This game has become my obsession. The first game that truly brought me to tears was the one with the most negative replay elements didn't love it, didn't hate it, something in between. The heavenly melody filled the silence. The relationship between all the characters in the novel was excellent, and I enjoyed how the plot about those helpless humans transformed into something depressing that no one could relate to. We also got a thorough look inside the characters' heads to see things from their perspective
Man, I can't stop talking about this game (I love Yoku Toro). Interesting fact: This game revolves around Yoku Taro's friend's suicide.

This rating might make it seem like I think the game is mediocre but it's really not, it uses the medium in very inventive ways with how it tells its story. It ponders existential themes in really awesome ways with great characters and has truly medium-defining moments like that one secret Ending we all know and love. I really wish I could love this game, please play it if my above description sounds appealing to you.

I just wish its combat could be better. It feels good to play so it's fine for most people (hence why I recommend please play it if the above description sounds interesting!) but its potential for interesting decision-making is greatly neutered due to systemic issues. Here's a list of my problems:
- It has an enemy roster filled with goons that aren't very threatening except when they're swarmed at you in large numbers
- Pod guns don't inhibit your movement at all so no meaningful thought goes into when you should use them in normal combat scenarios, and they do good damage. They're like DMC2's guns but they feel good to use. The devs try to balance this by removing lock-on in higher difficulties but if you can aim your camera well you run into the same problem.
- You cannot stagger enemies of signifiantly higher level than you in combat. This is particularly confusing because it goes against one of the key strengths of Nier Automata's combat: using the characters' insane movement freedom to string together super long combos on sandbag enemies. The stronger the player is, the less time enemies will live.
- No restrictions on item loadouts and you don't need to time your heals. This is a common ARPG problem, but if you want a series that does this well I'd look at the numbered Kingdom Hearts games.
- Perfect dodges barely need to be timed, overcentralizing player defense to that one move. You do at least have two options out of it (pod gun for big damage or attack to launch an enemy) but the response itself is unfortunately quite repetitive and dull.

If you want a great and honestly groundbreaking story that can only really be told the way it is through video games, please play this game. If you like combat with good and interesting decision-making in ARPGs, you might be a bit disappointed. I'm hoping that if Yoko Taro directs more ARPGs in the future, the development team can improve their combat design and I can enjoy a cultural reset without being a snob.