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drahkon

NieR: Automata (2017)

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The game arrived :peace: 

Going to start now. Of course on hard difficulty. :p Very Hard doesn't sound like a lot of fun when you can die in one hit.

 

"This game does not feature auto saving. Play the game to find out how to save."

Ok, thanks for letting me know :D 

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Wow, the game just kicked my ass up, down, left and right. :laughing:  This prologue is tough. A little annoying that you have to start from the very beginning when you die.

Played it twice so far. My first attempt ended with a little toy soldier killing me because I didn't use the dodge button. In the second try I was a moron again...after getting hit once by a huge, rotating shit-fuck-of-death I jumped right back into it. Nice one, drahkon, really proud of you. :) 

Anyway, the whole time I got better with every button press. Pretty sure I can beat the prologue soon once the combat really clicks.

Edit: Third time's a charm. :peace:  Had to start a new save file but I managed to beat the first section. I'm missing an ending now, though, since I haven't died. But I know that there will be a chapter select so I hope I can get this ending eventually.

Edited by drahkon

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After 95 hours of Dragon Quest XI I'm a little burnt out by that game. The Platinum trophy can wait :D 

I've spent 5 hours with NieR: Automata and here are my thoughts:

  • hard mode sucks - as many of you know I absolutely love difficult games but this is just a one-hit-KO-fest; I hate that shit - I turned down the difficulty and it's much better, still challenging but not unfair and being able to use the lock-on is probably how the game is meant to be played; not being allowed to use it in hard mode makes that difficulty even worse
  • the game is nuts :D absolutely crazy but so cool - fought an opera singer boss just now and it was so fucking awesome
  • the music is spectacular 
  • setting and story seem right up my alley with AI/machines and all that jazz
  • the "name" 2B always reminds me of Shakespeare
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NieR: Automata's pacing is insane. I've been almost exclusively following the story quests for 5 hours today. The following is an excerpt of my thought process during that time:

"Sweet boss, awesome fight."
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT IS THIS?"
"Excuse me? What the fuck?"
"Yeah, sure...why not."
"Phew, that was intense...FUCK ME SIDEWAYS."
"HA, gotcha!"
"Wow..."

And then I just sat in silence for a while.

This has been the most incredible action sequence I've ever experienced. Be it in video games, movies, books or whatever.

Spoiler

Everything from the fight against the huge machine in the ocean to the battle against Eve.

Oh, and the scene after that... :( 

And then :) 

What an emotional roller coaster.

 

Edited by drahkon
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Ending B complete. And the game makes sure to let you know that there's more to come.

Aside from the occasional technical hiccups (i.e. framedrops) this game is a masterpiece so far. Especially from a narrative standpoint. I'm pretty sure I have a lot more to discover. I can't make sense of anything right now...

Spoiler

"...and his idea that consciousness is something that evolves, and that there's no reason machines - or bits of plastic, or whatever - can't become conscious, as long as they inherit the consciousness from us. We evolved from plants, I remember him arguing, and plants aren't conscious. So consciousness can evolve from nothing at all, just as life must also have done, once. We can merge with machines and become cyborgs, and eventually the machine parts of us might become conscious. But how would that happen?" - a quote from the (incredible) book The End of Mr. Y

This is basically what I imagine how the machines on earth evolved. They tried to imitate humans and eventually started to evolve. Through combat (and hate) that process was incredibly fast, as is evident by Adam's and Eve's progress. 

How everything I've come to know so far (that is: Project Gestalt, the eradication of humanity, YoRha, the possibility of the Commander's betrayal, Androids, the machines, Aliens, the two weird girls in red that appeared in some cutscenes...) is intertwined...no fucking idea. 

I love this :D 

Edit: Played some more, because I couldn't stop.

Spoiler

My thoughts on this part so far:

  • the war was intense; cool battles, great atmosphere
  • status effects cause a lot of trouble
  • I don't know what the fuck's going on :D 
  • the virus is fucked up
  • 2B being infected and the scenes that follow were incredibly powerful
    • the fact that you experience 2B's suffering through gameplay is awesome; you actually feel helpless when your movement/visual system/etc is compromised- I wish more developers would do it like this...make you experience important developments via gameplay and not cutscenes
  • 2B is dead... :( 
  • Nines will sure go on a vengance mission now...

I decided to support 9S instead of A2.

Can't wait to see how everything will develop, but now it's time for sleep.

Edited by drahkon
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This game is positively bonkers :D 

Just reached Ending C and it raised more questions than it answered.

I have way too many therories, ideas, questions to put into words...Guess I'll grab something to eat and continue playing :p 

Edited by drahkon

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Unbelievable.

What a remarkable achievement this game is.

Spoiler

The Pods actually becoming sentient and taking matters into their own hands. Lovely.

 

The end credit scene is one of the best experiences I've ever lived through in a video game. The music, the concept and idea behind it, the choice you have to make...perfect.

I actually deleted all my data because I thought: "If I can help others finish the game, I'll gladly do that."

Love how that choice also falls in line with the endless cycle of Androids vs Machines, seeing as how deleting all the data technically resets the cycle.

The story may be incrediby confusing and highly vague, but the narrative and how everything is conveyed (sound, music, gameplay, setting, theming) is nothing short of masterful. Each character has its own tragic development to go through. One in particular made me tear up a little:

Spoiler

Pascal...

