NieR: Automata Review | The Masterpiece That (Probably) Doesn't Exist

[@martine5604]

I've never played the first Nier, but I felt the same. Maybe it would have blown me away when it first came it, but in 2022 there are just so many better narratives and character-driven games out there. N:A felt both like it overexplained and didn't explain enough. Plot threats were started but not finished. Character backgrounds were hinted at but never truly fleshed out, and some of the most interesting concepts were literally text on a black or white background. I am thoroughly disappointed with this title and I just honestly can't understand why so many people consider this a masterpiece or their favourite game ever, but I'm glad other people get so much joy out of it.

[@matthewlugo2417]

I think its because u got to use to movie games now, nier tells the ultimate humanist story and makes the player the main character. The only flaws in the game is the dumb lvl system and the chance u can miss side quests that expand the world

[@pie-ninetyever7328]

I agree with most of it, but still I think nier: automata is one of my favourite games ever, though I have to admit that I haven't played a game like this before (by that I mean a Yoko Taro game)

[@SpendthriftMonk]

I do think the more unfamiliar you are with his recent games, the better off you are in some ways. Automata will certainly feel like a fresher experience without having a history with his titles. Not saying it's impossible to like it if you've played everything he's done, as it's obviously many have and still are impressed with Automata, but I certainly feel there's few surprises to be found for those that have encountered other Yoko Taro games.

[@zidart]

Honestly I do think this is one of my favorite games of all time. But I also believe that its flaws have to be put out there to avoid ruining the experience for others. I feel like the overhype will probably cause a second wave of gamers who were led by said hype and will end up scratching their heads when their expectations are either not met or met far too late in the game. Thus I feel like reviewers ought to point these out so that people have their expectations in check. That being said, I do like from time to time to speak to others who had similar feelings to me after finishing the game. There's just got to be a balance

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Much respect for the balance! There's nothing wrong with being head-over-heels for Nier: Automata, but I definitely think some of the insanely hyperbolic reviews that are out there (such as the one from Skill Up) could prove detrimental to players whose expectations have been catapulted to the moon by that sort of fanatical praise.

[@stefanijovita1640]

I can understand how you come up with this video, but sorry, man, I have to dislike it. First of all, you've said about a balanced analysis, but it's surely not balanced. You've missed out the best parts of the game. Surely, I can agree that the first Nier had more fleshed out characters, but I still think Automata's characters were likable and relatable in so many ways. It's interesting too, seeing them in different perspective (not about 9S playthrough, but overall. I think I cared about the side characters through my characters' perspective and that's interesting. Adam and Eve symbolism was interesting too). And about how you felt with Emil and 9S, I don't think it's necessary for any character to act satisfyingly to some ppl. Emil is Emil, 9S is 9S. If you want to compare, then compare 9S with 2B, A2, or Commander. They all came up with different solution and only 9S picked the madness route. Another thing about 2B's design. I think this is one way of Yoko Taro's revenge toward the result of the first Nier. He practically made a more appealing set of characters. Even the game had used the fanservice as a narrative at 9S route. The music was improved as well. The first Nier tracks were absolutely already incredible, but since Automata used more gameplay than cutscenes, it really brought the music more alive, at least for me (because I didn't really like when they used Emil soundtrack for the sad scenes too much. It made the scenes cringey for me). The gameplay was absolutely improved. Even the data sacrifice thing was better imo, than the first game. I think, you're too concerned about the flaw and ppl praised it too much. It might be the negative effect of any hyped series. However, as the fan of the first game, I think Automata was a chance to introduce ppl to the first Nier and how good the concept was despite the failure of its execution on graphic and gameplay division. As a person that loved the first Nier's story, it was such unfortunate that it got a failing result. Drakengard wasn't that much better too. I think, Automata was the chance for the world to know more about Yoko Taro and his games, so even though ppl might think it's over-hyped (which I don't think so), calling it a masterpiece and attract more players to play is somehow understandable. You might want to rethink about this: What is the purpose of a review? You have a limited budget to buy games. Recently, there have been many great games came out. There are ppl who confused to buy which, so some of them would see the reviews. Nier Automata's reviews right now is lower than Zelda, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Yakuza 0 (at Trusted Review), and about at the same level as Nioh. It wasn't that good. The first impression it got wasn't that good either. As appealing as it should be, 2B's design also made ppl don't want to buy it, as ppl thought it would be a weird Japanese anime thingy, too beautiful, the guys too. They would prefer a more realistic designs such as Horizon. However, as much as the first Nier was special to some ppl, Automata was special too for some new players. It's understandable for them to want to attract as many ppl as they could to play it too, by defining it as masterpiece. So, what do you want to achieve by mentioning only the negative parts of the game? "Hey, guys, buy it but don't expect much from it"? As much as I understand the flaw and how it's not a masterpiece, a review should at least contain a recommendation. For what kind of ppl this game would connect better, who shouldn't play it, despite the multiple endings which player should go for all endings and which player shouldn't. Would you recommend to buy it. A more balanced analysis of the game would be appreciated ofc, but again, this also can't be said as a balanced analysis between pros and cons. Mainly you've said cons, the other video said pros and no one would want to buy from a cons review. And finally, scores are bullshit imo. There are ppl who debated over Automata couldn't get 10 as no game should get it, but the thing is, these ppl claiming Automata as 10 were ppl who saw Zelda got 10 despite the flaw it had even among the fans itself. It's just another fight about which game was better, which is pointless, if only they explained "this game would be a 10 for this kind of player" and "that game would be a 10 for that kind of player".

