TP's presentation feels grand, cinematic, and mature. The Twilight Realm evokes a feeling of being eerily beautiful but also can be other worldly, uncomfortable and even sinister. One of my favourite Hyrule interpretations. Midna is one of the best video game partner characters ever. Initially snarky, condescending and uncaring, she turns more empathetic, kind and understanding whilst continuing to be interesting, keeping her wit and not losing her power nor becoming an annoying burden. It eventually turns into one of Link's most personal and intimate relationships. Zant is engaging, intriguing and insidious as a villain. On the other hand, Ganondorf feels imposing and powerful with an awe-inspiring finale. Although linear for the most part, the dungeons play to its linearity and is atmospheric to boot. Currently my favourite Zelda game so far.

NieR Replicant was a thrilling ride.

I'll start by saying that I should have begun with this instead of Automata, but it's still fun to revisit NieR's universe after the heartbreaking title that Automata was.



Automata as my first title from Yoko Taro, I was unfamiliar with the way he creates games and stories in general, leaving me disoriented after playing Automata, leaving me with mixed emotions about the game, not knowing whether I enjoyed or disliked that specific experience, BUT after NieR Replicant, that changed.



Why do you ask? (I hope)



Because I now understand what Yoko Taro's major purpose is when creating a game and how his writing functions as a whole.
Yoko Taro wants the player to Think
Feel and Question

Yoko Taro does not force everything possible up your ass, he prefers to make the "bare minimum" and let the player decide what the true significance of what showed was.

I used to really like this type of approach of representing the story to the audience, but I've lost a bit of that passion over the years, which I blame on how games are portrayed nowadays.

I'll use Shadow of the Colossus as an example in which the story is vague and appears to be lost, but it is always present and it is up to YOU to decide how it impacts your journey.

Now that I've finished Replicant, I completely understand why I felt the entire plot of Automata was incoherent or vague, because it is designed to be.

This is certainly not how things actually work with both games because they have well-crafted plots, but I believe my notion still applies but in a more spiritual sense.

Both Replicant and Automata have events that can or cannot be questioned depending on your beliefs, which is what I'm attempting to indicate.

All of this might seem just a bunch of crazy talk but its not, Ueda, Miyazaki and Yoko with Automata all use this method to make their story more unique thats maybe why I find all their titles very charming...

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you Yoko Taro.