NieR: Automata

[Gédéon_Lecanard]

So, I'm sure I'm not the only one playing this now. I enjoy it a lot, so far, although I had a bad surprise the first time around, related to the save system. Won't spoil the thing for you folks. Suffice to say, as long as you don't have a clue, use that pod and evade!

I love the art direction (as with many post-apocalyptic Japanese stories, it's quite mesmerizing), and the combat system is really fun. The rpg elements seem beefy, so far, I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out to work in the long run.

 

[Asp Explorer]

GF plays this on PS4.

I haven't got a clue what's going on.

 

[Gédéon_Lecanard]

I haven't read the comments yet, but it runs smooth and fine. Graphic options are not going to blow your mind, but they are adequate. It *is* a console based game after all. But I've seen far worse ports than that. I read they were having trouble with Radeon based systems, but it was supposed to be solved. And There are a lot of folks stating PC is actually the best port, after they could compare.

If you were refering to the reviews, you might just forget about them. Reviews of a game that got out two hours ago are ought to be silly, good or bad.

 

[Gédéon_Lecanard]

GF plays this on PS4.

I haven't got a clue what's going on.

haha yeah I think it's hard to get it if you're not actually playing it. It's very immersive, I think.

 

[Bomba Luigi]

I'm in a typcial Platinum situation with this one, I love what they are doing and I in theory love the Idea of playing there games but I'm so garbage at it that its just not working out in the end ^^

 

[Jezzah]

Been reading a bit into this. Perhaps any of you playing on pc could indulge a question or two before I think of buying.

I've read that mouse and keyboard is difficult with this..would you say that is true?

Is this voice acted or is it text only conversations?

How's the story/writing/gameplay quality in general?

Never played any of this guys other games and I don't intend to use a controller with my pc.

 

[Gédéon_Lecanard]

Been reading a bit into this. Perhaps any of you playing on pc could indulge a question or two before I think of buying.

I've read that mouse and keyboard is difficult with this..would you say that is true?

Is this voice acted or is it text only conversations?

How's the story/writing/gameplay quality in general?

Never played any of this guys other games and I don't intend to use a controller with my pc.

I can help with those.

Mouse and keyboard is doable in some sections, but you're really going to make the game more difficult than it is. I cannot spoil it too much, but the game uses different view modes that work great, but definitely make M&K a pain to use. For this type of game, invest in a microsoft controller. You'll enjoy them so much more, and this comes from a guy who loves nothing more than M&K.

Voice acted and subtitles, or pure text. Depends on the importance of the narrative. Most sidequests tend to be pure text. It is a bit disorienting at first, but you get use to it. Though it's a questionable choice. I highly recommend going for the original japanese spoken language.

The gameplay is stellar. Comabts are violent, fast paced and satisfying, the customization system is very nice I think (the chips stacking is a cool feature). Everything feels so natural and fluid, animations are japan quality (so, pretty much over the top), artistic direction and settings are amazing. The engine is not on par with that, and can display some pretty basic textures at times. But truth be told, the game design is so good it's easy to forget about those. The game is very smooth, loading times minimal and in fact non existent as long as you don't use the transfer system (location transitions are seamless), and storywise it's very intriguing and captivating. I like it a lot so far, and I don't feel like spipping the story at all.

Controler: as stated before, you *should* give it a try. I was like you, but see it that way: you would not use a controler for an FPS (you could be that would be awkward, only console folks think it's actually working). Well, it's exactly the same for this sort of games: they are made for controlers, and using M&K on those is not going to make them better, far from it. It makes a huge difference in termes of basic pleasure to play.

I think TB nails it very well overall:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWkSYY02Qxc

The only game I played from them was MGS Revengeance (oh that title), which I enjoyed so much as a no brainer combat game, that I finished it twice. They know how to make you feel like a total badass and put you in stupidly fast paced anime combat genre while staying in control.

 

[Jezzah]

Thanks a lot for that comprehensive answering. I may wait out on this. Perhaps some improvements to the mouse keyboard control scheme might surface in future. I'm not really interested in buying a controller for maybe one game besides which I literally cannot use the things despite trying enough timee on my sons XB.

Just a shame that these ports get released with little or no work done on the control scheme for PC which surely is the definition of control customisation. This would be an instant buy for me at the Iron Price (steam) if this wasn't hanging over it. It sounds great.

 

[shadragon]

Here's The Mighty Jingles look at Nier: Automata and a couple of other games.

https://youtu.be/QQum-8Z7hmw?t=7m30s

 

[Knightshark]

I played this yesterday for 2-3 hours, and i like it a lot. The gameplay is excellent, it's fast paced but slick and fluid. I love the camera work, the changes of perspective from 3d to 2d side/top views. The art style is elegant, the soundtrack nails it. And yes, it is sexy. I don't know why everyone is talking about fan service. The game as a whole clearly is the creative vision of one guy, there is no feeling of design by committee at all. I also like the characters so far and am eager to find out more. If i had to criticize anything it would be the tech and PC performance. After playing the brilliant Horizon Zero Dawn (what a month!) on PS4, this looks (textures, geometry, lighting and shadows) like a last generation game which runs rather poorly on a high end PC (1070, 3840x1600).

 

[Gédéon_Lecanard]

I played this yesterday for 2-3 hours, and i like it a lot. The gameplay is excellent, it's fast paced but slick and fluid. I love the camera work, the changes of perspective from 3d to 2d side/top views. The art style is elegant, the soundtrack nails it. And yes, it is sexy. I don't know why everyone is talking about fan service. The game as a whole clearly is the creative vision of one guy, there is no feeling of design by committee at all. I also like the characters so far and am eager to find out more. If i had to criticize anything it would be the tech and PC performance. After playing the brilliant Horizon Zero Dawn (what a month!) on PS4, this looks (textures, geometry, lighting and shadows) like a last generation game which runs rather poorly on a high end PC (1070, 3840x1600).