[@SpendthriftMonk]

As stated in the video, this was not meant to be a comprehensive review, but "part review, part rant, and part commentary on the state of gaming itself." Perhaps there is some way I could have made this more clear, but I didn't want this to be a "review" in the traditional sense. I debated going into my philosophy on this topic, but ultimately decided against it as it didn't seem the most relevant point for this particular video. What I can say here is that I don't believe in review scores at all. In my opinion, an arbitrary number slapped at the end of something has done more harm than good because many people emphasize the overall score and ignore the text of the review itself. Offered here is my "alternative perspective" on Nier: Automata, and it is not intended to encourage or discourage a person from buying the game as much as to generate discussion on the title and dispel what I feel are some misconceptions surrounding it. I realize that this is not the typical nature of most reviews, but I came into this fully expecting that the majority who view this video will have already purchased and played the title. The point of discussing the game's missteps (or at least what I regard as so) is to inject a contrasting voice into the echo chamber of the general discourse. No one should take in my review alone, but treat it as more of a supplementary piece that one can compare with their thoughts, as well with the more extensive reviews that exist. Again, in hindsight, I could possibly have more carefully highlighted this fact, but I at least did make the above statements in the video, and always seek to further flesh out some of my points in the comments if need be. When it comes to the characters it's all going to be subjective, but I didn't personally find them very likeable (nor unlikable) or relatable. Once more I return to the feeling that this game is far more concept-driven than it is character-driven, and that for me is disappointing given it's what made the first Nier so special to me. The reason I compare Emil and 9S is that they are both more adolescent characters, but Emil shows real growth and development as a person, whereas I feel 9S stagnates and simply falls apart. It's fine to have characters like this, but centralizing them within the plot and expecting you to care about them is a tall order. The reason I didn't compare him to 2B or A2 or the Commander is because I don't feel much was offered for these characters either. I just can't say that their motivations and reactions to certain events ever really clicked with me.

[@stefanijovita1640]

The thing is, what made ppl such as the video you mentioned, calling Automata as a masterpiece, was most likely to encourage ppl to buy and play it. He just wanted to recommend it, because it's only recent these masterpiece reviews came out, after other video games I mentioned above received the praise. If you saw the comment section at the video, you could find some of them were convinced to buy it because they haven't. You could search for this guy called Mike Mohamed (or something like that), talking about how difficult it was to convince his friends to play the game. The reviews in IGN, Metacritic, Gamespot, Trusted Reviews didn't help it either. I just wanted you to know, that going into such extend to call it masterpiece and didn't mention about the flaws, was probably due to this problem and how much the person loved the game. The first Nier also got itself a cult. It's such a bother for the fans to think that Automata would get another unpopular result, considering how it came out with many other great games. It's time for Nier series to get its recognition it deserves, because even though Automata has some problems, it's certainly overall improved and deserved an equal place as those great games coming out at the same time. The story might not good enough for you and some others, but as you've said, it's a subjective matter. Personally, the characters were not that special. The conflict and situation was much more special, but the overall story will stuck in my head for several months or even years, despite it's not a character-based story and its cringey moments. Oh, and about 9S reaction, I can understand him because I've been there and probably still there. There is some despair surrounding the situation I'm in that if I was capable of, I wanted to destroy everything. Despite how I like a positive character better than a character like 9S, and how I always want to be a positive person, I think I can feel that 9S somehow was a human.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Which is part of what I was addressing, the gaming culture that's been fostered, wherein all that's thrown around in reviews is attention-seeking buzzwords. I understand if you wish to convey your love for a game and believe that it deserves recognition... but I do think there reaches a point of praise where it can become so overblown that you're selling a misrepresentation of the title. The game being a hard sell to certain groups of people is no justification for overhyping it, in my view. There's always going to be demographics of people who don't want to give this title or that a chance, but it's clear now that, regardless of where you stand on the issue, the game has managed to crack the mass market and is selling quite well. And yes I understand the appeal of a character if you are able to identify with that character in such a way as you describe. I don't hold a grudge against anyone for liking 9S or any of the other cast, but as with you I can only express what is apparent from my perspective. I've done my best here to accomplish that, and I do respect the differing points of view on the matter.

[@Ixsiehn]

There is a reason why Nier: Automata is so much better (as a fan of the original Nier and Drakengard too). I enjoy great stories in games, but more importantly, I am playing a game, I need to enjoy good gameplay too. All previous Yoko Taro games has horrible gameplay, but this is the first ever to fix that flaw. The map system imho is fine, I could read it perfectly fine and i liked that it is a 3D map, which makes it easier to pinpoint exactly where you want to go. I think overall, you seem to care more about first impression of a game and its mechanics or whether or which game had whichever mechanics first more than the actual game itself. And to be perfectly honest, that has NO bearing as to how good a game is, which seems to be the main focus of this "review". The game as a whole, Nier: Automata is by far the best Yoko Taro game ever made.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Technically and in terms of the overall mechanics of the title I do think it's the best of Yoko Taro's games. It's the most well-rounded for sure. However, I place a special emphasis on a game's story, at least with titles where a good story can be reasonably expected. Given how engaging the first Nier's story and characters were, and how much it resonated with me on an emotional level, I had hoped for the same with the sequel. I realize I am likely in the minority opinion, but I would sacrifice better gameplay in favor of a stronger narrative. That's just a personal preference and I can totally understand and respect the many who reside on the opposite end of that spectrum. A failure to connect with a game's story or characters can put me in a position where I feel like I have little reason to continue moving forward. Automata's narrative is decent enough to where I didn't lose complete interest, but even just taken on the basis of it as an action title, I don't feel that it quite reaches the upper echelon of the genre. One could say my expectations negatively influenced my experience, but I don't think my presumptions were unreasonable given what the previous title in the series had to offer. It is always the hope that a sequel will take everything to the next level, and one could argue that this did so in many ways (though I would submit a counter claim that it still has many individual elements that are handled better in other games), but unfortunately the core component to what I loved about Nier simply wasn't there, in my opinion.

[@Ixsiehn]

When you put it that way, I will agree. It narratively moves in a different direction from the original Nier. If I could put it to words, I'd say the original Nier was more personal, more character-focused; whereas Automata withdraws away from the characters and focuses more on the overall theme of the narrative.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

I am glad that we could find some common ground at least. I also realize that these narrative differences are in many ways intentional. Given the premise this game is founded upon and the themes involved, I do believe it was within Taro's vision for things to feel a bit more disconnected... I just can't say that it's an approach that's really my cup of tea. Thank you for your comments!

[@LadyHermes]

Maybe the reason people call Nier:Automata a masterpiece isn't about its technical qualities, plot or character development but about the message it carries. I haven't seen or heard anything about the game itself except 5mn on a twitch stream during its beta of a random streamer trying to tame some animals. It wasn't memorable at all and I just remembered it as a cool looking DMC/RPG like video game. I finally started the game after listening to a "best of OST video" on YT, which (btw I totally agree with you on this) is probably the best part of the game. Yes, I was gradually impressed by the narration, probably because I've never had the chance to try and play the first Nier. I absolutely trust you on this. But anyway, what makes me categorizes this game as a masterpiece is that it's probably the first game that made me feel like this. The way you talk about it makes me think you never get through the E ending, because... that's imo what makes this game so exceptional. It breaks the fourth wall and takes you in the whole narration so far questioning at the same time the mere notion of our own humanity. I can understand you were upset about all the praise the game received, but focusing only on the technical aspect of it, whether qualities or flaws, seems to make you miss the whole point of Nier:Automata. It's not just a video game, it's an experience you'll always remember and that can change the person you are for the rest of your life. That's the true essence of art, and that's why people are calling Nier:Automata a masterpiece.

