Rate top games-Nier Automata and The Weight of the World That Comes With It-
"Everything That Lives Is Designed To End. They Are Perpetually Trapped In A Never-Ending Spiral Of Life And Death. However, Life Is All About The Struggle Within This Cycle. That Is What 'We' Believe."
-Pod 153
NieR Automata is unexplainable. In a sense, This review is pointless I can't convey the feelings I felt or as a matter of fact, what this game is even about. But if I had to chose one word to summarize it all, Beautiful. As cheesy as it may sound, NieR Automata wasn't just a game, it was a life changing experience. It's been months since I've originally beaten the game yet I find myself daily thinking back to reflect on just how phenomenal of an experience it all was. Admittedly like most, I originally bought NieR due to the fact that 2B was extremely hot but instead of hot babes I was left with overwhelming amounts of depression and lots of tears and boogie tissues. Truly, This game unlocked emotions within myself that I didn't know I had. Story besides, The rest of the game shines just as bright. After all, If the game isn't fun, why bother?
-Gameplay-
NieR Automata is a weird yet extremely refreshing mix of both hack and slash and shoot 'em up gameplay. Admittedly, in the beginning it is a bit jarring and hard to get used too but you quickly adapt and begin to love it. The variety of weapons, the potential for endless combos, simply walking around, shoot 'em ups, and just standing still were all PERFECT. The combat felt super intuitive, allowing you to subconciously know how to juggle and combo enemies. Shoot 'em up sections weren't as good but still implemented the vast customization of your loadout from the hack and slash sections. The almost constantly changing enviroment from mission to mission which has you changing your fighthing style is also a great touch. My one complaint would be if you're planning to play this on PC, Be aware that it will only run in windowed without the image getting stretched in fullscreen. The FAR mod is a great and easy fix for this but nonetheless, heads up.
-World-
As for the world you'll be exploring for the entirety of this game, it wasn't anything breathetaking visually. There are some areas in the game that the graphics might even appear jarring. It's your average post apocolyptic overgrown city as the "Center Point" for the rest of the areas of the game. Besides overgrown cities, theres a few other areas such as a huge empty desert, a forest, a city almost completely consumed by the ocean, and a (somewhat) still functioning carnival. Now on paper they sound a little bland and that wouldn't be far from the truth but as the story unfolds, it adds more depth and changes to each location. As for the actual size of the world, it aint big. It takes no more than 3 mins to run across the entire city (not including other locations.) However, you very easily look over this as the world is densely packed with content and quest to do (Even secrets im still finding till this day.)
-Soundtrack-
Easily one of my favorite soundtracks in any form of media ever. Saying it's a masterpiece is putting it lightly. The songs for each battle and location are absolutely breathtaking. Some moments due to the soundtrack simply feel like out of body experiences. I highly recommend you give this OST a listen as soon as possible. However...DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT listen to the song "Weight of The World" as it makes for one of the most magical moments I've ever had in my gaming career (more on this later.) I found myself standing in so many different locations just to enjoy the soundtrack for hours, it makes for some of the most relaxing songs I've ever heard.
-Story-
I know this is extremely counter-intuitive but,
I don't want to tell you what this game is about.
If you want a basic understanding, scroll up and read the description. I believe this game is enjoyed the most when you go in completely blind. However, if you're not into darker and sadder stories then I wouldn't recommend this game because MAN does this game know how to tug on those heart strings. I'm not one to have tears running down my face when I experience any form of media. Whether it be shows or games, the most I'll pump out is watery eyes and a closed throat. But this game is different. By the end of this game I was heavily sobbing, I even had to put my controller down to collect myself. In layman's terms, this game is overwhelmingly emotionally heavy. Once you're done with your first playthrough, It is revealed to you that you must beat the game a total of 5 times to get the "True Ending." My first reaction to that was simply "No." I mean FIVE TIMES?! Seriously?! But once the credits finished rolling and I was greeted to the main menu, I clicked "Load Game" just to get a feel of what NG+ might feel like. "This isn't NG+, THIS IS A WHOLE NEW GAME!" I thought to myself as I noticed the drastic differences in your second playthrough. I wont go any further into what exactly this meant because, once again, the less you know the better. Besides the main story line, this games lore and side stories are absolutely phenomenal. I would search every nook and cranny hopping to find the next piece to the lore to this world I was slowly piecing together. I even found myself to read offical lore books once I completed the game. Just like a piece of music, the crescendo must be perfect as it is the last thing the observer hears. This games ending deserves its own category in this review.
