For many years, people have been singing the praises of Nier: Automata. People have long held it up as the shining example of what games can and should be, and while I have not been shy on labelling other games with this commendation, it is Nier: Automata that has caused me to consider it the most. The game and its audience want to impress upon you not an idea, but a question: what does it mean to be human? And impress it does, undoubtedly. I am not the first, and will not be the last to say this is an incredible game, but the question I truly came away from it asking was actually: what does it mean for a game to be good?

The short, easy answer might be to say that if a game is like Nier: Automata, then it is good, but herein lies my dilemma, for on many, many levels I actually believe that this is a deeply flawed game. Many of the aspects of what one would usually look for in a game are either missing, poorly implemented or under-explored. Take the combat, for example: extremely shallow, an overabundance of particle effects which make it hard to see what is going on, controls which are awkwardly mapped, ambiguously applied stats, imprecise hitboxes and little enemy variety. Despite this, I had a great time with it. In fact, I could not get enough of it. So, why? What made the combat so great, so fun, despite all of the obvious flaws?

I have found similar issues in almost every part of the game. Quest design, enemy design, progression, loot pool, material economy, level design, even the UI. I have massive issues with each an every part of this game. Something I often see around the discussion of it is people desperately attempting to jump through hoops to explain why actually, every quest needs to be a fetch quest because it imparts onto you the mundanity of every day life, or something. And sure, you could say that, but in reality, it is just shit quest design.

But that is OK, because the game is still incredible, despite its numerous flaws.

I attribute a large portion of responsibility for this phenomenon to the game's narrative. Not only is it intriguing, powerful, effective and moving, but it entirely relates itself to the game mechanics, in many ways it is the game's mechanics, the game itself even, from the title screen to the controls. Everything in the story involves you to a degree I have never seen before, but not in a "your choices matter way" (they largely do not), but in the way in which the game seeks to involve you. Whether it be from combat to booting up the game itself, Nier: Automata's philosophy is that you must be the primary actor in your experience.

And I really mean that that is its philosophy. As Tolkien wrote in The Lord of the Rings, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us". The conclusion Nier: Automata comes to is broadly very similar: life is the actions you take, the people you love, the time you spend being alive; so do not let someone else decide how you spend it.

This is not a new take, but I believe the reason the game's themes work so well, have been so acclaimed and praised, is that they are delivered in the interactive medium in a way it had never really been delivered before. The beauty of Nier: Automata is not that it seeks to give a definitive answer to the meaning of life, but to make you consider it. While this topic is certainly nothing new to the realm of philosophy, Nier: Automata is not claiming that; what it is doing is showing that games can make valuable contributions to discussion on larger, more serious (though I hate to use that word as an explicit compliment) subjects, without trying to become something other than a game and bringing original perspectives that only a game could provide.

A lot of games have come out since 2017, and personally I believe a lot of them have done pretty much every part of Nier: Automata better. Disco Elysium left a deeper impact on me, Lies of P is a much better action game, Hi-Fi Rush has better hack-n-slash combat, God of War explored themes of violence in games in a more effective manner and Alan Wake II delivers its story in a far more interesting way. The thing is, much like I said of Alan Wake II, what makes Nier: Automata special is that I have never played or seen anything like it before in my life. The reason that this game is so good then, at least in my opinion, is not due to any of the individual aspects that make it up, but because every facet of this game is so infused with this total uncompromising vision, purpose and ambition of proving that games can give you an impactful experience and make you consider the great wonders of existence, while also being an extremely cool and stylish action hack-n-slash title.

That is why, despite the issues I have with it, I would highly recommend this game to everyone. I do not believe I have done this game justice in this summary. It is a totally unique experience, a triumph of the medium. There is so much that could be said of this game, but part of Nier: Automata is that it is meant to mean something to you, on an individual, personal level. So instead of me telling you about this game any more than I already have, just go and play it.