NieR: Automata Spoiler Thread

OniBaka said:
Going into this game I was not expecting it to be a love story. Probably due to 9S design but at the beginning I was like "they better not ship 9S and 2B" and then by the end " I was crying for them to be together".
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Same for me.
Up until final 2E unveil, 2B/9S interactions were vague enough to not make any final conclusions and events were happening super fast that it seemed like it didn't matter how they really felt.
But retrospectively it all makes sense now considering their situation and what they knew about it. And ending E couldn't be more justified for them.
 
By the way, Kyle's stream ending was amazing. I woke up at 5:30 am for it, then they spent 3 hours by getting rekt by Emil and beating Bunny...

But it was totally worth it!

Kyle narrated post-ending D 9S monolog: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/134829938?t=2h25m24s
In E credits that happened: https://clips.twitch.tv/SpotlessNastyWasabiUnSane

And they even sang along the chorus! With everyone in chat and in the room(they were 5 of them by the end) supporting.
It was truly an awesome ending for a playthrough. Glory to mankind!
 
Satch said:
WHY AM I STILL THINKING ABOUT THIS TRASH GARBAGE GAME GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD PLEASEEEEEEEE
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Goddammit, came to say the same thing. I still feel for 2B and 9S.

We are supposed to get a live stream next week, right? Please SE, please let Yoko Taro make some story DLCs for this game. I need more of 2B & 9S in my life. I NEED MORE, UGH!
 
Shopping trip DLC where 9S and 2B go to the mall please.

I promised to buy her a t-shirt...
 
What if we get some Yoko Taro fuckery and the DLC totally undoes the bittersweet ending? Like everything turns to shit again.
 
Ferrio said:
What if we get some Yoko Taro fuckery and the DLC totally undoes the bittersweet ending? Like everything turns to shit again.
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1461277788239.gif
 
Ferrio said:
What if we get some Yoko Taro fuckery and the DLC totally undoes the bittersweet ending? Like everything turns to shit again.
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The weapon story for Emil's head noted that the machine network started reactivating nearly 500 years after the events of Automata, so it could be something in the interquel, or even when the network is reactivated. We didn't get to see who the masterminds behind the terminals were either, so...............
 
Ferrio said:
What if we get some Yoko Taro fuckery and the DLC totally undoes the bittersweet ending? Like everything turns to shit again.
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Knowing Yoko, that's likely exactly what he would do if he did post ending E content, so people aught to think carefully before asking for that kind of thing.
And yes, Yoko likely would find a way for things to go wrong in a 9S and 2B t-shirt date dlc as well, since I've seen people asking for that.
 
I dunno, on my second playthrough I found myself more sympathetic to the machine life-forms to the extent that I found the whole final fight sequence leading up to ko-shi and ro-shi quite uplifting.

Listening to the machines "learn" that there is more than the pointless conflict ("look at the stars", "sing a song") actually while the battle is going on really struck me. First of all because its such an elegant sequence in terms of earning the climactic change of heart, but mainly because in many ways its a sharp rebuke to games as we know them.

Ultimately, what is a game like Nier: Automata if not the same as the pointless mobius loop that the fiction paints for its characters? Its conflict without meaning or consequence because in the "end" once we're finished with one cycle, we can just pick it up and start over.

In this closed-circuit loop of killing, the only sane option is to break the cycle. Something that ironically only the machines seem interested in. For all the Androids fealty and reverence to their human creators being superficially the nobility that elevates them above their enemy, in the final analysis this egotism traps and dehumanizes them.

When the Pod intervenes in the confrontation between A2 and the Red Girls, it effectively destroys (or at least disables) the network's ego and literally opens the path to enlightenment.
 
I completed Ending E yesterday night and can still feel the impact, though I really want to finish off some missing side quests before going ahead and saying goodbye.

Man, this game definitely has a lot of intriguing content worth discussing in terms of meta, thematic, emotional and narrative levels. Not even halfway done with reading this thread and a lot of interesting points have been made. Good stuff. This is my first Yoko Taro experience and I really hope it won't be the last.

Among the many different thoughts going through my head right now, I am quite curious about who was/is actually pulling the strings of YoRHa. Presumably they are a bunch of ancient Androids without machine cores who remain on the moon with the fake council server or are hiding somewhere else on Earth, right?

Whoever they are, the game appears to suggest they're fine with playing the whole song-and-dance of endless war with the machines exclusively for the sake of keeping the other androids motivated and making better combat models, but we never really get to see anything from their point of view, since the player only gets access to the relevant pieces of information that the machine network obtained through hacking. Which means it's hard to tell if that's the entire extent of their intentions.
 