-The Ending-
Once you beat the game the first 4 times, you can now get the 5th and final ending. I'm not going to say what exactly it entailed but I CAN tell you how I felt. This ending man...I've never felt more moved to my core in my life. It was too emotionally heavy. I couldn't compose myself, all those pent up tears from the constent flow of sadness this game instilled in me, flooding out like forcing open the floodgates with explosives. It's the most intimate I've ever been with a game. To this day, every time I think about it, I heavily tear up. If you have even the slightest chance in the future to experience game then I implore to not spoil this ending as it has changed my life. The song Weight of The World playing over each ending of the 4 ending up till now makes you slowly start to become numb to the feeling it was meant to evoke...but this time, the final time, is so unexplainably different. Maybe it's the slight changes in the song, maybe its the change of context in the song this time around, maybe its the fact that its the storys literal swan song. But the feelings it evokes in you in this moment are as a subtle as a sledge hammer to the face. I lost all composure and just started sobbing in the middle of the night as the credits rolled.
It was the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced.
10/10
"Everything That Lives Is Designed To End. They Are Perpetually Trapped In A Never-Ending Spiral Of Life And Death. However, Life Is All About The Struggle Within This Cycle. That Is What 'We' Believe."
-Pod 153
NieR Automata is unexplainable. In a sense, This review is pointless I can't convey the feelings I felt or as a matter of fact, what this game is even about. But if I had to chose one word to summarize it all, Beautiful. As cheesy as it may sound, NieR Automata wasn't just a game, it was a life changing experience. It's been months since I've originally beaten the game yet I find myself daily thinking back to reflect on just how phenomenal of an experience it all was. Admittedly like most, I originally bought NieR due to the fact that 2B was extremely hot but instead of hot babes I was left with overwhelming amounts of depression and lots of tears and boogie tissues. Truly, This game unlocked emotions within myself that I didn't know I had. Story besides, The rest of the game shines just as bright. After all, If the game isn't fun, why bother?
-Gameplay-
NieR Automata is a weird yet extremely refreshing mix of both hack and slash and shoot 'em up gameplay. Admittedly, in the beginning it is a bit jarring and hard to get used too but you quickly adapt and begin to love it. The variety of weapons, the potential for endless combos, simply walking around, shoot 'em ups, and just standing still were all PERFECT. The combat felt super intuitive, allowing you to subconciously know how to juggle and combo enemies. Shoot 'em up sections weren't as good but still implemented the vast customization of your loadout from the hack and slash sections. The almost constantly changing enviroment from mission to mission which has you changing your fighthing style is also a great touch. My one complaint would be if you're planning to play this on PC, Be aware that it will only run in windowed without the image getting stretched in fullscreen. The FAR mod is a great and easy fix for this but nonetheless, heads up.
-World-
As for the world you'll be exploring for the entirety of this game, it wasn't anything breathetaking visually. There are some areas in the game that the graphics might even appear jarring. It's your average post apocolyptic overgrown city as the "Center Point" for the rest of the areas of the game. Besides overgrown cities, theres a few other areas such as a huge empty desert, a forest, a city almost completely consumed by the ocean, and a (somewhat) still functioning carnival. Now on paper they sound a little bland and that wouldn't be far from the truth but as the story unfolds, it adds more depth and changes to each location. As for the actual size of the world, it aint big. It takes no more than 3 mins to run across the entire city (not including other locations.) However, you very easily look over this as the world is densely packed with content and quest to do (Even secrets im still finding till this day.)
-Soundtrack-
Easily one of my favorite soundtracks in any form of media ever. Saying it's a masterpiece is putting it lightly. The songs for each battle and location are absolutely breathtaking. Some moments due to the soundtrack simply feel like out of body experiences. I highly recommend you give this OST a listen as soon as possible. However...DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT listen to the song "Weight of The World" as it makes for one of the most magical moments I've ever had in my gaming career (more on this later.) I found myself standing in so many different locations just to enjoy the soundtrack for hours, it makes for some of the most relaxing songs I've ever heard.
-Story-
I know this is extremely counter-intuitive but,
I don't want to tell you what this game is about.
