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deta5467's Nier Automata (PC)
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| [September 27, 2018 08:07:27 PM]
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After a difficult fight with a naked man possessing no genitals, I ran through the sewers of the abandoned ruins and came upon an “Amusement Park.” All of the robots in this vicinity were enjoying themselves by throwing balloons and confetti all over the place. Despite what the resistance has explained to me, I decided to try and not kill as many as I could, as they didn’t seem to annoy me much.
A major criticism I have of this general area is the level design. As a regular player, it’s expected that, as soon as you enter the gates of the park, you are to simply follow the main path and proceed to the next general section, yes? Wrong. The entrance to the other area is hidden in a tiny crevice after a left turn into an alley, something that wouldn’t be expected. In this case, the ideal level design choice would be to implement the area of further progression in a manner that’s not so hidden, like a larger entrance to the side. Another problematic design choice arose in the form of a large carousel. After small dialogue as to how 9S and I were going to get over a large gate, I ran in a circle for about 5 minutes. I couldn’t figure out what would be the right ground path to travel. Then, after jumping for no reason whatsoever, 2B caught onto a section of a carousel. There was absolutely no indication that the player had to jump atop this. An ideal design choice would be to actually give the player an indication that they should jump on the carousel, whether it be by dialogue or some visual aspect.
The end of the run came in the form of a boss: a large robot obsessed with their beauty. A new mechanic was introduced with this fight that took the form of hacking. Once the player collides with a circular projectile, the player suddenly turns into a small, black arrow, and must shoot anything that is black in order to successfully hack into the giant robot’s system. This action wasn’t explicitly stated, however, but this isn’t too much of a problem as the black objects are visually accentuated in these scenarios.
In relation to moral frameworks being discussed in class, we can frame the inhabitants of the Amusement Park within Kantianism, which aims to determine ethical actions through deciding whether an action should quantify as a universal rule. Within the Park, all robots are very clearly displaying happiness constantly, and as such, they presume that the universal rule (within the Park, at least) is that everyone must have fun. This is exemplified strongly through all robots being dressed up in joyous gear, and screaming in joy. A dilemma presents itself, however, in the player’s decision to eliminate these robots or let them be. 2B and 9S’ “universal rules” are very, very different than the beliefs of these robots. They were given the objective, from YoRHa and the resistance, of clearing the Earth of robots, and as such, they are expected to do so. If the player chooses to let the robots be, they are breaking their universal rule. However, instead, it could be said that they are simply making an exception to their rule, as their new universal rule could be to eliminate all robots on Earth EXCEPT those who appear peaceful.
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| [September 25, 2018 09:36:38 PM]
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Although the introduction to Nier: Automata had its flaws, the game really begins to pick up during thereafter.
The last run ended on a strange introduction to the options menu, in which 9S calibrated my systems and I adjusted settings as indicated. Why this wasn’t at the beginning of the game is beyond me. At the beginning of this run, new interactions were introduced that had incredibly vague tutorials, and required me to figure my way out through them. An example includes shops being located at distinct terminals, as well as how to access the map itself.
Thereafter, 9S and I entered the hangar, and soared down to Earth. It was here that the game became open-world, with mission markers, explorable buildings, and all that jazz. Where to go in the beginning was obvious, but it seemed as if there wasn’t enough substance to locations traveled. Besides resistance bases that contain NPCs, there were enemies, and access points to save, but nothing else. There were no NPCs to talk to in the explorable world, just the Earth and its violent inhabitants. Alongside this, the world was separated into “districts”, each with their own introduction, including a dramatic camera pan.
What I found to be extremely enjoyable regarding the game was its combat. I am a large fan of “Ocarina of Time-ish” close-combat systems that involve locking on to an enemy and attacking by utilizing simple button combinations. This game fulfills that taste amazingly. There are three types of attacks: light attacks have a higher rate of fire, but deal less damage. Heavy attacks have a slower rate of fire, but deal more damage. Shooting attacks have an extremely high rate of fire , but deal an extremely low amount of damage. The player can evade attacks by pressing the right trigger, and pressing it rapidly will lead to quick evades in succession, allowing the player to avoid attacks with a large duration.
