Author Topic: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help  (Read 20126 times)

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #30 on: January 22, 2018, 02:46:45 PM »
I'm not even considering side quests when I say the game feels padded. I ain't got time for those.

That said, now I'm curious to see if there's a payoff to the pointless-feeling story beats the second time around.

And I get that making everything washed out is an aesthetic decision. But it's still bad to look at.
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Third Eye Lem

  • Time Ticker
  • Castle Bal
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #31 on: January 23, 2018, 08:12:49 AM »
And I get that making everything washed out is an aesthetic decision. But it's still bad to look at.
I dunno, the game does have some colorful areas...But you're right, the drab colors reflect the state of the world.

As for my progress, I too am on 57/60 quests.
Spoiler:
A2 has a lot of quests with a very small window to work on them...I hope i get them all this time, the only ones aside from that I'm missing are Emil's Determination and the Recon quest with 4S. I'm surprised this game doesn't make you fish on top of all that...I find it rather endearing to use your pod as a makeshift lure. :3c

Helepolis

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Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #32 on: January 27, 2018, 08:55:58 AM »
That said, now I'm curious to see if there's a payoff to the pointless-feeling story beats the second time around.
Sounds to me that NieR:Automata isn't your type of game. Storywise and gameplay wise. So with this attitude, you're not going to enjoy it further regardless of what you do or say.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #33 on: January 27, 2018, 01:54:04 PM »
Yeah, I don't think it's my type of game at all. I've been sick this week so I haven't put a ton of time into it the last few days, but my experience has pretty consistently been 20% "wow that's neat" and 80% "well, fuck this".

It's been a frustrating game for me and I'm not sure how much of that is the game trying to frustrate me on purpose toward some strange end, how much is me not liking this genre, and how much is the game being more ambitious than it can really pull off.

I still intend to finish the major story beats since it seems to be playing much much faster the second time through and this will feel like a waste of time if I don't, but I'm certainly not going for 100% completion. And I feel like what I'm getting is a seriously mixed bag at best.
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commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #34 on: January 30, 2018, 05:18:38 PM »
Alright, finished
Spoiler:
the 9S campaign. I enjoyed it a lot more than the 2B campaign, although it's bizarre that the ending is exactly the same and basically jumps back to 2B's POV.

Started the third campaign last night and found the difficulty spike to be crazy. Or maybe I've just forgotten how to effectively play as 2B.
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Ionasal kkll Solciel

  • Girl from beyond the 7th Dimension
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #35 on: January 31, 2018, 02:39:59 AM »
Not really that bizarre.
Spoiler:
It's literally the same story from another viewpoint
, after all.

That part is quite a bit of a difficulty spike, though some would say the difficulty stems from certain... other segments of that section instead.
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commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #36 on: January 31, 2018, 02:51:32 AM »
Not really that bizarre.
Spoiler:
It's literally the same story from another viewpoint
, after all.

Spoiler:
Right, but it breaks from that viewpoint right at the end. You play as 9S and see everything colored through his POV, but at the veeeeery end 2B becomes the POV again and you see 9S in the machine network through her again exactly as you saw it the first time. Suddenly it's not the same story from another viewpoint, it's the same story from the same viewpoint. I think that's weird.
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Helepolis

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Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #37 on: January 31, 2018, 05:58:08 AM »
Spoiler:
Right, but it breaks from that viewpoint right at the end. You play as 9S and see everything colored through his POV, but at the veeeeery end 2B becomes the POV again and you see 9S in the machine network through her again exactly as you saw it the first time. Suddenly it's not the same story from another viewpoint, it's the same story from the same viewpoint. I think that's weird.
If you're at that thought then continue to play is my advise.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #38 on: February 03, 2018, 01:39:59 AM »
Am I doing the
Spoiler:
sand worm boss fight
wrong?
Spoiler:
Short of just constantly running away and chipping it down with ranged attacks over like literally half an hour I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do. If I get close to its segments when they drop to the ground I die in a split second. Sometimes I can get lucky and take out a few segments but that doesn't really seem to make it any easier, they all concentrate fire on you when you're on the ground to such a ridiculous degree that you can't even tell what's happening, much less deal with it. The projectile shield sooort of helps but it's so brief that most of the time I die near-instantly the moment it goes down after getting in just a few low-damage attacks.
Am I missing something here?
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Ionasal kkll Solciel

