Is there any reason to play this game?

[Red Star, Blood Moon]

Or is it literally just marketed towards 12 year olds and unemployed weebs? Because judging by just the reviews on front page alone, I'm leaning more towards all the hype this thing got came just from a bunch of unemployed anime watching weebs who never would've played it otherwise.

[Leynx & Fenrir]

That you like the game is fine. That the game moves you in some ways is fine. It is your jam, that's fine.

NO NEED of a lengthy explanation of why the game is so great when it is not even backed up by the creators himself (who somehow quite tries hard). STOP telling people who don't like the game that it is because we did not try enough or we did not understand. It is not a philosophical essay or a a book about thermodynamics. If I do not like Nier Automata it is not because I do not understand it, it is actually the opposite. NA is not only very shallow akin to Neon Genesis Evangelion (*) but not even original.

Sometimes we love [censored] stuffs and it is fine as long it is not a vehicle for awful ideologies. For example, I like the story of Doom 2016. While not perfect, it gets to the points and suits the game correctly. Is it a masterpiece? Nah (But of by the gods of Hell, it is so much better IMHO than pompous Doom Eternal). Can I see some metaphors or symbolism in Doom 2016? I might. Is it the will of the authors? Might be for some. Is it meaningful beside the cool effect? Not really...But one who is fan might find some explanations.

Few hints:

1) Nier Automata is riddled with flaws of game design. Platinum Games and Yoko Taro just picked up mechanics from other games and tropes from other media without even understanding how they work then but not really in NA. For example, the level system is simply a poor way to hide the lack of tight mechanics and push grinding. The picking up back your dead body and chips is stupid since your body and chips are duplicated in the system...(Arf, imagine Darksoul or Elden Ring doing the same)

2) NO, you should not need to play other NIER or Drakengard games to "fully" understand the story of NA. I understood TLOR without reading the Silmarillion or Bilbo. It just means Yoko Taro is now surfing on his relative fame in the industry and being a bit lazy (JK Rowlings and Fantastic Beasts anyone?)

3) The game is a whole nonsense and full of paradoxes (**) of a story since it is not about AI but an accumulation of now classic tropes from edgy manga. Finally it is a mess of ideas about fate, life and death cycle, memories and love or hate. Just open any sites of scanlation online and one can find a sheer number of manga quite cool playing with the same ideas and as shallow anyway. Even the reference to Sartre is so cliché.

4) In short, Nier Automata is about (see list below) BECAUSE IT IS COOL for Yoko Taro and Platinum Games
- sexy androids wearing thong and a maid uniform with eyes covered
- rubbish pseudo philosophical conversations and ideas
- stylish sword fights and hacking phases but lacking proper deep mechanics
- symbolism for effect
- childish monsters...em machines
- reference to Laputa and other Ghibli works or other anime
- military talks and a nod to Jin Roh
- a lot of fan service and references to other YT's works

(*) Regarding the Biblical Judeo-Christian themes and symbolism used (Ref: Anno in interviews tried also very hard to say it has meaning when his own coworkers were more direct about it). NA somehow shares a lot with NGE (and many others pieces of media) as the cool and intricate premises and design are actually serving less grandiose but more relatable subjects: family, love, emotions, becoming adults, the power of making decision.

(**) The androids express emotions the whole time yet question machines doing so. But androids are machines. (Talk about using GITS without even understanding the though put in by Shirow and Oshii). In fact, the whole childish design of the machine is neither original and just way to show the players the differences between the playable characters, androids NPC and the machine that somehow the player have to destroy to farm xp, gold, parts and item. In the games, Androids are a metaphor of HUMANS. And YoRHa being a kind of GOD or metaphor of RELIGION. Yet the mechanics of the game related to fighting and hacking do not give much choices in exploring those questions (Not the first neither the last game doing so). See! It is as lame as the famous Bioshock twist.

I hope if they do a sequel, it would a more rounded and polished games with interesting questions for thought.

Now, i wonder how do you (and others who find NA so amazing) feel about the stories of COD4: MW, GOW 2018, Metro series or even the Witcher 3 (DLC included)? And so many more...

Now, if writing your comments (Might want to use some edit and spacing) is a kind of relaxing time or self-therapy, you are welcome. Not that my comment is much different from yours anyway.

Glory to mankind (Is it a note that YoRHa is a metaphor for GOD since glory to mankind could be a nod to Glória in excélsis Deo?)

[Mattzby]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Leynx KF-FR:

NO NEED of a lengthy explanation of why the game is so great

Please don't write long posts about how the game is great... Now please read my long post about why the game isn't great.

