Is the PC port really that bad?

[Enchanted]

I played Nier Automata on console so I'm not sure how bad the PC port really is. I planned to get Nier Replicant on PC but depending on the replies I might just get it on console to avoid the possibility of playing a buggy port.

[Fay]

no, it's playable. somebody have some minor bugs. you can use FAR for a better exeperience(hd texture patch, possibility to lower the global illumination for better framerate if your pc is not a warmachine). with far and the hd texture pack it's the better version of the game.

[TheSeek]

First of all, the upcoming Nier Replicant is not developed by the same people/studio that developed Automata, so this game PC port quality is not a valid measurement for how the PC version of Replican might be. And this goes both ways, negative and positive.

That said, this game PC port CAN have some issues: rendering at an incorrect(lower) resolution than the one you set in the settings, and possibly also at an incorrect aspect ratio.
These 2 issues only happen in fullscreen when playing at the native resolution of your monitor, playing windowed(or fullscreen if intentionally set at a lower than native resolution) the game renders correctly at the set resolution(the game does not have borderless fullscreen setting).
Additionally, it can crash or occasionally freeze with a black or white screen, this is however not common.
It can suffer from stuttering which can go from mild stuttering(58-59 fps instead of locked 60, or locked 60fps with extremely uneven framtime) to severe stuttering and low fps(40-50fps, even on recent hardware).
Nearly all of the above issues can be fixed or alleviated using FAR mod, which automatically fixes the resolution/aspect ratio issues, increases stability removing crashes and freezes, and adds control over Global Illumination(which you can't normally change in the game settings), allowing for increased performance since the Ultra(Default)setting is unnecessarily taxing but virtually identical to the High setting, which is much less heavier.

Keep in mind that all of the above issues CAN happen, but most users do not experience them.
However, those who do experience them are not a small fraction(even if still the minority,but extremely vocal), and despite these issues being less common the more recent the hardware is, they can happen even on the most recent hardware.

[Enchanted]

I see, thanks for clearing some stuff up. I'm still kinda new to pc/steam in general and when I went to the store page I was shocked to see recent reviews: mostly negative. I am curious as to why those negative reviews are so recent. If there have always been some known issues why review bomb it now rather than when it was first released on steam?

[Thaumcaster]

Originally posted by EnchantedHeart:

I see, thanks for clearing some stuff up. I'm still kinda new to pc/steam in general and when I went to the store page I was shocked to see recent reviews: mostly negative. I am curious as to why those negative reviews are so recent. If there have always been some known issues why review bomb it now rather than when it was first released on steam?

The recent reviews are a result of the Become as Gods edition releasing for the PC game pass. As for the quality of the port, it is inconsistent. I have played on 9 separate machines and have not experienced any major issues that were a result of the port. However, I am aware that some people experience major to minor issues due to the port's quality. From what I can tell, the experience you will get depends heavily on your hardware.

[TheSeek]

The issues have always been there, people did complain both here and elsewhere even back then, and articles were written about the issues the PC port has, but Square Enix did not address any of those issues, a fanmade fix was made, and most users did not experience the issues anyway, so the anger eventually died out(but complaints and reports have always been a constant).
Now a "new" pc version that is currently exclusive to the microsoft store(also available via xbox gamepass for pc) has been released, which is a port(made by different people than those who ported the steam version) of the Xbox One version of the game, with the screen resolution/aspect ratio fixed and some added features such as HDR support, UI upscaled to 4K, and sharpened image quality. This new pc version not being available on Steam and Square Enix not fixing this version of the game for 4 years resulted in people being angry and deciding to review bomb the store page here.
The Microsoft Store version is "superior" to the steam one only in the face of not needing a fanmade mod to fix the most obvious issue(resolution and asepct ratio) since that issue does not exist in that version, but for everything else it's pretty much the same as this version, while also bringing new potential issues. As example, despite me having a low spec PC which definitely can't run this game at full 60fps, achieving around 30fps with heights of 40-45 at best, the game speed is normal at all time meaning i can play it just fine evn at 30fps, while the Microsoft Store version only runs at the correct speed if a stable 60fps is mantained at all times, meaning that if i were to run the Microsoft Version of the game, I'd effectively have the game running at half the speed.
Also the microstuttering(58-59 fps or 60fps with variable frametime) are still present in the MS version. The author of FAR mod has made changes to itd to make it work on the MS version too, but i haven't personally tested it so I don't know what fixes or enhancments it brings.

