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

Its good. Really good. While I don't particularly like the blind fanboy-ism that most critically acclaimed get, this game is probably the closest thing to a masterpiece that I have played. To keep it brief it has pretty much everything you would want in a video game. Great sound track, smooth and fluid combat, somewhat decent replay value, good pacing, character designs your parents would not approve of, a cool director etc. Like most games by Taro it's full of easter eggs, a sense of humour, personality. Yet it still maintains an overall mature and serious feel, which is not something that has been accomplished as well in other games he has produced, drakengard 3 comes to mind. It also presents some pretty philosophical ideas. I think sometimes it is a bit too "in your face" about it though. 2B's monologue at the start of the game in particular just seems a bit, edgy. I think my only real criticisms with this game is that, while it presents a ton of philosophical idea's, it doesn't really leave you with a final cohesive message which ties it all together. Maybe something about truth and deception but a lot of parts of the plot don't particularly tie in with that. Only other one is that its main characters are not as likeable as Nier Replicant's in my humble opinion. (also replicant has a better sound track. this is a fact.) But I don't think I have really done justice with this review. It is genuinely an amazing game, and while I still prefer it's predecessor, I still think it is one of the best games of all time. If you like being sad, well play nier replicant first and then play this and then do this one particular side quest where you go to a house belonging to a certain someone while a certain someone's theme plays whilst surrounded by something that is commonly associated with that certain someone and its kinda sad honestly. But if you are looking for a kinda sad game that just sorta ticks all the boxes then i would just dive into this. This series does have pretty amazing lore, but the main story of this game is somewhat distant from it, so you don't need to play any other games in the series to understand it. side note: I've heard a few complaints about how, despite technically being an open world game, it still has quite a linear progression. I think having a non-linear approach, similar to something like BotW would not work in something this story focused, since its hard to tell a cohesive story when you can go anywhere you want. linear does not always mean bad, and vice versa. But don't go in expecting an experience akin to something like Minecraft or BotW. I wouldn't really consider this open world tbh.