Actually, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter much which one you play. The game has four difficulty levels: easy, normal, hard, and very hard. (There is an auto-healing upgrade, but it only triggers at <30% health, which makes it much less useful in boss battles.) A Note About Difficulty Levels This is basically mandatory, unless you want to be stuck playing the entire game on easy mode, because most/all of the bosses in the game do >50% of your health in damage per hit and you really need the healing items to survive that. NAIOM in particular in necessary in order to be able to access healing in a reasonable way.
#Nier automata pc issues mods#
There are two main mods you’ll want, one to fix an issue with resolution (so the game doesn’t look fuzzy), and one that (massively) improves the mouse and keyboard controls. The good news is that almost all of this can be fixed via mods. Which is honestly pretty frustrating, because the console version of the game is very well executed. If you’re playing on PC, some of the aspects of the game are unfortunately not well done. One thing that has to be said up front is that this is a console port. Routes feature different characters, have different story (including different side quests), and a variety of world-shaking events occur that cause the different stages of the game to feel qualitatively different. Unlike a typical game where you stop when you reach the end, the expectation in Automata is that you keep playing (restarting after each ending) until you achieve all of the five main endings. Automata is organized into distinct “routes” that each have their own ending. In the soundtrack, for example, every “song” really consists of multiple tracks with different levels of vocals, instrumentals, etc., and the game again switches between these fluidly as you play.
This theme plays out at multiple levels in Automata. Just when you think you know what to expect from, say, a boss battle, the perspective will flip, completely changing the gameplay experience. The game seems to go out of its way to avoid the monotony that is so common in RPGs. One of the defining characteristics of Automata is variety. In addition to the different mechanics, the game uses multiple perspectives and fluidly switches between these depending on where you are in the game. What is it?Īutomata is an open world RPG with a combination of RPG, fighting game, side scrolling, and bullet hell mechanics.
But it would seem that (contrary to what so often happens these days), the producers really learned their lessons with NieR, and were able to successfully address those issues to make a truly stellar sequel. To be honest, it’s surprising that the game got made at all, given that the original NieR was not especially successful, and was widely criticized for some of its elements, including graphics. You can jump right in without knowing anything about the previous game (or that there even was another game in the series). Story wise, Automata doesn’t really have much of anything to do with the original NieR, despite being set in the same universe. What makes this even more strange is that the game is technically a sequel. A Japanese RPG that combines a great story, satisfying gameplay mechanics, distinctive (if not hyper realistic) graphics, and a soundtrack that stands on its own, this is a game to be remembered. Automata, while very different, holds a similar place in my heart. Dishonored was one of those games (though I didn’t initially realize it): a combination of graphics, gameplay and story that somehow made for a truly compelling combination. There are few times when I feel like I get to witness history being made: when I get to live through the day-1 launch of a game that I know is going to be iconic. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which the earth has been wrecked by war, and humans have fled to the moon, while androids continue to fight on their behalf on earth. NieR:Automata tells the story of androids 2B, 9S and A2 as they fight a proxy war against a machine invasion force. I put the game on my wishlist, promptly forgot about it, and then recently dug it back out. This review contains NO SPOILERS except where specifically marked.įor me, NieR:Automata felt like it came completely out of left field, going from complete obscurity to a cult hit seemingly overnight.