3.5/5 ★ – QuantumLeapFrog's review of NieR:Automata™.

Spoiler Warning I’ll start of by saying I have a gripe with how the endings were handled in this game. The credits in between the 3 play through a are totally unnecessary in my opinion especially because it’s clear otherwise that the game is meant to be played from the beginning game of play-through A to ending C/D. So many extra touches of gameplay are added after ending A, that it seems off to me to even call it an ending. THAT BEING SAID, if you don’t enjoy the gameplay in the first play through then I honestly don’t think the game can win you over by the end. It’s only if you already are enjoying your time with the game that’s even worth it getting to the end in my opinion. Having not played a shoot ‘em up in a long while I was actually quite happy with all of the flying and hacking sections in this game. The other side of combat, the more traditional Platinum spectacle fighter affair, I didn’t care as much for. Even when I tried different play styles, weapons and chipsets it felt repetitive, especially once you’ve found a combo that works best for you. Enemies just have a lot of health I felt and it gets worst and worst as you go. I did side missions to keep up with the experience gain, upgraded my sword when I could and had a lot of attack chips, and I still felt there were some enemies that were annoying because they were so spongy. It just wasn’t enough, even with the shmup half, to carry the length of the game. Especially when you consider the enemy variety. Small in terms of movesets and even even smaller in terms of aesthetic. The story has its beats but I actually preferred the first two acts over the third story-wise. They felt less rushed, and had great moments like the Become a God level at the factory, along with the bits with Adam and Eve. The third in comparison rushed through so much that it starts becoming difficult to care for each new story beat. Though I want to reiterate that it’s the most fun to play through and the designers try out a lot of neat ideas like quickly swapping between the characters, piloting the boss from the beginning, and getting visual/motor/audial damage that affects your screen and control of the game. Thematically it kind of lost me by the end and I felt like I never got a good resolution yet it simultaneously didn’t make me want more of this narrative.