If you want a basic understanding, scroll up and read the description. I believe this game is enjoyed the most when you go in completely blind. However, if you're not into darker and sadder stories then I wouldn't recommend this game because MAN does this game know how to tug on those heart strings. I'm not one to have tears running down my face when I experience any form of media. Whether it be shows or games, the most I'll pump out is watery eyes and a closed throat. But this game is different. By the end of this game I was heavily sobbing, I even had to put my controller down to collect myself. In layman's terms, this game is overwhelmingly emotionally heavy. Once you're done with your first playthrough, It is revealed to you that you must beat the game a total of 5 times to get the "True Ending." My first reaction to that was simply "No." I mean FIVE TIMES?! Seriously?! But once the credits finished rolling and I was greeted to the main menu, I clicked "Load Game" just to get a feel of what NG+ might feel like. "This isn't NG+, THIS IS A WHOLE NEW GAME!" I thought to myself as I noticed the drastic differences in your second playthrough. I wont go any further into what exactly this meant because, once again, the less you know the better. Besides the main story line, this games lore and side stories are absolutely phenomenal. I would search every nook and cranny hopping to find the next piece to the lore to this world I was slowly piecing together. I even found myself to read offical lore books once I completed the game. Just like a piece of music, the crescendo must be perfect as it is the last thing the observer hears. This games ending deserves its own category in this review.
-The Ending-
Once you beat the game the first 4 times, you can now get the 5th and final ending. I'm not going to say what exactly it entailed but I CAN tell you how I felt. This ending man...I've never felt more moved to my core in my life. It was too emotionally heavy. I couldn't compose myself, all those pent up tears from the constent flow of sadness this game instilled in me, flooding out like forcing open the floodgates with explosives. It's the most intimate I've ever been with a game. To this day, every time I think about it, I heavily tear up. If you have even the slightest chance in the future to experience game then I implore to not spoil this ending as it has changed my life. The song Weight of The World playing over each ending of the 4 ending up till now makes you slowly start to become numb to the feeling it was meant to evoke...but this time, the final time, is so unexplainably different. Maybe it's the slight changes in the song, maybe its the change of context in the song this time around, maybe its the fact that its the storys literal swan song. But the feelings it evokes in you in this moment are as a subtle as a sledge hammer to the face. I lost all composure and just started sobbing in the middle of the night as the credits rolled.
It was the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced.
10/10
«Blew my mind»
«Underrated»
This game is as good as 2b’s ass. Great follow up to the timeless classic that is Chibi-Robo.
«OST on repeat»
Review In Progress:
Interesting start to the game. The half old school bits at the beginning were fun. At the beginning there is something about the style of the game I actually kind of liked right off the bat but didn’t really know why. After the opening ~2 hours my enjoyment fell off for about 3 hours when the game slowly transitions into a more traditional open world game. My enjoyment began to pick up again around hour 5 when I was able to roam around and complete quests, upgrade my character, experiment with different load outs, and just had a general better idea of how the game works.
The music in this game is shooting for super epic. It’s this large peaceful Japanese music at times. It’s a big epic piece next. It’s like a Japanese lord of the rings soundtrack. That’s what they are going for. They are going for a big fantasy sci fi feel. It fits and I like it. This game has been very peaceful to begin. It’s calming. At one point it’s just piano and this little girl singing “la la la la la” a bunch of times in nice ways. It was hilarious. I love this soundtrack it’s ridiculous. Especially in the robot village.
The graphics are not great. The environment is empty and the enemy variety is very minimal. So why do I still like the art style? I don’t really know why. I haven't played a ton of Japanese games so the weirdness and uniqueness was entertaining to begin. That’s probably why. This effect wore off pretty quick though. By about the 10 hour mark I wasn’t impressed with the art design or presentation.
The combat is quite good. I just played DMCV and I prefer this combat for sure. The weapon variety is reasonable. Mix and matching different pods, weapons and plug ins has been enjoyable. At around the 10 hour mark I’ve been a bit more bored with the combat simply because the enemies are all the same and it isn’t that difficult on normal, but I don’t really think the game is good enough to warrant upping the difficulty. It’s still not bad though.
The beginning of the game doesn’t do a good job explaining the rpg mechanics. It seems like it should be deep with different weapons, pods, chip upgrades etc. After devoting time to learning it on my own I liked the different systems but I think the game does a poor job of showing the player how things work. Also the upgrades don’t feel like they come often enough. I wish I had a better sense of what I got for completing quests. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to materials.