[Halcyform]

If you already play this series on console, then you have the address why you were interested in the PC version. Moving away from console?

PC is a mixed bag from both a technological and individual knowledge standpoint.

I've never had to use FAR. Not one crash here and no issues with flashing or resolution. When I first started the game, the resolution was borked, but tweaks to the settings fixed it.

Solid game. Will the next one be? Who knows, it's not out yet.

For reference, I use an I7-6700k and gtx 1080. I don't upgrade my video drivers unless I need to. Religiously using the most recent video drivers is a recipe for needless misery.

[Enchanted]

I'll admit I don't know much about PC tech, in fact, I was barley able to understand what the nice folks above have written...I think that alone tells me I should just get Replicant on PlayStation aha... anyway thanks for the clarification on the recent negativity surrounding Nier Automata. Putting aside technical issues it is truly a fantastic game and I hope new players don't stray from it when they see the mostly negative reviews.

[SoftpilLoW]

Originally posted by Halcyform:

If you already play this series on console, then you have the address why you were interested in the PC version. Moving away from console?

PC is a mixed bag from both a technological and individual knowledge standpoint.

I've never had to use FAR. Not one crash here and no issues with flashing or resolution. When I first started the game, the resolution was borked, but tweaks to the settings fixed it.

Solid game. Will the next one be? Who knows, it's not out yet.

For reference, I use an I7-6700k and gtx 1080. I don't upgrade my video drivers unless I need to. Religiously using the most recent video drivers is a recipe for needless misery.

What native resolution you play? the resolution problem is 1080p only you can choose it but is not a real 1080p it is 720p.

[0restes]

I played and still play it on Linux and it works perfectly out of the box. With each version of Proton performance improves, though.

https://www.protondb.com/app/524220

I get rock solid 60 FPS at 1440p with a RX 580 8GB on high preset. No AA since the AO pass already includes it.

[dannyj147]

I can play this on an Asus Zenbook with Vega 7 graphics at around 40-50 fps at 1080p with far.

[Farandr]

Without FAR, yes it is. A 3rd party mod being mandatory to make the game playable means the game is broken and that's unacceptable.

[Alpha.Floor]

Originally posted by EnchantedHeart:

I played Nier Automata on console so I'm not sure how bad the PC port really is. I planned to get Nier Replicant on PC but depending on the replies I might just get it on console to avoid the possibility of playing a buggy port.

as bad as PC port is (without FAR fix) PS4 is much worse with constant FPS drops and stutters, awful 900p resolution and no AA.

[Don Reba]

I got it when it came out, then refunded it until it got patched. Still waiting.

[Vash]

Eitherway you're better off waiting for the game to come out and see what people are saying about it, both content and port wise.

[Rastrelly]

Originally posted by sdekar:

no, it's playable. somebody have some minor bugs. you can use FAR for a better exeperience(hd texture patch, possibility to lower the global illumination for better framerate if your pc is not a warmachine). with far and the hd texture pack it's the better version of the game.

I don't even get tired of repeating the "minor"bugs of this version. Depending on your config you might get the following minor bugs:
1) Game dropping into white screen and freezing on certain GPUs
2) Game unable to maintain resolution ratio in fullscreen mode (i.e., rendering in 4:3 when resolution is set to 16:9)
3) Game crashing randomly, especially in high-intensity fights
4) Cutscenes rendering with significant stutters
5) Main gameplay rendering with significant stutters
6) Cases of special effects shading not loading properly
7) Cases of controllers not being recognized by the game at random
All these and many more minor bus are waiting for you in this release if you aren't using FAR!