This is a spoiler-free personal review. Scroll down if you feel it’s too long for the tl;dr part.

Nier:Automata goes on to show that a game can transcend all other forms of art. It’s a game I’ll probably never forget. Where to start? I have no idea, amazing story telling, character design, gameplay, music everything was just too good. I’m totally mesmerized by this masterpiece.

Developed by PlatinumGames the gameplay is phenomenal and feels very natural. The gameplay features hack and slash combat mainly. It doesn’t have a lot of combos(Not a ton of combos like bayonetta) but that doesn’t mean it feels dulls or boring and are in fact quite enjoyable. One can also fire bullets/special skills from their pod (which accompanies your character throughout the game). The game at times switches from the hack and slash to a 2D shooter/bullet hell to a sort of side scrolling action which gives the gameplay a very unique touch (a good one at that). Overall the combat feels pretty satisfying and enjoyable. I highly recommend people to try this with a controller to get the actual feel of the gameplay.
Talking about the RPG elements the game features levelling system as you progress. One can customize their stats and tweak a little using plug-in chips (which can be acquired throughout the game). There are a variety of side-quests ranging from okay-ish to some heart wrenching tales. Weapons can be acquired throughout the game through various means and can be upgraded by various upgrade materials. Experimenting around with weapons one can discover new combos and stuff.

The narration, storytelling and direction is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. This is my first Yoko Taro game and my god, I am blown away. The story is set in the future, a post-apocalyptic world where humans have fled to moon and aliens (& machines) have taken over earth. Humans have developed androids to retake earth and drive out the alien invaders. As the story progresses it turns out that things are more complicated than it seems. It has some pretty serious plot twists and spoilers towards the ending (Avoid spoilers if you want to enjoy to the fullest). Some are somewhat predictable, most are not, some strike you when you least expect them. To get the complete main story experience one must finish 3 playthroughs (referred to as ending A, B and C/D/E) in the game. The ending A and B are essentially the same but from perspective of different characters with the exception of some different stuff in both. Some complain that it is a cheap trick to increase game length and feels repetitive but to me it didn’t feel repetitive at all and in fact I enjoyed the little extra details quite a bit. Ending C continues the story from where it was left of at the end of ending A/B. After completing ending C chapter select gets unlocked and one can choose whatever chapter they wish to play. Ending D and E essentially dependent upon the choices on makes at the end of ending C. I highly recommend one to experience all 5(A-E) endings at least to get the full experience. Leaving the game after ending A is somewhat akin to judging a book by its cover. The game also has 21 joke endings which include killing your own character or abandoning missions or just doing weird things in general.
The character design and animation is brilliant. The characters are very well designed and the animation between moves and actions is very fluid and feels and looks very graceful. Most of the bosses and fights are pretty decent as well. Not only are the characters really good visually but character development is pretty decent too, character personalities are very well developed. One can become pretty attached to the characters as the story progresses and the mysteries are unravelled.

Words can’t describe what the music and soundtracks in the game feel like. The soundtracks and music are composed by Keiichi Okabe and they are phenomenal. Until now I never thought that music played such an important part in a game. Every piece of music fits so well and synergizes with the scene being portrayed and highlights the emotion and adds so much to the scene I can’t describe it by mere words and one has to experience it by himself. Most of the lyrics are as such not in a particular language (termed as chaos language by some people since it’s a mixture of a couple of languages) yet the emotions are conveyed very well without the need for words. Even though I finished the game 5-6 months ago, the soundtracks alone brings back scenes and memories of this game. Sometimes you can just close your eyes and simply let the music flow or go around in freeplay while enjoying this beautiful world along with the music.

Nier automata goes really deep and presents psychological and emotional instances which makes you wonder what it truly means to be means to be “human”. Some past references and stuff from the previous Nier/Drakengard games though it isn’t essential for the story or anything but I ended up researching and reading stuff about the previous ones anyway after I finished the game since I was pretty impressed by it and wanted to know more details. If someone does want to get every detail and reference, I suggest them to do some researching about the Drakengard series (can PM me if they need some resources). The fact that I spent around 100 hours in this game to explore every little detail, quest, upgrades and get all achievements shows how much I fell in love with it.

My only gripe with this is from Square Enix for their not so good quality port and people having to use FAR mod to fix some of the things which should not be a problem in the first place and in general with their poor response to the community. Even though the game worked fine for me without any problems (after using FAR mod), there were tons of threads in the forum at launch time with people having all sort of technical problems and having to resort to 3rd party fixes or workarounds and honestly it was disheartening to see people not being able to enjoy such a wonderful game.

Tl;dr : It’s a game I’ll probably never forget throughout my entire life. It’s an experience unlike any other game. One of my favourite games of all times. AVOID SPOILERS if you really want to enjoy it to the fullest. It’s an underrated gem which I recommend to anyone looking for amazing action hack and slash/bullet hell gameplay, music or great story. Only reason for someone to avoid this would be if they don’t like deep plot and prefer their games to be casual.