Not sure how I am going to feel about this story. Early on I got vibes this will be weird. And I was not wrong. The main character being a French maid robot with upskirts happening is unnecessary. The robots with personalities things they are doing seems super obvious a message about humans being evil is coming. There is a strong sense this game is Japanese. The writing almost always falls flat, but because they are robots it sort of works. Some of the side quests are comical, again, not really in a clever way but I don’t know why i don’t mind it. That scene when the robot head opens and this weird face ball pops out and starts talking to them. What the fuck was that!? Honestly this story is so dumb that it’s fun. But it’s more fun when you are stoned. I don’t understand why these types of games get good reviews. Like everybody is just in on some unspoken agreement that we ignore the fact the story is super dumb? The become as gods part was cool though. I liked that.
Side quests have been quite bad. Very uninteresting. Main quests have been better. I usually liked the different camera angle parts. I also liked doing the old school space shooter parts.
At this point I finished ending A. Everything above this paragraph is Route A thoughts. At ending A my score is a low B+. I am concerned this game is going to be very repetitive; the rpg elements have not been active enough so far.
The opening to the next route is good. I like the change up so far. I was concerned I’d have to do it all again but the new parts have been fun.
I’ve started to notice that my enjoyment of this game is greatly affected by whether I’m stoned or not. I’ve never really had that great a time playing sober. But I have had some good sessions when stoned.
I’m liking the story more so far. The Adam and eve stuff, the robot dress lady. Both good. I’ve been mostly skipping the side quests because 1 I don’t think they are good and 2 lots look like repeats. The challenge style ones at least continue so that’s nice.
At this point I finished Route B. I liked the Adam
And eve stuff and the robot background stuff in this route. I am more interested to see where the story goes but I am getting a bit bored with the gameplay. Game still sits at a low B+.
I was loving the start to Route C. Then I died twice and didnt get to my body because I forgot that was a thing since it had been many hours since I had died at all. I was super mad because my chips were so good. I tried to play without them but very quickly realized I’d never be able to do enjoy it. So I reloaded a file that I was lucky to have and had to replay 1 hour 10 mins. Not thrilled about that. But luckily it’s a fun part of the game. The opening to route c is probably my favourite part of this game so far. Hacked androids was great. Finally a small amount of enemy variety. It’s almost going to start rising in my ranks.
It’s growing on me a bit. I’m starting to see it now, just a little bit, about how it’s actually well done. Route C has been the best so far. I liked the switching between A2 and 9S sections.
I’m finally liking the rpg elements more. I feel like my character builds are awesome and these recent sections have been much more challenging so I have had to consider my strategy more which has been a positive improvement.
Pascals robot children committing suicide was pretty great. Route C continues to be the best. It’s taken like 22 hours for this game to start to click for me, which is way too long. I probably would have given up on the game early if I didn’t know that this game had a “great story”. But it is getting there.
Some great hacking games going on. Then that 9S memory bit was awesome. The scene where he stabs 2B. That’s a great scene.
Just finished Route C and it was hands down the best part of the game so far. I enjoyed it noticeably more than the previous 2.
Opening to Route D is the same and is boring. Way too much repartition here. They killed the momentum they had with Route C. To top it off during the city Goliath fight with the flight suits I got glitched into the ground and couldn’t move so I had to restart. Not thrilled about that especially since none of this portion is very fun.
After wasting like 3 hours of my time I tried google to see what is up with route D. Turns out it’s not a thing. I was supposed to just chapter select to redo the last fight but pick 9S??? Like what the fuck game. How the fuck am I supposed to know that’s what I need to do. What a sour taste. This game could have ended on a waaaay higher note. I had like 20 minutes left in the game. But wasted a boring 3 hours plus I didn’t have the recent events on my mind like I should have. Also the endings weren’t anything that great.
Route C was the best and was an enjoyable 5 or 6 ish hours but for a game I played for 30 hours I’m disappointed overall. I don’t agree with the critics. Game ends as a mid level B+.
Final Score: B+
Interesting start to the game. The half old school bits at the beginning were fun. At the beginning there is something about the style of the game I actually kind of liked right off the bat but didn’t really know why. After the opening ~2 hours my enjoyment fell off for about 3 hours when the game slowly transitions into a more traditional open world game. My enjoyment began to pick up again around hour 5 when I was able to roam around and complete quests, upgrade my character, experiment with different load outs, and just had a general better idea of how the game works.
