Even with this low rating, this game is sovl and was made with love. The gameplay deserves to be highly praised, a turn based inspired by the 90s style, it was supposed to be something limited to always the same thing, but the game presented fun and vigorous combat. The soundtrack was great, being one of the biggest points of the game alongside its artistic direction... and in the end, the biggest flaw of this work: the bland storytelling, villains, principles, characters and shallow plot, few dialogue, few build up... shallow in its essence. A game that could have been way, way, way better than it actually was.

Even though its thematic was awesome, it was a big lost of potential.

For the first time, I kneel for a Final Fantasy game.

FFX hadn't started well, but I didn't give up and continued playing. The protagonist's unique style made me interested. Slowly, as silly as it seemed, the game interested me in one thing or another until suddenly I was already halfway through it, when I looked back I noticed although its worldbuilding was nil, how much it had connected the story between its characters of the plot. What makes this JRPG different is that it's a story that seeks us to understand the characters there and feel each other, their connections. This was one of the only times I played a JRPG caring about the characters instead of the world of the plot.

Its only flaw was that the narrative is not polished enough and its artistic direction is not strong. FFX would be a monster if it weren't these two problems.

I'll just give up. This game is a sad situation, everything is kinda nice, the soundtrack is very good, gameplay fine, art cool

but I better leave early before I travel to japan to attempt murder the writer, bro just ruined the feast
next time hire me tales staff please I would write a better story
even the guy who reviewed above me and the guy who reviewed below would write a better story

Nier: Automata does not excel in developing its characters, and its script is average. However, Nier's game design stands atop the pedestal of the video game medium, and that's where Yoko Taro truly shines as a GENIUS. Nier is experience and connection. The way the director constructed the entire story of the game and the way it was designed, the way he CONVEYS the story to the viewer, is completely MAGIC. This work would be different if Yoko Taro weren't present. Nier is one of the VERY RARE cases of a work or series that, I believe, reached 95% to 100% of its potential.

The catchphrase "Yoko Taro, you genius" is absolutely real. When he created a rival duo fighting a boss at the end of the C route (when you make a combo, you're automatically switched to the other character), I screamed PEAK. When he had you fight against a boss in complete darkness with a flashlight, I screamed PEAK. When he mixed ship, 2D, 2.5D, and 3D in the game, with a top view, I screamed PEAK. Not to mention the countless references he made to writers like Shakespeare or even the Bible, naming characters like Adam or Eve, or the fact that 2B's name is translated into "two b" - "to be" - which means 'to be or not to be,' Nier also aims to provoke questions and explore the philosophy of life. The artistic direction is top-notch, no comments required. The OST is also excellent, with Keiichi Okabe at his zenith, the Kevin Penkin of games

If I were to point out flaws, it's really the script that, although efficient, makes the plot move very quickly (in a bad way), and because there wasn't enough character development, it's not a perfect story. There's not enough plot construction.

The existence of Nier: Automata is essential in the video game medium due to everything it offers, such as direction and other technical aspects like the soundtrack and game design. 2017 was certainly a blessed year for anime, but especially for games

PROJECT SEKAI

When I first started it, at first I noticed a lot of melodramatic or cliche narratives choices which weren't healthy for a solid series. On the other hand, as events unfolded (specially nightcord at 25am), my opinion has changed because the game changed itself. Idk what the author was thinking during his early journey through the writing for using those lazy narrative ideas, but after the prologue ended, it turned into another title.
When I first came back to it, I wasn't that hopped in the game, so I began looking for clues in the plot to make myself curious (as I already said here I have difficulty with no-goal rule), and then, before I even realised, the goals were slowly appearing, one by one.... surprise after surprise, the characters were growing inside me (this is such a gay affirmation). Project Sekai is not strong at first, but all in all, a title that gets strong. So don't give up until you see new genesis, then you shall see how far they can go with such a simple story

NIGHTCORD AT 25AM

An experience 'outside' of the external world. Here we're swimming through the darkest memories of girls having a battle with their mental selves. Cinema 4, I can't decide my favorite character because each arc seems like one of them becomes my fav and then another arc come and other girl is my fav lol, they all are great and solid characters, but Mafuyu is without a doubt the most well explored and done character of they all excuse me. Such a great suspense they were planning how to do it for already many events, the build up was so well done, everything went so well that even the production suddenly improved af just for that arc's end. For the time I write this, I don't know if wxs will be able to beat it, but this journey was wholesome and worth it. It's kinda hard to put into words, but even so little time spent with those characters, I already felt like I was in such a journey of various things, accepting the way we are, being there for another person, that FIRST YOU FIGHT, THEN YOU RUN, AND THEN YOU FIGHT AGAIN like a cat. Seeing everything that happened with Mafuyu makes me reflect again on why I will always prefer to be sentimental for the rest of my life: because acting with the heart is acting with what we know best, it's acting with our true selves.