[@MindlessMiles]

Your review mirrors my own honestly, and it's kinda strange hearing it being articulated better than I tried to do in my own head. I'm actually pretty envious of players that are over the moon for this game and I'm not. Believe me, having played the first Nier, and just like you I bought the Black Box edition, I came in with full confidence that this would deliver. First of all, I played this on a regular PS4 and unfortunately this game has annoying frame stuttering issues in open areas. Now for me, the most important aspect that I hoped I'd enjoy was the story and the characters, and sadly I was disappointed with the outcome. I don't feel like the characters were handled that well. 2B turned out to be unlikable for majority of her playthrough, 9S I don't have a good reason on why I don't like him he was simply meh, and the most interesting of the 3 , A2, had little relevance until near the end and her character development felt rushed. After the twist, the story didn't go anywhere in the third playthrough, everything fell apart and there was no payoff at the end. Also with the story, and especially with some of the side quests, I felt like there was a ton of 180 turn of events put there just to get a reaction from the player, or simply to be depressing or uncomfortable as possible. I don't completely dislike Nier Automata, it just failed to connect with me. I remember watching your Nier LP and I felt bad that Automata disappointed you.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Thanks so much for your comment! Reading through, I pretty much agree on nearly everything you mention. I also found A2 to be the most intriguing character, but in the end she's the one that gets the least amount of time and character development. I also played the game on a regular PS4, and while the stuttering and inconsistency was there, it's such an improvement from the slideshow that is Drakengard 3 that it's hard for me to complain. lol Thanks for being around for the playthroughs, and yes, it is an unfortunate event that Automata did not really live up to the hype or expectations, but if anything maybe we'll get a remaster of the first game thanks to Automata's success. I would certainly consider revisiting the game for another playthrough if that was the case.

[@MindlessMiles]

Just wanted to add that even though it's been a month since I beat this game, somehow I haven't forgotten about it. I'm constantly wrestling with how I felt with certain aspects, but in the the end I liked the game but didn't love it. I wanted to love it. It's just that I was sorely disappointed with how the characters were handled, how cheap some of the emotional moments felt, and how unsatisfied I was with the endings. It always sucks when something you've been looking forward to ends up being a disappointment. Either way, one of the things that I wanted to happen was for this game to become a commercial success, which ended up being the case so I'm happy about that. Despite my feelings, I do want to see more from Yoko Taro, hopefully we see him team up with Platinum again for another Nier or Drakengard.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Yes, I can totally understand how you feel, and I've heard others express similar notions. I can't say that I myself have felt quite that way with this game, but it certainly can be likened to my feelings towards Metal Gear Solid V. Something that had so much potential, but ended as a pretty huge let down in terms of its narrative. If anything I wouldn't mind seeing Nier remastered, possibly with revamped gameplay and graphics... but I have my doubts that Square Enix would go that far.

[@sagishi1245]

Trying to be smart is not smart

[@Quote25]

maybe i was too "enchanted"(for a lack of a better word) by the whole experience that was Nier Automata to start seeing those flaws that you picked out. Why this got so much more attention than original Nier was probably because it was shown on more mainstream media like the sony press conferences. Just like the concepts in the game itself of androids and machines all trying to perfectly imitate humans but often have flawed or extreme aspects of humans, because humans are imperfect beings themselves; Automata is like android/machines to the original Nier, preserving the essence of Nier while having flaws of it's own. Why so many reviewers are praising it to be a masterpiece is probably because they are all "enchanted" like i was by the whole experience. There aren't many games like this, which is why when one gets into the spotlight , it becomes so treasured.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

I think this is an appropriate explanation for at least some of what factored into the game's success. And while you by no means have to agree with any or all of the flaws I outlined, I do appreciate your honest reflection and the willingness to entertain another perspective!

[@arielkandli]

I just want to say that i respect your review, honestly some of the things you mentioned did annoy me while playing the game, but i brushed aside such as the map system or the fetch quests.while i agree that it might not have been the masterpiece i remember it being, it still gave me a great time. On a different note, you mentioned that the players that did not play the first version couldn't appreciate correctly the differences between the games, do you think that this will happen with replicant too?

[@swedensy]

2:27 is the start

[@darksya]

Well, I agree with you, the game is far from perfect, however I don't fully endorse your opinion. You pointed out a lot of problems with the game that i have to agree with for the most part (there's also the balance of difficulty and the lackluster gameplay on the second part of the game that you didn't mention). Where I don't really follow you is when you say that original NieR is one of your favorite games when there are obviously a lot more flaws in the game. My point is that the appreciation of the game is subjective, and factors can alter it, for a lot of people it was their first Yoko Taro game and they didn't know what to expect, hence the excellent surprise. For your kind it's the opposite, it's true that the game uses some ideas from the first which is less surprising for NieR veterans, but also there must be other factors :nostalgia, high expectations... and probably elitism: I don't intend to offense you or other Taro fans and I understand the feeling, the game got a lot more attention from the mainstream media and people often don't realize what the first one was... still, I think you shouldn't judge people's opinion only on that. As for me, the game rezonated with me, a month after beating it I can't get it out of my head, and I spend a lot of time listening to its ost or watching videos about it. The funny thing is that it's hard to tell what exactly I liked so much about NieR:Automata except the fantastic ost (and the philosophical implications). And for that resolutly subjective reason it's one of my favorite games. PS: Please ignore the english mistakes I must have made.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Thank you for your thoughts! I don't take any offense to them, and would like to clarify a number of things talked about in the video. Yes, the first Nier is indeed a very special game in my eyes, and stands as one of my favorites of the last several years. You're absolutely correct that it has more flaws than Automata, at least in terms of its technical design. This I will not dispute. However, what I loved most about Nier was its character-driven plot, and how deeply moving the game proved to be. I place a special emphasis on storytelling in games (at least titles that make it a priority), and despite Automata being better in pure gameplay terms... it just wasn't enough of an improvement to really stack up against the first game's cast of endearing characters, and what I feel was a superior narrative design. Everything is subjective of course, and in my video I do make an exception for those who've never played a Yoko Taro game before, but I felt compelled to share things from my point of view; which is that Automata borrows heavily from the structure and general outline of Nier, but never firmly establishes its characters or gives you a real reason to care about the events. In my eyes it does very little that's legitimately bold, new, or surprising. Again, subjective, but these are my personal feelings on the title. Expectation of course plays a role in how much something may impact you, but that's part of the reason for calling out some of the reviews that I've seen and adding my voice to the mix. There are cases where I believe so many superlatives have been launched at the game that it has created an inaccurate representation of many of its key elements. Mine is simply a plea for reason and balance and, if at all possible, to further stimulate discussion/debate on the title's merits.