[Turtle / Eli]

Looking at a few of these Steam JRPG forums, people are quite divisive....

[Leynx & Fenrir]

@Mattzby

To be fair, I wanted to make just a short answer but I was expecting someone asking further reasons on my part.

Now, the game is not bad but far from being a masterpiece (Hey, TLOU anyone? Praised and all for a quite basic game with an average story). Like many games, a bit more polish and thoughts put into gathering story telling, game mechanics and all together and it would have been a much better experience.

Just that the game design choices / flaws really hinder the message and story somehow.

Story which, if doesn't move me much or at all, seems very compelling for many. And that's good for people who like it.

As said, our messages are of no importance anyway.

[Neidhardto]

Guys he's a troll don't even bother lol

[Angelus ❀]

yes, I would've played it just because the combat system looks sick in the trailers.

[Jamma003]

Wow Ive got the exact opposite opinion to most of you guys. Just finished endings A-E and got to say Im underwhelmed. I think I like the game? But wow, it steps on its own toes way too often. Ill preface this by saying, Im someone who always plays for gameplay first and story second. But I was super invested in this story, right until the end where I realised there was no payoff for it.

First off, theyre not "endings", more like chapters of the same story, with a single branching "ending" that amounts to 1 cutscene at the final boss. Saying this game has 26 endings is a complete farce, when A-C/D are all one story and the rest are jokey game-over screens. This game has 3 "chapters", a branching final boss, and a gimmick. Calling them playthroughs is honestly distasteful. Undertale has multiple playthroughs. This doesnt.

This is my biggest complaint: All through the game we have been seeing all this weird stuff happen and I hoped at some point it would all get answered, but it never does. You find out some plot-relevant stuff about the androids, but that leaves a massive gap open where, for example, Adam is just created out of nowhere, and you have no context for it. And even if you ask online the answer is "hur dur you missed the obvious reference to Genesis you fool". No. I did not. It is painfully obvious. What I want to know is HOW they did that and WHY they did that, not a reference to the Bible that is hammered into you over the course of the whole game. And after looking it up, the consensus is "we dont know". The same is true of many other events that seem to only happen because the plot demands it. Theyre never explained anywhere. Look it up a bit, and youll find that to get the "full" story you need to play 3 Drakengard games, the original Nier, watch a Japan-only stage play, buy a ton of light novels, and personally ask Yoko Taro for the rest. Thats not a good story no matter how you slice it, because only 20% of this games story can even be found in the game. The bits that are present are mostly found in archive data instead of the natural story progression, all except one plot point about the purpose of Yorha. The story IS good, it IS clever, but most of it isnt even in the game. And name-dropping a bunch of famous philosophers doesnt replace the story thats missing here that would explain the in-game events.

Aside from story, making us replay the game for route B (chapter 2) kinda sucks. Your character loses their heavy attack, removing one of the only complexities of the combat, and its replaced by a hacking minigame which rewards you for not doing the combat at all and playing a twin-stick shooter instead. And I LOVE twin-stick-shooters, Geometry Wars is an all time favorite for me... but why is the majority of the combat in chapter 2 just, hold a button, enter minigame, win, and do damage? I didnt do that, I opted to use a spear and spam the heavy attack which does a crazy amount of ranged piercing damage and is probably the only way to fight in that part of the game, but this meant for the entire second chapter of the story, I was just holding down the Pods shoot button (which theres no downside to so I question why it exists at all) and spear-spamming. Its a lot less fun than chapter 1s hack-and-slash combat. Worse combat while replaying the same missions youve already done, too? Some are different, but I really feel they could have added all the extra content you get in your second playthrough to the first one. Just as optional things you can see if you try to look for them.

Route C, the third "playthrough", is by far the most interesting and the most plot-driven, and presented incredibly well, but its short, and again the entire focus of the main characters is on a giant tower that appeared out of nowhere for plot reasons that are never explained. You never find out how something like that could be constructed, it seems clear that Adam and Eve built this, but that wouldnt be possible. You do find out why it exists, but the reasoning is flimsy.

Balance felt a little off, I couldnt find the materials to upgrade the Pod until Route C because I missed the only 2 side quests that can get you what you need, I found a +6 chip when I was level 10 that I was definitely not meant to have and it made combat a joke. I accidentally got locked into a fight with the level 50 karate robot at level 15, it lasted 20 minutes and burned through 60 of my recoveries, and you cant exit once you start the fight. Im not mad about that though, I thought it was hilarious.

