore Nier's ending C,D,E. They're the worst part of that story IMO.

Ending's A and B are not actual endings though, they are just the preceding events before C & D's conclusions.

I agree that E was unnecessary, but its not even included in the western game so it doesn't even matter.


Also I hope the different routes are more Nier and less Drakengard
in the sense that it's the same story in every route with added things for the player, but without changing what is happening to the characters, instead of new shit.

I feel that without a mix of both of these things there would be no point to other runs. Yoko Taro doesn't usually like to do the same thing over.
 

Hektor

Member
I wouldn't say Nier's entire story is in the game at all. The absolute bare essentials are in there, but I feel like 90% of Nier lore is in the Grimoire and one-off comics and stage plays and radio shows and novels and limited edition whatevers and probably gachapons and Happy Meal toys, too. It sounds like Drakengard 3's story was pretty barebones until you bought all the DLC and read all the tie-in stuff, too. I strongly dislike that kind of cross-media stuff where you have to track down a dozen separate things to get the full picture, so I'd hate to see it happen again with Automata.

In regards to D3 you're correct, a lot of stuff was sourced out to novels, probably because of the non-existing budget it had.

In regards to Nier tho, all the stuff in the novels is what i'd call expanded universe. Nothing of it is actually relevant to the game's story, as that one focuses on Nier and his actions, especially during the first playthrough.

You don't need to know about the connections to Drakengard 1 or what happened to
beepy after you killed him
, since these things build up to / Build up from Nier but do not impact Nier himself, as he isn't even aware of any of those things
 
One thing I noticed from the few reviews there are is that it seems like they have played and maybe even is a fan NieR themselves. Meaning at the very least, they know there are multiple endinga in a Yoko Taro game.

I fear mainstream review sites will gloss over this fact.

you get a big message telling you to keep playing after Route A, it's kind of hard to miss lol
 

Ferr986

Member
Ending's A and B are not actual endings though, they are just the preceding events before C & D's conclusions.

I agree that E was unnecessary, but its not even included in the western game so it doesn't even matter.

Endings A and B felt like proper endings IMO
they wrap the story of Nier and what it means to the world
. Ending C and D is just about that one character more than the conclusion about the main character (the game is heavily focused about him) , I felt that you can just wrap the story with A and B.

About C,D,E,what I dont' liked is that
its such a big Deus ex machina.
Don't get me wrong, the execution of Ending D was stellar, but giving your life to another one and just dissapearing from existence, without no one/nothing interfering and without any explanation on how does that even work (let alone that is never said such a thing is possible neither in the game and Grimoire Nier) was so offputting to me. I don't really like these kind of deus ex machina events, and this one felt like it was forced just to make the Grimoire deleting scene.

Then ending E doubled down with the Deus ex machina with the tree lol

I feel that without a mix of both of these things there would be no point to other runs. Yoko Taro doesn't usually like to do the same thing over.

This is true. I'll see. It kinda bothers me that you end with a lot of different stories but it's not a big deal and you're right it's a Taro thing.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Endings A and B felt like proper endings IMO
they wrap the story of Nier and what it means to the world
. Ending C and D is just about that one character more than the conclusion about the world, I felt that you can just wrap the story with A and B.

About C,D,E,what I dont' liked is that
its such a big Deus ex machina.
Don't get me wrong, the execution of Ending D was stellar, but giving your life to another one and just dissapearing from existence, without no one/nothing interfering and without any explanation on how does that even work (let alone that is never said such a thing is possible neither in the game and Grimoire Nier) was so offputting to me. I don't really like these kind of deus ex machina events, and this one felt like it was forced just to make the Grimoire deleting scene.

Then ending E doubled down with the Deus ex machina with the tree lol

There's a lot of shit i feel we don't know about the universe/s Yoko Taro has created, hell if even he knows a lot of it.
lunar tears are pretty mysterious things
 

JayEH

Junior Member
The whole lead up to the end of Route C is incredible. I'm glad because the beginning of that route was a real drag but those last encounters were S Tier platinum.
 

Ferr986

Member
There's a lot of shit i feel we don't know about the universe/s Yoko Taro has created, hell if even he knows a lot of it.
lunar tears are pretty mysterious things

lol this is true. I mean, maybe the things in my spoiler and yours are explained in Automata? Dunno, would be cool.

Honestly, I feel like Taro added things in Nier storyline that he didn't plan when he was developing the game when he did the Grimoire and Drama CD like
Kaine being a bigger deal in the Drama CD
so maybe he will link some of these things in Automata.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
lol this is true. I mean, maybe the things in my spoiler and yours are explained in Automata? Dunno, would be cool.

Honestly, I feel like Taro added things in Nier storyline that he didn't plan when he was developing the game when he did the Grimoire and Drama CD like
Kaine being a bigger deal in the Drama CD
so maybe he will link some of these things in Automata.

I've spoiled myself on a lot of Automata so i can't say i don't know tons of stuff storyline wise that i should not know until western release..but based on what i know, i'm very appreciative of how stand alone this experience can be. I'd actually recommend people starting from here if they want to get into Yoko Taro games infact. It does reference but not to the point where a newcomer is lost or confused, and i feel that's what is absolutely most important in a game like this where it has a chance of attracting a bigger and newer audience
 
The whole lead up to the end of Route C is incredible. I'm glad because the beginning of that route was a real drag but those last encounters were S Tier platinum.

Yes give me more motivation to get back to it, i really loved the game outside of gameplay, so i just havent forced myself to finish it yet. I'm on that third
tower
, am i close to it getting good again?
 

Ferr986

Member
I've spoiled myself on a lot of Automata so i can't say i don't know tons of stuff storyline wise that i should not know until western release..but based on what i know, i'm very appreciative of how stand alone this experience can be. I'd actually recommend people starting from here if they want to get into Yoko Taro games infact. It does reference but not to the point where a newcomer is lost or confused, and i feel that's what is absolutely most important in a game like this where it has a chance of attracting a bigger and newer audience

you're a brave man lol But yeah I guess you're right it's for the better that Automata is more stand alone than heavily linked to Nier 1 (a thing that would be hard to do
considering how that games ends
lol)
 

JayEH

Junior Member
Yes give me more motivation to get back to it, i really loved the game outside of gameplay, so i just havent forced myself to finish it yet. I'm on that third
tower
, am i close to it getting good again?

the ending of that is when I thought it got really good.
 
Okay i'm missing two weapon, need help!

I know that it's supposed to be
Emil
that sold them to you, bracer type-3 and Angel's foly! But he NEVER have them, do i need to do something special?
 

LotusHD

Banned
That's their windwaker review.

I just realized what's going on here. Their Twitter or whatever alluded to getting ready to give a game a perfect score, something that hasn't happened in over a decade. Square Enix France then replied to them, making a joke basically saying they're honored to get such a score.

I think he then took that to mean that Nier is the one getting that perfect score, but I'm pretty sure that said score is going to be given to Breath of the Wild, as that would make sense seeing as how similar impressions are floating around concerning other outlets. While whereas Nier is concerned, we don't really have any indication of when to expect the reviews.

Came out longer than I thought it would, but I was really confused lol
 
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