[@Cptraktorn]

Great video my man, I havent played the original but I was pretty hyped about automata mostly because of platinums involvement. I agree with all the points you made pretty much. to me the best part was the final credits sequence, the rest was just "good". Though the music overall was great.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Thank you!

[@mrgtout6090]

I actually agree most of your points. The game itself indeed have a lot of issues, however, people don't address them, it's not because the community is bad or anything, is about how much they overcome these issues with the good part of the game. Some of the people can handle it, some of the people cant. There are not perfect game after all. But for me, this is a masterpiece, it improved what had not done in NieR, and still keeps the great part about NieR. (By the way, this game still had small budget, 3D map is one of the example, but lucky it is usable.)

[@TheKingWerwer]

I agree with you on the aspect that some of the grandeur of this game made many of us overlook some of the antiquated mechanics (such as the fetch quests), but at the same time i would argue that it is also adequate to do that, because you can't measure the greatness of this game for the shortcomings of the genre. Also i feel like the fighting mechanic, even though it might not be as versatile as bayonetta (like you said), is so well rounded and ties well into the regular perspective shifts, so that the mode-change of the game doesn't make you re-adapt to the controls. This optimizes the flow of the game. And i think you misunderstood the part about the victimization of 9S. First of all, this game is deeply rooted in the idea of the death of the author. So what you make of the game, is what the game meant to say. So to say if you don't like the interpretation of the game, it's because of your own perspective. I felt like at that point in the story you shouldn't side with 9S' insanity, you should slowly feel antagonized to him, because he indeed drifts into insanity, so that you have to keep on grinding his path is part of his tragedy.

[@omeragam8628]

i do agree that the characters in automata don't hold a candle to the original, but it should also be acknowledged that it dose things very differently then the original. some will think one is better and some will think that the other is better. the truth of the matter is that automata is more interested in throwing big philosophical concepts at you then building a strong cast or original story structure. neither of these is illegitimate

[@Bowraga]

I feel like a large portion of the things you see as faults are intentional design choices. I can't speak on behalf of the developers myself but the impression i got from the game was that. The map is the way it is to encourage exploring the world for yourself. The environment is bland because the world itself is dead. the gameplay is not as deep as pure action games because it isn't a pure action game it isn't geared to a hard core action game audience. the only real complaint I agree with is the side quests. (never played the first Nier so not going to say anything here or there about the story)

[@SpendthriftMonk]

This is an interesting exemption I commonly see granted to this game in particular. I'm not even saying that your assumptions are wrong, but it brings us to the question: Is an intentionally sub-optimal design really any better than if a developer was simply inept in a given area? As I see it... bad design is bad design. I use the word "bad" very loosely, because as stated in the video, I don't believe any single one of these issues has to be a deal-breaker. I simply argue that the game has been, in some circles, falsely portrayed as a near-flawless experience. The problem with the map isn't that it's completely useless either, but I do feel that it fails to effectively display an overview of the environment that at least allows traversal from point A to point B without getting caught in unforeseeable roadblocks. Basic paths into other portions of a level can sometimes be needlessly obscured and difficult to pinpoint. The game doesn't need to lay everything out to you in perfect detail, but a more precise system most certainly could have been achieved without hampering the players desire to explore.

[@ancara001]

I see your point of view, but I disagree in parts that you talked about the story, the first Nier for me have one of the best story that I saw in a game, and in Nier: Automata I see that shows a storyline structure different from the usual, for me this game doesn't have a awesome story, but a awesome way of tell a story. In the way that the story is told, you start liking the characters even though they aren't doing significant things to the story, and sometimes you think that you are the bad guy (like when you discover you know what in the first Nier). For me is a good story, not a great one, but a great way to tell a story.

[@ddarnoc]

I finished nier replicant in a week, a-e endings, and didn't agree with many design decisions such as the 70 some terrible side quests or the farming for weapon upgrades but it was great watching the characters grow. I tried nier automata but stopped halfway through route b. I couldn't stop comparing Emil to 9s. Emil was always doing something, usually drastic, to help out those around him while 9s just seemed like a twink running around in shorts. Wasn't a fun character to play as.

[@IgnisPhoenix]

The combat system would have been better if it made more sense to use/was easier to upgrade different weapons. You sort of just get stuck with what you picked early on and, since it doesnt really matter a whole lot, use that. Great game in my opinion though. I'm just glad there wasnt the kind of horse shit in this game that the end of drakenguard 3 had.

[@crazykorean1991]

to others it was a masterpiece and for you it simply wasn't. Good review.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Thank you! Appreciate it!

[@crazykorean1991]

Welcome. At least this game allowed people to recognize yoko taro and his games. Maybe some people will play original Nier and change their mind. Can't blame them for not playing the original and thinking this game is a masterpiece.

[@Hangman1]

crazykorean1991 ohhh Yeah for me is "Stay away from his Games" - waste of money

[@Hangman1]

After i watched 10 hyped reviews ofc 10/10 And everything like this one You Linked, i WASTED £20 for this game And after 2h in game i dont want to play anymore, game is just Booooring hack & slash - im asking myself now "why i didnt listen to myself And bought Divine original sin 2" ???? Game for 100h not this shalow hack & slash

[@villainousgrizzly3923]

