Why you should buy Nier Automata: the 24 hour review

[Dirty Hipsters]

Having played a bit more I can say that I really like the game, but it definitely has problems in its design.

Sometimes the camera can be infuriating. All of the camera switching in this game is cool and accommodates for some interesting gameplay changes (like going from a hack and slash to a bullet hell in a single camera transition), but at times the fixed position of the camera can be a real headache.

For example I'm doing Jackass's side mission where she asks you to gather combat data, and I just cannot for the life of me finish the last part of it, which is to kill all the enemies in the arena in 30 seconds without taking damage. The reason I can't do it? The fixed positioning of the camera is zoomed out and at an awkward angle which causes me to lose track of my character when I dodge too many times, or when I'm in the air doing a juggle, so sometimes I'll think I'm looking at 2B when I'm actually looking at 9S, and I'll get hit in that split moment. Or even worse, the fixed camera position often times prevents me from judging depth correctly and I flat out miss a combo because the enemy was a foot further back than I thought. If I had free control of the camera during this section (and why the hell don't I?!) I would have finished it easily, instead I've hit a wall and I'm just going to come back to that mission once my weapon is more upgraded. I can't do this mission because of a mechanical flaw in the game, which is a shitty feeling.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I like the hell out of this game. It's got a good number of flaws, though. But many of my favorite games do as well. The one definite flaw I'd point out that I dislike personally is that there just isn't much depth to the combat, but it's still enjoyable and visually appealing. Maybe I just have low standards.

The combat is pretty simple, but the game does a good job at forcing you to do a lot of stuff at once.

Like in the 3rd boss fight you're dodging missiles, energy shots, and lasers, while also destroying the crucified androids, while also jumping over the shock-waves, and constantly shooting and managing the cool down on your pod, all while still finding time to sneak melee damage in on the boss. It does a good job being hectic and splitting your attention and making you utilize the full range of your combat options, which I appreciate. Hopefully the rest of the bosses do the same.

It is unfortunate that these moments really only seem to happen during the boss fights though, because the basic enemies are a little too simple, though I hope we'll start encountering more and more complex configurations as the game goes on, and arranging the encounters to be tougher overall.

 

[major_chaos]

That is their famous hack 'n slash gameplay. You know, the super weightless, flashy, unimpactful combat against cardboard cut-out enemies, and giant bosses that are so stupidly huge and easily dispatched that their size and defeat loses all meaning.

What is a good brawler/"character action game" by your standards then?

OT: Not very far into Automata yet due to Horizon Zero Dawn devouring all my free time, but what I have played so far is great. It's exactly what I hoped for when I first heard "Yoko Taro + Platinum" all the mixed gameplay styles, involving story, and charming quirkiness that made me want to love Nier and Drakengrad 3, but without the tedious hyper-simplified combated that caused me to give up on both of them within hours. Also the side quests, while not amazing, don't appear to be aggressively wasting my time like in the first Nier, so that's a plus.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

Zhukov, is there anything you do like? I feel like I could copy paste every comment you make, and they'd be more or less interchangeable.

You don't know me!

Seriously though, you've clearly never seen me getting all gushy over The Last of Us. Or Journey. Or Mirror's Edge. Or Mass Effect. Or the new Hitman. Or Amnesia. And so on and so forth.

I'd link threads but this forum's search function is borked.

Also, I've been mainlining Horizon Zero Dawn for almost a week straight now. So I guess that can get added to the Official List of Things Zhukov Does Indeed Like.

It's good to know you still like something, Zhukov. I was beginning to think you were one of those odd people who has burned out on video games entirely, but still hangs around on gaming boards to complain about how everything modern is worse than the 8-bit days of yore.

 

[Zhukov]

It's good to know you still like something, Zhukov. I was beginning to think you were one of those odd people who has burned out on video games entirely, but still hangs around on gaming boards to complain about how everything modern is worse than the 8-bit days of yore.

Nah, I've never been one of the modern-gaming-sucks people.

So far as I'm concerned gaming has never been as good as it is right now. There are so many interesting and/or good games on the market right now that I literally cannot find time to play them all.

Besides, despite liking pixel art, I find 8-bit graphics hideous.

 

[Catfood220]

I'll probably pick this up at some point, I thought the demo was ok. However, with Horizon eating up all of my free time and the fact that I am actually gaining a backlog of games to play, I think this one can wait for a little bit. Its annoying that a load of high quality games have all launched at the same time and I have so little free time to play them.

I need a non life threatening illness or a broken bone or something that keeps me off my feet for a few weeks so I can just catch up

 

[Casual Shinji]

That is their famous hack 'n slash gameplay. You know, the super weightless, flashy, unimpactful combat against cardboard cut-out enemies, and giant bosses that are so stupidly huge and easily dispatched that their size and defeat loses all meaning.

What is a good brawler/"character action game" by your standards then?

Look, I can understand the depth behind the combat of games like Bayonetta and Revengeance, and that they're more intricate brawlers than most. But Platinum games move to fast, floaty, and over the top for me to ever properly connect to the action. Raiden taking out a Metal Gear Ray in a matter of seconds with little to no effort is boring and does nothing to excite me.

I'd take a God of War over Bayonetta or Devil May Cry any day of the week, because despite it apparently being a more shallow action game, there's weight and heft to the action. I'd argue that games like The Last of Us and even Bully have more engaging brawling action, because there's a sense of struggle and of your punches/attacks connecting.

Also, I guess in the end games like Nier: Automata feel too "gamey" for me. And I know that sounds like heresy, because it is a game, but it's a game in the same way Tetris or Pac-Man are games. Having played the demo for Nier and seeing enemies shoot big, red orbs at me like it's a bullet hell game instantly draws my attention to the fact that it's a game. And in games like this, with a focus on characters and story, I want the seams of the game to become invisible.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Also, I guess in the end games like Nier: Automata feel too "gamey" for me. And I know that sounds like heresy, because it is a game, but it's a game in the same way Tetris or Pac-Man are games. Having played the demo for Nier and seeing enemies shoot big, red orbs at me like it's a bullet hell game instantly draws my attention to the fact that it's a game. And in games like this, with a focus on characters and story, I want the seams of the game to become invisible.

That's funny, because one of the things I loved most about NieR was how it presented a story that could only be told through the video game medium and used mechanics only found in the video game medium to both present and improve upon the story.

Now, that said, the way enemies shoot you is not some significant part of the story, and if it bothered you then that's fine and reasonable, but to say that there's some kind of large dissonance between story and gameplay in NieR would be very wrong.

 

[Foolery]

That is their famous hack 'n slash gameplay. You know, the super weightless, flashy, unimpactful combat against cardboard cut-out enemies, and giant bosses that are so stupidly huge and easily dispatched that their size and defeat loses all meaning.

What is a good brawler/"character action game" by your standards then?

Look, I can understand the depth behind the combat of games like Bayonetta and Revengeance, and that they're more intricate brawlers than most. But Platinum games move to fast, floaty, and over the top for me to ever properly connect to the action. Raiden taking out a Metal Gear Ray in a matter of seconds with little to no effort is boring and does nothing to excite me.

I'd take a God of War over Bayonetta or Devil May Cry any day of the week, because despite it apparently being a more shallow action game, there's weight and heft to the action. I'd argue that games like The Last of Us and even Bully have more engaging brawling action, because there's a sense of struggle and of your punches/attacks connecting.

Also, I guess in the end games like Nier: Automata feel too "gamey" for me. And I know that sounds like heresy, because it is a game, but it's a game in the same way Tetris or Pac-Man are games. Having played the demo for Nier and seeing enemies shoot big, red orbs at me like it's a bullet hell game instantly draws my attention to the fact that it's a game. And in games like this, with a focus on characters and story, I want the seams of the game to become invisible.

Really? I always thought that Devil May Cry felt a bit stiff. Particulary the lack of a proper dodge, you have to jump straight up or hit an awkward button combo to avoid attacks. Can't really say much about God of War, I couldn't get into it. You're right, Bayonetta is kind of floaty.

Automata does look like an improvement over Yoko Taro's previous works. Drakengard 1&2 basically played out like Dynasty Warriors. Drakengard 3 was more in line with the first Nier, and played ok, the flight segments were eh. Framerate dips also didn't help. The new Nier targets 60fps, so that's good. As for gamey-ness, that's Yoko Taro's whole schtick, the first Nier parodied games like Zelda and bullet-hell titles. Automata has SHMUPS sections (a la Raiden, DoDonPachi or Gradius) in it. If you're not into those things, it's probably not for you.

At any rate, I probably won't pick it up until it drops from 80 bucks Canadian.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

That is their famous hack 'n slash gameplay. You know, the super weightless, flashy, unimpactful combat against cardboard cut-out enemies, and giant bosses that are so stupidly huge and easily dispatched that their size and defeat loses all meaning.

What is a good brawler/"character action game" by your standards then?

Look, I can understand the depth behind the combat of games like Bayonetta and Revengeance, and that they're more intricate brawlers than most. But Platinum games move to fast, floaty, and over the top for me to ever properly connect to the action. Raiden taking out a Metal Gear Ray in a matter of seconds with little to no effort is boring and does nothing to excite me.

I'd take a God of War over Bayonetta or Devil May Cry any day of the week, because despite it apparently being a more shallow action game, there's weight and heft to the action. I'd argue that games like The Last of Us and even Bully have more engaging brawling action, because there's a sense of struggle and of your punches/attacks connecting.

