Review: NieR Automata - Route A-E Experience (Reviewed on PS4, also on PC)

NieR Automata is many things. It’s a long game, a short game. A platformer, a JRPG. An action game, a 2D shooter. All of these things come together to make an incredibly unique JRPG like none other. With its striking narrative and story-telling method partnered with great action gameplay and other styles to keep things interesting, NieR Automata’s emotional android world is well worth diving into.

My 5 Favourite Music Pieces from NieR Automata (#JRPGAppreciation)

Since his compositions for NieR Automata and Final Fantasy XV’s Episode Gladiolus, Keiichi Okabe has quickly risen to being my current favourite JRPG composer. The eerie beauty he creates in his pieces is unique, with his use of vocals and instrument combinations adding to this. I mentioned in one of my other NieR posts that I heard NieR’s music was brilliant and Automata certainly proved that to me. I know it's only the first half of the year, but so far there's no question that NieR Automata has the best JRPG soundtrack this year so far and I'm pretty sure it's in my top 5 favourite ones ever. Speaking of top 5s, here are five of my favourite tracks from NieR Automata’s brilliant soundtrack.

Feel free to watch the video version here!
(The video features previews of a lot of the tracks included in this article!)

Edit: I made a mistake in my video with a couple of tracks in this video (Amusement Park and A Beautiful Song) by crediting them to Keiichi Okabe. While Keiichi was the main composer of NieR Automata, Keigo Hoashi is credited as the composer for those pieces in a few errors. I apologise for my error and will be more diligent in my research next time! (I have also updated the article to reflect this)

This Cannot Continue

This Cannot Continue is special to me for a couple of important reasons. Firstly, it was playing the moment NieR Automata clicked with me. The scene leading into the track was so weird (in a good way) compared anything I'd played in recent memory and it was an unpredictable moment that evolved into a story boss battle with this amazing track behind it. The tribal, pumping rhythm propels the fight up to epic levels and the mix of acoustic and electric sounds in this track is a good example of what Automata's soundtrack does best.

Amusement Park Theme

If This Cannot Continue was the moment Automata clicked with me, the Amusement Park Theme was the moment I fell in love with its music. The Amusement Park Theme encapsulates the creepy yet magical aesthetic of the Amusement Park with matching musical magic, with tight and quick guitars and slow piano put together with glockenspiels and beautiful vocals. Together they make a piece of music that has the perfect eerie vibe for this area, complete with a pop song structure that makes it addictive to listen to.

Rays of Light

A lot of the pieces in Automata are either creating suspense or a thumping action vibe, but the piece Rays of Light manages to be a pretty little exploration track while still featuring the musical elements carried throughout other tracks. Rays of Light may swap a lot of the strings and big percussion for guitars and pretty piano to create a softer feeling, but the piece is much like a song, with the vocals creating the emotiveness that NieR's other tracks have. It manages to be a great fit for running through one of the main open areas of Automata and is unintrusive while still creating the unique atmosphere NieR has.

Honourable Mention: Hacking OST

Rays of Light is also one of my favourite tracks from the Hacking versions of NieR’s soundtrack and helped make the track really grow on me. The simplicity of the 8-bit track brings out the melody in a new way and it's always interesting to hear a natural sounding track redone digitally. The existence of Automata’s Hacking OST is much like the multi-faceted nature of NieR and has a majority of its soundtrack redone in cool, 8-bit form as a new way to listen to the great soundtrack.

A Beautiful Song

I’ve talked before about how NieR Automata’s trailers were a big part of what sold me on it and this includes one of the early trailer fights featuring 2B and 9S fighting a robot a wearing red dress. The piece A Beautiful Song makes the battle shown in that trailer so much more intense and the track matches the depth of the moment so well with its big vocal driven track with tension raising drums. It's not every game that you can verse a robot in an Opera gown with music this epic and cool and A Beautiful Song is definitely up there in NieR’s best boss battle pieces.

Pascal’s Village

I left Pascal’s Village for last as it's the perfect combination of most of the things I love about NieR’s soundtrack. Pascal’s Village is one of the quirkier NieR tracks with its mix of childish vocals and electronic vocals in lead lines and harmonies and while spoilers are tough to avoid for this track, let's just say it's very fitting for its moment in the story. Pascal’s Village’s beautiful guitar and light percussion with these vocals help make the eccentric track one of the most charming tracks from Automata and contrasted with the epic boss battle music shows Keiichi Okabe’s blend and range of styles very well.

