It has certainly been an interesting 12 months for Platinum Games, from the abhorrent TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan to the controversial cancelling of Xbox Exclusive title Scalebound following a troubled development and multiple delays saw Xbox pull the pin and end the project. But rising out of the ashes of that disaster came a very impressive and highly polished demo for a PlayStation 4 console exclusive that grabbed my attention and gave a glimmer of hope that Platinum Games was back on track.
NieR: Automata on paper sounds relatively straightforward, an action based RPG using open world structure with the well known combat gameplay style of Platinum Games. In reality Automata is something very special indeed as it blends gameplay mechanics with an incredible musical soundtrack, great visuals and a story that only gets better as it unfolds and some satisfying combat that is accessible to players of all talents. So much of what this game so amazing is hidden beneath the surface that does take quite a bit of patience and persistence to get to it but if the player is prepared to do so, it is rewarding.
Automata tells the story of an Earth that has suffered a devastating Alien Invasion which forced the remaining survivors of humanity to flee to the Moon. The Aliens used robots to tear down humanity and now the earth is populated by those machines. In an attempt to take back the Earth, the combat android force called YoRHa take strike missions against the robots to try and take back control of the planet. Sounds all lovely sci-fi doesn’t it. This is where the player steps in, taking on the role of Android 2B, who along with support Android 9S, and going to Earth to take down the robot threat wherever they encounter it by exploring a ravaged world which has completely been taking over by robot forces.
If you have played the free playable demo from the PSN Store then you will instantly recognise the opening to the game which makes up the demo itself. The opening gives players a really great sense of what the combat and narrative style to Automata is to a degree. As you explore an industrial plant and start to tackle the robots infesting the site, the gameplay showcases the combat and setting for the game really well. 2B uses swords to tear through enemies using light and heavy attacks with a combat system so deceptively simply that players can begin to string impressive combos together with ease by combining attacks. Then the game will throw in a surprise when it adds in some twin stick shooting action using the Pod that assists each android, and can shoot down projectiles and help add some firepower to the swordplay used by the Androids in battle.
Another twist will see the action move from a third person perspective to side scrolling when the environment requires some platforming and the camera switches to a side view. Whilst a little off putting when it first happens, it soon becomes fluid and natural when the view and gameplay shifts to side scrolling and that is really one of the genius elements of Automata. When it introduce a new gameplay mechanic which may feel awkward to start with, it becomes second nature very quickly which is a testament to how deep but simply the combat and control system is to get to grips with.
But I did have some issues at points where the game can become both overwhelming in its structure and sometimes just the sheer randomness of things happening in the game. Automata is an open world game in that it allows the player the freedom to explore and take on enemies freely in the world as they see fit. Where it can become problematic, and something that almost lost me around the six hour mark, is the sheer volume of random side quests the player will soon find littering their map. Just exploring will introduce 2B and 9S to different characters and situations that quickly become side missions and objectives to complete. Some are necessary in order to introduce new areas for the player, and others will be there to serve as vehicles to gain more XP and components to level up and purchase new weapons. But quite a lot of them feel tedious and confusing as the main story missions can come as a result of almost blindly completing side missions.
The sense of randomness almost became game breaking for me at times as some dialogue exchanges took me out of the experience and with no real reason for it. One instance came just after completing a series of side quests in a new location and then suddenly listening to 2B take a radio call from an Operator, responsible for giving objectives to the androids on Earth. During this call the operator is talking to 2B, telling her about a failed attempt of that Operator to ask another Operator out and seemingly being rejected. Now 2B as a character is rather cold, she is clinical and really only focuses on the objective or mission she is on. So to have a non important character suddenly contact her to have a meaningless conversation which 2B will neither care about or have the social desire to even help with just felt odd, random and the more annoying as such random things happened
My main complaint about Automata is the map, a satellite image as such, which serves as the only real navigation for the player once on Earth. Side missions, known locations, camps and fast travel points are all shown on this map, well sort of. Because of the sheer amount of side missions you can pick up at any one time, the map simply becomes a bland beige colour with red diamonds on the edges indicating you have something to do in that direction. There is no real way to track the missions you have or the objectives that will progress the main story so it can be very easy to get lost and the map does nothing to help. That feeling that the game is simply happy to throw everything at the player to just leave them to sort through the mess is a shame, it is a factor of open world and freedom of gameplay but a little help in tracking missions would be a kindness.
Back to the positives and Automata is at times a stunning example of creative design and illustration. The character models are beautifully drawn and animation both in and outside of combat. The design of the enemy robots range from rather cute bots you would expect to come across in Star Wars to huge monstrosity machines which you can fully appreciate were responsible for almost making the human race extinct during the Alien invasion. Some of the big set pieces and boss battles are just as mind blowing as visually rich as they are from combat gameplay to experience. Early on in the game you will come across a Robot village in which the robots are not combative, instead they have started to adopt human characteristics such as identifying themselves as siblings with another robot, and some will even have taken on human features such as drawing clothes and faces on themselves and starting to exhibit human emotions and actions. The subtlety and detail in this way is surprising and just helps to create a really wondrous world to be in. This is complimented by a musical soundtrack that is something very special in deed with a vast amount of tracks that change depending on where the player is and is doing at the time whether it is exploring, travelling to a location or a big action sequence, the music is so crucial to setting the tone in the game but so impactful.
NieR: Automata is something special to experience, but it can be a rather Marmite game as to unlock its real potential does take time and patience. It is a game that has multiple endings with the promise that no follow up playthrough is the same as the one before. In fact it has 26 possible endings, which is just hard to get your head around. Visually this is one on the most vibrant games I have played in the last year and with a musical soundtrack as diverse and memorable as any Final Fantasy game. 2B and 9S make quite the gaming couple, and the story has so many twists and turns and stand out moments that it deserves attention if you like action RPGs. Getting to grips with its many layers will take time, and I found myself having to take a break from playing just to soak it all in and get my head in the right place to tackle it. But it will be rewarding if you keep at it.
Platinum Games have definitely found their mojo again with Automata, the combat is slick and fun and shows them once again at their best, something I am very pleased to finally be able to say once again.