I disagree with a few points (mainly the gameplay points because this is an action RPG and I wasn't expecting Bayonetta or DMC4 level combat depth going in), but I'm largely in agreement that the narrative of Automata was weaker than the first game. An argument could be made that Automata was about the world and it's themes more than the characters, but that doesn't excuse them for not giving the player a legitimate reason to care about 2B or 9S as characters in a story which you spend most of your time playing as them. Specially considering the relationship the game tries to establish for 2B and 9S, which is obviously suppose to pull at the heartstrings but ultimately never does because the game doesn't characterize them properly to get you invested. You're just told to care because of the drama in the main quest, but you're not given a real reason to through solid characterization. For this reason, I ended up caring about the machines and the NPC androids more than the actual playable characters (sans A2 because she's boss) thanks to the side quests, lol. Props for shaking up the echo chamber. It's needed. While I do love this game, I also do feel some of the praise it gets is blind and completely ignores what the first game got right while this game got wrong in terms of narrative, characterization, and getting the player invested in the world ~AND~ the main cast. The game is good, A2 is bae, and it was a blast for me to play-through, but hearing people call this a masterpiece just makes me cringe.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Yes, I so wish the game had managed to establish the emotional connection that the first title seems to provoke almost effortlessly. As for the points on gameplay and it being an action RPG, I can totally see what you're saying and I do believe it's perfectly up for debate. I suppose what I would say though is that I think the difference between this title and many other action RPG's is the fact that this game is actually developed by a company renowned for creating some of the most cutting-edge action titles. That pedigree carries a reasonable amount of expectation I think. It is, however, a small point, and my main gripe remains with what I see as a decidedly weaker narrative.

[@villainousgrizzly3923]

That's true, but at that point I'd argue, for action RPG standards specifically, Automata is pretty solid. Personally, I'd rank how it handles it's combat above something like Kingdom Hearts, which is another Square Enix action RPG people hold up to high regard. There are some pretty impressive DMC style combo videos players have made. It's not to the same level as DMC4 or Bayonetta, but I still think the skill of execution displayed is entertaining to watch. Honestly, my biggest issue(s) with the game, gameplay wise, is how unbalanced the difficulty settings are. Normal might as well be Easy mode and Hard mode is practically Very Hard during some boss fights until you get an effective chip set-up later in the game. Not to mention some normal enemies can also 2 shot you if you aren't chugging healing items before you get any useful chips to equip. It's almost like the game expects you to switch difficulties mid-game because there comes a point where you're just too OP near end game if you're still playing on Normal with a really good chip-set up. Then you also have the body retrieval mechanic in routes A/B, which doesn't really add anything outside of serving a narrative purpose while making dying tedious. Yeah, you lose your chip set up upon death, but you can just reload your previous save and have your chips back, provided that you do save often (which the game kinda stresses that you should do). So what's the point of making us lose them at all? Automata isn't Dark Souls, there is no autosave to make the loss actually mean something. But yeah, on the narrative front, I'm in complete agreement. The game thought it convinced me to care about 2B, 9S, and their relationship, but it couldn't have been more wrong, lol. That's part of the reason why I became more interested in A2 and what she was about. There really wasn't much to 2B and 9S from what the game showed me. And A2 comes in so late she doesn't shine as much as she probably could have in-game. It left me wanting more gameplay segments with her. Nier definitely did a better job getting me invested in the main cast of characters. Making it's ending D all the more impactful than ending E in Automata.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

I'd definitely agree that the combat is superior to Kingdom Hearts, though I kinda hate those games to begin with. lol Also, yes, I didn't even cover the balance aspect that you talk about... but the difficulty modes were not executed well. Even in a normal playthrough there are moments where the shift in damage you'll be taking will dramatically fluctuate. And the whole Dark Souls-like body retrieval mechanic does seem poorly implemented, and perhaps not necessary at all.

[@michaelfowler2759]

Just heard of this game, I want to play it. I only have an Xbox one and they want $50 for a digital copy. If I could get a physical copy I would, but I live in a rural area with no high speed internet. It would take me days to download through my cell. Plus my Xbox storage is full, I have to remove games already. If I want to play a deleted game I have an actual disk that I can install in a couple hours, I'm not going to tie up my phone for days to play a game. Download only is bull

[@shadowboxingmatt]

why does everyone think the gameplay is suppose to bayo and revengeance? plantinum were fans of the original nier in its entirety so its no wonder they didnt want to tarnish the simple but fun combat for the first game gave. i beat all of nier and nier automata while i do love the character personalities more in nier there is no doubt in my mind that automata has the better well rounded story the game is about being human and about the characters being connected and the players of the game all being connected to each other. its about how stupid we are as people to fight meaningless war when were all the same name no matter what we look, act or talk like. this game deserves way more credit then is given to it cause its being outshined by AAA games that are so afraid of taking risks in gameplay and weaving of a narrative. this game is my 10/10 game of the year for me because it took me on an emotional rollercoaster that i hope history never forgets. i wish i could get into more but that would ruin the magic of this game.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

It's not that the game needed to be either of those games, what I said was that it lacks the depth and flexibility of other top action titles. It doesn't have to emulate anything, but I think it's fair to compare it to other games that fall within its genre. You can say that it is the way it is because PlatinumGames didn't want to ruin the 'fun combat' (though I've found many people complain about the first game's combat being far too simple and shallow) but I feel like this is once again an excuse that allows developers to dodge the responsibility of being held to a higher standard. Once we start saying elements of a game are fine because 'the developers didn't intend for it to be better' then we're really giving companies carte blanche to just sit back and rest on their laurels. I simply can't agree that the game has a better and more well-rounded story than the first when the character development of the first title far exceeds what's present in Automata, and most of the main conventions and narrative structure is simply ported over from Nier. Of course it's all going to be subjective, and if Automata met or exceeded your expectations that's wonderful. I'm not trying to convince you that you shouldn't like the game. However, I can't really say I see what 'risks' the title takes that haven't been present in Yoko Taro's other games. There's really nothing new here when you examine his body of work, and he continues to fall back on fetch quests, something that ran their course many years ago. But you're very much entitled to your feelings. I only wish the experience had resonated with me and been the emotional rollercoaster that you describe. Sadly, that was not the case, and I can only give things from my perspective.

