Acquiescence
Member
So I was enjoying this game to begin with. Its weird tone and dramatic soundtrack made an instant impression on me, and the dynamic switching of perspectives and mechanics during combat made for some really engaging set-pieces. And because I was having a good time, I felt compelled to complete as much side content as my level would permit before it was time to move on to the point of no return.
BIG MISTAKE!
I'm on Route B now and I already feel burned out. I've sunk too many hours into optional stuff because I wanted to explore the smaller vignettes of lore and world building, but the problem is that said optional stuff comes straight out of the Dragon Age: Inquisition textbook of stock fetch-quest design. "Please go to this part of the map and collect this item/fight these enemies and come back to me." I can only tolerate so much of that, but by the end of Route A I had only cleared approximately 48% of the quests! So moving on, I hesitatingly resorted to skipping everything outside the main plotline, because doing anything more would be masochism at this rate. But the other major problem, and this is pretty well documented at this point, is that Route B features a lot of recycled content. There are some entirely new segments, but more than half of it involves playing through the same game again. Yeah sure, you can approach fights in a different way via
, but that new mini-game mechanic has lost its lustre very quickly.
Needless to say, my opinion of this game has taken a steep decline. The overarching problem for me is that Nier: Automata can't sustain its own length. The combat was gratifying to begin with, but is ultimately too simplistic to hold the attention for such a long duration, and the narrative is scattershot and borderline episodic to the extent that even the main story has lost its appeal now. And there's still Route C to go! I can't help but feel this is yet another example of a game that's too bloated and could've benefited from some serious editing. It's somewhat dispiriting to have my impressions of a game go downhill like this, considering how things started out, and I just had to vent.
BIG MISTAKE!
I'm on Route B now and I already feel burned out. I've sunk too many hours into optional stuff because I wanted to explore the smaller vignettes of lore and world building, but the problem is that said optional stuff comes straight out of the Dragon Age: Inquisition textbook of stock fetch-quest design. "Please go to this part of the map and collect this item/fight these enemies and come back to me." I can only tolerate so much of that, but by the end of Route A I had only cleared approximately 48% of the quests! So moving on, I hesitatingly resorted to skipping everything outside the main plotline, because doing anything more would be masochism at this rate. But the other major problem, and this is pretty well documented at this point, is that Route B features a lot of recycled content. There are some entirely new segments, but more than half of it involves playing through the same game again. Yeah sure, you can approach fights in a different way via
hacking
Needless to say, my opinion of this game has taken a steep decline. The overarching problem for me is that Nier: Automata can't sustain its own length. The combat was gratifying to begin with, but is ultimately too simplistic to hold the attention for such a long duration, and the narrative is scattershot and borderline episodic to the extent that even the main story has lost its appeal now. And there's still Route C to go! I can't help but feel this is yet another example of a game that's too bloated and could've benefited from some serious editing. It's somewhat dispiriting to have my impressions of a game go downhill like this, considering how things started out, and I just had to vent.