A BATTLE FOR THE HOPE - When I see nightcord at 25am, I think of ourselves working together to encounter that paradise, and that all of that is a journey meeting the true light. Find yourself with your own heart.

a part of niigo soundtracks are solid compositions (I even talk about bgms here) because they can really transmits what they want to, those songs helps to create this feeling of hope through the darkness using very interesting tones with the piano
also it has such great leitmotifs, and prob my favorite from the series after the title screen

It's also the best production in my opinion, every CG is absolutely cinema, and the soundtrack is really a degree above all the other groups

It's impressive how good the cast of characters is, from every group I played. There is not a SINGLE character there that I could think "ok this dude or this girl is the worst character in the cast", NO. All of them are lovable, consistent and well written characters, having great personalities and goals. Your affirmation of saying those characters are alive was really true.
I think project sekai suffers the same from other gacha games like blue archive and genshin impact. Maybe they all don't have a strong early story, but after some chapters they definitely step up a gear.
During niigo's half point, I already thought what to expect from the rest of the entire journey (the other groups' story and niigo's ending arc), but damn it was flying colors

WONDERLAND X SHOWTIME

Life is a journey of spectacle, as we're right now on stage performing our moves. Four members with different dreams came together to help each other get there. Even though a parting is near to come, the final destiny must be an ultimate reencounter. We manage to learn their development in evolving as a person (damn I remember nene being so shy at the beginning and already in one of the final events she was so proactive). I always wondered what the goal of WXS would be, and it seems it was a coming of age all this time. One of my favorite messages in fiction was when I learned we people live or for our dreams or for love. In WXS we could see that everyone there are living to accomplish their dreams. Tsukasa was the most enlightened protagonist of the series, but I want to draw attention to Emu, who is the personification of innocence and humility. Basically, THE PERFECT PERSON DOES EXIST.. IT'S HER... There is still a lot to explore from all of them. I believe WXS has more to say about the characters than the other two groups I've read.
On the other hand, I thought the coming of age was done too quickly (as I'm used to very big stories), so it wasn't enough for me to get emotional or feel much affection for the characters.
Therefore, the strong point of this group for me was the well-executed shows, mainly the one where Tsukasa sounds through the eyes (WE DON'T CRY!!!!!).

A COMING AGE THROUGH THE LIGHT - When I see wonderland x showtime, I think of ourselves being in the paradise, living our lives at the triumphant level searching for our dreams. Live your golden time, flourish your best moment, till it turn into memories.

LIGHT UP THE FIRE: VIVID BAD SQUAD

The best and most emotional event in the entire game for me, period. I'm getting chills just from writing it right now. This was PEAK Project Sekai, it PEAKED right here. You transform a story that had a boring objective with no expectation of improvement, where everything remained the same, into the tracks to compete among the best stories in the game. A single, JUST A TINY SINGLE twist made VBS story go up to tiers of the top of this series.
This story completely deceived the viewer with a totally unexpected tale that is a spectacular shock factor. On a path towards success in a calm and hopeful way, a major revealing obstacle brings us back as if to the beginning itself. Through this, we see how we were deceived from the beginning and the entire direction that the VBS story was taking was practically all justified and everything makes sense. Futile flasbacks that looked like it were going nowhere? Just random events of they improving? IT WAS THE HISTORY BEING WRITTEN as a beautiful passing of the baton to the next to continue the LEGEND of those who marked a generation. A group where their side characters are FUNDAMENTAL in the plot, showing truly the definition of Passion. The whole drama was spectacularly well created and reminded me a little of KEY during its golden age.
Throwed half of project sekai weakness to hell. It didn't failed building up even for a bit, the structure worked because the events were mostly long, and the fast and consistent pacing that marked the event being completely solid from beginning to the end.
Though, it's kinda bizarre to notice why the fuck An is not the protagonist of this group. Maybe they are planning something for Kohane, but in my eyes it doesn't make sense so far. It should've been between Akito or An, both fundamental characters of the group, while Kohane and Toya works more like supporting ones. Or for the better, let's just say the protagonists were RAW Weekend all this time
bro *********** in the final part of light up the fire was the most emotional part of the entire game imo
and yeah this group has the best side characters of any other, without ANY doubt. It's not exaggerate to say that Vivid Bad Squad is a story about side characters.

