I definitely sound like a broken record, but at this point, I do not care. NieR: Automata is a game that has been on my radar ever since it released. Yes, it seems like I say this about every game, but it genuinely has been on my timeline and in my recommendations for quite a while.

Finally, enough was enough and I decided that after my P5R playthrough, NieR would have to be next. Going into the game completely blind knowing the precedent that it set helped place my expectations rather high and at first, I was expecting them not to be met. The early story seemed to bounce around a lot without much groundwork, combat was hard to adjust to after just having played a turn-based JRPG, and the dilated color scheme was different than what came before it. 2B as a character seemed shallow which stopped me from progressing as quickly as expected and it wasn’t living up to my expectations. Route A on its own struggled to peel back enough to keep me interested during the first half which slowed me down rather than had me continue playing to learn more. In the long run, this ended up being genius and a perfect way to execute the story, but not having known this at first really had me keeping my foot on the brakes as time went on.

However, once the story got going and enemies much higher level than I was were taking no time at all, I was glued. The game perfectly ties together the gameplay style of hack and slash with a JRPG in a way that kept me moving through the different side quests and story missions with ease. There was never a time where I felt obligated to rush through just to finish due to the incredibly fine-tuned combat. Having the Pods aid in battle made fights very engaging as you could just avoid attacks and have them do all the work. It was great that we had full control over them as well which enabled the dynamic of battles to change in an instant whenever abilities were swapped and different chips were applied. Not the perfect combat system by a long shot, but it was still one that felt super intuitive and fun to play around with.

My favorite portion of the entire game has to be the incredible story structure with the multiple different endings and three major routes. At first, this is where my biggest issues lied, but they were quickly flattened as the story progressed and more bits and pieces were uncovered. Learning more about this version of Earth, YoRHa, and the team of 2B/9S/A2 were all so intriguing that I wish I could empty my mind and relive everything all over again. Route E in particular will forever live on in my memories as being one of the most perfect endings of all time. It was bittersweet and linked the entirety of the major concepts together in such a beautiful way which made the final cutscene immensely satisfying to watch. It was brilliant and I could not have possibly asked for a better ending than that.

Overall it’s safe to say that I loved my time with NieR: Automata. It was visually stunning, the soundtrack set the tone so well, and the characters are so well written to the point where I wish the story could have continued on longer. It is a beautiful yet timeless game that everyone should take the time to carefully understand and enjoy.

This feels like a story I will grow on to cherish for eons, its sheer earnestness kinda blew me away and I had a tear running down my cheek during the entire last stretch, which is my favourite ever. Absolutely what I needed to hear.

Bazett is truly the Joker for VN readers.


Spoilers //

Special note has to go to its handling of Shirou's legacy and how the entire thing is essentially about a protagonist who was inspired by his deeds, which is incredibly fitting from a meta perspective for an epilogue like this one.

Kinoko Nasu genuinely outdid himself with Hollow Ataraxia delivering a powerful, moving, and illuminating tale surpassing its illustrious predecessor in the process.

The Fate series is one of the most important and impactful stories I have had the pleasure of experiencing and Hollow Ataraxia stands comfortably as the apex of the series' bountiful sensations. Enveloping me in a cascade of relevant deliberations, I exited its cathartic spectacle forever changed and emancipated.

"The world is overflowing with beautiful things. Humans are overflowing with beautiful things. Who could deny that?"