How often do I have to replay the game

[Witch ~]

To get all the endings? Anything special I have to take care of?

[Dexter]

Nothing special
First time ending A
Second time(its faster) ending B
Third time story goes on
Endings C and D depend on your final decision at the very end, need to choose both options(but can be replayed in less then 5 minutes)
Ending E You get after choosing endings C and D

it's worth it

[Witch ~]

so SIX times? Jesus Dx

[󠀡󠀡󠀡⁧⁧the.jester]

Originally posted by Witch ~:

so SIX times? Jesus Dx

It's better to think of the game as episodic than anything (Using the word replay does it a disservice in my opinion). Route A and B are from different points of view (and diverge at points). Route C/D is completely new storyline content. After that you use chapter select and make another choice (you will know which at that point) to get the other of C/D and E.

All the others, F to Z are joke-y endings dependent on deliberately doing something wrong at certain points of the game. (save before eating the mackeral)

[Dexter]

Originally posted by Witch ~:

so SIX times? Jesus Dx

nope
the.jester explained it better than me

oh and one more thing, prologue is long(around 20-30min) and in that time You can not save, so be ready for it

enjoy

[myhr2]

Like the previous posters have said, you don't replay the game, there are three "routes", three segments, the first and second one are quite similar, but from two different perspective, the third is the story moving on, with two endings. Choosing one will unlock Chapter Select, that you can then use to get quickly to the other ending, which then will turn into the last, fifth ending.

[Witch ~]

Is it worth doing all the side missions then, since theyre the same now :/

[TheSeek]

If i remember correctly, there are side missions that are exclusive to the route you're in, and in general side missions give a lot of lore and world building to help the player understand what's going on later in the game.
Also, and don't quote me on this cause I'm not 100% certain, some side missions have some extra dialogue when repeated in route b.

[Cacosubthree]

Originally posted by Witch ~:

Is it worth doing all the side missions then, since theyre the same now :/

Some side missions are worth doing (like terminal reapairs, 11B's Momento, Finding a Present, Emil's Memories, Animal Care to name a few) because they provide extra lore or good items that can help you a lot. Others are more trouble than its worth (I am specifically referring to Speed Star). Moreover, if you don't do any side quests, you'll end up under leveled later in the game.

Side mission does not repeat in every play through, unless you haven't finished it in the previous one. Basically, there are 2 types of side missions, those which are shared and exclusive. Shared are those that are available in more than one route. Exclusive are those which are available only one route, i.e. you can only finish with a specific character.

[lPaladinl]

You don't really replay the game except for endings C & D.

Route B is it's own chapters and story. You run through the same areas of the game but you're seeing the story from a different perspective with a lot of changes to the information you see.

C & D you only need to replay the endings, as you're forced to make a choice that branches out for the ending, and you reload the chapter just before that choice to quickly complete the other one without spending a lot of time.

Ending E is again it's own chapter and can be continued from a similar point.

I don't understand where people get this idea that you're replaying the game many times, you don't replay anything more than tiny fractions of the story for one branch that quickly ends thereafter, because the branch happens just about right before the full ending of the game.

[TheSeek]

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

I don't understand where people get this idea that you're replaying the game many times

It's actually an understandable doubt, you know you don't have to replay the game because you did play it.
Those who haven't played it but still know about this do so because they've read about it elsewhere.
But if you're going in blind, knowing nothing about it, the only info you might have is that there are multiple endings, and most games require multiple playthroughs to get multiple endings, so it's a reasonable assumption and doubt...you know this game's multple endings don't require replays because you played it or read about it.

[Witch ~]

Originally posted by TheSeek:

If i remember correctly, there are side missions that are exclusive to the route you're in, and in general side missions give a lot of lore and world building to help the player understand what's going on later in the game.
Also, and don't quote me on this cause I'm not 100% certain, some side missions have some extra dialogue when repeated in route b.

