[Qoo Review] Nier: Automata Overwhelming or Over-Hyped?

Nier: Automata is an ARPG released earlier in February this year. The game was incredibly well received with an 8.9/10 rating on IGN and an 88% on Metacritic. But here’s the thing… is the game really “that” good? or is the game overblown from the high anticipation? Here’s my honest review on Square Enix’s Nier: Automata.

Pros:

The Incredibly Good Looks

The game looks incredible on console. The large post-apocalyptic areas set immersive atmospheres for players as they journey through a world without humans (well mostly without humans). The aesthetics of the main characters (2B, 9S, 2A etc.) are beautifully made to captivate and lure in players.

Animations are Great

 
PlatinumGames is an expert in creating extraordinarily fluent actions games from Bayonetta to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Nier: Automata is just another testament to PlatinumGames’ expertise in the genre.

To say that the animations are good is frankly, selling it short. From the basic walking animations to the attack animations of the various different weapons made available to the player, PlatinumGames has made everything in the game appear vivid and immersive to the player.

There’s something about watching your in-game avatar skillfully wield different weapons that give players a sense of success and satisfaction. With Nier, PlatinuGames did a remarkable job of cashing in this sense of success, this is is most significant with the game’s dodge animations.

Versatile Playstyles

Continuing on the gameplay aspects of Nier. The combat system of Nier is more than just impressive animations. The “SKills” system of Nier: Automata is quite versatile. Giving players the direct control over what stat distribution best suits their playstyle is most definitely a plus.

The Plug-in chip’s power up system in a way gives farming in Nier purpose, although not a lot. From functionality upgrades including movement speed and evade distance to combat specific upgrades like life leech, and defense up, Nier:Automata does in some sense give players if not a freedom over their character stats, an illusion of freedom over their character stats.

Impressive Soundtrack

 
I’m sure many Nier players will agree that the soundtracks of the game are truly brilliant.

The composers Keiichi Okabe (岡部 啓一) Keigo Hoashi (帆足 圭吾) did a brilliant job in adding depth to the vast world of Nier: Automata. Enhancing the visual elements of the game with equally awe-inspiring background music, it’s safe to say the overall experience will not be the same if not for the incredible soundtracks.

Cons:

“Open” World

Yes, Nier: Automata is an Open World game, but it’s not exactly the “open” I had in mind.

In my mind, one of the most significant open world game is Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. What made the game great wasn’t the flashy animations or beautifully made character models, but the sheer amount of quests that players encounter just from walking from point A to point B. The many different events that can occur to the player walking down the same path on different occasion makes the world appear more alive and more enriched.

Unfortunately, none of this is seen in Nier’s open world experience. True, players are free to wander the ruined Earth and encounter NPC’s in fixed location, the experience is still significantly lacking when put side-by-side with Skyrim. The desert region in Nier is the perfect example of this flaw. The entire zone takes up a majority of the entire map, but at the same time, it’s also the most empty zone in the game. The lack of enemies and quest just makes roaming the zone seem utterly meaningless.

Character Settings

As mentioned earlier, the character aesthetics are very well made, but the character settings do not seem to match up with the aesthetics.

Not that that the character’s settings are unappealing, but they simply aren’t great enough for me to get emotionally invested into their role.

Overall Lack of Variety

Unlike player’s playstyle, NPC’s lacks the variety that makes the game more enticing.

Though it’s completely understandable how players will be going around smashing robots that look similar to each other to bits, its hard to believe that the wildlife of a world without humans will only amount to wild boars and moose…

Side Missions / Shooting / Hacking

Side missions in Nier can be quite pointless. Asides from additional story info and exclusive rewards, they don’t really contribute much to the ending. So whether you complete them all or now, the ending will remain the same. The only difference will be your knowledge, and honestly, personal satisfaction. But is it worth it? All depends on the player.

Nier: Automata has several other pointless things that players will surely come to hate. During your first playthrough, at the beginning, I’m sure many people were confused at the space shooter-like game mode. Whilst it may be cool at first, having to repeatedly do this becomes irritating. To top it all off, the game introduces the hacking mini game which you will also be forced to do repeatedly throughout the game.

Getting the Full Story

 
Not saying the story of Nier: Automata is bad, but in order to get the full story, you’re pretty much forced to play the game over and over again. Unfortunately, the game has little to no replay value. The first and second playthrough is almost identical, with a few difficulty adjustments. The third playthrough has changes that make a difference, but at that point, does it really matter anymore?

Conclusion

So overall, Whilst the game does have an amazing combat system, it still seems more overhyped than overwhelming.

Playing through the game the first time and getting a glimpse of the story was quite enjoyable, but know you’ll have to go through everything all over again a couple of times to get the full story is just too much.

The sum it up the feeling Nier: Automata gave me was similar to getting really hyped up after watching an epic movie trailer just to watch the movie and realizing the best parts were in the trailer.

But looking back at all the trailers released for Nier: Automata, the 2016 E3 trailer closely sums up the game. Pay close attention to all the scenes of walking and running, because like Frodo in Lord of the Rings, most of what you do in Nier: Automata is walk around and absorb the scenery of the world.

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