The following is a guest post by Mike Gajeski. You can find his game stream at Heythere Kupo, on YouTube.
This is another one of those games that I immediately fell in love with. From the very first battle I was hooked on NieR: Automata. To someone just passing by, it might seem to be a waifu fest but those who sit down and actually pay attention to the game will find so much more.
The game is all about robots in a post apocalyptic future. Essentially, humanity was chased to the moon by an alien force and they use androids to fight their battles. You play the role of one of these androids, 2B; a female who kicks ass and takes names like the best of them. You’re equipped with a set of swords to fight with but don’t think you’ll just be hacking and slashing your way through the whole game. There’s tons of variety in this game and its playstyles.
I like to think the developers of this game wanted to actually make 4 or 5 games but decided to put them all together in one package. Yes you will have your standard hack and slash moments but sprinkled in with twin stick shooter battles, rail shooters, and strange hacking missions that remind me of Geometry Wars. This keeps the game from getting stale. As soon as you get used to one way of playing, the game switches up and forces you to play a totally different way.
The story is another highlight of the game. I won’t spoil anything but I will say, to get the full experience you need to play the game 3 or 4 times. Each time you play through, more information is revealed to you and you learn about the world as well as its inhabitants. I can say that initially I felt fine killing the robots that stood in my way but as the game progressed I started to have real doubts about what I was doing and even started to feel bad any time I had to chop one of those cuties up.
I warn now that the final ending of the game requires you to make a pretty serious choice and it’s a difficult one. I remember after I made the choice I couldn’t play any video games for days as I felt like I had lost something real. I’m not sure if you can get shell shock from a video game but I got pretty damn close.
The only criticism I have about the game is the setting that you’re set in can get a little stale after a while. You find yourself going to the same areas over and over which, unless you’re really engrossed in the experience, could get a little bland. I found that the great combat prevented me from getting bored by the setting but it is something to keep an eye out for.
I love this game. To the point that I think it may be one of my favorite games of all time (up there for sure with Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy 7). I have, at this point played the game all the way through twice and am working on a third playthrough. Its a game that I can pick up and play for a few minutes each day and find some value in that time.
If you’re looking for a game to get lost in for a few dozen hours, this is the game for you. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time and won’t stop kicking ass until the very last battle. Get it now on PS4 and PC. For the glory of mankind!