The amount of times this game has been recommended to me is bordering the lines of parody.

I've consistently been met with, "this is literally the greatest piece of fiction ever conceived" or "there are so many endings its awesome lol" or "this changes your perspective on games in general."

yes to all, and then some.

NieR: Automata is better than everyone says it is. This experience has surpassed any expectations put forth by myself and all others who constantly nagged me to play it.

Something always drew me away from this game. It might've been the fact that it's actually a pseudo-sequel of sorts, or the fact that the bar had been set so high by my friends that I was scared that it would never reach those impossible expectations.

To quell my original fear I decided to wait until the remaster of Replicant released, so I could take in the experience fully, instead of having that nagging guilt pester me my entire playthrough(s) of Automata.

Replicant surprised me in a multitude of ways. I found myself engrossed in the world for a little over 100 hours. Going back and forth between sections, completing every quest and talking to every side character, nipping at their heels in an attempt to uncover everything the world had to offer.

The only downside I found originally in Replicant was the way that it chose to handle subsequent playthroughs. I found it to be tiring and nonsensical, going through the same old dungeon and completing the same old quests over and over again.

I do not feel this way anymore, and I now understand what they were trying to do. It only took me completing all of Automata's main endings for it to click.

Playing both of these games back to back, within days of each other has been one of the most rewarding, and painful experiences. The questions posed by the themes and stories within are all truly from the heart and difficult to accept. From a thematic standpoint alone this game is extremely important.

From a gameplay and world-building standpoint, just as much.

Getting away from what the game is about, (as I wholeheartedly believe that you should just play it), from a moment to moment gameplay POV this game is a stellar ride.

Off the bat, we need to get the issue of the camera out of the way, because the amount of complaining and issues I've seen about it online is insane, but is not without reason.

When immediately starting the game, the camera is nauseating, and requires a lot of player tinkering to make it even usable. Thankfully, the camera menu is the most in-depth I've seen in a hack and slash, and making it perfectly tailored to your tastes is simple.

Now that that is out of the way...

Holy. Fuck.

How.

How did they make it this good.

This is hack and slash perfection, with the perfect amount of RPG mechanics sprinkled in.

NieR: Automata gives you total control on how you approach this game in terms of character builds and weapon choices. You have complete say over every little thing within the combat and exploration system.

You want to completely turn off your HUD? Cool, it's baked into the game and makes sense in its world, just take out the corresponding Plug-In Chips.

You want to be a total glass cannon? Sweet, remove everything from your OS System and replace it with attack value modifiers and become a total chad.

You want a huge health pool and to focus solely on long range attacks and a hacking bullet hell minigame that is actually totally viable in your second playthrough and not at all underpowered? ....you're not gonna believe this.

I've found that the possibilities within this system are almost endless, and I know I will be watching build videos for months to come.

Onto the overworld and exploration aspect.

The world in NieR: Automata is split into multiple sections, much like Replicant. (minus the constant loading screens. ;D)

There is a central hub with branching paths that lead you to other sections of the overworld, including but not limited to, The Forest Kingdom, or The Amusement Park.

I'm happy to say that every location in Automata is memorable and great in its own way. Each area is full of secrets to uncover and characters to fall in love with. You can really tell the amount of care that went into crafting each of these locales, and it is beyond impressing.

The soundtrack.

There isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said. As a self proclaimed music-enjoyer, this shit fucking rules.

Every melody is an ear worm, every ambient track is a haunting soundscape, and every boss theme a thunderous roar of keep going, you got this.

Everything that makes up this experience consistently raises the bar for the medium.

NieR: Automata is a perfect piece of art, truly.

Hats off to the developers, and..

Thank you, Yoko Taro.