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NieR: Automata |OT| "I wouldn't expect too much from this game if I were you."

Timodus

Member
A130: Bomb

I'm missing that one as well. I'll see if I can redo the quest as I can't see it on my cleared quests.

EDIT: While talking about quests, has anybody finished the
"Gathering Keepsakes"
quest? I've finished it 3 times and got reward each time, but it's still on my active quests.

EDIT2: Got the weapon now! Time to make a video of all weapon stories.
 

Hektor

Member
Hektor, have you ever posted full spoiler free impressions yet? I know you have been answering a lot of questions but I'd like to hear your full thoughts

Alright

People - including me - often say that Yoko Taro doesn't like to make the same game twice. And this definitely holds true for Automata as well.

There are as many differences to Nier as there are common elements and there is no inherent guarantee that you'll like Automata's characters, themes or even the tone of the game just because you liked Nier's.

As a fan of Nier i'd have to say i'm disappointed that Automata did not hit the emotional drums for me quite as much as the original did (Not to say that Automata isn't emotional tho), but as a fan of Yoko Taro in general i can safely say that despite that, the story and themes are very intruiging nonetheless, including what has been a positive surprise for me, but i don't wanna spoil.

What i definitely do can say however is that Automata manages to make something unqiue and memorable out of what's in its core a fairly typical sci-fi trope.

There's quite a bit of fan service here and there - i'm not talking about the butt kind - but thankfully it doesn't feel forced and weaves for the most part perfectly into the game's story and lore.


Platinum took Nier's crazy genre mashup concept and did the best it could at polishing and expanding on a lot of it, especially the shmup/Bullethell aspect, but personally i kinda missed the non-action parts of Nier, while things like fishing are still there, the gameplay definitely got a bigger focus on fighting and action this time around.

But that's depending on what you prefer not a bad thing.

Platinum didn't just made more polished Nier gameplay, they expanded it with their own expertise in terms of set pieces, "event action", enemy variety and all other things you expect from Platinum.

Having what's in its core platinum action in a game that is not a Platinum typical 8 hours linear adventure also feels fairly refreshing and i very much hope they can expand on that in future games of theirs, wether it's a Yoko Taro game or something else.

I do feel that Yoko Taro did hold back a bit in terms of punishing/trolling gameplay elements compaired to past games, but within the context of the game as a whole i'd think that this was very much a decision coming from his side and not from P* or SE.

So overall i gotta say, Automata's gameplay is a bit less varied than Nier's, but what is there is a lot more polished and expanded upon.


The character designs are amazing and unique, tho i definitely can see why some people would have an issue with, you know, certain aspects of it.

The soundtrack doesn't quite come close to the first Nier's but is a big step up again from Drakengard 3's. You can definitely tell that Okabe tried to bring his A game again.

The only reason i'd even think of saying anything negative about Automata's OST is really just that it got Nier's soundtrack as it's predecessor. If it weren't for Nier, I'd call Automata's a unique and great masterpiece without a doubt.



All in all, i'd put it this way:

As a NieR Fan I'm happy but a tad disappoined.
As a Platinum Fan i thought it was great.
As a Yoko Taro fan i loved the game and do not regret having a BBE on preorder.

My advice is, do not approach Automata as a sequel to Nier, approach it open minded as a new Yoko Taro/Platinum IP "Automata", because just like Drakengard 1 and 3 are rather different games, so are Nier and Automata, despite many common elements.
 

Philippo

Member
Must admit that i expected another game with the emotional heights of the NieR, but it seems i'm approaching with the wrong mindset and will only end up disappointed (i was totally expecting
Facade's Wedding/Emil's Sacrifice/Kaine death/Beeby&Kalil
2.0).
Well, as long as the game themes are deep and thoughtful and leave me thinking, i'm okay if this time i shed less tears lol
 

Hektor

Member
That's not what i want to read :(

Truth is : Weiss and Kaine are more lovable than 2B and 9S, OST is definitely better in the first one no contest

I hold myself more responsible for that than i do the game, because Automata isn't trying to be NieR: The Againaning, it very much wants to be its own thing.
 