The music in this game is shooting for super epic. It’s this large peaceful Japanese music at times. It’s a big epic piece next. It’s like a Japanese lord of the rings soundtrack. That’s what they are going for. They are going for a big fantasy sci fi feel. It fits and I like it. This game has been very peaceful to begin. It’s calming. At one point it’s just piano and this little girl singing “la la la la la” a bunch of times in nice ways. It was hilarious. I love this soundtrack it’s ridiculous. Especially in the robot village.
The graphics are not great. The environment is empty and the enemy variety is very minimal. So why do I still like the art style? I don’t really know why. I haven't played a ton of Japanese games so the weirdness and uniqueness was entertaining to begin. That’s probably why. This effect wore off pretty quick though. By about the 10 hour mark I wasn’t impressed with the art design or presentation.
The combat is quite good. I just played DMCV and I prefer this combat for sure. The weapon variety is reasonable. Mix and matching different pods, weapons and plug ins has been enjoyable. At around the 10 hour mark I’ve been a bit more bored with the combat simply because the enemies are all the same and it isn’t that difficult on normal, but I don’t really think the game is good enough to warrant upping the difficulty. It’s still not bad though.
The beginning of the game doesn’t do a good job explaining the rpg mechanics. It seems like it should be deep with different weapons, pods, chip upgrades etc. After devoting time to learning it on my own I liked the different systems but I think the game does a poor job of showing the player how things work. Also the upgrades don’t feel like they come often enough. I wish I had a better sense of what I got for completing quests. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to materials.
Not sure how I am going to feel about this story. Early on I got vibes this will be weird. And I was not wrong. The main character being a French maid robot with upskirts happening is unnecessary. The robots with personalities things they are doing seems super obvious a message about humans being evil is coming. There is a strong sense this game is Japanese. The writing almost always falls flat, but because they are robots it sort of works. Some of the side quests are comical, again, not really in a clever way but I don’t know why i don’t mind it. That scene when the robot head opens and this weird face ball pops out and starts talking to them. What the fuck was that!? Honestly this story is so dumb that it’s fun. But it’s more fun when you are stoned. I don’t understand why these types of games get good reviews. Like everybody is just in on some unspoken agreement that we ignore the fact the story is super dumb? The become as gods part was cool though. I liked that.
Side quests have been quite bad. Very uninteresting. Main quests have been better. I usually liked the different camera angle parts. I also liked doing the old school space shooter parts.
At this point I finished ending A. Everything above this paragraph is Route A thoughts. At ending A my score is a low B+. I am concerned this game is going to be very repetitive; the rpg elements have not been active enough so far.
The opening to the next route is good. I like the change up so far. I was concerned I’d have to do it all again but the new parts have been fun.
I’ve started to notice that my enjoyment of this game is greatly affected by whether I’m stoned or not. I’ve never really had that great a time playing sober. But I have had some good sessions when stoned.
I’m liking the story more so far. The Adam and eve stuff, the robot dress lady. Both good. I’ve been mostly skipping the side quests because 1 I don’t think they are good and 2 lots look like repeats. The challenge style ones at least continue so that’s nice.
At this point I finished Route B. I liked the Adam
And eve stuff and the robot background stuff in this route. I am more interested to see where the story goes but I am getting a bit bored with the gameplay. Game still sits at a low B+.
I was loving the start to Route C. Then I died twice and didnt get to my body because I forgot that was a thing since it had been many hours since I had died at all. I was super mad because my chips were so good. I tried to play without them but very quickly realized I’d never be able to do enjoy it. So I reloaded a file that I was lucky to have and had to replay 1 hour 10 mins. Not thrilled about that. But luckily it’s a fun part of the game. The opening to route c is probably my favourite part of this game so far. Hacked androids was great. Finally a small amount of enemy variety. It’s almost going to start rising in my ranks.
It’s growing on me a bit. I’m starting to see it now, just a little bit, about how it’s actually well done. Route C has been the best so far. I liked the switching between A2 and 9S sections.
I’m finally liking the rpg elements more. I feel like my character builds are awesome and these recent sections have been much more challenging so I have had to consider my strategy more which has been a positive improvement.
