"Everything that lives is designed to end. They are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death"

This is my second review, focusing more on the game itself than my post-game feelings about it.
--> NieR Automata first review

NieR Automata was - in my life - a turning point in gaming with all that it proposed.

The combat system is brilliant, and slightly different for each character - this is PlatinumGames after all.
RPGs mecanics, HUD and journeying through the city ruins, the desert, the forest or the attraction park is perfect from a level design point of view.
In addition to that, will culmine great boss fights to conclude those areas and make a face of between quality and quantity cliché. But with the repetition of boss fights comes different perspective dependant of the character you are playing as, adding stupefaction to the retelling of a story in a fight that became on top of that more rigueous.

But where it shine the brightest for me is in the narrative and in the secondary quest for that.
Yoko Taro and his team approach on the philosophical and META genre, it's my kind of cocaine, and Yoko Taro drugged me to death with his game.

Kaine Salvation's first experience in the Garden of Lunar Tears, the boss battle in the desert, the entrance to the theme park and the E ending turn an already really great game into an unforgettable media experience.

Where Yoko Taro made me think, Keiichi Okabe made me cry.
It is still today the greatest Soundtracks I ever listen to.
It reverbs brightly into a mix of beauty, intimacy, sorrow and prejudice. Those feeling then, opens the gate to the context of NieR Automata while witnessing the constant growth in the android's side, the robot's sides and the Weight of the World.

A gate to an artistic look into the video game genre, what a beauty it can achieve and convey to an audience, separated by the entire world but - at the same time - reminescent of the same experience.

"Story of my life"

It's a good remake. I enjoyed playing it, the game has some interesting features, the weapons are cool and the parrying system is brilliant, but half the playthrough i was feeling empty.

When i was playing RE4 as a child i was blown away by the supernatural aspect of certains areas which aren't present in the remake, i understand why they did this but no lava zone in the castle, no laser dodging and no U-3 boss.
They removed the essence of coolness and filled the game with realistic aspect to make up for today's standard.

But in all this emptiness I enjoyed it, I am only left to wonder what an experience it could have been if the game was shaped for the fan and not for the majority.

Mercenaries and Separates Ways are a big part of the original experience for me and I hope it gets all the right additions.

UPDATE

Starting today, we finally have the long-awaited Separate Ways.
Which as expected adds a ton of content cut from the OG game and puts Salazar's second bodyguard in action, chasing Ada throughout the game, instead of getting killed by merging with boss Salazar in the OG.

It's rather nice for me to see U3 become Pesenta and the combat use of ada's grapplin gun, but in addition the laser room is back in a new chase sequence that looks incredibly sloppy and ass designed.
The difficulty curve isn't balanced, early game boss feels like tank and later boss feels like random encounter using - what feels like - unlimited money and ammo thoughout the game
I think the additions are there, but they could have been a hundred times better with love and care for the remake of one of the most played, most impactful, most innovative game in history.

Mercenary mode is much more enjoyable here than in the OG, with fast-paced action, lots of characters each with a good arsenal, perks and gameplay around 4 very different maps, and the fourth map being the final boss arena instead of the "docks".
It feels like a final map, and the double chainsaw guy is back - what a thrill !

The sorrow of a thousand thousand worlds weighs heavy, and yet, you can walk on.

Endwalker is a tale of loss, of fire, and faith, a journey of self discovery and enlightment, teaching us to value life and to find joy even in the deepest and darkest of despair.

What people live for ? What give their lives... meaning ?

From time immemorial, Man had always tried to answer this question. But a single and simple answer it seems not to be, so when striken by sorrow, rage, despair or hatred, Man faced harsh reality and came to curse life itself. Overwhelmed by negative feelings, he deemed the pursuit of power, only to become the architect of his own demise. Indeed, doomed by the failure of finding happiness, he seek deliverance in death or conflict with others.

Our existence seem pointless, life is fleeting and hardships are an inescapable part of it.

Yet I have faith in Mankind's potential. As long as he believes in himself, there is naught he cannot achieve, so I will not give up on him. On us.

But there is so much more that life has to offer. It's because we have known death, failure and frustration that we have learned and grown from them. That we might find love, friendships, ambition and hope. No happiness is without its shadows, each and every single one of us abideth pain within but by offering understanding and acceptance, we can forge ahead in the darkness and becoming a light to guide others.

We too are miracles, each and every one of us. Born of the warm breath of life that traverses the heavens, swirling through eternity.

Never a game as poured that much of love onto us, lifting us up everytime we faltered. The boundless love of mankind that transpires from the overall message of the story is particularly vibrant nowadays looking at certain circumstances. All of us are worthy to exist and our fate remains ours to shape.

.. Here, at the end of all stars, engulfed in despair, despite all that I've done, would you still take my hand.. ?

There, Beneath the light of a new dawn, where the hopes and dreams of our friends shapes the path to follow, despite all that I've done, Would you still be my friend ?

For those we have lost, for those we can yet save.
For those whose dreams were unfulfilled, those whose prayers were unheard, those whose labors were unrewarded.

Y O U A R E N O T A L O N E

Has your journey been good ? Has it been worthwile ?

It was the best one, I can't deny that.