Let’s talk about how the sausage is made, the inevitable blind spots that are inherent to any lens of criticism, and how one receives a game differently as a critic on the clock than they do when they’re just enjoying one as a player. Oh, right, and let’s talk about Nier: Automata.
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i honestly hated that game and that route (where you litterly need to play the same thing with little story variations for hours) was one of the most stupid design things i ever seen
Great video! I can relate to most of your views on Nier Automata. The game is not perfect, but it remains one of my favorites. What are your general thoughts on replaying games? Is there a game you always come back to?
Not worth it. Love anime, love philisophy, but this game seemed really overrated for what ive played
I do have to say, there is a point to finding out the aliens are dead (I’m getting into more spoilers that FirstFive did not cover). The whole point of the mission for the androids is to defeat the aliens that drove the humans to the moon. But when they discover that the aliens died ages ago, then why are the humans still on the moon? It’s just a key to the plot point revealed later on that there are no more humans. The reason why there’s an alarm for the discovery of aliens is because only the leader of YorHa knows the true nature of earth and the humans, and everyone else on the base needs to be kept in the dark about the whole situation. It’s true that the humans were destroyed by the aliens, and the aliens died from their fights with the machines as well. All we have left is a world full of androids and machines living under a lie. They are also kind of a giant reference to the original Neir, and the story they wanted to tell doesn’t involve them.
Also when you say Eve doesn’t have much characterization, I hate to be that guy, but that’s kind of the point. Adam and Eve are machines (not androids) who want to be as human as possible, they found the Bible, and tried their best to emulate it. Even down to details that were obviously metaphorical, but machines done understand metaphors. They have no characterization because they’re machines with no brain. They’re just trying to copy, and through their neural network, they come closer and closer over time. If I remember correctly Adam and Eve separate themselves from the neural network, but it’s been a while since I’ve played the game. Neir Automata really is confusing, because they jump around with conventional story beats (there’s a LOT of Shonen story writing in this game) and extremely unconventional storytelling. So it’s hard to analyze it at times. I hope what I said made sense.
Deffo not a game for me, i like the artstyle but i usually struggle extreamly to get into weird plot logics… On the other hand i finished Pathfinder Kingmaker … why you ask? Well i compartmentalized it plus i really liked the combat 😀 So i just tagged on along for the ride and did it in smth 270h over the course of half a year.
Just looking at Nier (never even played the original one either) … i just think i leave this game to the ones that enjoy such games and play my games that i like. No point in trying to force something on you because a "majority" of other people you hear like it.
I was in a constant state of thinking why i like this game after i finish it: why do i want to replay it why is it so engaging to me, why the fuck do i like the story but then i realized from this video that… The repetitiveness is kinda the point and I'm not saying "oh for the sake of the story" that kinda shit that's the reason why i love this game and was engaged all the way threw the end because it uses that repetitiveness and convoluted-ness to make one of the most experimental, weird, dumb, physiological and existential story i have ever seen and i think the reason why it gotten so much praise is because of how willing it is to brake the mole of video game conventions while still being a worthwhile experience despite and that is true with the creators other works because from what I heard they are basically weren't as good as they can be but still have incredibly interesting narratives that rewards the player for their curiosity if it means having to sit threw questionable design decisions (i really need to play does games some day i like suffering sometimes) and as i know from automata is that but better. A game with questionable design decisions, weird passing but with a engaging story that rewards curiosity on top of everything else. It just better compared to the creator other works.
Hey what was that tactics game around the 1:00 mark?
This game drives me nuts, I feel like the only person who can't withstand the clumsy phylosophical crap Yoko Taro shitted all over the game. Feels sooo prententious listening to all the ideas in a game subtle as an out-of-control buffalo
Bro managed to somehow sneak in the Zorah magdaros quest track in a nier automata review
I have yet to play this game, but it's disappointing hearing how bland that the side quests are. I'd heard about how the industrial robots you fight in the beginning actually have their own little society and religion and that seemed like such an interesting world-building element.
I want to preface this by saying that I love your content, and this is in-no-way intended to be an attack, but I disagree with almost everything you say in this video, and I think I understand (partly) why.
Re tedious sidequests: I found them mostly interesting or pleasant little distractions, even the box-pushing you later mention. Adam Millard made a video recently about fishing minigames and other distractions in games which I think is relevant.