Pascals robot children committing suicide was pretty great. Route C continues to be the best. It’s taken like 22 hours for this game to start to click for me, which is way too long. I probably would have given up on the game early if I didn’t know that this game had a “great story”. But it is getting there.
Some great hacking games going on. Then that 9S memory bit was awesome. The scene where he stabs 2B. That’s a great scene.
Just finished Route C and it was hands down the best part of the game so far. I enjoyed it noticeably more than the previous 2.
Opening to Route D is the same and is boring. Way too much repartition here. They killed the momentum they had with Route C. To top it off during the city Goliath fight with the flight suits I got glitched into the ground and couldn’t move so I had to restart. Not thrilled about that especially since none of this portion is very fun.
After wasting like 3 hours of my time I tried google to see what is up with route D. Turns out it’s not a thing. I was supposed to just chapter select to redo the last fight but pick 9S??? Like what the fuck game. How the fuck am I supposed to know that’s what I need to do. What a sour taste. This game could have ended on a waaaay higher note. I had like 20 minutes left in the game. But wasted a boring 3 hours plus I didn’t have the recent events on my mind like I should have. Also the endings weren’t anything that great.
Route C was the best and was an enjoyable 5 or 6 ish hours but for a game I played for 30 hours I’m disappointed overall. I don’t agree with the critics. Game ends as a mid level B+.
Final Score: B+
Nier: Automata on PS4 was a treat. Great graphics, load times, and the OST was one of the best of 2017. I have only played through once but was surprised to see that there is much more content to be had. The combat was unique, responsive ,and I loved the bullet hell action RPG elements. Camera angles were a pain in the ass but having suffered through the N64 era of games I didn't let that stop me from loving Nier. Now I just need to dig back in and see what the next play-through has to offer.
It's grown on me from being something great to being more of exceptional experience that every gamer should have.
Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
Microsoft from Deutsch
My Conclusion of the Game is below, if the detailed Text here is too long, and you roughly want to have the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Game listed.
Plot NieR: Automata™ takes place in the post-apocalyptic World of the Year 11945. The Earth was long ago attacked by extraterrestrial Life forms that carried out their Invasion using Machine Beings, forcing humanity to retreat to the Moon.
The Game tells the Story Of the Combat Android 2B, which, along with the Reconnaissance Android 9S, is sent to Earth to fight against these Machine beings and try to reclaim the Earth.
And that Story, in my Opinion, tells it pretty well. There are many surprising Twists, and by Playing more than one Character, you can look at the Story From multiple Angles.
However, the Main Hanger Of the last Chapters seems somewhat posed or forced. He's just there because the dramatic Plot demands it, not because he's plausible. Or I overlooked something.
Gameplay NieR: Automata™ is a Hack ' n ' slash adventure with Role-playing Elements in an open World. In this one fights against the Machine System, performs Side missions of NPCs or goes fishing.
The Combat System works flawlessly. You can equip two Weapons from a total of four different Categories, with which you can beult the Body to the Machine System. In addition, one is accompanied by a floating pod, which provides Long-range Support at The Touch of a button.
The Control obeys the Word, and the Commands are implemented quickly and reliably.
Also interspersed In the Game are passages in which-similar To a Vertical Shooter-you control a Flight Unit through enemy Airspace. This is especially used for large Bosses, which makes this Fight feel even more intense.
The Game has several Endings that only gradually open up when you play the Game several times. There are also some bad Endings, which, however, should be seen more as a Hoax, as you get to see most of them if you do the complete Opposite of what common Sense would advise you to do.
Atmosphere Graphically, NieR: Automata™ can be seen. The Screenshots speak for themselves, and the Use of matte Colors reinforces the melancholy atmosphere that runs through the whole Game.
The Soundtrack has been fantastically successful. Whether exploring an abandoned desert City, or an intense Boss fight in a Theater, the Music highlights the Situation ideally. Through this, too, the Game gets its oppressively melancholy basic Tone.
This Basic Tone is also conveyed by the Story that encourages the Player to Think about what constitutes an Consciousness, or what the Meaning of Life actually is.
Verdict/TL; DR NieR: Automata™ is an action-heavy hack ' n ' slash game in excellent Implementation. The melancholy basic Mood generated by the Plot, which makes one think, is loosened up by brilliantly Staged boss fights and underlined by a fantastical Soundtrack. Clear Recommendation on my part.