NieR:Automata Game of the YoRHa Edition review

Reviewed on: PS4

First of all, I hadn’t played the regular version of NieR:Automata until today (except for the available demo), and I was given the task of writing the review of this re-release called NieR:Automata Game of the YoRHa Edition, and I’ll simply say: what a damn good game.

I was positively surprised by the game, because I was expecting one thing and got something quite different, and I’ll explain why.
Searching my memory, I recalled some key information about the game:

• It’s a game by Platinum Games, a developer specialized in frenetic action and hack’n slash games, like Bayonetta and Vanquish.
• It’s published by Square Enix, creator of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series
• It’s a sequel to an obscure game from the previous generation, which in turn is a spin-off of another Square series: Drakengard.
• It’s directed by director Yoko Taro (go look him up…)

In my innocent personal opinion, putting together all the information I had and seeing the released videos, to me the style of this game was action with a few touches of RPG to make it stand out.

I was completely wrong. Because the game is a full-blown, complete RPG, full of complex stories, side-quests and everything else you could ask for.
On the other hand, in the battle department, the game shows all the pedigree of Platinum and proves to be a hack’n slash full of style and with phenomenal controls.

And the music, holy shit.

Composer Keiichi Okabe returns in the same role as in the original NieR, and does so masterfully.

And to talk about the music, I have to talk about the game’s plot:

In umpteen years after Christ, a race of alien beings invades Earth and destroys much of the population. The few survivors manage to flee to the Moon, and begin to think of a counterattack.

120 years later, humans send their combat Androids in humanoid form to Earth, to defeat the mechanical life forms the Aliens sent to dominate our planet.
The story begins when we take control of Android 2B on one of her missions. And you keep playing to find out what is going on.

Our planet is destroyed, and the music matches the atmosphere of the game perfectly. Melancholic and even sad at times, but all beautiful and easily one of the best OSTs ever.

Remember once again, the game is not a hack’n slash. Its structure is that of an RPG, with inventories, items and various equipment that help you improve your attributes, experience gained from each enemy killed and missions completed, etc…

The game has a giant map, and as you explore and advance in the story, you discover shortcuts and paths that connect to make access from one region to another easier.

Now let’s talk about the graphics.

Overall, the graphics work very well, the characters and enemies are well made and show a lot of care, but the rest is painful.
When you start paying attention to the environments, it feels like you’re playing a PS2 or PS3 game.
Even with some very pretty environments, you can tell that the quality of the environments was cut to keep the rest running well.

Playing on the PS4 Fat, the game stutters several times and has many FPS drops, but when that doesn’t happen, it runs beautifully at 60FPS.
Considering the frenetic nature of the combat, I’d have preferred that they lower the graphics quality of the environments even further to ensure the game ran without FPS drops.
I believe that if you have an Xbox One X, a PS4 Pro or a beefy PC, you won’t suffer from these problems.

Continuing to cut and slice almost everything that appears in front of you, you reach the end of the game and it ends with a taste of WTF IS DAT DUDE? Where’s the rest?

But then you understand that this damn beautiful and delicious game has several endings, and that the first ending only scratches a piece of the story.
And off you go to play again to find out more about what’s going on on this crappy planet that was once home to humans a long time ago.

The variety of weapons is not very large, but it fools you well since each weapon has a different moveset depending on the slot it’s equipped in.