Friday 28 September, 2018

Nier:Automata, through its many features (music, combat, world building in general) does a tremendous job in creating a new (and yet, familiar) world to explore through the eyes of strangers (the androids, 2B and 9S). While, at times, there were moments where the game's systems didn't always seem to blend perfectly together, I can overlook these slights due to all the positives I experienced in my short time playing.

My final play session through this game did not really unearth any new or groundbreaking, but it still gives me plenty to think about in the meantime. At the beginning you see the machine life-forms as nothing more than monstrosities that you must destroy. As you move forward through, you realize that these machines are more than just animated hunks of metal. They have thoughts of a sort, they react to your presence, some are frightened of you for what you are, some hate you for what you are. Certain machines have a sense of loyalty to some monarch, some just want to live in peace. Given how inhuman they can be, particularly in appearance, there is a lot of humanity within them.

Good work Michael! You ask an interesting ethical question in your second gamelog entry: “We know that certain machines are setting up their own societies, and the individuals of certain societies are strictly non-aggressive and peace-loving. Is it alright to leave these machines alone, while only eliminating the machines that we see as ‘bad’?” This is question has a lot of moral implications to our behaviors as humans in the real world as well as the ethics of the androids actions in Nier Automata. This could potentially formulate into a good ethical question as a thesis for your OPA.