I am not familiar with the games before NieR:Automata nor their combined plots. I know I got educated on IRC by several people. However, I feel too dumb to say something sensible about the plot. What I can say is that NieR:Automata captured my heart (and mind) fully. It has been seriously a long time ago I've played a game which I fully enjoyed and try to beat until the very last quest or completion %.Genre: Action RPG
Series: Drakengard
Platforms: Microsoft Windows (Steam store) & Playstation 4
Mode: Single Player
About the gameIn the year 11945 AD alien invaders attack planet earth with their forces. They create fierce machines, programmed to do one thing: defeat the enemy. Humans have no choice and are forced to abandon their planet by fleeing to the moon. From there they create highly intelligent and capable battle androids to counter the alien invader's machine forces. A large human-made station near the moon, called "The Bunker" is used to launch missions. The war further escalates, causing the planet to become a dangerous place to live. The humans, desperate to claim back their planet, do not intend to give up at all. With the android forces they created, they fight and fight. All for the Glory of Mankind.
You take the role as one of the female battle androids, codenamed
YoRHa No. 2 Model B (or simply 2B). Along with your supportive male sidekick,
YoRHa No. 9 Model S (simplified 9S), you set out on various missions to weaken the enemy forces and reclaim back what was once a beautiful planet. NieR:Automata takes you through a well thought out story line, where excitement, happiness, anger and sadness are mixed and emotions dance around like leaves in the wind.
Game playOne of the typical things for most Action RPGs is the hack and slash element and character leveling. While playing the story line, you encounter NPCs or enemies granting you experience and resources to further upgrade your combat abilities. At first, NieR:Automata might come over as overwhelming, especially the many menus and possibilities, but they are well written and explained. Gradually you will understand and learn all the details of the game and thus becoming more skilled.
The game knows four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard and Very Hard. The Easy mode has supportive features which makes the game quite newbie friendly, such as auto-evasion, assistance in weapon usage and so on. The difficulty can be tweaked while playing and if you're really uncomfortable with Action RPGs, then starting with Easy mode might not be a bad idea. Normal mode pretty much has the best balance for enjoying both the story and combat. If you're looking for slightly more challenge, you can opt in for Hard mode. The major difference between Hard and Normal is that "target locking" is unavailable and forces the player to manually target things. This can be a little challenging in the beginning if you're not used to the controls. Additionally enemies are slightly tougher and your character will suffer more damage than usual. Finally, for the true hardcore players there is a Very Hard mode. In this mode, practically any thing will instant kill you. No matter what hit you, or how it hit you: You die. So if you're a person who tosses their controller or abuses the keyboard/mouse, then consider sticking with Hard or lower. Otherwise, feel free to try out.
During game play, you will notice a small floating robot with arms near 2B and 9S. These are tactical support units called Pod and provide intelligence, advise, weapon fire and special abilities. Without spoiling too much, the relationship between an Android and its Pod is quite special and during the game you will enjoy this.