Many gamers will remember the original release of NieR: Automata back in 2017 on the PC and PS4, as it was quickly applauded for its enjoyable combat, story, sense of scale, art styles, music, and more. When a portable version titled NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition was announced in June with developer Virtuos in charge of bringing the game to the Switch, some players might have been asking if it's worth revisiting after half a decade, or if it’s worth experiencing for the first time on a system with decidedly less power than its original consoles. It may be a fair bit uglier looking, but the ability to carry NieR: Automata The End of YorHA Edition everywhere might convince some to return and others to get their first taste of the NieR universe.
The primary aspects introduced by original developer PlatinumGames and publisher Square Enix that made NieR: Automata popular in the first place are still present. It features a story that starts off confusing and ends with philosophical questions such as the difference between androids and robots and delves into even deeper inquiries are still there. The frenetic action RPG combat that changes slightly based on which character is being controlled remains intact. Obtaining quests and missions from a variety of sources hasn’t changed very much, if at all. All 26 endings can still be discovered through a variety of methods, including the hilarious self kills that might sneak up on players that aren’t paying attention or just want to see what happens. The switching of perspectives, from open 3D areas to 2D restricted pathways, is still an abnormal but enjoyable experience most users might never have experienced before. And 2B is still just as striking, or more, of a protagonist as any others that have come along since she was first introduced.
There might be some disappointment from longtime fans when they find the only new items are free DLC cosmetics: six new costumes, four new accessories, and two pod skins based on characters from the mobile game Nier Re[in]carnation. The game also features the 3C3C1D119440927 DLC, which includes additional costumes and three coliseums for users to enjoy. Virtuos also added the ability to activate motion controls that allow users to flip or slide quickly by moving the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers or pro controllers, which feel slightly uncomfortable to use at first, but are easy to get used to. None of these might be enough to entice users to pick up another copy of the game, but some are such big fans it may not even matter as long as they can play it on the go.
Veterans of the PC and PS4 versions of NieR: Automata will notice almost immediately the downgrade in graphical fidelity. Character models remain at a decent level, but distant objects like buildings or rocks suffer greatly from the constraints of the Switch. It isn't so much a bad thing as it is a distraction from everything else going on around the player. The large enemies lose a fair bit of detail while some object layers appear absent of details when viewed at a distance. Big areas are hit the hardest by this, as looking around will reveal things that look downright smooth and un-textured entirely. Those who are used to a better-looking NieR experience might struggle to accept how bland it can look in some places.
That isn’t to say the game looks terrible everywhere all at once. Ground-bound objects like flowers and grass are still pretty to look at while traveling through areas. Rivers, streams, and most water effects are still pleasing to look at. Standard enemy characters still appear metallic and sometimes rusted due to the length of time on Earth, while others look just as silly as they did five years. The game's skybox is also downgraded but still doesn’t distract from everything else going on. It is a port to the Switch, so this loss of graphical power is to be somewhat expected when coming from the PC and PS4. This sacrifice of graphical prowess does allow for an improved experience in other areas, though.
Virtuos succeeded admirably in keeping the game's frame rate steady throughout the entire adventure. No matter what the player is doing, or how many enemies are on-screen, there never appeared to be any sort of slow-down while in the midst of the action. Even when traversing quickly through areas atop one of the many wild animals strewn throughout, the game doesn’t slow anything down. It is a testament to their team's hard work, and should be applauded since ports are notorious for bad frame rates along with a long list of other issues.
NieR: Automata is just plain fun to play, as those who experienced it five years ago will mostly attest to. For players unfamiliar with the game itself, there is a long and entertaining experience to be found exploring this post-apocalyptic version of Earth. Most of the following observations and complaints won’t be new to people who have previously played it, but may be helpful for those looking to pick it up for the first time.
Starting with what is required in almost every type of action RPG: vicious combat against many, many opponents. Fighting most enemies consists of the standard mix of melee and ranged attacks, with the ability to perform evasive moves and counterattacks that have a short period of invincibility. There are different types of weapons to choose from, and each has its own benefits, attack patterns, and style. The gameplay loop flows nicely between attacking and dodging while also shooting enemies with a small robot that follows the characters around. Weapons and abilities can be enhanced, and new passive abilities can be added entirely through the use of items called chips. These chips can buff or change a player's strategies, like adding a percent increase to critical hit chance, getting health back for kills, or even being able to heal outside of combat. The chips can be fused together to get even stronger, and players will need to improve them as they play to increase their chances of surviving. The downside is that they can be lost if players don’t return to their corpse quickly enough after death, but they can be looted, bought, or found strewn throughout the game when needing to be replaced.
NieR: Automata also has an interesting replay loop in requiring more than one playthrough to experience the full story and obtain all the endings. Some can be found through natural progression and gameplay, others by going off the prescribed path or through actions that may or may not seem obvious. Without giving too much away, there are very noticeable and sometimes smaller changes as players beat each playthrough. So those looking for something to sink a decent amount of time into might find themselves smitten with a game that does it so well.
It also pulls a neat perspective shift where it changes from being completely free movement in a 3D environment to suddenly feeling like a 2D side-scrolling game. The change is a neat trick to break up the action, and serves to make the invisible borders that surround every unplayable area less likely to be noticed. NieR: Automata also sports a few flying sections that serve to progress the story and are fun bullet-hell style mini-games. The perspective of these sections also shifts back and forth from 3D to 2D and can be a little disorienting at first but quickly become just another entertaining aspect of the game.
Another minor, but annoying complaint was when some places have doorways that appear to be open, but users won’t know the area isn’t accessible until hitting that same invisible barrier that stops players from moving outside the playable area. It’s a minor annoyance, mainly because there is no way to differentiate between restricted doors and rooms that 2B can enter.
The last thing that may draw some ire from users in terms of gameplay, is the escort quest target's infuriating design. The slow movement of the escort targets is enough to be frustrating, but luckily there are very few escort missions to actually do. At this point, it sometimes seems like it's become an inside joke within the gaming community, and PlatinumGames tells it so well to the point it can be mildly infuriating escorting targets around.
NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition carries over almost every bit of what made its PC and PS4 versions so popular. It doesn't carry the same graphical prowess as its original, but that isn’t surprising as a port. Still, it is easy to see why it was so acclaimed by critics and gamers alike back in 2017. For players hoping for a portable version of NieR: Automata to take with them everywhere, Virtuos and Square Enix did an excellent job making it available for just that. Players who missed it the first time around have a chance to finally experience everything NieR: Automata has to offer in a portable and shiny, though slightly uglier, package.
NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition releases on the Switch on October 4. Game ZXC was provided a Switch code for this review.
NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition
