NieR: Automata is a hack 'n slash developed by Platinum Games, directed by Yoko Taro of the Drakengard fame, and published by Square Enix. A sequel to the original NieR game, set thousands of years into the future, where we take control of YoRHa androids sent to fight against the machine scourge of alien origin, to retake Earth and let the humanity - after it escaped to the Moon - return back down. Of course that isn't all there is to it.

Let's start with presentation. Each location out in the world has its own visual style that makes it memorable, whether it be the city ruins overgrown with greenery, the abandoned amusement park, a vast desert with barely a living (or mechanical) thing in sight, or the massive forest, with a ravine separating an old castle from the rest of it. All of these are also accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack composed primarily by Keiichi Okabe, easily one of my favorites, encompassing a lot of different visions with its instruments, all of them incredibly fitting for what you're going through. I'm not going to list any specific pieces here, since it would have to basically be all of them - yes, it's just that excellent. You even get really cool chiptune renditions of them during the hacking minigames, managing to hit that weakspot of me liking the old '80s style of video game OSTs.

From the gameplay perspective, it's the usual Platinum Games fare: combining high-speed melee combat with a focus on evading, a few different weapon categories to pick from, as well as NieR's trademark floating companion - in this case your Pod - being able to fire ranged attacks of different kinds. Your weapons and Pods can be upgraded, and you can also outfit yourself with an array of chips that enhance specific abilities, or give you brand-new ones.

Story-wise... I can't say much, as it would be a large spoiler, something I can't afford to do for a game this amazing. It's one of the most emotionally gripping stories I've ever experienced, even being driven to tears at some points. Everyone should be able to go through it themselves.

Gloating about the game so much, do I think it's flawless? Actually no, but it's more on a technical side than anything. The PC port of this game (originally released on PS4) had its fair share of issues in the past. Fortunately nowadays you can install things like FAR (Fix Automata Resolution, which I heavily recommend getting, as it makes the game fairly stable and fixes a lot of the common issues it has).
The other flaw is more due to balancing with the game - at base Normal difficulty is balanced just fine, with Hard being quite obviously tough, maybe bordering a little bit on unfair during the beginning segments if you're not used to it yet. What breaks the game are chips. Some of them can basically take the difficulty down a peg, particularly things like Auto-Heal, Auto-Use Items combined with Anti-Chain Damage, or the *insert time stop joke of choice* beast that is Overclock.
Most of these shortcomings can be forgiven or dealt with easily however.

NieR: Automata is my personal favorite game of all time. It's a masterpiece in style, gameplay, and storytelling alike. Go try it yourself if you haven't already, it will not disappoint.

[i]NieR: Automata[/i] is a hack 'n slash developed by Platinum Games, directed by Yoko Taro of the [i]Drakengard[/i] fame, and published by Square Enix. A sequel to the original [i]NieR[/i] game, set thousands of years into the future, where we take control of YoRHa androids sent to fight against the machine scourge of alien origin, to retake Earth and let the humanity - after it escaped to the Moon - return back down. Of course that isn't all there is to it. Let's start with presentation. Each location out in the world has its own visual style that makes it memorable, whether it be the city ruins overgrown with greenery, the abandoned amusement park, a vast desert with barely a living (or mechanical) thing in sight, or the massive forest, with a ravine separating an old castle from the rest of it. All of these are also accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack composed primarily by Keiichi Okabe, easily one of my favorites, encompassing a lot of different visions with its instruments, all of them incredibly fitting for what you're going through. I'm not going to list any specific pieces here, since it would have to basically be all of them - yes, it's just that excellent. [spoiler]You even get really cool chiptune renditions of them during the hacking minigames, managing to hit that weakspot of me liking the old '80s style of video game OSTs.[/spoiler] From the gameplay perspective, it's the usual Platinum Games fare: combining high-speed melee combat with a focus on evading, a few different weapon categories to pick from, as well as NieR's trademark floating companion - in this case your Pod - being able to fire ranged attacks of different kinds. Your weapons and Pods can be upgraded, and you can also outfit yourself with an array of chips that enhance specific abilities, or give you brand-new ones. Story-wise... I can't say much, as it would be a large spoiler, something I can't afford to do for a game this amazing. It's one of the most emotionally gripping stories I've ever experienced, even being driven to tears at some points. Everyone should be able to go through it themselves. Gloating about the game so much, do I think it's flawless? Actually no, but it's more on a technical side than anything. The PC port of this game (originally released on PS4) had its fair share of issues in the past. Fortunately nowadays you can install things like FAR (Fix Automata Resolution, which I heavily recommend getting, as it makes the game fairly stable and fixes a lot of the common issues it has). The other flaw is more due to balancing with the game - at base Normal difficulty is balanced just fine, with Hard being quite obviously tough, maybe bordering a little bit on unfair during the beginning segments if you're not used to it yet. What breaks the game are chips. Some of them can basically take the difficulty down a peg, particularly things like Auto-Heal, Auto-Use Items combined with Anti-Chain Damage, or the [i]*insert time stop joke of choice*[/i] beast that is Overclock. Most of these shortcomings can be forgiven or dealt with easily however. [i]NieR: Automata[/i] is my personal favorite game of all time. It's a masterpiece in style, gameplay, and storytelling alike. Go try it yourself if you haven't already, it will not disappoint.