At 19:00 ish you say that it was you "job to play [the game] from nine to five". I don't think this is how most people will engage with this content – it's certainly not what I did, which is probably why it didn't bother me.
As for the rest of it – I think the side-quests mirroring theming of the main story is in-itself thematic: the game is about cycles as repetition. The world has gone on in this state for a long, long time, repeating the same patterns, and it's your job to break it. I think that's where your reading of the main story differs a lot from mine also: I never thought that the aliens or Adam and Eve were important things the narrative was trying to push, nor even the cycle of revenge. In my opinion it's more about cycles in general, with the Aliens being ancient history and Adam and Eve doing what they do all playing into that theme.
I didn't have the issues you describe with the combat either (bullet sponges etc.) and I thought it had plenty of freedom of expression and mechanics to control the fight, not just counters.
For those reasons, perhaps, I thoroughly enjoyed Route A, and the rest.
I'm the first person to brush off the "it gets good after 10 hours" argument – I always hate to hear that about JRPGs etc. – but I absolutely did not feel that way here.
to each their own. if you want your time to be respected within the first 5 hrs then it is not the game for you.
Nier was one of the first great videogames that I didn't finish because of time constraints. I crawled to the first ending, without enjoying it that much because of all the mind numbing chores that removed me from the excelent mood of the game, and when it demmanded me to play it one more time I just couldn't. Thanks to this and other reviews, I could enjoy it nevertheless
Thanks for the vid
Repetition is a core element of videogames: repeated runs in rouguelikes, backtracking in metroidvanias, repeated fights with a hard boss, playing the same maps in competitive games… To put it even more strongly, repetition of content is one of the features of videogames that distinguish it from other interactive media.
So, when people complains the Nier requires repeating the same content, I think what they really mean is that… Nier is boring to begin with.
Nier feels like an amazing story made by someone who just started writing for the first time. Threads that go nowhere, obtuse and inaccessible presentation, and a constant reassurance by writer and critic alike that every frustration and flaw is "meant for a purpose," "means something deep," or "is actually necessary to the story." This comes in its gameplay too, with its many unexciting side quests and a combat system that's flashy but not very deep. I feel like folks who write these kinds of stories have a massive blindspot where the audience is, and the fact that they're people who won't just doggedly blaze through and worship their game despite all the frustrations it will bring on them when trying to get through it. Story is great, ideas are important, but an inaccessible game that doesn't actually care about its audience is a bad product to me.
^ This is how you're supposed to review Nier: Automata.
Great video 🙂 Like you said, there'll always be things that are good/we like despite them being bad in some other way that's usually more important. I don't think that makes those metrics/review styles imperfect. Just yanno, there'll always be exceptions to the rule.
A tip friends gave me for the non-savepoint intro: Set the game to easiest mode just to get through it and save. Then set it to whatever difficulty you actually want to play at. Kinda wastes the good intro a bit… but at least it'll waste less of your time?
a game i enjoy hearing about but will never play
I honestly just found this video on a whim, and its exactly what I needed. I am so sick of seeing critics cite a dollar/hour ratio; I honestly struggle with that since gaming is such a different experience to most other hobbies, and you are constantly starting from ground 0 with each new game versus building upon skills you already have. I think the investment is much more than a traditional hobby. I have been interested in this game for awhile, but I saw mixed reviews when it came to the first 10 hours. As a person who has thought about starting this several times I just can't find the justification to sink hours and hours in new games anymore. Persona 5 – despite me loving the series was a breaking point – it had a good narrative, but as I get older I don't know if I want to be waiting 10, 15, 20 hours anymore. RPGs are my favorite genre, but sometimes I feel like I'm getting left behind. I do love Taro's ability to tell a story, and his philosophical rants (I played a few Drakengards), so I think this helped me just commit to watching the story in chunks online (and maybe the anime in January), as I feel like the story is worth my time. It makes me sad that I probably won't have the time to get around and actually play it, but its easier to justify 5 or so hours to myself rather than 40.
(Thank you for the review style. Its refreshing and what I really have needed and was looking for. I really like it, so ofc I subscribed)
I don't think the game is a 10/10 at all, or even an 8/10. The gameplay is shallow and the story is just as so. The first game is not a masterpiece in gameplay either, but the story of that one is definitely good, unless this one.