[@collin2401]

Huh, this is unexpected! I booted up this video expecting to agree wholeheartedly with all of its arguments, but now I feel conflicted. I certainly don't think that Nier Automata is the profound, medium-defining savior that many fans believe it 2B. (See what I did there?) However, I feel that way for different reasons than those stated here! I agree that Automata missed out on quite a bit of character development, but I think that 2B and A2 are the primary offenders. I thought that 9S was stellar! I think that Automata as a whole would've benefited immensely from just one or two extra scenes in which 2B and A2 are provided a bit more exposition related to their pre-game experiences. (I'm deliberately avoiding spoilers here, FYI.) The villains also had some questionable dialogue at times, and their motivations in some cases were a bit too ambiguous, resulting in some vague plot points. I also loved the gameplay and the side quests. Go figure. My primary complaints on the topic of gameplay are that the boss encounters were far too easy due to unlimited access to healing items (Maybe I just play too much Dark Souls?) and that flight unit sections were trivialized by the units' overpowered sword attacks. That said, while Nier Automata is imperfect, I think it's at least equal to the original Nier in terms of narrative quality. (Yes, I've played them both.) Also, I think we can all agree that Automata wins out over Nier on the gameplay front! I've played all the way from Ending A through Ending E twice now, and I'm still not bored. Anywho, these are just my personal opinions. I appreciate that someone spoke up against the community echo chamber. Nier Automata is one of the best games I've played in years, and I would gladly recommend it to anyone, but it's absolutely not a perfect game. Thanks for perpetuating and diversifying the discussion!

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Thank you for your thoughts! The small differences of opinion are perfectly welcome, and it's interesting to see where others are coming from. Story was the governing factor which excited me for a a Nier sequel, so I suppose the best way to summarize it is that I was simply disappointed most by the fact that Automata, in my mind, is a much less character-driven game than the first Nier. Obviously there are other things to enjoy about the game, but that was ultimately what I looked forward to the most and it just didn't pan out for me, unfortunately.

[@ArynBacklogDragon]

while I can see your point regarding the sidequests (though it's not something that personally bothers me) I have to disagree with the Map question, I never once had an issue with it. Now for the story (which is indeed a big one, heck, the BIGGEST one) I can kinda see where you're coming from. This is how I personally see it: I think 9S likability comes more from his overall personality than from his achievements. Emil is much more sympathetic because of all the stuff he goes through and his arc but personality-wise, Emil wasn't as endeering (I'm not sure on how to explain it, but 9S seemed more of a fun guy). I dunno, I get your points, but, as a guy who loved the first NieR and Drakengard 3, even with it's flaws, I still loved Automata. and didn't find the twists as predicable as you did. some of them, yes, but most still managed to get a good reaction out of me (like when "That" happens to Pascal, I expected something of the sort to happen but I had no idea when or how, so it really hit me when it happened as it did, also Devola and Popola's Backstory was also a highlight for me).

[@qwerty82822]

Spoilers!!!!! Excellent video. You covered a lot of what I didn't like about this game with the exception of me liking 9s but even the way you covered his weak points was well done. I agree with your statements about the game trying to be self aware in a way that just comes off as a big f*** you to the player. I really don't wanna play with a bad map system or deal with the fact that my character visuals are going haywire and thats why I can't see during combat or have to wait till the third playthrough for the save system to start working properly. Just let me play the game! Don't inconvinience me so that I can take in some great message about reality. Its a video game not a life simulator. I also agree with you wholeheartedly about the story and characters. Anemone, A2, and the commander are all underdeveloped to the point that I did not care for them. 2B has some minor development in a missable cutscene (I'm talking about the one where you find her abandoned flight unit) and two other in game cutscenes where she seems to be getting closer to 9s. Of course she's then just killed off suddenly and replaced with a much more bland and uninteresting character version of her. You pretty much have the beginning of an interesting character being replaced by a boring one. 9s growth is stunted although I still love him for being a relatable and likable character. There are other good characters such as Pascale (although his story does ask you to go through leaps of logic) and operator 60 and 210 (whose story is completely missable if you miss her side quest and kill her off too quickly during the boss fight) but their growth is also stunted. The story is just as you mention it, its one where the journey is sacrificed for its concepts. Its a good story but its just terribly paced and has the whole predictable plot point about humanity's fate. I kinda lament how much better the story could have been. I also agree with you on the combat. My god its bad. The fact that you can evade in a circle around the enemies while shooting from your pod and use auto healing is so bad it's game breaking. I did however like the bullet hell sequences during the flight units fights and 9s's fights. Other than that I suppose you could say that the game tiny open world is both boring and uninteresting especially with its colour palette and same re-used enemies. The soundtrack is good but not as good as the original nier or even drakenguard 3. It also isn't very well implemented with the songs being either too quiet during some events and way too loud and obnoxious during gameplay. If I have to mention something else I did like its the humour. The humour was always good and never failed to put a smile on my face which is a step-up from drakenguard 3. Thanks for posting this video, it helped me work out some of my feelings about this game and sorry for the long comment.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Always glad to be of help! :) Thank you for your thoughts!

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

i think the narative had alot of interesting things to say, the general nihilistic themes of everything that happens generally has no meaning, the reason the have to fight in the first place is a lie. Plus i found 9s and A2's development to be pretty great on the whole, and the stories of pascal, popola and devila, were all really engaging. even though develoa and popola's story mostly occured in and after the event of the original nier, the way they were treated amongst society in the 10,000 years since nier is still fascinating. I didnt really care for adam and eve too much, but alot of the side stories like the forest king were really good imo. and then there's the continuation of emil's story with the secret ending, overall i cant really complain about the plot at all, i loved it. For different reasons than the original nier sure, but it was still amazing imo.

[@iHaveContrl]