The story has certainly improved quite a bit from the last session. I now understand that I am part of a group of androids, who are responsible for intermittently heading to Earth and clearing it of a multitude of enemies, which, in this run, include cylindrical robots and humanoid beings with no genitals. After meeting a group of “resistance” androids, I am commanded to head out to a Desert and eliminate a group of machines, with each exemplifying what seems to be human emotions, resulting in 9S denying their ability to do so throughout. Things only get stranger when we follow a lone survivor of an assault to a hidden enclave full of dressed-up robots, each displaying detailed human emotions. Thereafter, the robots suddenly group together in a giant ball, and spit out a human with no genitals, possessing supernatural powers, for us to fight. At this point, I just forget that this game is investing in extensive lore and just go with what it’s presenting me.
So, that last part regarding robots and human emotions certainly had a moral interpretation to it. Robots displaying human emotions caused some reasonable doubt in 2B, as it seemed as if their happiness was being interrupted, which ties back into the concept of Utilitarianism. We could analyze the incidents in which 2B and 9S attack these robots:
The stakeholders are 2B, 9S, and the robots that displayed sadness and anger.
To rate happiness on a scale of 1-10, 9S and 2B are achieving, overall 7/10 happiness. Although 9S is enjoying the mission, 2B has already experienced this many, many times over, so her happiness is not at maximum capacity. The rating of happiness for the robots, however, is 1/10, as they are literally being massacred.
Since there are a greater amount of robots than androids, it would seem that the overall incidents result in overall unhappiness, meaning that they are unethical for the most part. Yet, YoRHA still labels these actions as the complete opposite.
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| [September 23, 2018 02:05:58 AM]
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I’ve heard nothing but good things about Nier: Automata from several friends over the past year, so I decided to choose it for my next GameLog.
My praise is directed towards the game’s mechanics. Although they were a bit difficult to get use to within the introduction, I grasped the essentials quickly. Combat effectively combines a third-person shooter with a hack-and-slash, something that I never thought was possible. The controls are intuitive and incredibly fun to play with.
An extremely satisfying aspect of this game is that of a constantly shifting camera perspective. I started out controlling a flying ship from a top-down view, avoiding fast-moving projectiles as they destroyed my allies. Thereafter, the scenario was predominantly played from an over-the-shoulder perspective, in which the camera followed me directly behind my player model, in a manner that also permitted me to see enemies ahead of me for me to shoot at them. The camera would then shift between these top-down and over-the-shoulder views, within certain locations, allowing the game to keep the player engaged.
What I don’t find particularly appealing, however, is the game’s story. I’m only an hour into it, however, so I shouldn’t start being incredibly critical yet, but I’ve found many things to be critical of.
I am not a fan of the writing so far. The lines used throughout the prologue came off as very cheesy, with such instances including:
The “attempted-but-not-too-tragic” death of 2B’s allies at the hands, or in this case, beams of cylindrical flying robots.
The initial conversations between 2B and 9S. The whole bit on the word “ma’am” was not necessary whatsoever.
2B’s sexualized maid outfit. The outfit she wears greatly contrasts her tough, persistent personality.
I was greatly intrigued towards the end of this run, however, when YoRHa, was introduced. It is revealed that the game is set incredibly far into the future, where all humans have fled Earth because of an alien invasion, and robots are left to clean up all the mess on the planet for them.
In relation to what we are discussing in class, we could employ a view of cultural relativism. Although seen in a brief moment, we can easily understand that YoRHa’s culture is dedicated to protecting mankind from alien forces, no matter the cost. Although YoRHa believes this, perhaps other cultures believe the complete opposite, such as the aliens that invaded Earth, including the cylindrical robots. These forces are incredibly dedicated to eliminating the forces that protect mankind, as well as mankind itself, no matter the cost. Both of these cultures, with their own societies, have their own beliefs, and although it seems that they establish their beliefs to be higher among the other culture, they have no way of improving upon theirs in comparison to the other, as both of these cultures are in active opposition of each other.
Perhaps some exceptions may come up in future logs. There could be instances where individuals within the two cultures come together in harmony, and become aware of how they could improve their own based on the other. Who knows?
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deta5467's Nier Automata (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 23 September, 2018
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