I agree with you completely. Tech is really sub par, but the rest of the game makes for it.

 

[Knightshark]

For everyone playing this game on PC: It's worth using this mod: http://steamcommunity.com/app/524220/discussions/0/135512104777399045/

Increased my fps by ~20% without any notable loss in visual quality. It also fixes the fullscreen issues.

 

[Backer42]

Thanks a lot for that comprehensive answering. I may wait out on this. Perhaps some improvements to the mouse keyboard control scheme might surface in future. I'm not really interested in buying a controller for maybe one game besides which I literally cannot use the things despite trying enough timee on my sons XB.

I'm baffled to see people with real interest in video games, who can't use a game controller. No offense, but for me this is like being a car hobbyist without a driving license.

Just a shame that these ports get released with little or no work done on the control scheme for PC which surely is the definition of control customisation. This would be an instant buy for me at the Iron Price (steam) if this wasn't hanging over it. It sounds great.

There are only a few genres, which work well with a mouse. It essentially boils down to point & click (either with a pointer on screen or directly controlling the camera).

Every other concept works better with a controller, because it offers four to six analog axises (instead of only two), a dozen of easy reachable buttons and two analog triggers on top of that. Many games where you control a character or vehicle shown on screen in real time are specifically designed around this control concept. There is only so much you can do with what used to be a typewriter and a 2D pointing device which is limited to controlling a moving pointer or a 3D viewport.

 

[Asp Explorer]

I'm the exact opposite. I've got PS4, PS3, PS3, Xbox, 360 and XB1. There's only a couple of games on each I really like to play - because I absolutely cannot stand either the feel, the action, the buttons or the plain awkwardness of console controllers.

They are things of evil. Give me KB&M or a HOTAS absolutely any day.

 

[Jezzah]

I'm baffled to see people with real interest in video games, who can't use a game controller. No offense, but for me this is like being a car hobbyist without a driving license.


There are only a few genres, which work well with a mouse. It essentially boils down to point & click (either with a pointer on screen or directly controlling the camera).

Every other concept works better with a controller, because it offers four to six analog axises (instead of only two), a dozen of easy reachable buttons and two analog triggers on top of that. Many games where you control a character or vehicle shown on screen in real time are specifically designed around this control concept. There is only so much you can do with what used to be a typewriter and a 2D pointing device which is limited to controlling a moving pointer or a 3D viewport.

Yeah sorry mate. I wish I could verbalise how flippin awful I am at using the twunty things. God I've tried over the years and they still make me want to smash them against a wall.

On the other hand give me a mouse and keyboard and I'll regularly top out the multiplayer table on any given fps you can care to name.

Horses for courses I guess. I wish it were different cos I'd like to play this Nier game.

 

[Backer42]

On the other hand give me a mouse and keyboard and I'll regularly top out the multiplayer table on any given fps you can care to name.

Multiplayer FPS is one of the few genres, where camera control is part of the gameplay. However NieR isn't a competitive FPS.

Additionally one unique feature of the NieR franchise is its shifting through various arcade genres and gameplay styles, which all work very well with controllers but half of them (like twin-stick shooting) are unplayable with a keyboard. NieR is deliberately designed to test your versatility and if your spent your time exclusively on improving FPS abilities, you're going to have a hard time.

 

[Jezzah]

Consider myself smacked then for playing stuff I like using the control method of my choice

 

[Knightshark]

It really isn't that hard on normal difficulty. And there is an easy mode which basically plays itself.

 

[Gédéon_Lecanard]

I'm baffled to see people with real interest in video games, who can't use a game controller. No offense, but for me this is like being a car hobbyist without a driving license.


There are only a few genres, which work well with a mouse. It essentially boils down to point & click (either with a pointer on screen or directly controlling the camera).

Every other concept works better with a controller, because it offers four to six analog axises (instead of only two), a dozen of easy reachable buttons and two analog triggers on top of that. Many games where you control a character or vehicle shown on screen in real time are specifically designed around this control concept. There is only so much you can do with what used to be a typewriter and a 2D pointing device which is limited to controlling a moving pointer or a 3D viewport.

I would agree with you on the general principle, but in fact, no matter how you put it, mouse is infinitely more reliable when you need a bit of precision. FPS with a controller are mundane. Also, some games that are supposed to work best with a controller are just much more fun and precise with a mouse. A game like Strike Suit Zero for instance, is a blast with a mouse, and it's tedious in comparison with a controller.

In fact, I'd go as far as saying that controllers are a jack of all trade, but shine only in games such as Nier. Combat, fighting, adventure, that sort of jazz. FPS, nope, point and click, nope, RTS or pausable strategy games, nope, RPGs the likes of Witcher or Skyrim, nopenopenope.

I use both, really, but often found myself switching to M&K when precision was an issue. I always felt the mouse skept a few layers when communicating with the brain. Then again, this game, or the Batmans, or Darksiders series, well, controller all the way.

 

[Thomas Mainwaring]

After using that mod floating around the Steam forums (FAR?) it's been a delight to play on PC so far. I finished my first playthrough tonight and oh man, what a game, yet another to add to the already-great early 2017 pile!

I'm very much a fan of some of the unusual design choices. Unequip your OS chip? Oops, now you're dead. Not sure if that ever serves a purpose, but it was pretty amusing for a hot second that they'd even let you do that. There's also that self-destruct button, all they need now is an option to try turning it off and on again. I also like the perspective changes, where one moment it's a twin-stick shooter, the next it's a side-scrolling platformer. Reminds me a bit of when Bayonetta had those Space Harrier-esque levels.

Also, amazing soundtrack. [up]