He was actually the closest to truly evolving, trying to teach his fellow citizens about everything. However, teaching about fear tragically backfired. When we entered the room and saw the children lying there after comitting suicide...heartbreaking. :( 

And then there's 2B and 9S....

Spoiler

The single information you get about 2B actually being a 2E model designed to kill YoRHa soldiers who get too close to the truth changes everything. Every single moment you've experienced with the two Androids together changes.

The reveal was so simple, so non-bombastic. That alone makes this twist much more powerful.

NieR: Automata has a lot of themes and stories, but the emotional connection between 2E and 9S takes the center stage for me.

:bowdown: 

 

Edited by drahkon

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Just finished this game for the first time. Such a weird game! Not sure what 'ending' I got, maybe it'll say after the credits?

Dunno that I can be bothered playing through it all again, unless a 2nd play through is significantly different.

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2 hours ago, Mandalore said:

Just finished this game for the first time. Such a weird game! Not sure what 'ending' I got, maybe it'll say after the credits?

Dunno that I can be bothered playing through it all again, unless a 2nd play through is significantly different.

What happened in your ending?

Depending on what ending you got, I would strongly recommend playing through it again. I won't spoil why, but you'll understand pretty soon into the second playthrough.

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How long would you say a normal playthrough to an ending takes? Depending on playstyle ofcourse. I really want to play this, and I have a thing for games that you complete, but then has loads of twists in post game playthroughs (like Zero Escape). I loved Bayonetta, and I've played NieR for 3 hours or so, but I had other games that made me put it down again. I've been wanting to come back to it, seeing as I think it looks amazingly good, and plays just as well. It just helps knowing how long a playthrough is, and also how many hours it takes to get the most essential endings. 

This game and The Witcher are the big story games I can't seem to take the time to complete xD. There are so many other games, and when I play on my PC I mainly play multiplayer with my buddies. If NieR would come to the Switch, I would finish it in a heartbeat :P. 

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I don't think it takes too long to get the first ending. 6-10 hours maybe?

Nier: Automata is one of those games where a second playthrough is essential. I don't tend to replay games, especially so soon after finishing them, but Nier: Automata is different.

Edited by Goafer
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I think my playtime was at about 20 hours. I still had some side quests to do, I accidentally stumbled upon the ending. I got ending A, I guess the first play through will always result in that ending?

Started a second game, it's already very different right from the beginning. Now I understand what all those big box things are that I could never open.

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Not story spoilers, but mild game mechanic spoilers:

Spoiler

It is possible to get a different endings first, but they're joke endings. Ending A is the first "proper" ending.

 

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I don't consider Route B to be a second playthrough, rather it's the continuation of the first playthrough. :p

 

The game is only really finished once you do Ending E imo.

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Finished a 2nd play through, got ending B. Still have no idea what's going on.

Spoiler

I found where to fully upgrade my weapons! It was so tiny on the screen, I didn't notice it was a pull block in the castle on the first playthrough.

Still not upgraded a single pod. I have the last ingredient on the list now, but nowhere near enough fresh water. 

 

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I highly recommend you continue playing through to what happens next because things are about to get absolutely crazy. Though, Route B does have that one major plot twist that drives this game forward.

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28 minutes ago, GenericAperson said:

I highly recommend you continue playing through to what happens next because things are about to get absolutely crazy. Though, Route B does have that one major plot twist that drives this game forward.

Spoiler

The humans already being extinct and never going to the moon thing?

If I do start another play through, is it worth getting the DLC or would I have needed it from the beginning to get the most out of it?

Edited by Mandalore

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3 hours ago, Mandalore said:
  Spoilers (Reveal hidden contents)

The humans already being extinct and never going to the moon thing?

If I do start another play through, is it worth getting the DLC or would I have needed it from the beginning to get the most out of it?

Yeah, that's the twist I'm talking about.

 

I can't talk about the DLC because I never got it.

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From what I remember of the DLC, it's just some challenge missions, which unlock some costumes. I don't think it has any bearing on the story at all.

Edited by Goafer
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Spoiler

So Ending A and Ending B weren't really endings at all?

Nice surprise to be continuing on after, rather than going back to the start.

 

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59 minutes ago, Mandalore said:
  Started a 3rd playthrough last night... (Reveal hidden contents)

So Ending A and Ending B weren't really endings at all?

Nice surprise to be continuing on after, rather than going back to the start.

 

Spoiler

Yeah. It's one of those games that you can't really explain to people unless they've gone for a second or third playthrough. I do wonder how many people stopped at the first "ending" and missed most of the game.

 

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Many of the game's best moments happen in the third playthrough, enjoy it.

 

Been uploading the boss battles of my own playthrough of the game to Youtube as a sort of "video diary" of playing the game and the key boss battles which I've done for multiple games and just got done with Playthrough A myself. The Ending A boss was certainly challenging but not to the point where I died so often, though you do see me make plenty of trips to the menu during gameplay as I lost my auto item chip which I didn't get back until the later playthroughs:

 

 

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Spoiler

I think I took too long getting to Pascal's village, or took too much of a detour to get there? Just got ending M.

 

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11 hours ago, Mandalore said:
  Oops... (Reveal hidden contents)

I think I took too long getting to Pascal's village, or took too much of a detour to get there? Just got ending M.

 

The game has 26 different endings, 5 normal ones and 21 "joke" endings. It's possible to get them all in one playthrough however I believe one of the endings is only available in side quest content, you have to buy every single weapon and upgrade them all to their highest levels in order to unlock the "superboss" from which you can get ending Y.

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