[I played through the game 5 times; Route A, B, C, D, & E and watched all 5 endings.]

A compelling story combined with well-written and interesting characters, that is bogged down by some of the most tedious quest design in gaming.

The combat is incredibly flashy, however, it's all style and no substance. The difficulty is either mind-numbingly easy or mind-numbingly boring due to the health scaling.

The resources required for weapon upgrading are incredibly grindy and don't even make sense. What the hell is Nier using eggs, necklaces, bracelets, broken pottery, and pearls for? Like. Seriously?

The side quests are sooooooooooooooooooo boring. Holy shit. Baffingly boring fetch quests that don't even have interesting written or characters seen in other RPGs.

What moron designed the Fyra tour? Genuinely one of the most grating, poorly designed encounters I’ve ever experienced in gaming. It's skippable, yes, but having skippable content is generally meant for speedrunners, not a way to skip horrendous content that's included in the game.

If you're willing to push through piles of trash to find some tidbits of fantastic content then this is the game for you.

Any section that involves electricity is just ridiculous. The stun/damage mechanic is so poorly designed, which means that going through the "stealth" electric drone section is infuriating.

Technical issues (even on PS5) means that hitches are a common occurence.

* Unskippable cutscenes and end credits means that going back through the game to get missed collectibles/trophies was a pain.


Conclusion: If you're looking for an immersive walking simulator just go play SOMA.