Is the gameplay really that much worse than Automata?

[Sunbather]

I don't want to look too much into the game to avoid any kind of spoilers but from what I've seen the gameplay and structure (quests, lots of walking, constant changes of perspective) seem to be the same than Nier: Automata. And it even seems to have a slightly bigger enemy variety. But somehow the consensus seems to be that its gameplay is much, much worse than Automata's. Can anyone elaborate?

Please no spoilers for Automata either! I am not that far into it. And yes, I could just finish Automata first and then decide whether or not to buy Replicant but Humble Bundle has a good sale right now and I want to avoid finishing Automata and then want to play Replicant and having to pay the full price. Also, the fantasy and magic setting of Replicant intrigues me.

[avihay196]

Story quests: Awsome.
Side quests: Not important to do at all (you get gold, with 2 quests give you a core mechanic). They're mostly really good with amazing story, But some we're genuinely hell to do. I only did 100% because i felt like i wanna get every bit of content off this game.
Chance of perspective: Honestly? Blew me away.
Combat: Very good. You start of with a limited weapon variety, but later you get other kinds of weapons which are very different and make parrying and combos a bit time to learn. Parrying a boss off cooldown just feels very good and responsive.
Enemies: There's quite a bit of variety of mobs. They get gradually stronger as the game progresses. A real small amount of mobs is compeltely dog#$% on Hard mode but on Normal i'm sure its okay throughout.

I just finished 77 hours on replicant on Hard mode and got all of the achivements and honest to god if you don't: play on Hard mode / Try to get all the steam achivements. You'll fall in love with game. Most of criticism people have with the game is usually with certain achivements in the game or some game machanics which are not neccessary for the plot.

[Protoman]

Nier is originally from 2010, and even if this remake tries to update gameplay for current audiences, a lot of the original couldn't really be changed that much. They've made it so now you can move while casting magic (in the original you could only move while casting Dark Blast), and there are charge attacks and parries.

Side quests are almost all fetch quests. Grab this, give to this guy, or kill this thing, or collect x things and give them to this guy. Only three or four of the sidequests (out of 71) actually have some kind of plot. You don't get anything by doing 100% of the sidequests, not even an achievement.

One thing that definitely needed some tweaking was the tutorials. Except for the beginning, the game "gives" you tutorials by telling you have unlocked them in the menu, but it doesn't show any commands or anything. Just pause, go look up Tutorials, and come back. They also may trigger at the wrong times, like once I was already 5 hours in and the game told me how to break boxes and get rare items (...). If you're really going to play this, I'll spoil just one thing: if an enemy is blocking, hold attack (either weak or strong) to break their guard. You can also do a quick sidestep to get behind them (roll in their direction), but I think charge attacks are much better.

[Sunbather]

Messaggio originale di avihay196:

I just finished 77 hours on replicant on Hard mode and got all of the achivements and honest to god if you don't: play on Hard mode / Try to get all the steam achivements. You'll fall in love with game. Most of criticism people have with the game is usually with certain achivements in the game or some game machanics which are not neccessary for the plot.

Great and detailed answer, thank you for that! Does parrying work as in Automata where you need the implement first or can you parry right off the bat like in Sekiro for example?

[Sunbather]

Messaggio originale di Protoman:

Nier is originally from 2010, and even if this remake tries to update gameplay for present audiences, a lot of the original couldn't really be changed that much. [...]

Thank you as well for the additional info!

[avihay196]

Messaggio originale di Sunbather:

Messaggio originale di avihay196:

I just finished 77 hours on replicant on Hard mode and got all of the achivements and honest to god if you don't: play on Hard mode / Try to get all the steam achivements. You'll fall in love with game. Most of criticism people have with the game is usually with certain achivements in the game or some game machanics which are not neccessary for the plot.

Great and detailed answer, thank you for that! Does parrying work as in Automata where you need the implement first or can you parry right off the bat like in Sekiro for example?

You can parry, guard break, side step, double jump, double jump + mid air roll. All from the first second of the game. Like the other person here said: to guard break a mob you need either to spam light attack or heavy attack (heavy attack breaks guard faster).

Tutorial are kinda bad in that they drop from either mobs and some boxes. So in a way it's RNG. Best way to go around this game is just play how you think you should play, eventually you'll find the tutorials you need. If there's something you're not sure about people have guides upon guides for this game and the community kept spoilers on these to a bare minimum. I've basically seen every top 3 guide result for any part of the game on google for anything i didn't get or find and never was i spoiled about anything major in the plot.