In terms of other game stuff, the map is very small with only 5 or so main areas that take maybe 2 minutes each to run across. The problem with that is that side quests often tell you to backtrack through areas youve already been through, and I must have gone through that tutorial zone at least 25 times by the end of the game for various different quests (and also failing the tutorial makes you replay the entire 45 minute opening and tutorial zone, I havent forgiven that yet either). Side quests fail with a point of no return that is not obvious and never explained to you, and you lose all progress in them, but have to redo them anyway in the next chapter.

Its not all bad. Music is an absolute masterpiece, Pascals village music is one of the best things Ive ever listened to. The plug-in chips system is awesome, the NPCs are all super memorable, the controls and combat is excellent (when youre not playing chapter 2)... but seriously, Ive just listed the things off the top of my head and this is probably the longest forum comment Ive ever made. I have so many problems with this game that Im really not sure if I can say I liked it at all. It is far from a masterpiece.

Lots of people hated MGS:Vs story. I liked it, because it was complex and wacky but also provided enough context for the weird stuff going on that you could understand it all by the end and justify why theres a big space-whale made of fire in the intro and why your tutorial buddy has the same voice as you. This game is very similar, except it doesnt give the answers youre looking for in the end. Maybe Im wrong and all the secrets I want to find are hidden in a weapon story for a weapon I never found and wouldnt have used?

Edit: Its been a few days since finishing it and writing this, and I still frequently think about the story. So, it cant be that bad after all. I did have a lot of fun with it. Its great, but still not flawless in my opinion. Some things I still want answers for: What is Eves tattoo? Who built the Ark? Why was 2B not assigned to 9S until after their encounter at the Goliath if it was her purpose all along? Why does A2 not just explain to 9S that 2B was infected? Why does the robot death cult believe in suicide, is it to become more human and they think humans were gods? Why does the Tower openly invite 9S to solve it and open it? N2 delays the victory of the war by making its robots flawed, so they wont lose purpose while they try to evolve to outsmart the order they were left by the aliens, "destroy the enemy", but if they have that level of free will, why cant they disobey knowing the aliens are long gone?

[Kaldaien]

lol, karate robot

[Vorbe2029]

123

[Jarie 水栓 (Suisen)]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von BlackSun:

Is this an actual scifi story, or it is just anime?

Oh look. A person who still can't distinguish between a loanword that literally just means "animation" (including not JUST Japanese-made animations but also all from everywhere, including Frozen, Mickey Mouse, the Simpsons, etc.) and the generic genre of science fiction.
Do you have this same mental debate when looking at Star Wars the Clone Wars and Star Wars Visions? Or Astro Boy and Titan AE? Because an artform and a genre are COMPLETELY different things and that is very obvious to anyone who puts real effort beyond just reading reviews and looking at just the latest popular things.

Are there anime with dull plots that only sell fanservice? Sure! Duh! Sex sells. Is that the extent of anime? Pffft, NO. Also duh! Look into more than just the mainstream super-hyped stuff and you can find far far far more shows that aren't what you seem to imagine "anime" to be defined as. Many are fantasy, many are sci-fi, many are romance, many are action, many are many things more than some narrow-minded perception of it.

Is 2B's sexualization an over-focus of many people? Duh, people like sexy girls (human or otherwise). To think otherwise would be foolish.
But it sure says a lot about you when you can't seem to see past those points yourself to be actually curious, rather than posting a loaded troll question. Get over your bias and maybe you'll start finding the gems that exists, even if this really isn't one for you.

Oh, right: I also don't ever get notified of replies, so if you have any thoughts, comments, criticisms, additional trolling, etc. (or even positive things, sorry), I'll never know. So you can save yourself the time of replying to me in particular. Just saying.

[medion_no]

Its one of the best games ever made just like the first. But peasants and youtubers prefer to play "Eldenring" and "Sekiro". Go play that instead and dont waste our time here.

[Villiers]

Homeboy literally came here fully intent on triggering people, with no actual desire to play the game.

[F.U.D.F.]

OP don't let others' opinions (especially fatherless weebs) inform your consumption of this product, or any Japanese video game. They make great entertainment products that drip with excellence but also delve into perversion - this is natural of Japan.

Maybe then you will find you are able to enjoy things without caring what others' think.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von enticed by males:

OP don't let others' opinions (especially fatherless weebs) inform your consumption of this product, or any Japanese video game. They make great entertainment products that drip with excellence but also delve into perversion - this is natural of Japan.

Maybe then you will find you are able to enjoy things without caring what others' think.

Go give EA some more money for PlAyErS in Fifa.

[F.U.D.F.]

Show me a better football simulation? And I'm only a career mode addict (AS Monaco to the champs league baybee), FUT is for teenagers.