(I'm predictably nostalgic with shit like this.)
So, yeah. Been meaning to get down a couple thoughts. Everything leading up to the ending of C/D was incredible. Devola and Popola's last stand was awesome, really glad I at least watched a Nier recap before getting too far into the game. (Wish I had actually
played it first, but Im at least playing through it now.) Swapping between 9S and A2 as you ascend the tower was exhilarating, and the unlocked Machine Research Report was a fantastic way to cap off the plot side of things. Jackass being the one to write it and ending it with God, what the hell, this
sucks, Im gonna kill all these mfers was a great touch; kind of wish the game spent a bit more time on this type of thing instead of relegating it to text collectibles.
But yeah, that ending. Christ. I unfortunately knew the broad strokes going in you sacrifice your save data to help others in some kind of fight but Im fairly certain I would have guessed stuff like that was coming after watching the Nier recap anyway, and even though I knew some of what was coming, it didnt stop it from absolutely knocking me on my ass.
This past year has not exactly been the greatest period of my life, and the further I got into Automata, the more I worried that it was going to be the kind of awesome thing that I unfortunately experienced at the worst possible time. The game really seemed to be barreling toward the conclusion that existence is meaningless suffering by the time youre revisiting Pascals village (Would you like to take a look at my wares?), and while I was definitely enjoying the game, I feel like my face was perpetually stuck on the same empty/dead expression that I had toward the end of The Last of Us. I was 100% expecting it to end with the pods going down swinging during a suicidal attempt for that eternal idea of Something More, and it felt somber as all hell when you commit to the impossible battle and that 8-bit version of the final theme starts playing. So when it pulled the handbrake and did a 180 during the course of that final conflict, it
landed much more than I ever could have imagined. The inevitable deaths against Square Enix being but it refused-ed, the stream of encouraging messages starting to build up on the screen, and the game straight up fucking asking you if existence is meaningless yes/no
(The fact that this works at all without being intensely corny is in itself kind of impressive)
And yeah, by time you accept a rescue offer and the chorus kicks in I just fucking lost it. Like, there have been a good number of games in the last 10 years or so that have gotten some real emotion out of me, but this one of maybe two or three moments that have just fucking
broken me. Intense catharsis, wholly earned. I cant possibly imagine a better time in my life to have played this. Like, yeah, maybe meaning doesnt just happen, but fuck it, you have to get out there and find it, the same as everyone else floating through life. And the final words and the new title screen was such a perfect final note. I wanted to run outside and just high five everyone in sight.
I still cant get over the fact that the final conflict and the end of the story involves
literally fucking fighting against the end of the story.
Anyway. I had a couple little nitpicks here and there, the biggest one being that route C felt kind of rushed / thin considering the stuff that was going down (budget?), but overall this was a fantastic goddamn game, my quickest top 10 entry since Undertale. All said and done, I finished in just over 70 hours with the platinum, only saying uncle and buying the pod program trophy as I couldnt stomach more than a couple hours of grinding for the last few parts (it seems that fishing will be Nier 1s version of that grinding, lol). I still have to go read all that side material, too, I somehow havent yet gotten around to it.
Finally, I have an unfortunate tendency to go out and buy stupid shit when I really fall in love with something -
I super dont read Japanese lol
tl;dr game is good i liked it or w/e i dunno