[Sunbather]

Messaggio originale di avihay196:

You can parry, guard break, side step, double jump, double jump + mid air roll. All from the first second of the game. Like the other person here said: to guard break a mob you need either to spam light attack or heavy attack (heavy attack breaks guard faster).

Tutorial are kinda bad in that they drop from either mobs and some boxes. So in a way it's RNG. Best way to go around this game is just play how you think you should play, eventually you'll find the tutorials you need. If there's something you're not sure about people have guides upon guides for this game and the community kept spoilers on these to a bare minimum. I've basically seen every top 3 guide result for any part of the game on google for anything i didn't get or find and never was i spoiled about anything major in the plot.

I actually liked how Nier: Automata explained very little to me and I had to figure out for myself how the upgrade chips work etc. I know that there is a character that basically functions as your tutorial guide but I prefer to go into games blind anyways.
And thanks for the tip with the guides. I've already cautiously read rudimentary info whether or not you need guides and people over on the subreddit said basically the same: just google a spoiler-free guide if you're stuck and you'll be fine.

Thanks again!

[avihay196]

Messaggio originale di Sunbather:

Messaggio originale di avihay196:

You can parry, guard break, side step, double jump, double jump + mid air roll. All from the first second of the game. Like the other person here said: to guard break a mob you need either to spam light attack or heavy attack (heavy attack breaks guard faster).

Tutorial are kinda bad in that they drop from either mobs and some boxes. So in a way it's RNG. Best way to go around this game is just play how you think you should play, eventually you'll find the tutorials you need. If there's something you're not sure about people have guides upon guides for this game and the community kept spoilers on these to a bare minimum. I've basically seen every top 3 guide result for any part of the game on google for anything i didn't get or find and never was i spoiled about anything major in the plot.

I actually liked how Nier: Automata explained very little to me and I had to figure out for myself how the upgrade chips work etc. I know that there is a character that basically functions as your tutorial guide but I prefer to go into games blind anyways.
And thanks for the tip with the guides. I've already cautiously read rudimentary info whether or not you need guides and people over on the subreddit said basically the same: just google a spoiler-free guide if you're stuck and you'll be fine.

Thanks again!

Cheers, Hope you enjoy it friend!

[Val/rodney]

the side quests are made like they are because of lore. the hero would take any job to get meds for his sister the villagers felt bad for him, and his sister so even mundane task and boring task were given to him. side quest may not be heavy in terms of lore but they allow you get money which you need to buy a few weapons. also the way the protag moves is human like because he is a man not an android in that matter i find the movement ok

[Foulcher]

It's really close unless you are focusing on details.
Plus the game is more about narrative.

Aside from fights, there was more variety in NierR Replicant and the structure is a bit different. NieR Replicant tried to be a bit like a Zelda (with also BTA/Schmup) while Automata went away from this concept and insisted a lot more on the BTA/Schmup part.

[Cyber Von Cyberus]

Honestly, yeah.

The combat itself is fine, the issue lies with the enemy variety and their encounters; most of the game you'll be fighting the same 3 enemy types spammed all over the place instead of a coherent mix of enemies (Either giant hordes of demonic baboons that gang rape you, swordsmen that are okay to fight, or hordes of giant armored things that roll you into a corner and stunlock you) Not to mention the bosses most of which attack in a fixed pattern without actually reacting to the player.

The side quests are also pretty dissapointing as most of them are just fetch quests with very little story to them beyond our main characters chatting between themselves (which while enjoyable doesn't really redeem the tediousness of growing 10 moonflowers or running through 5 level transitions to get what they wanted).

Additionally the lack of chapter select once you've finished the game and go for the other endings means that you'll have to run through the entire main storyline again with only a few extra cutscenes added which makes the whole process very tedious.

While I loved the story, playing the game to completion was a chore.

[Sabaithal]

Gameplay alone, yes it is worse. Namely because it just lost certain aspects that made it... for lack of a better word, complex.

Namely both the key visual and sound queues that existed in Automata are absent in Replicant. So unless you have super fast reflexes, the fights mostly devolve into just spamming DPS and healing periodically. Because any semblance of combat flow is just gone most of the time.