  • Girl from beyond the 7th Dimension
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #39 on: February 03, 2018, 04:35:06 AM »
Am I doing the
Spoiler:
sand worm boss fight
wrong?
Spoiler:
Short of just constantly running away and chipping it down with ranged attacks over like literally half an hour I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do. If I get close to its segments when they drop to the ground I die in a split second. Sometimes I can get lucky and take out a few segments but that doesn't really seem to make it any easier, they all concentrate fire on you when you're on the ground to such a ridiculous degree that you can't even tell what's happening, much less deal with it. The projectile shield sooort of helps but it's so brief that most of the time I die near-instantly the moment it goes down after getting in just a few low-damage attacks.
Am I missing something here?
Spoiler:
Darude is a difficult terrain condition to be in, to be sure, but my suggestion would be to find defense-increasing chips. Even though the Pod advises you about Berserk Mode at the beginning of the battle, don't use it. It does drain your health while in use.

If you have the Pod Program that creates shockwaves along the ground, use that and multi-charge it if you have at least one other Pod. Also try to isolate one of the segments at a time and focus it down.
Let's Play: BIT.TRIP FLUX | Let's Play: Malicious | Skyward Sword: Shieldless Final Boss | Skyward Sword: Boss Rush! | Ace Combat Infinity: Campaign in the X-02 Wyvern


Move eternally forward,
So that we may always be at your side.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #40 on: February 03, 2018, 05:28:59 AM »
Spoiler:
What's multi-charge? I just got a second pod literally moments ago so maybe I don't understand the mechanics yet.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Ionasal kkll Solciel

  • Girl from beyond the 7th Dimension
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #41 on: February 03, 2018, 09:16:06 AM »
Spoiler:
What's multi-charge? I just got a second pod literally moments ago so maybe I don't understand the mechanics yet.
Spoiler:
Just keep holding down the Pod Program button until the second pod shows up, then release to do a more powerful attack; For example, Hammer gets... more hammers, Spear gets additional attack vectors, and so on.
It's not a thing you'd figure out unless you played around with the game's mechanics, like
Spoiler:
the Pod co-op aerial maneuvers.
Let's Play: BIT.TRIP FLUX | Let's Play: Malicious | Skyward Sword: Shieldless Final Boss | Skyward Sword: Boss Rush! | Ace Combat Infinity: Campaign in the X-02 Wyvern


Move eternally forward,
So that we may always be at your side.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #42 on: February 03, 2018, 02:38:48 PM »
Yeah I definitely don't know about those either.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #43 on: February 03, 2018, 05:10:34 PM »
Charged spear trivializes that fight. Alright, required boss fights dependent on secret mechanics, cool...
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Your Everyday NEET

  • Part time Researcher & Let's Player, full time NEET, also an eel
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #44 on: February 04, 2018, 06:13:38 AM »
Charged Spear is ridiculously effective against large and wide target.
Spoiler:
One of the optional pods can be gathered somewhere in the (very large) desert, and the other one can be found by fishing it in Flooded City. Getting all 3 pods will unlock level 3 secondary attack.

Geez, how do you get so much trouble against that boss. Did you neglect the sidequests?
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 08:12:42 AM by Helepolis »

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #45 on: February 04, 2018, 06:25:44 AM »
Yeah, I've barely done any. I've been around ten levels lower than the enemies for basically the entire game. And I assume my items are not as optimized as they would be if I wanted to do side quests.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #46 on: February 06, 2018, 06:24:00 PM »
Alright, I got
Spoiler:
the A2 ending for the third campaign. I feel like I'm eternally in "not sure if twenty minutes left or ten hours left" hell with this game.

Maybe I just don't understand this because I haven't seen the true end yet, but it's also possible I missed something misunderstood something. Who created the Council Of Humanity? Did the machines make it? Or did some androids? And why do the machines want to destroy the archive on the moon? What do they care if it's there or not? Did A2 just assume that's what the tower was for and it actually isn't? I don't remember it ever being concretely established that that actually was the plan.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Your Everyday NEET

  • Part time Researcher & Let's Player, full time NEET, also an eel
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #47 on: February 07, 2018, 05:47:08 AM »
Spoiler:
You're also 20 minutes away from 9S' ending and the True Ending. But the True Ending requires you to be really dang good at Bullet Hell,
I think it's equivalent of Lunatic Touhou. My brother and I are decently good at Bullet Hell but NOT at Lunatic level of good. So, no True Ending for us.

