Nier: Automata Review - An Exceptional Game with Compelling Story-telling

Nier: Automata is a hack-and-slash game developed by Platinum Games and released in 2017. It stands out due to its excellent graphics, well-crafted soundtracks, and good gameplay mechanics designed to suit gamers of all skill levels and cater to different interest groups.

Although the game belongs to the Drakengard series, it can be enjoyed as a standalone game without any experience or knowledge of its prequels. If you do play and love this game, you can check out its prequel, which got a remastered release in 2021 - NieR Replicant.

I discovered the game through the recent airing of its anime adaptation and decided to give it a shot with the hope of getting a decent story out of the game. And I must admit the game was way better than I had ever imagined.

Setting

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is on the brink of extinction after an attack from an Alien species using robotic lifeforms called “Machines”. This attack forced the humans to flee to the moon and deploy Androids to aid in the battle against the Machines and reclaim Earth. The player takes control of the Android named - 2B and operates as an attack Android unit.

My experience

I played the game on the Steam Deck and was impressed with how well it ran on it. I played the game at medium graphic presets with improved anti-aliasing and got a steady 40 fps with the refresh rate at 40Hz. However, during the final stages of the ending - “A” (ending I got) I had to lower the graphic settings to maintain smooth FPS. My primary goal was to play the game with smooth FPS and good graphics, so I didn’t try to optimise for the battery life or to achieve 60 fps gameplay. Thus I ended up with a consistent 40 fps with a bit over 2 hrs of battery life.

My gameplay lasted a bit over 16 hours on Normal difficulty settings, where I completed a main ending, several minor endings and around 25% of the available side quests. I was hooked on the game and found myself playing the game whenever I got spare time to spend, thanks to the flawless gameplay mechanics, great soundtracks (especially City Ruins (Rays Of Light) and Nier Automata (OST) 07 - Amusement Park), and captivating storyline. All in all, it was an unforgettable gaming experience.

What makes the game great

When you start the game, you get thrown into the battlefield, and the controls and the character abilities are gradually introduced. That is not all; the Tutorial section lasts for around 30 mins and has no checkpoints, so if you die, you will have to replay the game from the start (and you may need to replay the section more than once as it is not easy). Throughout your gameplay, you get reminded that it has no auto-save feature, and it goes out of its way to disallow saving in some sections of the map. All of this increases the difficulty and gives a reason for the player to play the game carefully. And fast travel is not available until you are halfway into the game, thus forcing you to travel to areas manually and encouraging exploration and performing side-quests.

The game is designed to stay fresh throughout the gameplay, and when you couple in the well-composed soundtracks, you will find the game a joy to play. The characters are well-designed with a character and have a well-written story that will get you hooked. The boss battles are well crafted and give the player an impressive experience while also challenging the player to do well. In the cases where the player needs assistance, the Easy mode provides extra features that allow the player to make the game as easy as they want. The game has just the right amount of things to explore and customise, and when considered along with the multiple storylines makes the game extremely re-playable.

The Issue that Needs Attention

The game has an 86% positive review on Steam, and from the graph, it appears that most of the negative reviews are from March 1st 2021 and before. Among those negative comments, I found that people found the PC port for the game to be buggy, but after a fix was released, it seems the issue has been fixed. I played a game on Steam Deck, so I can’t exactly comment on the performance of the game on a Windows PC.

My Verdict

If you like action games with a great story, I highly recommend picking the game up to play. I don’t think you can be disappointed by the game. During sales, you may find the game with a 50% discount.