Let’s Talk About: NieR Automata (Demo)

As I mentioned in my Top 10 list for 2016, I was gonna talk about the NieR Automata Demo. I have A LOT to say about the demo and the game in general. Before talking about the game itself, though, I’ll give a brief overview of the series.

NieR and Yoko Taro:

NieR Automata is a sequel to 2010’s NieR Replicant/Gestalt (there are 2 versions of the game, but all that’s different between them is the main character’s design and relationship with the character Yonah). NieR centers around a story about a brother/father (brother for Replicant, and father for Gestalt) going on a quest to save his sister/daughter. The story may seem simple at first, but it gets REALLY complex once certain plot points become apparent. Yoko Taro (who is now infamous for his dark storytelling and settings) is the man behind the writing and direction of NieR (NieR is a sequel to Taro’s prior, and equally great (storywise) game Drakengard). However, critics didn’t review the game well, nor did it make sales expectations. In spite of this, NieR gained a cult following due to its unique story. It helps, of course, that the game has an amazing soundtrack done by Keiichi Okabe.

The main complaint reviewers had about the game was its average to mediocre gameplay. Admittedly, gameplay was never a forte for Taro considering all his games were, to be generous, dull gameplay-wise. Case in point: in 2014 Taro released Drakengard 3 which AGAIN, amazing story and soundtrack (Okabe), but sub-par gameplay.

With that said, how does one remedy the problem of your games having mediocre gameplay? You do it by teaming-up with acclaimed character action game developers, Platinum Games. NieR Automata is a collaboration between Square-Enix and Platinum Games with Yoko Taro directing, and Keiichi Okabe as the composer. Lucky enough for me and Taro’s fans, Square-Enix decided to release a demo for the game in late December 2016. With that out-of-the-way, let’s have a quick look at the demo.