Hey man. I understand where you coming from... I just finished watching the whole clip.. 2B is selling more than the 50 year old dude... yes, 2B is a very successful design even lots of female players adores her. (please read more, it's an essay here...) The original NieR had Kaine!!! Which is still one of my favorite NieR character. and yes, she's way way more revealing than 2B.... Well, some of the fetch quests and the "bad map".... I think the original NieR had some of that as well if I'm not mistaken... I had no problem with the map seriously, I've seen worst map from other titles... in fact. as soon as I turning off the mini map auto-rotation, I was good to go to navigate myself. I was able to find items by using the 3D view etc I really don't have a major problem with it, it might not be the best map I've seen but it is not ruining my gaming experience as such... Again about the Route B, oh the route B. This one has to be 100% pure subjective I'm sorry mate. . Coz I had load of fun playing as 9S, I never played this character the same way I played 2B... this is where I got completely creative when playing a video game. Shooting while riding a moose, crushing enemies while drifting with a boar, with NO LOADING SCREEN like the previous one (The long loading screen wasn't my favorite thing about the original NieR). Discovering how to use heavy smash with 9S (dodge + attack), remote controlling all kinds of different robots with a dead android body as well as 3 more subjugated robots following while acting goofy around... and me grew up playing Arcade games, I really like the mini-games too, I played them on HARD. You have no idea how much fun I had playing as 9S, did most of my side quests and fishing there. Surprisingly, this is also a plus for the personalities of those two characters... 2B is more serious and specialized just like how you would play her, whereas 9S is more playful and love to try different things in the game... There are plenty of reviews out there written by people who had played the original NieR, including me, some of the reviews might not be on KZbin but as far as I can see, the country where I'm from, the old fans are pretty obsessed with Automata. I don't think I have met one who just hated it so much and just wanted to trash it... Bad graphics = not a masterpiece... I'm sorry I really CAN'T agree with this one. What matters to me is the thoughtful, consistent art direction. Impressive graphics requires massive budget, and it is never worth it, just look around all the western AAA game. I don't think the original NieR had ground breaking graphics when debut either... some people thinks of it worth 10/10 is because that's how likely they will recommended to their friends, NOT because the game is flawlessly perfect. Let's be honest, perfect does not exist. Masterpiece has flaws, no matter in films or music. And it can be subjective too. About the actions, I do think it has balance issues due to what ever the cause. I played Devil May Cry 4 HD and DMC Devil May Cry. I knew from the get go Automata was not supposed to be better than those titles simply because it is not 100% platinum game like Bayonatta or Devil May Cry from Capcom. Because it is not trying to focus too much on the action or simply being another Bayonatta... in fact the game even gives you auto-chips for the female audience to enjoy I think that tells you something... Again, by playing and mixing up different weapons and combo I think the game does has some depth and learning curves. It is far superior in terms of actions to any other titles other than DMC or Bayonatta... like name me another recent year open-world action RPG please? (Please don't say Dark Souls) (Spoilers) The story, I played the NieR RepliCant fairly recently and absolutely adore it, I love most of the characters in that game, but the thing is, I played the second time to get a few more details about characters or bosses. At the end I was still playing the same game, unlike Drakengard. In Automata, I was able to play a whole new story line after, which I didn't expect. I don't think the original NieR has this kind of content...and I loved the first NieR. I really adore most of the characters in Automata, three of the main characters, especially Pascal, even Popola and Devola. What I really love though, is how much I felt for the machine lifeforms. I don't remember I care that much about the bad guys in the first NieR, even though they were not the "bad guys". I personally believe the Romance is far more developed in this one than the original NieR. Last note, I don't watch all the trailers or reviews before I play anything or watch anything, especially the one I care. So you knowing that much is really raising the expectations subconsciously even if you were trying to keep it cool down. In a way, knowing too much really ruin any entailment in general.

[@cassou124]

I just have a short question/comment : I'm currently watching your NieR playthrough (really enjoying it btw, watched about 70 parts) (and watched this video) in order to decide whether or not I should buy NieR : Automata. So, here's the question : despite its flaws in its storytelling (which is the main reason I would buy Automata, just like you), would you still recomment buying it? Thanks!

[@SpendthriftMonk]

I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed my Nier playthrough! As for Automata, I would say it's a game worth playing. There's a wide range of different opinions on its story, but I would say it's best to go in with the expectation that it will not be as emotional an experience as the first game. It does have plenty of things going for it, it's just not quite what I would rank as an EXCELLENT game. I certainly don't hold it in as high regard as many others do anyway. But that's just my opinion and I wouldn't make your decision based solely on my thoughts. I would always encourage people to take in many sources of info and different takes on the game if they're on the fence about purchasing it themselves.

[@cassou124]

Thanks for your opinion!

[@BillB808]

I feel the same way about Astral chain right now...and Fire Emblem 3 houses...

[@jho2000000]

Well i actually think youre not far from the mark, im a fan of Yoko Taro´s work and lately i have been trying to figure out why nier automata its so polarized on opinions some think its a masterpiece, and other think that its barely a decent game, in this matter i have gotten to two main themes: 1.- Different is not directly better: for most gamers nier automata is an interesting concept, a game that plays in a lot of ways with a lot of characters, however for people who techinally knows how a game should be played it can be percibe more like a gimmik because any of the gameplays are really surprising or ground breaking (the melee/ranged fights are done with a simplified system, the shooter/bullet hell parts are dumbed to playable and in most times can be taken advantage of, like the melee attacks on the mech, even the text parts were made more relatable and allow you to interact), but most people apreciatted the fact that it was at least different for the looooong time youre required to play the game (and thats not including the part were you play the first part of the game twice, because i understand also that the second play tries to make it feel different by introducing 9s hacking hability and that the gameplays tries to make you not like him by making combat more difficult allowing for more confusion when they finally humanize him in route C, however in this case i think this fall on the "almost agraviating" category and could have been done more like the A2-9s interactions in route C/D, also if you dont like the characters at first youre gona hate them after having to play them twice. 2.- People get soo surprised by the E ending if they manage to get there and think its the most amazing thing ever (which conceptually its diferent to mix real life sacrifice) however for those who know the og nier its just a better redo of the D ending... making this end a hit or miss or plainly for the people who doesnt finish the game and just dont get what the theme was its just an interesting desicion. Finally as someone who has played all Drakengard, Nier, have read the extra content and even knew about the Yorha live play i can say that the game is good for being different, mediocre on the gameplay, and bad for asking soo much from the players, to me the only thing in which the game exceeds is in deliver a diferent experience from all the ussual games, which actually goes along what Yoko Taro has said to want to acomplish (he doesnt want to make AAA games, or best sellers, he just want to tell a story that gets to most of the people and makes them feel something); as a weird fact i saw a reviewer who i like to watch just drop the game at the start of route C because he got too mad at the game, because he tough that the plot was predictable, the character were bland and even said that even if the game got better it could not worth the 30 hours he put into in (he made all the side quest he could), because if a game takes 30 hrs to get good its just not worth, and even compared Yoko Taro with Jean Paul´s character in game (which i actually thinks hes right, both are guys trying to tell the most basic things but everyone else keeps building nonesense around it). So now, to me the game is only a decent game, a 8.5, even a 9 if youre being too generous and taking on account the rest of the industry, however its not a master piece of gaming (even if i threw that into a Yoko Taro game i would gave that one to the original Nier); in itself maybe its the best it could have been done and actually tells a story that could only have been delivered that way in a game, but its not told perfectly ( to the point were people who played the original nier knew from the begining that mankind was dead al along, also there is the fact that this game was made by a B team and got so little budget that it doesnt even had DLC as an option), but i apreciate the fact that most people get outside theyre zone of confort and try new things.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Yes, I don't blame anyone for liking the game, especially if the person has never been exposed to a Yoko Taro title before, it's certainly likely to come across as a unique experience. Thank you for your input!