Gin-Shiio

Member
Personally, 9S might be my favorite across the Nier games, but I don't think there is a need to draw comparisons between the casts of both games. They are very much their own thing like Hektor said, and that's for the better.
 

N° 2048

Member
I've never played a Yoko Taro game before and Nier Automata is so far shaping up to be one of the best games I've played in recent years.

Platinum action = check
Dark Souls/FF/Persona level God Tier music = check
Story I actually care about, where I'm reading item/weapon descriptions = check

20 hours in so far, taking my time with side quests.
 

cube001

Member
So I was coming back from a quest and there was set of new golden machines that have huge amounts of HP and I managed to defeat the small one after 10 minutes of continuous buffed ranged attacks, however, it didn't explode or drop anything, honestly I don't have the time and patience to defeat the other two and would like to know if I should bother, or just return later when they're easier to take on?

Edit: Why didn't the small one explode after I defeated it?

jwkY6A7.jpg
 

Gbraga

Member
but personally i kinda missed the non-action parts of Nier, while things like fishing are still there, the gameplay definitely got a bigger focus on fighting and action this time around.

Oh man :/

That's very disappointing.

Having never played the first Nier and reading your impressions makes me want that Nier remaster so much.

I wonder if people going Automata -> Nier will end up preferring the first, though. It's without a doubt rougher and much less polished. And most fans have the benefit of having the memory and discussions. Not all of us played/replayed it recently.

It's much easier to put variety over polish when you're not currently dealing with the less polished one.

Like, I didn't even start playing Drakengard 3 yet, and I'm sure it'll be a better game in my memory than during the time I'm actually playing, haha.
 

tjlee2

Neo Member
Reporting back on the Donguri combo video, I finally figured out how he did the ground dashing heavy attack in the air. The timing is pretty strict. Think of it like FRC from Guilty Gear. Thankfully it can be performed without a target so practice can make perfect.

Basically, you want to queue up a weapon swap during a launcher, after which, perform an evade. The queued weapon swap will automatically come through during the evade. You want to hold forward (can be done early) then attack with heavy basically an instant (Unable to identify how many frames) before the weapon swap, or might even be exactly on it. That will result in the ground dash attack of the offset heavy to come out in the air. Make sure to not hold/release the weapon swap and evade button after you input or it will not work. It was kind of obvious from the video as you can tell when the weapon swap and evade are queued, but it was hard to know whether that was all there is to it or if something else was missing. It took a couple of hours to finally get it once, then it became fairly clear what the timing is.

After practicing for an half hour at it, I think it's not ridiculous enough where it cannot be done consistently (90% success rate at this point). It certainly is no harder than a FRC. As far as for how practical it is, I think it's fairly ideal if your launcher catches multiple targets, since those attacks have more coverage than standard attacks in the air. Downside is obviously you have to sacrifice your evade to do it, so you will be vulnerable in the air, although I'm not sure how much that matters. That would depend on enemy types in the main game, so people that are actually playing the release will have a better idea.

Hopefully there are other interesting quarks with how the combat functions in the game. The way things behave when input queue is involved is pretty interesting.

Edit: Added another condition that I forgot to the inputs.
 
Nearly didn't continue the game
during the beginning of 9S' scenario. Those two robots reminded me of my nephews and I just had to stop for a few hours.
 

raven777

Member
So I was coming back from a quest and there was set of new golden machines that have huge amounts of HP and I managed to defeat the small one after 10 minutes of continuous buffed ranged attacks, however, it didn't explode or drop anything, honestly I don't have the time and patience to defeat the other two and would like to know if I should bother, or just return later when they're easier to take on?

