Nier Automata resonated with me a lot, and I like the characters and story very much. The game might not particularly stand out from a gameplay perspective, but I think the combat system is serviceable, and they did a great job at characterizing the different actors with their combat and gameplay mechanics reflecting their overall personality and nature. I also really enjoyed the setting, but I just have a soft spot for overgrown ruins and out of use industrial architecture. The opening sequence of the game is really great as well, doing a great job in introducing the world and its inhabitants. Something maybe a bit more minor, but what also stuck out to me, is the UI being tied closely to the character's sensory perception in that it appears to be diegetic, so a part of the world itself, which becomes pretty apparent when looking at how it takes up slots of memory alongside things like the combat enhancing chips. In an era where UI seems to get streamlined and designed to be as "legible" and bland as possible, I appreciate when a game not just adds thematic flourishes to its UI elements, but incorporates them into the game world and storytelling. I feel like they probably could have gone even crazier with it, but it's pretty cool as is.
If there are some shortcomings I personally have regarding the game, it's that the STG sections seem kind of overly easy and intended just as a neat cinematic thing, I think they could have expanded on it a bit more, but I guess ultimately it just helps to spice things up a little and likely would have been more of a deterrent for many if it did have more mechanical depth or challenge. Alongside the hacking minigames, it definitely didn't feel quite as fleshed out as the rest of the game, although I still thought it was cool.
Definitely worth a play, but likely a bit hit or miss in some respects, for me personally it was definitely one of the most captivating modern games I've played.