Also, I guess in the end games like Nier: Automata feel too "gamey" for me. And I know that sounds like heresy, because it is a game, but it's a game in the same way Tetris or Pac-Man are games. Having played the demo for Nier and seeing enemies shoot big, red orbs at me like it's a bullet hell game instantly draws my attention to the fact that it's a game. And in games like this, with a focus on characters and story, I want the seams of the game to become invisible.

Really? I always thought that Devil May Cry felt a bit stiff. Particulary the lack of a proper dodge, you have to jump straight up or hit an awkward button combo to avoid attacks. Can't really say much about God of War, I couldn't get into it. You're right, Bayonetta is kind of floaty.

Automata does look like an improvement over Yoko Taro's previous works. Drakengard 1&2 basically played out like Dynasty Warriors. Drakengard 3 was more in line with the first Nier, and played ok, the flight segments were eh. Framerate dips also didn't help. The new Nier targets 60fps, so that's good. As for gamey-ness, that's Yoko Taro's whole schtick, the first Nier parodied games like Zelda and bullet-hell titles. Automata has SHMUPS sections (a la Raiden, DoDonPachi or Gradius) in it. If you're not into those things, it's probably not for you.

At any rate, I probably won't pick it up until it drops from 80 bucks Canadian.

Nier Automata "targets" 60 fps, but on the PS4 it doesn't seem to be hitting anywhere near that. I've had some random frame-rate dips that definitely went into the 20s, and that wasn't even in combat sections, it was just exploring around the over world.

Might have something to do with the lighting engine. I've noticed that the frame rate gets a bit choppy whenever you transition between areas of shadow into intense light.

 

[Foolery]

That is their famous hack 'n slash gameplay. You know, the super weightless, flashy, unimpactful combat against cardboard cut-out enemies, and giant bosses that are so stupidly huge and easily dispatched that their size and defeat loses all meaning.

What is a good brawler/"character action game" by your standards then?

Look, I can understand the depth behind the combat of games like Bayonetta and Revengeance, and that they're more intricate brawlers than most. But Platinum games move to fast, floaty, and over the top for me to ever properly connect to the action. Raiden taking out a Metal Gear Ray in a matter of seconds with little to no effort is boring and does nothing to excite me.

I'd take a God of War over Bayonetta or Devil May Cry any day of the week, because despite it apparently being a more shallow action game, there's weight and heft to the action. I'd argue that games like The Last of Us and even Bully have more engaging brawling action, because there's a sense of struggle and of your punches/attacks connecting.

Also, I guess in the end games like Nier: Automata feel too "gamey" for me. And I know that sounds like heresy, because it is a game, but it's a game in the same way Tetris or Pac-Man are games. Having played the demo for Nier and seeing enemies shoot big, red orbs at me like it's a bullet hell game instantly draws my attention to the fact that it's a game. And in games like this, with a focus on characters and story, I want the seams of the game to become invisible.

Really? I always thought that Devil May Cry felt a bit stiff. Particulary the lack of a proper dodge, you have to jump straight up or hit an awkward button combo to avoid attacks. Can't really say much about God of War, I couldn't get into it. You're right, Bayonetta is kind of floaty.

Automata does look like an improvement over Yoko Taro's previous works. Drakengard 1&2 basically played out like Dynasty Warriors. Drakengard 3 was more in line with the first Nier, and played ok, the flight segments were eh. Framerate dips also didn't help. The new Nier targets 60fps, so that's good. As for gamey-ness, that's Yoko Taro's whole schtick, the first Nier parodied games like Zelda and bullet-hell titles. Automata has SHMUPS sections (a la Raiden, DoDonPachi or Gradius) in it. If you're not into those things, it's probably not for you.

At any rate, I probably won't pick it up until it drops from 80 bucks Canadian.

Nier Automata "targets" 60 fps, but on the PS4 it doesn't seem to be hitting anywhere near that. I've had some random frame-rate dips that definitely went into the 20s, and that wasn't even in combat sections, it was just exploring around the over world.

Might have something to do with the lighting engine. I've noticed that the frame rate gets a bit choppy whenever you transition between areas of shadow into intense light.

Yar, I've heard all about the framerate on PS4. Shadows can be graphically intensive and problematic in many games. I'm actually waiting for the PC release, hopefully it's not plagued by similar issues.

 

[stroopwafel]

As for gamey-ness, that's Yoko Taro's whole schtick, the first Nier parodied games like Zelda and bullet-hell titles. Automata has SHMUPS sections (a la Raiden, DoDonPachi or Gradius) in it. If you're not into those things, it's probably not for you.

Indeed. The game literally plays with different generations of videogames in the same way it blends an android in skimpy outfit with existentialist philosophy. You never know what to expect with this game. I can't remember liking a story and characters so much as in Nier Automata. I've been playing this game at the same time as Horizon(which is also quite good) but there is just something special about Nier Automata I can't really explain. It just really caters to my tastes.

And besides, how can you not love a guy like this?