Edit: Why didn't the small one explode after I defeated it?

jwkY6A7.jpg

the small one explodes when you kill all the golden ones around it.
 

allbrancooke

Neo Member
I'm missing that one as well. I'll see if I can redo the quest as I can't see it on my cleared quests.

EDIT: While talking about quests, has anybody finished the
"Gathering Keepsakes"
quest? I've finished it 3 times and got reward each time, but it's still on my active quests.

EDIT2: Got the weapon now! Time to make a video of all weapon stories.

Was it a bug? you did you find it in your mail? Or did you reset it? How so?
 

TissueBox

Member
As a NieR Fan I'm happy but a tad disappoined.
As a Platinum Fan i thought it was great.
As a Yoko Taro fan i loved the game and do not regret having a BBE on preorder.

My advice is, do not approach Automata as a sequel to Nier, approach it open minded as a new Yoko Taro/Platinum IP "Automata", because just like Drakengard 1 and 3 are rather different games, so are Nier and Automata, despite many common elements.

Well put well put. Thankfully it'd been a while since I played Nier so I'd actually forgotten some of the stuff it had lol, but yes, this is a game that operates on so many different expectations. In that respect it would be easy to feel underwhelmed if you're looking for the perfect combination of all of these expectations, but in the same time, it would be easy to be struck and affected by the more subtle stuff Taro has to offer in the narrative because of how mechanically sound Platinum makes the game for the other half of it.

As I said before for fans it'll definitely transcend the sum of its parts, even if it may not be the best game of the year technically. I do not regret my purchase in the end because even if it DID suck I woul've been missing out on a Taro story. For a bit I was worried that it wouldn't really be there...but as you play the game, it does begin to sink in.

It's a more subdued work in many ways (though the wackiness is sprinkled around), but once again, if you wanna see its whole face you gotta peel it.

EDIT: Anyway fact is I'm also just glad I got to get to this before Horizon and Persona 5 hit lol.
 

TissueBox

Member
Can Taura's team at Platinum just become the official Yoko Taro team? That would be great :D

I concur, seriously, it's the perfect ARPG/Taro combo iyam lol. Hopefully Platinum still has a bright future ahead, and if so, they work together again.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Weird? Yes. As weird? Nah. Drakengard 3 was the special kind of fucked up. Yoko Taro unhinged.

Drakengard in general written by Taro goes off the rails at multiple points. Nier in itself is a different more subdued work...i feel like he refuses to take it there and wants to hit the reader with completely different types of shock points which i feel is for the best.

Drakengard 3 fell flat for me because certain aspects felt weird and wacky just to be so, like modern SUDA51 trying to recapture No More Heroes and Killer 7. I feel like Taro is at his best when he's trying to tell a message and just lets the off kilter write itself.

Nier Automata encapsulates this perfectly. Based on what i've seen, so far, although it may not be the cuhrayzee'est Yoko Taro story or attempt to recapture the exact same things as the first one, its without a doubt the most polished one he's made yet, and Platinum's involvement helps that in so many ways.


So on the one hand you will have some Platinum people disappointed that this combat is not comprehensive as many other platinum games, and you will have some Nier fans disappointed this is not a retread of the first Nier in many ways..

But if you can get past that, this is just as exceptional a Yoko Taro experience as anything he's made previously
 

GrayChild

Member
Can Taura's team at Platinum just become the official Yoko Taro team? That would be great :D

Slightly off, but I had this random dream last night where Square announced Parasite Eve 3 made by Taro and Platinum.

Now I'm sad and salty as fuck since this is becoming my new dream project and the chance for it to happen is next to zero.
 

Aeana

Member
So about route B....

Is it just me, or does 9S feel awful to fight with? He doesn't move forward at all. I guess the point is that you're supposed to hack stuff more than fight?
 
So about route B....

