NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata is an action RPG from PlatinumGames based on a concept by Yoko Taro, and it ranks among the most unconventional major games of its generation. It takes place in the distant future, where humanity has fled to the Moon and, on the abandoned Earth, android units of YoRHa face off against machines of alien invaders. The player controls the android 2B, later joined by the scout 9S, and gradually discovers that the divide between "friendly" and "enemy" machines makes less and less sense.

Combat is handled by Platinum, so it's fast, fluid, and built around alternating light and heavy attacks, last-moment dodges, and supporting fire from the flying companion Pod. But the game constantly shifts genres: the camera switches to a side view, then to a top-down view reminiscent of an old-school shooter, and elsewhere the action turns into a text-based interface. Crucially, one playthrough isn't the end — the story unlocks over several playthroughs, each showing the same events from a different perspective, and only together do they form the complete picture. Anyone who stops after the first ending misses most of what the game is actually about.

The strongest aspect is the music by Keiichi Okabe, which combines a choir singing in an invented language with piano and electronics, and which shifts according to setting and situation. Critics highlighted precisely this combination of top-tier action with a narrative unafraid to ask questions about the meaning of existence, without becoming overly self-serious. On Xbox One the game arrived later than on other platforms, in the Become as Gods edition, technically improved over the original release. Today it is considered one of the most important Japanese games of the past two decades.

Why play: For players craving top-tier action combined with a deep narrative about the meaning of existence and an unforgettable score by Keiichi Okabe.