You can pick up NieR Automata's OST or the PS4 game at Play-Asia.com!

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What's your favourite track from NieR Automata? What's your favourite JRPG soundtrack?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on Facebook, Youtube or Instagram and let's talk!

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Review: NieR Automata - Route A Experience (Reviewed on PS4, also on PC)

Let's get this out of the way quickly - NieR Automata is much more than just a game. It’s a work of storytelling art told in unique ways and is pretty much a must for those who love highly original story-based games. NieR Automata’s striking narrative is paired with some great action gameplay and a world that encouraged me to explore it with its multi-altitude areas and environments ranging from beautiful to creepy. There is a lot to be intrigued by in the entire experience and it's one that I'm sure will stay with me for a long time.

(Feel free to watch the video version of this review!)

NieR Automata predominantly follows the story of cool, collected battle unit 2B, one of the many androids made by humans that are tasked with reclaiming Earth from the alien machines that have invaded. She does this with the help of the more emotive scanner unit 9S and their fascinating journey to Earth sees them exploring the way of the machine lifeforms on it while ultimately striving to complete their mission. This exploration of the machines and androids respective homes did a great job at challenging any understanding I had of either, considering I'm pretty sure I didn't meet any humans in Automata yet all the characters (including some NPCs) were complex and relatable in many ways, adding to the already intriguing premise of Automata. I don’t want to spoil anything, but Automata’s story is fascinating and thought-provoking about a lot of very deep subjects.

The story and characters of NieR Automata are heightened a lot by the subtle world-building done both within the story and its world. Whether it's the unsettling words of machines in story battles or a charming NPC talking about their day, it’s easy to get an understanding of the beings in Automata, which adds so much to the story. The fascinating environments show all different interpretations of human ideals and without spoiling too much, Yoko Taro really has made a world in Automata. The worlds range from pretty to creepy to unsettling and are all complemented by one of the best JRPG soundtracks I’ve heard in a long time.

An initial criticism I had of exploring Automata was how often I was getting lost due to not being used to parkouring my way around the world and the map only helps so much. But an NPC explained this was because the map could only be made so much by GPS signals (another example of great world building), so I started to look around the world more and found myself really enjoying jumping across buildings, sometimes falling into holes and finding areas I didn't know about. My favourite area was probably the Amusement Park one shown in the trailer, but there are a bunch of charming and strange places to explore and become immersed in, even if there aren’t as many places to visit as I was expecting. I'm still in awe of the way the story manages to be so much more than what I fell in love with about it in the trailers and it's one of the most interesting Sci-Fi worlds I’ve experienced, whether in games or otherwise.

Some of Automata’s most interesting exploration moments were during its battle moments, with it switching between the usual 3D exploration to side-scrolling to and even top down shooting. Since NieR Automata uses an action-based battle system that's main mechanics range from light or heavy attacks and shooting, the change in exploration style gives the action battles the variation it needs. The enemies in NieR Automata can be pretty challenging, depending what difficulty mode you play with. I'm currently playing on Normal mode in my second playthrough and am quickly finding myself noticing how much the Auto-Chips from easy mode were pretty much fighting battles for me. With difficulties ranging from Easy to Very Hard, there's something for every play style, whether you’re getting through the story or you want an intense challenge.

Conquering difficulty modes isn't the only reason to go back and play Automata again. There are plenty of quests I have left over, weapons to upgrade, androids to chip (you read that correctly) and amusing NPCs I didn't talk to nearly (Nierly?) enough. Also, the fact that ‘end’ of NieR Automata isn't at all the full end with multiple endings to be explored is exciting for someone who craves intricate stories like myself. While I know there's the danger that a lot of players will get to the first ending of NieR Automata and finish the 15-hour campaign feeling like it should've been longer, I can safely say my time with Automata certainly isn't over. I'm itching to go back and see the alternative versions of the beautiful story because it’s just that good.

NieR Automata is a one of a kind Sci-Fi JRPG for story fans. It showed me one of the most thought-provoking worlds I've experienced in games and even though it had a smaller world to explore than I was hoping for, where it lacked in size it truly gave back in quality with the story told through its areas, NPCs and most of all, the fascinating main story. The story of NieR Automata really will be one that stays with me for a while and I’m happy that my first step into the world of NieR was really, really good.

Score: 9/10
I'm ready for Automata to make me cry at least three more times.

You can pick up NieR Automata at Play-Asia!

(This is an affiliate link that helps support my JRPG Jungle content, so if you use it, thank you! <3)

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Are you going to pick up NieR Automata? Would you recommend the original NieR (I'm interested in trying it now!)?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on Facebook, Youtube or Instagram and let's talk!

