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jp's Nier: Automata (PS4)
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| [June 12, 2022 10:53:52 PM]
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I kept on meaning to write about this game, but never did, and now I'm 27 hours in, have decided to put set it down, and want to see/read about the "true" ending from guides/youtube rather than spending another 30 hrs or so. It might be shorter? But who knows...
I almost didn't continue playing the game - this part partially my fault, but I'm glad I stuck with it. When you start the game there some cutscenes but also warnings that the game does not auto-save and that you'll learn how to save in the game itself, later on. You can only save after about 45 minutes of playing...and of course, I died the first time about 40 minutes in. And realized I'd have to play it all over again and was...not happy. Then I started again, and tried to rush through, and died again (but sooner). So, again, not happy.
Then I realized that the dodge/dash button is critical/crucial - and that I would have to practice using it while I attacked, and that made a really big difference and I was able to get to the point where you could save. And wow, I'm glad I did.
The game is, reasonably, and open world 3rd person action game - with lots of RPG-style progression (upgrades, weapons, etc.)but it's got some weird extra things:
(1) In some areas/places the game goes "platformer linear" - the camera shifts to a side view and you can only move along two axes (jump + left/right) - there are even areas with jumping puzzles or combat that's a bit tricky because enemies are coming at your from to sides and you can strafe/kite then around as easily as you do in the open areas. At other times the camera shifts to a top-down view...
(2) Twin-stick shooter games (hacking) - I didn't really understand this until I finished the game the first time (with 2B) and started playing with 9S - you can hack robots by attacking with with the triangle button (which I thought was the heavy attack), and if you land enough hits you "enter" the robot and play a twin stick shooter game where you need to destroy a core - and then the robot is destroyed. You get XP for the hack and then for the kill. This mode of the game only happened occasionally with 2B - but with 9S being a scanner (not combat) android, I guess this makes sense?
(3) There's a fishing game. I never played it, but I think you can catch fish and sell them or something.
(4) 2D shooter games! Sometimes you're flying around in this sort of mecha-wing suit - and it's like a 2D space shooter game! (with a combination of both "Straight" shooting and twin stick shooting - when you're in either plane mode or mecha mode. The game switches automatically, so you can't decide.
The game is "wonky" in many ways - I was often with a companion (either 9S or 2B) who would often just teleport to be where I was going, would fall of ledges and stuff like that. In combat however the companion was pretty useful!
Another cool thing - there's a "online mode" where you can run across bodies of dead YorHa members (other players), you can revive them (so serve as an AI companion - but I think you can only have one, so there wasn't much point to that in my playing) or to recover them - it's an instant heal plus some buffs. The buffs are sort of randomly generated? (or perhaps based on whatever equipment the dead player had?) I like this system and, when you die you get to leave a message for others to read - you can't write whatever, but it's a sort of multiple choice ad-libs system that is designed (I think) for you to leave poetic/cryptic messages.
Oh, if you die - you lose all your upgrades (chips) that you cannot get back until you get to where your body is and retrieve it. Very souls-like, and I only failed to recover everything once (when escaping the factory section at the very end - much frustration!).
I really liked the chip system - they're basically buffs you can install - there are attack ones, defense, xp-related, item drops and so on. I played with mostly defensive and XP ones - and I was surprised that I kept all the inventory and XP when I started the game the 2nd time!
The game has 26 endings! (all tracked/noted as part of your save file information) and I unlocked very few of them. They're all indicated by a letter:
A: First playthrough ending with 2B.
H: Got it my mistake when I left the area instead of going to fight the Goliath.
W: Died in the first mission before getting a chance to save. Oops.
T: Removed the OS chip. The game says you'll die - but I wanted to see what happened anyways.
I think I got one more, but don't remember it exactly.
The game also has some pretty epic boss battles! Once I'd gotten into things and realized the importance of dodging AND that I could always fire with my pod companion, that made things a lot easier. I just needed to have patience and time my attacks just right. I was also loaded up with chips that let me heal automatically (at a set rate) if I was not taking damage - so keeping my distance, waiting to heal, firing with the pod (for very limited damage) worked quite well for me in pretty much all the boss battles.
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jp's Nier: Automata (PS4)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Thursday 26 May, 2022
GameLog closed on: Tuesday 28 June, 2022 |
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