Oh nice them imma do et then

[Winter]

Originally posted by TheSeek:

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

I don't understand where people get this idea that you're replaying the game many times

It's actually an understandable doubt, you know you don't have to replay the game because you did play it.
Those who haven't played it but still know about this do so because they've read about it elsewhere.
But if you're going in blind, knowing nothing about it, the only info you might have is that there are multiple endings, and most games require multiple playthroughs to get multiple endings, so it's a reasonable assumption and doubt...you know this game's multple endings don't require replays because you played it or read about it.

How different are the play thru's? I know it's supposed to be different characters and story, but how about game play? Weapons, combat style, abilities? It wasn't so enchanted by the story that I care all that much about hearing more detail/different perspective. Do you still think it's worth replaying/playing different view point based on the game play content of the replays?

[lPaladinl]

Originally posted by Emilie_Autumn:

Originally posted by TheSeek:

It's actually an understandable doubt, you know you don't have to replay the game because you did play it.
Those who haven't played it but still know about this do so because they've read about it elsewhere.
But if you're going in blind, knowing nothing about it, the only info you might have is that there are multiple endings, and most games require multiple playthroughs to get multiple endings, so it's a reasonable assumption and doubt...you know this game's multple endings don't require replays because you played it or read about it.

How different are the play thru's? I know it's supposed to be different characters and story, but how about game play? Weapons, combat style, abilities? It wasn't so enchanted by the story that I care all that much about hearing more detail/different perspective. Do you still think it's worth replaying/playing different view point based on the game play content of the replays?

You can use the same weapons on every character they they all have different strengths and weaknesses. The second character you play as sucks with melee but has their own unique mechanic to hack enemies instead with a minigame. This often encourages people to use different weapons to compensate, like using Spears so you have access to a ranged attack for your heavy combos to avoid taking as much damage. The third character is mostly cosmetic differences.

And if you weren't interested in the story the second chapter is the one that tends to get people hooked. They weren't hooked at first because too much information was missing, when you fill in the gaps and everything falls into place, people usually find it more interesting.

And again, it's not really a "second playthrough", it's not New Game+. It's not a new save. It's chapter 2 in a story that is 5 chapters long, and you only finished Chapter 1 so far.

[Winter]

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

Originally posted by Emilie_Autumn:

How different are the play thru's? I know it's supposed to be different characters and story, but how about game play? Weapons, combat style, abilities? It wasn't so enchanted by the story that I care all that much about hearing more detail/different perspective. Do you still think it's worth replaying/playing different view point based on the game play content of the replays?

You can use the same weapons on every character they they all have different strengths and weaknesses. The second character you play as sucks with melee but has their own unique mechanic to hack enemies instead with a minigame. This often encourages people to use different weapons to compensate, like using Spears so you have access to a ranged attack for your heavy combos to avoid taking as much damage. The third character is mostly cosmetic differences.

The same hacking mini-game from the battle with the singing robot from the amusement park?

I mean, I'd watch Nier as an anime but I dunno if it's worth playing much more if not much changes.

[TheSeek]

Originally posted by Emilie_Autumn:

The same hacking mini-game from the battle with the singing robot from the amusement park?

I mean, I'd watch Nier as an anime but I dunno if it's worth playing much more if not much changes.

Yes, that same minigame.

As for watching Nier as an anime, I don't want to spoil the game for you, but rest assured that this is one of the very few games in which the story only works as it does as a game, there is a youtube video(Why NieR: Automata Could Only Work as a Game) which asks this same question(if it could work as anything else but a game), and this is one of the few games for which the answer is a strong yes(don't watch the video though since it's full of spoilers for everything since it goes in depth to explain stuff).
The story alone is not great, and the gameplay alone is not great either, but in this game they're one and the same, gameplay is used as a part of the story, and the story is used as part of the gameplay(if you only finished route A you can barely notice this), they're intertwined and don't work well without the other, and that's what makes this game a good game, not the story, not the gameplay, but both of them combined in a way that would only work as it is.