I thought it was implied that androids who lose the purpose of their programmed directive just up and died? I can't remember where i read that though. Or if i just made it up.
 
Ferrio said:
What if we get some Yoko Taro fuckery and the DLC totally undoes the bittersweet ending? Like everything turns to shit again.
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That is totally something he would do.

"Even if there is the smallest chance of things being different this time, it is worth it to see it through to the end."

Oops no it just turned out the same again

Antiwhippy said:
I thought it was implied that androids who lose the purpose of their programmed directive just up and died? I can't remember where i read that though. Or if i just made it up.
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There are those machines you hack into in that 9S sidequest and at the end one of them commits suicide because he can't find the answer to why he exist if he doesn't fight.
 
Antiwhippy said:
I thought it was implied that androids who lose the purpose of their programmed directive just up and died? I can't remember where i read that though. Or if i just made it up.
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I thought they just lost the will to fight, which would end in their death (by machine) since they're in the middle of the war. I'm pretty sure there was a period of about 1000+ years between the last of the Replicants dying and the start of the alien invasion, and those androids around that time didn't die.

Basically, because the machines are fighting them, administrative androids had to motivate the other androids to fight back, so they made up the humanity on the moon lie. I could be remembering the wrong thing too though haha.

BTW, I'm like 70 hours into Persona 5 (I play games slow I think) and still thinking about scenes and dialog from this game. So I can relate to earlier posts on this page haha. Not that I'm complaining, NieR really is something special.
 
Finally beat the game (endings A-E). My mind is still kind of in a state of not knowing what to think. Still processing. Overall, loved the game and the story. I will say I think it was a mistake to make Playthrough B as it was. I feel like a lot of people who just see it as a side story with playing as 9S and thus they never saw all the shit that happens in C, D, and E. Maybe they should have just had a truncated 9S playthrough instead of basically doing the whole thing.

Anyway... So what happens if you decide to stay on Ending D (with 9S refusing to go with Adam and Eve)?

Also... What were the machines really after? They just wanted to "evolve" enough to create the tower and leave the planet, hoping to find somewhere to live in peace?

I kind of feel sad that everything feels so pointless as far as what they were trying to do. Project Gestalt failed (obviously), so all the work and struggle the androids went through to try to help the humans was for nothing. They were long gone with no hope of ever coming back (AFAIK). Oh and the story of the Devola and Popala in this game... depressing. lol These games man... :( lol
 
so ive still been thinking about the issue of 9S getting defaulted to base 9S whenever he dies, and how weirdly communicated that was, especially in the context of the gameplay. i remembered, though, that right after they do a black box reaction while fighting the fucked up yorha soldiers, hes just fine and retains his memories when they wake back up in the bunker. i can get around video game logic for the gameplay, but how come it was fine this time in the context of the story? or am i overlooking something else?
 
Ritzboof said:
so ive still been thinking about the issue of 9S getting defaulted to base 9S whenever he dies, and how weirdly communicated that was, especially in the context of the gameplay. i remembered, though, that right after they do a black box reaction while fighting the fucked up yorha soldiers, hes just fine and retains his memories when they wake back up in the bunker. i can get around video game logic for the gameplay, but how come it was fine this time in the context of the story? or am i overlooking something else?
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He wasn't reset every time he died. He was reset when he found out too much and was inevitably killed (likely by 2B/E) as a result of knowing too much.
 
Ritzboof said:
so ive still been thinking about the issue of 9S getting defaulted to base 9S whenever he dies, and how weirdly communicated that was, especially in the context of the gameplay. i remembered, though, that right after they do a black box reaction while fighting the fucked up yorha soldiers, hes just fine and retains his memories when they wake back up in the bunker. i can get around video game logic for the gameplay, but how come it was fine this time in the context of the story? or am i overlooking something else?
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This case was special. 9S knew something was up with their traditional backup system since all of YoRHa had been infected, so he instead used the same backdoor the machines used to make a special upload of his and 2B's consciousness. This was immediately before they black box exploded themselves.

If he had used the Bunker backup, not only would he have been infected too, but he also would have been reset since he knew too much. 9S had no idea this happens.

Likewise, 2B was so upset at the ending of Route A/B, because she knew she was saying goodbye again to the current 9S infected by the machine berserk virus from Eve. She actually had no idea that 9S was due to be reset because 9S hadn't told her he found out about the human server. However, he got lucky this time around by having copied his consciousness into the machine network instead of the (now infected through the backdoor) Bunker, and using that data to put into a new body from the nearby transports. He never backed up his data through the traditional Bunker system from the ending of Route A/B onwards.

It's a little complex but it really is just dumb luck that he got to keep his memories and not get infected like everyone else lol.
 
wesStyle said:
By the way, Kyle's stream ending was amazing. I woke up at 5:30 am for it, then they spent 3 hours by getting rekt by Emil and beating Bunny...