Yorha was created first before Council of Humanity and their propaganda.  You know, to give them something to fight for. The machines kinda scrapped their plan to blow the moon and convert the tower into an ark to fly them to the space, hoping that they can find another planet to live seeing as their relationship with the android is not exactly the best.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2018, 08:47:38 AM by Your Everyday NEET »

Ionasal kkll Solciel

  • Girl from beyond the 7th Dimension
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #48 on: February 07, 2018, 07:44:32 AM »
Spoiler:
You're also 20 minutes away from 9S' ending and the True Ending. But the True Ending requires you to be really dang good at Bullet Hell,
I think it's equivalent of Lunatic Touhou. My brother and I are decently good at Bullet Hell but NOT at Lunatic level of good. So, no True Ending for us.
Uh...
Spoiler:
you just need an internet connection and some patience and a willingness to accept that you can't do it yourself.
It's not really as difficult as many make it seem to be.
Let's Play: BIT.TRIP FLUX | Let's Play: Malicious | Skyward Sword: Shieldless Final Boss | Skyward Sword: Boss Rush! | Ace Combat Infinity: Campaign in the X-02 Wyvern


Move eternally forward,
So that we may always be at your side.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #49 on: February 08, 2018, 03:01:54 AM »
Spoiler:
Hmm, "Dress Module", huh? What does that do?

Oh... For when the game is too easy and you want to be really really distracted while playing, I guess? Goodness.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #50 on: February 08, 2018, 09:10:14 PM »
Alright, I got
Spoiler:
the A2 ending for the third campaign. I feel like I'm eternally in "not sure if twenty minutes left or ten hours left" hell with this game.

Maybe I just don't understand this because I haven't seen the true end yet, but it's also possible I missed something misunderstood something. Who created the Council Of Humanity? Did the machines make it? Or did some androids? And why do the machines want to destroy the archive on the moon? What do they care if it's there or not? Did A2 just assume that's what the tower was for and it actually isn't? I don't remember it ever being concretely established that that actually was the plan.

spoilers for original NieR
Spoiler:
the player character, through lack of knowledge results in the original plan to save humanity from white chlorination syndrome (following the true end of Drakenguard 1) Project Gestalt failing. Every real human soul dies. Then the aliens invade and Emil fights them.

Automata as I understood it:
Spoiler:
Project YorHa is a cover up operation for the fact the humans are all dead. The remaining data for Project Gestalt alongside the "council of humanity" (propaganda broadcast bot) is sent to the moon. The YorHa androids (made using salvaged alien tech) are then to escalate the war in order to cover this all up, and for more propaganda. They are designed to fail and taking out themselves and anyone else who knows too much with them.
There was a reason the tutorial mission goes so wrong and is so damn hard, everyone was supposed to be killed. Your true mission has always been finish the cover up and then kill all the other members of YorHa.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #51 on: February 08, 2018, 09:44:49 PM »
Yeah I get that, but I don't understand who's in charge of any of it. By whose orders? Maybe that's part of the true ending and I just need to finish the game before I try to figure it out.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #52 on: February 12, 2018, 04:27:37 AM »
I've been going back through and cleaning up sidequests now that I'm overleveled and have the chips to navigate everything quickly. Most of them are frustratingly boring to play through, but the lore and character bits are interesting and worth the slog I guess. I appreciate that there's a lot of hand-holding via the minimap telling me exactly where to go when to clear all of them, because this would be awful if there wasn't.

Spoiler:
There's a red quest icon at the factory in some of the earlier chapters as 9S that I can't figure out for the life of me. It's where the Virtuous Treaty used to be, is this some kind of leftover from that or am I missing something else?

Meanwhile Emil is so cute, I want to hug him and he's just a skeletonface monsterhead. I didn't realize that his song had understandable lyrics at first, but when I noticed it did I was preeeetty excited.  :D

Edit: I erroneously said "early chapters as 2B" at first when I meant 9S. Not sure if that makes a difference but I imagine it does.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 01:09:17 PM by commandercool »
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Helepolis

  • Charisma!
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Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #53 on: February 12, 2018, 08:16:50 AM »
@ NEET, I spoiler tagged your post about pods. That was an extreme spoiler you should not carelessly post imo.


Yeah I get that, but I don't understand who's in charge of any of it. By whose orders? Maybe that's part of the true ending and I just need to finish the game before I try to figure it out.
If you complete the game fully then you'll understand somewhat. If not, return to The Bunker Shrine Maiden forums and we'll explain.

