A game that was an enormous surprise to everyone when it was first announced, and an even bigger surprise when it turned out to be one of the best, most thought-provoking games of 2017, Nier: Automata picks up the narrative ten thousand years after Nier, on an Earth overrun with machine lifeforms and abandoned by humanity.

Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Square Enix
Available on: PS4, Windows PC

Cover Game Articles

Nier Automata: Introduction and History - Nier: Automata is a fascinating game in its own right, but it becomes even more of an interesting story when you take it in context of everything that led to its creation. In order to understand Nier: Automata and its predecessors, it is particularly important to understand creator Taro Yoko, one of the most distinctive “auteurs” in … Continue reading Nier Automata: Introduction and History →

Nier Automata: Creating a Game That is “Unexpected”, That “Keeps Changing Form” - Nier creator Taro Yoko has some strong opinions about how to keep games interesting. Last time, we heard how he felt that modern triple-A games were often fun for the first twenty minutes, but that he frequently became concerned these initially impressive titles would become tiresome after twenty or more hours. It was this mindset … Continue reading Nier Automata: Creating a Game That is “Unexpected”, That “Keeps Changing Form” →

Nier Automata: Narrative, Themes and Characterisation - Nier creator Taro Yoko is particularly fascinated with death: not only the concept itself, but also how different people respond to it. Yoko’s interest in the subject, as we’ve previously discussed, stems from a traumatic experience in his youth when he witnessed the accidental, easily avoidable death of a friend and discovered, to his surprise, … Continue reading Nier Automata: Narrative, Themes and Characterisation →

Nier Automata: A Game Better With — And Because Of — Its Narrative - Writing for The Atlantic, academic and media commentator Ian Bogost put forth the rather bold claim that “video games are better without stories” and asked “film, television and literature all tell them better, so why are games still obsessed with narrative?” This is an interesting question to ponder in light of any discussion of video … Continue reading Nier Automata: A Game Better With — And Because Of — Its Narrative →

Other Articles about Nier: Automata

Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead” - It seems that every time we get a new Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy or Persona release, we have the same old “we’re having a JRPG renaissance!” discussion. Well, dear reader, with my coverage of Death End Re;Quest on the horizon at the time of writing and plenty more RPGs in our shared futures, I’m here … Continue reading Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead” →

The One-Liner Challenge - Time for a Community tag post! This one looked like a particularly fun one, and after the lovely Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime specifically requested me to do one about games, who was I to refuse? The original tag came from The Awkward Book Blogger and was based around, as you might expect, … Continue reading The One-Liner Challenge →

On the Age-Old Question of Video Game Violence - Over at The Well-Red Mage, which you should really be reading if you enjoy thoughtful and well-considered writing about games without sociopolitical showboating, the Mage posed an interesting question. It’s one we’ve been over many times since the medium’s inception, and yet at the time of writing, it’s once again a hot topic thanks to … Continue reading On the Age-Old Question of Video Game Violence →

The MoeGamer Awards: Best Integration of Mechanics with Thematic Elements - The MoeGamer Awards are a series of made-up prizes that give me an excuse to celebrate games, concepts and communities I’ve particularly appreciated over the course of 2017. Find out more and suggest some categories here! Today’s suggestion comes to us from “riobravo79”, who doesn’t appear to have a website or Twitter or anything — not … Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards: Best Integration of Mechanics with Thematic Elements →

Games Awards Should Embrace a Broader Spectrum of Games - At the time of writing, the 2017 nominees for The Game Awards — referred to by some as “gaming’s Oscars” — have just been announced. While it’s nice to see some high-profile Japanese games — most notably Persona 5, Breath of the Wild, Final Fantasy XV and Super Mario Odyssey — get some recognition, once again the overall lineup … Continue reading Games Awards Should Embrace a Broader Spectrum of Games →

The MoeGamer GameCast: Episode 6 – ZAWAZAWAZAWA - In this episode of the GameCast, we talk about the prevalence of “auteurs” in Japanese game development, NepNep in VR and one of the bleakest anime series I’ve ever seen. Music, as ever, is the work of MusMus, and the awesome retro font is by Style64. Other music in this episode remains the copyright of … Continue reading The MoeGamer GameCast: Episode 6 – ZAWAZAWAZAWA →

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Tips and Tricks

Here’s how to get all the endings. Note that endings F through Z are considered “bad ends” and will dump you back to the title screen without saving. Mild spoilers ahead!

• A: Beat the game on your first playthrough.
• B: Load your ending A clear file, then beat the game again.
• C: Load a clear file from ending B, C or D, then beat the game again, choosing A2 at the end.
• D: Load a clear file from ending B, C or D, then beat the game again, choosing 9S at the end.
• E: After seeing endings A, B, C and D, obtain ending C or D again, during the credits accept the request to perform a “data check”, then complete the minigame. This is much easier to do if you are online.
• F: Playing as 9S in Chapter 1, after Engels knocks you onto its back, let the timer run out during the repair sequence.
• G: Playing as 9S in Chapter 1, immediately walk to the crane and ignore your mission.
• H: In Chapter 5, ignore the order to intercept the Goliath by taking the path from Pascal’s Village to the Amusement Park.
• I: In Chapter 8, after defeating the boss in Copied City, walk away from 9S.
• J: In Chapter 9, when entering the factory and meeting the machines, kill them.
• K: In Chapter 6, you’ll receive an email with the subject “Jackass Fish”. Go visit Jackass at the Desert Camp to obtain the Mackerel, then eat it.
• L: In Chapter 10 while the Resistance Camp is being attacked, leave the camp.
• M: Playing as A2 in Chapter 14, don’t go to Pascal’s Village when it is attacked; instead run to the back of the Resistance Camp, Factory or Amusement Park.
• N: In Chapter 7, kill everyone in Pascal’s Village.
• O: In Chapter 11, run back towards the Factory instead of proceeding to the City Ruins.
• P: In Chapter 11, allow 2B to die from the virus.
• Q: In Chapter 11, after averting ending P, don’t go to 2B’s location and instead go to the desert or Resistance Camp.
• R: In Chapter 14, kill the peaceful robots near Pascal.
• S: In Chapter 17, abandon Popola and Devola after they attempt to protect you.
• T: Remove your OS chip.
• U: Self-destruct while on board the Bunker.
• V: In Chapter 17, when attempting to gain access to the Tower, stay and fight with Popola and Devola instead of hacking the Tower.
• W: Die during the prologue, likely by being shot down by the giant laser.
• X: In Chapter 11, when the game switches you to A2, run away instead of helping 2B.
• Y: During the questline “Emil’s Determination”, allow Emil to self-destruct.
• Z: In Chapter 14, kill Pascal instead of sparing him.