But it was totally worth it!

Kyle narrated post-ending D 9S monolog: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/134829938?t=2h25m24s
In E credits that happened: https://clips.twitch.tv/SpotlessNastyWasabiUnSane

And they even sang along the chorus! With everyone in chat and in the room(they were 5 of them by the end) supporting.
It was truly an awesome ending for a playthrough. Glory to mankind!
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Do you happen to have the timestamp for the previous stream in which Kyle comes across 2B's flight unit message? I'd probably look for it myself when I'm not lazy.. :p

And finally got to finishing that second-to-last stream, will dive into this one next!

Apparently Kyle's going to be trying OG Nier afterward.. ooh boy, I just hope he's able to endure some jank to get that story and that chat will provide support lol.
 
why did I go to GameFAQs forums... I just wanted to see some meaningful story discussions seeing that there are 227 pages of threads.

Check out some of the most popular ones like "Taro Yoko: Great Concepts, Bad Writing" or "I don't get it [spoilers]".
Holy fuck those people.
And pretty much every thread is invaded by the same users trying to convince everybody how they are wrong and shit.
 
wesStyle said:
By the way, Kyle's stream ending was amazing. I woke up at 5:30 am for it, then they spent 3 hours by getting rekt by Emil and beating Bunny...

But it was totally worth it!

Kyle narrated post-ending D 9S monolog: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/134829938?t=2h25m24s
In E credits that happened: https://clips.twitch.tv/SpotlessNastyWasabiUnSane

And they even sang along the chorus! With everyone in chat and in the room(they were 5 of them by the end) supporting.
It was truly an awesome ending for a playthrough. Glory to mankind!
Click to expand...


Well... fuck...

SCelG.gif
 
wesStyle said:
why did I go to GameFAQs forums... I just wanted to see some meaningful story discussions seeing that there are 227 pages of threads.

Check out some of the most popular ones like "Taro Yoko: Great Concepts, Bad Writing" or "I don't get it [spoilers]".
Holy fuck those people.
And pretty much every thread is invaded by the same users trying to convince everybody how they are wrong and shit.
Click to expand...

Yeah... GameFAQs is not really a place to discuss, well, anything at all really. I imagine for a game like this it would be even worse than usual.
 
The Shadow Knight said:
Yeah... GameFAQs is not really a place to discuss, well, anything at all really. I imagine for a game like this would be even worse than usual.
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Yeah, I know that but someone mentioned on reddit that N:A was in their top-10 popularity list so I decided to take a look. Now I need someone to punish me for my curiosity (what a joke I made here huh).

I need this "Taro Yoko: Great Concepts, Bad Writing" thread in my everyday life:
The lack of death consequences especially when one can a**pull to save their memories by using other machine parts just...ugh!

Uploading memories to a SWORD? WHAT?

When enough of that happens, the experience is ruined because it seems everything is done because the author wanted it, not because it made sense. Also, to ignore some is natural suspension of disbelief in fiction, but all of it makes you a tool. It becomes excuse-giving. It's terrible quality.
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The Shadow Knight said:
Yeah... GameFAQs is not really a place to discuss, well, anything at all really. I imagine for a game like this it would be even worse than usual.
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Hilariously it's more chill (Or at the very least used to be, I don't really keep up with it) than other high-profile boards, seemingly because people are really into those fanart threads lol

But no, one does not use GameFAQs to actually discuss something.

--

And on that note, some damn good cosplay:

https://twitter.com/SesshuAsuak/status/848921078793515010
 
I finished reading Utahime Five manga by Jun Eishima. Described as the direct prequel to Drakengard 3. It was pretty damn good. Eishima actually wrote some of the more emotional moments of the original Nier. Even Taro's like, "Damn, you got no chill." She's every bit as dark as he is. I hope he continues to work with her.

Anyway, so in the manga they go to the Cathedral City and I'm like, "Oh, shit." It's surrounded by ruined modern buildings. It looks like a scene straight out of Automata. Like they took the city from Automata and illustrated it in manga form. They go inside and it's super high tech. They try to go on an elevator and a hologram of Accord appears and tells them they can't access it. This is the magic of the "Old World" Time fuckery is in full force.

Another thing. As I'm reading this the way the dragon Gabriella is illustrated catches my eye. Makes me realize something. When Eve's skin changes to black he is supposed to have "dragon skin." He even has a "mouth" and "scales." I have no idea what this means but I believe I am on to something.
 