Obviously, a single event does not justify the flawed pacing of everything that has happened so far, but it's a game changing, and standalone the BEST event story in the game. Light up the fire saves Vivid Bad Squad once for all, with a masterful writing.

THE LEGEND IS PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION - Never forget the flame that fuels your passion for what you love, the fire whose warms for the sake of responsibility as you carry the dreams of those who can no longer.

Catching the last hand of this adventure, it's a thorny one, as the series' main problem is its structure since the beginning. It doesn't has an immersive writing imo, and most of the things are extremely direct and simple. Even though they build a character progression for an entire arc, they don't build the scenes very well due to the fact the medium they are in has limitations. It wouldn't probably be that good putting monologues or these things to enhance a scene for kids or in a gacha (?) idk, but I think you understood about what I'm coming here. In short, I found the build up scenes too superficial, even though it's a solid character development. Like, tsukasa crying scene, he basically said about his inspirations 30 minutes before that, so it wasn't enough time for me caring the much he cared about it, unfortunately. The literally only exception to this was mafuyu with her mom and mostly the legendary VBS event
And yeah the fact we don't care that much of some bands too 💀 💀

Overall, from a series that I never thought I would read, to the best gacha game out there

my favorite characters were tsukasa, emu and mizuki, these are the top 3
FAVORITE GROUP ORDER: Niigo > VBS > WXS
niigo is finished as the first, best in almost everything, with also the most interesting conflicts in project sekai.
VBS is being the 2nd option you guys still don't understand how epic that event was, MAYBE ANIMA-KUN UNDERSTANDS A LITTLE BECAUSE I SPAMMED HIM 250 MESSAGES WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, it delivered a thing that was out of the world, that was project sekai at its 100%
WXS the third, even though more consistent than VBS, it was not as emotional or impactful, even though the cast of characters are almost a pair with niigo.
It's only the beginning. I'm really feeling the best of project sekai is yet to come, and I wll be there no matter what.

Such a minuscule text is not enough to say all the good things about this game, but consider this as a humble letter from someone who liked it 🧎‍♂️🌹

This game could've been so good if it hadn't fucked up. It's the antithesis of a linear plot and self-insert. After the prologue ends, the game also ends here. Basically, you're free to explore the world without a specific goal or linear structure. You may choose to search for all the characters on the map (though it's not mandatory), and in various locations around the world, there are quests related to each character. However, you can only unlock these quests at specific levels, requiring you to teleport or travel between places, and grinding. In summary, you lose the continuity and rhythm of one story to start another with no connection. In other words, the cast of characters in the game's thumbnail is basically a lie, as they practically don't even know each other well, or there is very little natural interaction.

I've now entered a story where the characters knew each other but actually there weren't any dialogues between them so I was like wtf. Not only that, but after recruiting all characters, they become part of your party. Yet, when you start any story, they all disappear in cutscenes, leaving only the protagonist of that particular story. Additionally, characters from the story's protagonist you're playing appear and have story-wise fights, but you don't play with them. Instead, you play with 'filler' characters (the protagonists of other regions, the other travelers)
It's a shame because it has very interesting characters and the game itself is very beautiful

so yeah the game is good but for having such asshole abyss fiction structure, it made the game ass

The soundtrack and universe are great. I've always been interested in exploring Granblue's world, and I'm finally done. I still see that it can improve in the future, but for now it completely SUCKS. It's shit.
I don't care about gameplay so all I'm left with is the story, which is ridiculous and poorly done. Anyways, Granblue is a massive series with an expansive worldbuilding, as there is much yet to show, it's unfair to judge the series as a whole for now.
But, yeah, having waited years and years for this game and having it be a disappointing experience, it was sad.