Nier Automata by all accounts is a fantastic game. It’s an auteur’s vision and the antithesis to many mainstream games. I cannot recall in recent times a major release this bonkers, this ambitious and this innovative. It takes risk in game design, narrative and sheer variety. However part of me wishes it had more in common with its predecessor which I prefer to a certain degree. I wonder how many of those who lauded Automata in their game of the year discussions went back to see what Nier:Gestalt had to offer. Perhaps it’s box art which is potentially one of the worst in recent memory put them off.

The fast travel, combat mechanics (thank you platinum) and chapter select were major quality of life improvements but I still prefer its precedessor. I can’t help but salivate over what Nier:Gestalt would have been with these added features as the story, characters and world in Automata paled slightly in comparison. Emil, Devola and Popola make an appearance but seemed like fan service and were sorely underused. I did appreciate all the secret nuggets and nods to previous games and have sought out the drakengard trilogy because I simply cannot get enough of this fictional worlds lore.
One of my main issues with the game was 9S who I found extremely irritating and compared to the refreshingly strong female leads his sequences were slightly grating. He comes across like a petulant adolescent with an obsession for 2B which I found uncomfortable. She struck me as more his older sister or aunt than his peer which made their interactions off putting. In addition replacing the secondary weapon button with the hacking feature takes him to the bottom of my list of favourite playable characters.

These are minor details though as overall I adore this game it just couldn’t quite match my lofty expectations. It gave me more than 100 hours of pure joy during which I upgraded every weapon, finished every side mission and obtained every ending. After all that time and endeavour I still can’t bring myself to sacrifice my save to help other players. One day I might. For now consider this one Caned and Rinsed.

*spoilers obviously*
What is everyones most soul crushing Nier Automata moment? I registered just to share mine because Yoko Taro, Keiichi Okabe and Emi Evans broke me, so i should probably spit it out somewhere right? Apologies in advance for the wordiness. This tiny detail wrecked me in a weird way, more than the fate of Pascal or finding Kaine's hut topped wall to wall with phosphorescent Luna Tear flowers lovingly and carefully placed by a grieving Emil and all the other gut punch moments that this series likes to heap on you.

This relates to the music. There are several references to the story within the track titles in the OST. For example most people are quick to notice the bunker theme is called "Fortress of Lies" and then gets arranged and changes name to "Crumbling Lies" later on once shit hits the fan and the council of humanity is exposed.
There's another example of this I didn't pick up on untill I had played the entire game (all 5 endings) a few times and I rarely see it mentioned. At one point in the game while playing as A2, in the Flooded City you can discover an abandoned flight unit that was never there before. Inspecting it reveals that it once belonged to 2B. Inside the craft you discover a recorded message that 2B hastily recorded, deeply aware of her imminent death, but never had time to transmit before she ejected. As A2 is a solitary girl that doesn't want to get mixed up in others lives unless absolutely necessary, she has no interest in listening to it. However if you return as 9S you're able to hear the recording. The message is directly for him and says: "If you meet an android called 9S, please tell him... The time I spent with you, it was like memories of pure light.... thank you....Nines".
That was pretty heart breaking by itself. I think this is the only time she herself explicitly shares her feelings for him, revealing just how much she treasured every waking moment that they shared, despite having to hide her emotions on account of her being an Executioner model purpose built to kill him over and over. The message tears 9S up pretty badly, along with most players who find this part. One of the novella's expands on this and shows just how much 9S wants to hear those words come from 2B herself rather than a hastily recorded message.
Back to the music! Up until 2B's death, the main overworld theme is called "City Ruins: Rays of Light" - a direct reference to the wording of 2B's unsent message "memories of pure light", her unshared feelings, and her joy in spending time with 9S in the first half of the game. And then once 2B is gone in the second half, the overworld music theme is rearranged into a much more beautiful but hauntingly melancholic rendition, the vocalist switches from J'Nique Nicole to Emi Evans and the name changes to "City Ruins: Shade".
Why Shade? 2B is gone. But just as the music theme continues, similar yet somehow different at the same time, 9S's world continues too. Matching the newly arranged music, his world has changed. His slow descent is accelerating and his loving memories of 2B are fading, as they are being slowly replaced with hatred due to the relentless mental tampering from the machine network he is unable to separate himself from. As if his memories of her and the whole world are being clouded, by shade.

I already found 9S's descent in the second half pretty difficult to experience, then this newly arranged piece of music was crushingly beautiful, but finally this small meta-detail added on top just wrecked me internally. Simply changing one track title to a single word sums up the entire vibe of the second half of the game (not including ending E but that's another story).

Even though i really want to, I cannot play this game anymore. Especially the second half (where you control A2 and 9S) even though I think it's brilliant and could write an entire article on the second half alone. I can't even listen to any of the music. It's my favourite game of the last decade at least, probably my favourite JRPG ever and I started playing them in 1993 so I've played a couple. The OST is hands down my favourite of all time. But it's too overwhelming. The first 1 or 2 playthroughs were so fun, but the more you play this game, the more you uncover. A lot of things you uncover are fun, from Metal Gear Solid-tier easter eggs, to hidden side quests, to all the additional backstories on every single character. But a lot of things you learn aren't so fun. The thing is, where most games reward you the more you uncover, Nier Automata hurts you.

This game is unbearably bitter sweet, it's heart breaking, it's jaw dropping, it's hideously beautiful, and I don't want to play it ever again. But you know what? I'm so glad I did get to experience it a few times at least... before it broke me.

Cheers.