Is it just me, or does 9S feel awful to fight with? He doesn't move forward at all. I guess the point is that you're supposed to hack stuff more than fight?

that's right, most of the time you hack, just focus on his side quests and finding the treasure chests, every boss will be easy anyway by hacking
 
Automata isnt exactly crazy....well atleast not yet. The concepts are much more grounded, it works really well and i prefer the story so far to his other work. The thing i miss the most about the crazy is the humor, although that has been cropping up since i started playing route C.
 

Aeana

Member
that's right, most of the time you hack, just focus on his side quests and finding the treasure chests, every boss will be easy anyway by hacking

Has anybody put together a list of where the chests are? I thought about it while I was playing through before but I didn't do it, and now I can't remember where any of them are. (._. )
 

TissueBox

Member
Just heard there's no ending
F
, is this true?

So about route B....

Is it just me, or does 9S feel awful to fight with? He doesn't move forward at all. I guess the point is that you're supposed to hack stuff more than fight?

Yeeah it's definitely supposed to be
a fairly different playstyle from 2B. Frankly unless you're pretty high level and could take out the enemies quickly the optimal way to enjoy it is to slash a bit then hack and hack then slash a bit and so on. Though if you're not a fan of the minigames, I extend my sympathy lol.
 

LProtag

Member
So about route B....

Is it just me, or does 9S feel awful to fight with? He doesn't move forward at all. I guess the point is that you're supposed to hack stuff more than fight?

Here's what I did, and I actually enjoyed:

I used a spear. If you hold the attack button, he throws it. It hits multiple targets too. So I used a kind of mid range tactic where I used the pod and throwing spears at the enemies. It also has a decent combo for close range. In some boss fights it honestly felt OP, but I also had a fully upgraded spear too.
 
Has anybody put together a list of where the chests are? I thought about it while I was playing through before but I didn't do it, and now I can't remember where any of them are. (._. )

don't know about that, i revisited all area, it was a pain yes, but i found most of them (i think)

Buy the chip that let you see item on the map, it will aslo show normal treasure chest! It will help since a lot of the locked treasure chest are just beside a normal treasure chest!
 

Caim

Member
Just heard there's no ending
F
, is this true?



Yeeah it's definitely supposed to be
a fairly different playstyle from 2B. Frankly unless you're pretty high level and could take out the enemies quickly the optimal way to enjoy it is to slash a bit then hack and hack then slash a bit and so on. Though if you're not a fan of the minigames, I extend my sympathy lol.

It exists.
 

N° 2048

Member
don't know about that, i revisited all area, it was a pain yes, but i found most of them (i think)

Buy the chip that let you see item on the map, it will aslo show normal treasure chest! It will help since a lot of the locked treasure chest are just beside a normal treasure chest!

The chip shows both locked and normal chests? I thought someone said in the thread earlier that it only shows normal chests.
 

Timodus

Member
Was it a bug? you did you find it in your mail? Or did you reset it? How so?

It was bugged, but I was able to redo the
"Terminal Repairs"
quest after defeating
""""A2""""
and then going to the resistance camp. After that the
"Find a Present"
quest appeared and this time I got the weapon by completing it.
 
So about route B....

Is it just me, or does 9S feel awful to fight with? He doesn't move forward at all. I guess the point is that you're supposed to hack stuff more than fight?
I'm a few hours into this.
I found missile pod C and I'm just holding R1 down a bunch as it has auto lock on. There's also a shock wave plugin chip that lets your physical attack shoot projectiles which helps too.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Thank you for the impressions. I still have the game pre-ordered and i'm excited to play it, but I can't deny being a bit disappointed. I'm only interested in this game as a sequel to Nier.

It doesn't follow the same characters or story to begin with, so generally speaking you were not going to be satisfied to start. Look at it as its own work with certain similar elements and concepts.
 

Coda

Member
Yeah I just got it as DLC when I bought the game digitally. Also came with the Playstation pod, but that one is kind of useless because you almost never see the front of it in gameplay.
 
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