Nier Automata is a terrific game that while not perfect does have many strong things going for it and it is a game that I fully recommend that you purchase right now.
Visually it’s nothing special. The textures don’t really impress and the character models while fine, do feel a bit repetitive and nothing really wowed me on the visual front. At times the graphics made me think it was a PS3 game that was ported to PS4. Not a bad thing but it clearly doesn’t take full advantage of the PS4. Though what it does good visually are the environments and certain effects, it doesn’t look terrible by any means but it’s just not going to drop your jaw like similar PS4 games would.
The gameplay makes up for the visual fidelity and is probably my favorite combat system from Platinum. It’s fast, fluid and runs at a stable framerate on regular PS4. There is some minor micro stutter from time to time but it isn’t anything worrying and minor frame rate drops. It seems to stay mostly at 60 FPS but there are times it seems to dip to the 40’s. The gameplay is very fast paced, has frantic but very fun action and multiple combat styles. What Nier Automata does best I think is that it uses so many different styles of gameplay and incorporates them flawlessly. One minute you’re fighting waves of ground enemies and it’ll throw you into a 2D side scrolling section. There is a pretty nice hacking minigame thrown in and while it can be frustrating from time to time, it does help break up the action. Most of the time it’s not mandatory too but it does force it a few times.
The boss fights are incredibly innovative and fun. Sometimes it’s a 1v1 fight with another sword wielding opponent and other times it’s a multi-tier boss fight against a huge mech. The regular fights against regular enemies are also enjoyable and each fight didn’t feel too similar. There is enough variety with enemies and tactics to keep it from feeling too stale.
Not all the gameplay modes really work out 100% though and there is a certain sequence near the end of the game that was very frustrating because of how it was designed. Still, the game never felt cheap. On normal it felt like a fair challenge and there are many items you can purchase and equip to make the game more manageable. Some items do feel a little cheap but it’s optional on how you equip it. It’s an innovative system for customizing your character.
The world appears open at first but it has a linear structure but it is open enough to make it interesting. There are a few invisible walls but the sense of scale you can go is a nice thing. It didn’t feel too restrictive at all.
The game is pretty short for an RPG. If you just do the main story, it’ll probably take 20-30hours. There are tons of side missions though which help lengthen the game. There also is a sort of a New Game + mode and the game’s true ending gives you one of the hardest choices you have to make [there is a way around it though but for sake of spoilers I will not spoil it. ] I found the side missions typical fetch quest but some of them are pretty good. I ended up finishing it at 26 hours.
It may seem that game initially is only 12 hours but there are multiple endings that require different playthroughs. Each playthrough is slightly different until you reach the final ending. There are 5 canonical endings and a ton of joke endings. The joke endings are pretty funny. Think ala Chrono Trigger’s joke endings but 100% more off the wall. The second act is a little repetitious because you travel the same path as the first act but stick with it. The act that follows after that feels like a new experience and really gripped me. It made the first two acts seem more like a prequel than anything else.
This is a game you’ll probably want to play more than once which is a testament to how well designed it is.
What it also does exceptionally well is the story. It’s very gripping from the start and has tons of twists and turns. I was very excited to play for hours just to see what happens next. I highly recommend you go in blind because the story is very good and some of the plot twists were unexpected and I feel spoiling it would ruin the experience and the shock value. The story is gripping, philosophically and emotionally challenging and draining. It’s Yoko Taro’s best story to date and if you even remotely like science fiction stories that deal with complex themes such as AI and human emotion then you’ll probably love it as much as I did.
The music and voice work is flawless. It has English and Japanese voice options and I felt the English dub was very good. Another good thing was the music. It’s ‘buy the soundtrack’ good and no song felt out of place. Truly it is a work of art.
Nier Automata is a fantastic RPG and if you even remotely like action RPG's you have to pick it up. It’s probably my favorite PS4 game so far. It’s not perfect but what it does is exceptional. It’s arguably Yoko Taro’s best work and a game that should be experienced by all who love a good story.
I can’t recommend game any more than that.