4/5 ★ – bryansbane's review of NieR: Automata.

Nier: Automata is special. The joy I felt playing through it on a first playthrough was amazing, but as Automata continued to ask for more and more from me, what the game had to offer began to feel stretched too thin. This is perhaps one of the more disappointing experiences I’ve had with a video game that deserves so much praise. Platinum games knows how to do combat and that’s no different here. Fighting is simple and engaging, but most importantly it’s fun. Automata is filled with style and an aesthetic that feels wholly original to itself. The soundtrack is truly one of the most beautiful I’ve heard in all of my years playing video games. The main characters are likable enough and the gameplay consistently mixes up the experience to assure that you’ll never be playing the game on autopilot. The qualities of Nier: Automata greatly outweigh the negatives. However, the negatives are there. What started as a minor hiccup or slight nitpicks began to compound into a larger problem as the game continued to ask you for more and overstay its welcome. Automata is open world, but remarkably small and simple in scale. It’s full of buildings you cannot climb and invisible walls you cannot see. While the aesthetic may be inspired the dull environments often feel like a drag to play through by the 15th or 30th hour in. For a game that requires you to play through its entire campaign at least 3 if not 5 times this is can be troubling. Nier: Automata is often praised for its narrative because of the depth it displays and the questions it asks. For the most part I think that praise is sound, Automata is not a mainstream hack and slash or shooter, it’s a thinking man’s game and one that rewards its players for taking the time to think through its themes. However, there is often times where I feel the developer may have had concern over the audiences ability to read these themes which often lead to characters being heavy handed with their dialog or downright direct in what they are wanting you to feel. It really takes you out of the experience in what is otherwise a profound adventure of discovering purpose and the value of life. I never fell in love with the enemies of Nier or found the boss battles to be anything to write home about. They served their purpose well, but engaging with them rarely if ever excited me. It all felt adequate, but left me wanting. There’s so much to love about Nier and its world, but it never fully came together in a way that made me feel like a true fan of the series. So what is there left to say? What is my final verdict? Nier: Automata is undeniably a great experience and one that I would recommend to anyone, but there would be caveats. The hardcore fan will tell you that the game must be played several times over to experience the full story. On one hand they are correct, as much is left unresolved if you stop after the first playthrough. But as someone who played through the entire game three times, I can honestly say the experience often becomes a lesson in diminishing returns. This world Platinum Games has created (I’m speaking of level design/scope) is fine, but it’s simply not good enough to warrant spending 50 hours in the space. The story is engaging and compelling, but what you get from the extra 30 hours past the first playthrough simply doesn’t justify the effort spent. It’s a weird game and one that will probably blow people away, but sometimes there is too much of a good thing. My experience with Nier: Automata was rewarding and worth the experience, but was ultimately exhausting. It’s not a game for everyone, but it WAS for me…just not to the extent of replaying the same content ad naseum. I recommend that you give Nier: Automata a try for yourself, it deserves your attention.