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Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and Instagram, like JRPG Jungle on Facebook and Subscribe to the mailing list and Youtube Channel for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3

How NieR Automata Went From A 'Maybe' To A Must-Buy For Me

A week can do a lot. A week ago I added all the JRPGs I want to play to a calendar and picked out all the ones I intended to play. I had a small dilemma with March as there were three games I was interested in - Atelier Firis, Kingdom Hearts 1.5/2.5 HD and the main topic of this post: NieR Automata. Initially, I had decided I'd finally give the Atelier series a try since I loved one of Gust’s other games called Ar nosurge. Then NieR Automata came along and put its foot down with a PR push that completely worked on me. Its killer trailer, recent interviews and exclusive videos have showed off some really awesome parts of NieR, moving it from my ‘maybe later’ list into my personal must-have JRPG for March. Here are a few things that have gotten me totally excited for NieR while I do my best to wait for upcoming release.

Feel free to watch the video version of this article!

2B, 9S and the Characters of Automata

2B is a pretty notable character in all of NieR Automata’s trailers. Aside from being the main character of Automata, her cool demeanour and aesthetic are unlike most JRPG characters, especially of the female protagonist variety. But a big part of what made me more curious about 2B were her interactions with 9S. 9S is described as more emotional than the other androids and the recent ‘Glory to Mankind’ trailer, the moment where he reaches out for another character’s hand touched my sappy little heart. Honestly, what's not to love about the premise of a sweet-looking boy that's also an emotional android? I'm really curious to see their characters develop and what 9S and 2B’s relationship will be in the story.

9S and 2B aren't the only cool looking characters in Automata. There are the sinister twin-looking guys and the prototype A2 that look they'll be around to shake the story up however. Whatever they have in store, I hope Automata's character's are as interesting as they seem so far.

The Premise

I don't know about you, but the idea of playing in a machine war set on post-apocalyptic Earth androids was enough to make me at the very least download NieR’s demo. In fact, the idea of an evacuated Earth is part of the reason I bought the original NieR years ago when I was working in an electronic store, but it never quite made it into my console. The combination of the abandoned Earth premise and the interesting android characters coming to save it is something I want to learn more about and is definitely an intriguing concept.

The Music

Another half of the reason I bought the original NieR was because I heard the soundtrack was brilliant. I've written about how much I love music in JRPGs before and the track from NieR Gestalt in Final Fantasy XV was good enough to make me find the repeat button to keep listening to it. The trailer music for NieR Automata has already been really cool and I hope that it's a great soundtrack to run around the pretty looking world with.

The World

Speaking of the world, when watching the PlayStation Underground’s preview of Automata I became really excited about it. I had no idea that Automata was going to be set in a gorgeous open world with plenty of quests to do until that preview and made me all the more keen to play it. Now, I have a Final Fantasy XV addiction that I'm not quite willing to give up yet but I also don't mind at all that NieR Automata could threaten that. I really hope the quests are fun and it's an unique environment to explore with its lack of inhabitation. Judging from the PlayStation Underground footage, it looks pretty freaking cool.

The Trailers

As I wrote about in my TGS 2016 post, NieR Automata’s dynamic trailers are what made me want to sit down and pay attention to what Automata is all about. Whether it be the yelling and flashes of dynamic cutscenes in the TGS trailer or the thought-provoking lines in the recent Glory to Mankind one, NieR’s trailers are all striking thanks to its unique aesthetic and have made me more intrigued every time. I love all of them, but my favourite is probably still the TGS trailer with the heated discussion and flashes of strange footage. It’s a really memorable trailer and NieR Automata has definitely made all of its trailers standout somehow.

If NieR Automata is even half as great as it looks, I'll probably be pretty happy when I play it. So far it’s shown just the right amount of footage to get me excited and I hope there’s a lot more to excite me when it’s finally out. I'll definitely be picking up NieR Automata in March and I hope the next time I talk about NieR, it's about how great it really was.

You can pre-order NieR Automata at Play-Asia! (And FYI - the Japanese version has English!)

(This is an affiliate link that helps support my JRPG Jungle content, so if you use it, thank you! <3)

____________________________________________________________________________

Are you going to pick up NieR Automata? What March JRPGs are you excited for?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on Facebook, Youtube or Instagram and let's talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and Instagram, like JRPG Jungle on Facebook and Subscribe to the mailing list and Youtube Channel for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3