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NieR:Automata review
Meh
by Tamir Bahar

I did not enjoy this game.
It felt off to me both it terms of pacing and agency.

As for pacing - I felt like I was racing from peak moment to peak moment, with no real content in between. As a result, the highs didn't feel very high, and I did not feel any connection to the story.

As for agency - yes, I had multiple attacks and had a choice of weapon, but they didn't seem to matter much. The fights were either killing cannon-fodder where nothing I did seemed to change the outcome, or fighting bosses where, again, I felt like I was just going through the motions.
It might get better in late parts of the game, but it didn't feel worth it to try and get there.

Also, I found the movement a bit annoying. Especially the way jumping interacted with running, where it'd feel like you stop before you jump.

There was also an abundance of invisible walls, which drove me insane. You need to get somewhere, and you see a gap you can _definitely_ fit through. But you can't!

Other reviews27

NieR Automata (PC) - Finished on January 19, 2020.
Just beautiful. Play all the endings
«Blew my mind»
«That ending!»
perfection just like 2b's rear
«Blew my mind»
«Sit back and relax»
Among the story-driven video games, this is one of the best, boosting an exceptional story and OST. The plot is engaging from the start while being pretty deep in its themes. The characters are very interesting despite their initial shallowness, due to the wonderful work of the voice actors (most notably Ishikawa as 2B and McCarley as 9S).

The OST is well-varied and original with some astounding work done by both the composers (Okabe, Hoashi, Takahashi) and the singers (Evans, Nicole, Nakagawa).

The gameplay is extremely fluid and enjoyable, but also always either too easy or too hard, without a real "goldilocks" difficulty. Checkpoints are pretty badly spaced across the levels too.

The graphics are the same photorealistic ones as any other AA / AAA modern video game, but with some evocative and thought-provoking shots sprinkled here and there.

In a nutshell: extremely good story and OST, with good enough gameplay to carry the player through the whole plot.
«Blew my mind»
«That ending!»
My first game in the NiEr franchise and my favourite one. The story is great having multiple endings like 26 and only 5 are the main endings for the story you can get. The combat is great having options to choose what weapons you want to use. There are 3 playable characters in which you play the others at the other half of the game.
The music is in a league of its own, while exploring the world or in battles every OST is perfect.
«Blew my mind»
«Underrated»
The only story in a video game that will make you shit yourself as much as this one is NIER replicant so go play that shit right now. oh and the OST is enough to make you stand still while dying repeatedly and shitting yourself. 10/10 
Masterpiece
«Blew my mind»
«Underrated»
Nier: Automata isn't a perfect 10, I was so ready to get my mind blown away by this game because I've heard and read so many good things about it..... It's a bit of a let down for me, there is no explanation on a lot of the game mechanics, lots of pointless wandering in an open world, you have to do several play throughs to get to the real ending, but in the end it does still manage to tells a compelling, emotional,layered story with many twists, bringing up and exploring philosophical and moral themes.... oh and let's not forget that with awesome soundtrack.

Positives:
Great Story
Fun Combat system
Mix and Mash of different genres of gaming
Awesome Soundtrack

Negatives:
No Autosave
Constant Reading
Having to hold in the fire button all the time
Bad UI
No explanation on how chips work
I have watch YouTube Video for tutorials
«Can’t stop playing»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
One of those games you remember for the rest of your life
«Blew my mind»
«That ending!»
If you rate this game anything other than "Exceptional" I don't know what to tell you. 
«Can’t stop playing»