EdmondD said:
I finished reading Utahime Five manga by Jun Eishima. Described as the direct prequel to Drakengard 3. It was pretty damn good. Eishima actually wrote some of the more emotional moments of the original Nier. Even Taro's like, "Damn, you got no chill." She's every bit as dark as he is. I hope he continues to work with her.

Anyway, so in the manga they go to the Cathedral City and I'm like, "Oh, shit." It's surrounded by ruined modern buildings. It looks like a scene straight out of Automata. Like they took the city from Automata and illustrated it in manga form. They go inside and it's super high tech. They try to go on an elevator and a hologram of Accord appears and tells them they can't access it. This is the magic of the "Old World" Time fuckery is in full force.

Another thing. As I'm reading this the way the dragon Gabriella is illustrated catches my eye. Makes me realize something. When Eve's skin changes to black he is supposed to have "dragon skin." He even has a "mouth" and "scales." I have no idea what this means but I believe I am on to something.
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Time is a flat circle.
 
"Why do I yearn for the touch of something that no longer exists?"

Yoko Taro just reaching in and ripping out still beating hearts.

I love how A2 saunters into the story thinking she's going to be the emotionally unhinged renegade and at the end she's like "holy shit...I guess I'm the normal one."

Amazing job by 9S' english VA. Really sold the descent into madness.
 
Goddamn I don't even know what to say, but I can't just go to sleep either. It's 1AM and I'm staring at my computer screen. I'll just cry myself to sleep and maybe tomorrow I'll find some words, or in the next few days.

I just need to say that when I figured out what was going on with the final sequence, the tears came instantly. The fact it had the impact that it did on someone with my general world view is incredible. Actually, I'd say that it only amplified the impact. What a remarkable game.

And what the hell, the biggest twist of them all is that the fucker wasn't lying when he said there was a happy ending this time. Kind of. Well, hopeful ending, that's good enough.
 
Antiwhippy said:
It's more a chance for a hopeful ending.

But at least there's a chance!

Humanity is still fucked but whatever.
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There is the data stored on the moon.

Which I guess is Yoko Taro's way of setting up bringing back humanity into the picture in a sequel if he wants to.

Well, long enough for them to start a third apocalypse anyway.
 
Gbraga said:
Goddamn I don't even know what to say, but I can't just go to sleep either. It's 1AM and I'm staring at my computer screen. I'll just cry myself to sleep and maybe tomorrow I'll find some words, or in the next few days.

I just need to say that when I figured out what was going on with the final sequence, the tears came instantly. The fact it had the impact that it did on someone with my general world view is incredible. Actually, I'd say that it only amplified the impact. What a remarkable game.

And what the hell, the biggest twist of them all is that the fucker wasn't lying when he said there was a happy ending this time. Kind of. Well, hopeful ending, that's good enough.
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Same exact thing happened to me. As soon as I realized what was happening, tears started streaming down my face.
 
Thinking on Pascal and the (intact) children's cores, given how the YoRHa androids were made and 9S' ability to temporarily store his consciousness in a machine lifeform, it should theoretically be possible to transfer a machine consciousness into an android body without wiping its memories and erasing its sense of self. That might have been an interesting direction to take for a sidequest - not for those characters specifically, but just in general. The YoRHa androids started from a blank slate; (possibly with false memories of human lives - it's established that A2's generation had them, but I don't think it's ever stated if that was the case for later models) so there's little to distinguish them from conventional androids as a result. Having a machine lifeform (or YoRHa unit) with existing experiences and memories deal with the drastic shift in physical form and perception by others might have potential. Of course, it'd probably end with them connecting to the network and being driven mad, or if it occurs before Route C, being slaughtered by their former comrades.

Buckle said:
After what they've put 2B and 9S through, I can't disagree.

*pees on their grave abit*
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That's going through several indirect layers of responsibility - it'd be much easier to blame them for what happened to Emil and Weiss.
 
I have a feeling I shouldn't have said yes at the end of ending E. But I guess I get to help one person

I should've 100%'d the game first, fuck
 
humanity deserves to be gone. Heck its all the 'humanity' that ruined everything in this game somehow too even with humans long gone!

Thanks a lot.
 
By the time we get to [E]nding E, and moving forward from there, where you do all think 9S is at with 2B? So much of his mental breakdown was due to the contradictions of his complicated love/hate relationship with her. While he clearly cares for her and longs for her affection, we also learn that he knew, on some level, what she has done to him and he harbors some wraith towards her for her betrayals of him. Even with her being revived and freed from her duty as an E unit with the fall of YoRHa, the past isn't easily forgiven. So when they awaken after ending E, it's not going to immediately be tears and kisses, but I doubt it's going to be a flat out rejection either. It would most likely be a complicated something in between reconciliation and rejection, but I just have no idea what that something would be.
 
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