[@SovietRipper]

jho2000000 Adam compared Taro to Jean Paul Satre? Lmao. Wouldn't Kojima also suffer for similar crítics? I remember in metal gear solid 5 a 10 min long rant about the characters doing an "epic speech" about why nuclear weapons are bad and why the private military of Snake is necessary, Kojima also info dumps a lot. Taro is one of this directors were players have to have a lot of patience just like Hideo. Btw about Adam i have seen that he dislikes a lot when games add to muc "philosofical" or "deep" themes, theres a reason for that? Once i ever heard him like saying that most philosofers were people talking about basic things with over complicated explanations, idk what to think about him since then, i mean is ok if he hated automata but i really dislike when something calls themes such as philosofy pretentious just because they're in a game

[@evanking9856]

how you gonna compare boyoneta with nier automata when there too different titles. and you talk about the combat laking by combat that beyoneta well guess what not every hackin slash combat game has too be the same

[@TheBlackswanwhite]

Dont care why this game has so many praise

[@Bona_kidd]

wait... is this a meditation video? your voice is.. ma..king.. m...me...zzz..Zzzzz...

[@Bona_kidd]

GREAT review though! made me rethink if i want to buy the game

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Haha, well then, maybe ASMR videos is my true calling.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Thank you. I would encourage you to take in multiple sources and opinions on the game, besides my own, to make the best decision for yourself. It's not even my intention to discourage anyone from buying the title. It's a well-made game and many will enjoy it to varying degrees. I just personally think it's best not to fully indulge the hype, and keep expectations within reasonable levels.

[@Bona_kidd]

THANK YOU very much! I got very excited because of the many positive hyperbole reviews this game is receiving here on youtube. thank you for reminding me to start the game on a neutral perspective instead of expecting too much and then possibly feel empty if i didnt like the game

[@SpendthriftMonk]

You're very welcome! Best of luck with enjoying the title. :)

[@tissuewater]

I disliked the video before I even watched it. Just kidding, I actually watched the whole thing and disliked it :) Just kidding, again. Though, I have to disagree with your points, it seems to me, let's just say you were trying too hard to not like the game like all others who disliked it before even actually playing it to the end, and that's pretty much judging the book by its cover. I keep seeing this pattern, people who will pick the smallest tiniest problem the game has, just so they can go against the flow, which is the rest of the community, for what? Conflict? Ironically the game addresses this exact pattern of human behavior.

[@tissuewater]

Oh, and not all games are perfect, but what it's all about is what the creators intended, and whether they nailed it or not.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Being that I was such a huge fan of the first game, I was actually trying VERY hard to like this game more than I did. And I reserved judgement until I had finished the game for myself, so that characterization doesn't really apply to me. What's a small or tiny problem for one person may not be for another, but for me the story and character development is the big issue. This was at the core of why I loved the original Nier, and the main reason that this title failed to thoroughly engage me. I also think that it's unfair to simply label any dissent as something trumped up to stir conflict. By the same token one could say that all the praise is from mindless drones hopping on the hype bandwagon, but I don't believe either of those are honest assessments to make; not so broadly anyway. If it had been my intention to merely rile up greater fans of the game then I would have spoken in a far more inflammatory fashion. I laid out my thoughts just as I would encourage anyone else to do, regardless of where they fall with their feelings on the game. In response to your other comment, I wouldn't say that games need to be perfect, but I would make the argument that it isn't JUST about what the creators intend and whether they personally feel they've accomplished their goals. That's certainly one thing to look at, but it's also important for the elements put into place to actually connect with, entertain, move, or otherwise please an audience. Also... You're thinking about how much you want to ** ** 2B, aren't you? ;)

[@capicityforgood258]

"You're thinking about how much you want to ** ** 2B, aren't you?" Do you believe it's "fuck"?

[@SpendthriftMonk]

No, I'm of the theory that it's "kill".

[@capicityforgood258]

I actually quite like that duality of that scene. That's why I think Yoko taro deliberately kept it ambiguous.

[@matthewlugo2417]

Dude ur crazy

[@desfaroda]

I feel that you expect too much, being a Nier fan, that you missed the big picture. the characters are not replicants, not shades, not humans, but androids, so character development can be tricky, 2B, in the end, cares about 9S despite her mission and purpose, 9S got the "japanese feels therapy" transformation, you can be onboard with that or not, but it is a japanese thing and they love that kind of drama, and A2 overcame her sad past and stop being a tsundere-robot killing android. the second part is that nier 1 is a cult game, a gem that not many played, this game, i feel, is a good step into the nier/drak universe, and I cannot wait for another yoko taro/keichii okabe-platinum game. Don't be too critical about this game, i too believe some parts are weak, the rpg/grinding/upgrade parts most of all, and the pc port can be better. despite all of that, i feel that it's the best game of this year, the best OST of Okabe, and raises the bar high for platinum and yoko taro.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

I don't believe that it's unreasonable to go into a sequel with the expectation that it will retain much of what you loved about the previous title, while taking things to the next level. In some ways they managed to do so. The gameplay is certainly smoother, with a more fully realized combat system, but the mission structure and reliance on fetch quest style objectives and backtracking grows tiresome. Not to mention, if you're looking for the same character-driven experience as the first game, it is my opinion that you won't really find it here. In no way do I feel that Nier: Automata is a bad game, but I do believe it's important to highlight some of the title's missteps, because I've seen so many reviews that have, in my view, misrepresented key aspects and painted the game as some innovative, awe-inspiring, nearly flawless production. With many saying things in the comment sections of such reviews as, "I'm going to buy this game based on your review!". I think going in based on such unbalanced perspectives is not such a great thing.

[@M3lly22]

This game is made with the thought in mind that people can enjoy it without playing the first Nier. The vibes of the video is too negative for me to finish the second half. The graphics is beautiful for me btw.

[@SpendthriftMonk]

Sorry, I could only read half your comment because I was getting negative vibes. Negative vibes are scary and I'm only able to view comments that agree with me. ;) Seriously though, your comment is sort of irrelevant to most of the issues I had with the title. An argument can be made for the graphics from an artistic perspective, but I was speaking mostly from a technical point of view... of which the game isn't very impressive. I would also argue that one should finish a video before commenting... but hey, that's just me and my wacky opinions.