About that creature's song:
Spoiler:
Emil's song has three phases. Random gibberish, actual lyrics, humming

Edit:
About that one boss:
Spoiler:
The crawling sand monster I really had no problems with at all. Entering Bersker mode and spamming full heals was the way for me to go. I definitely got the "Invincible-for-x-seconds-when-hit" chip which is godly for recovering in tight combat such as this. Also lots of combat evasive maneuvers help you dodge the laser or bullets. Used 0 Pod attacks to defeat it.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 08:26:45 AM by Helepolis »

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #54 on: February 12, 2018, 01:56:50 PM »
Oh shit, I just had another realization about 9S and the degree to which he does and doesn't know that the
Spoiler:
machines are sapient.

So when playing as him we realize that it seems to be after hacking Simone that he starts to have doubts about whether or not "everything they say is just noise". But in the opening moments of his story we see him spying on that machine trying to wake up its brother with buckets of oil, and I couldn't reconcile how he didn't make the connection sooner after seemingly having seen things like that many times.

He's clearly in denial for quite a while since accepting that the machines are capable of thought reflects terribly on him and his people, so I figured it was just that. I just remembered though, he loses his memory of that scene at the beginning. He doesn't remember all that time he spent spying on them. And we know he's not exactly judicious about maintenance, so that information probably wasn't backed up anywhere going back quite a while.

This is probably something everyone but me figured out a lot faster and it doesn't really change anything, he's still got a lot of denial and self-delusion going on that could explain it either way, but I thought it was neat when I realized just now.

Edit: The number of times I've been in the middle of some somber super-serious story beat like confronting the YoRHa E-Type in the ruins or killing Pascal with A2 and then Emil zips by during the dialogue and is like

BUY
THINGS
NOW
OR
YOU
WILL
CRY
ALL
NIGHT

is... well, it's several times. He knows how to read a mood.  :D
« Last Edit: February 13, 2018, 03:20:16 AM by commandercool »
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #55 on: February 15, 2018, 04:09:05 AM »
Spoiler:
So I found the deep cave and what I assume is Emil's house, but the door at the very end is locked. I can't figure out how to open it. I'm playing as 9S on chapter 15. Did I do something wrong?
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Ionasal kkll Solciel

  • Girl from beyond the 7th Dimension
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #56 on: February 15, 2018, 06:00:51 AM »
Spoiler:
So I found the deep cave and what I assume is Emil's house, but the door at the very end is locked. I can't figure out how to open it. I'm playing as 9S on chapter 15. Did I do something wrong?
He has to tell you about it first, and then you cannot use Chapter Select at any point before you finish that adventure, or you'll need to talk to him again.
Let's Play: BIT.TRIP FLUX | Let's Play: Malicious | Skyward Sword: Shieldless Final Boss | Skyward Sword: Boss Rush! | Ace Combat Infinity: Campaign in the X-02 Wyvern


Move eternally forward,
So that we may always be at your side.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #57 on: February 17, 2018, 03:04:26 AM »
Spoiler:
Finally sat down to get ending E. It's absolutely incredible. Genuinely one of the most moving experiences I've ever had playing a video game. I think the only thing that even comes close is the first time I finished Touhou 7.

I didn't delete my save data, I was honestly going to but I realized I have to see the other endings first. I'm not quite ready to be finished with this game yet, but maybe that's a mistake. I think deleting my data and walking away now would be a pretty satisfying experience.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2018, 03:08:58 AM by commandercool »
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Ionasal kkll Solciel

  • Girl from beyond the 7th Dimension
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #58 on: February 17, 2018, 06:07:09 AM »
There's definitely at least one or two things you still should go and see.
Let's Play: BIT.TRIP FLUX | Let's Play: Malicious | Skyward Sword: Shieldless Final Boss | Skyward Sword: Boss Rush! | Ace Combat Infinity: Campaign in the X-02 Wyvern


Move eternally forward,
So that we may always be at your side.

commandercool

  • alter cool
Re: NieR:Automata - Gameplay, discussion, help
« Reply #59 on: February 18, 2018, 04:59:58 AM »
So I'm trying to
Spoiler:
fight Emil at his house and I can't seem to damage him at all. Hacking seems to do nothing, all of my attacks do either 0 or 1 damage, and he can kill me cleanly in two hits. Am I doing something wrong? I'm level 67, am I just supposed to grind for hours and hours before I can even attempt this? Is it a scripted fight where I just have to survive? I don't really know what I'm doing here.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.