NieR: Automata is a genuine masterpiece in storytelling, existing within Yoko Taro's DrakeNieR world, but not necessarily requiring you to play any of the other entries, it welcomes players with a seemingly simple story, but as you progress through the endings it becomes more and more evident that is an existentialist fantasy world with philosophical themes running throughout.

This game has several endings, 5 "endings" and 21 "Joke Endings" (which are mostly just from failing certain missions in certain ways), the regular endings come from what are basically different arcs in the game as different characters. After ending A comes playthrough (and in turn, ending) B, which is where I feel most people drop the game if they do, as it's not much new content, it's just another perspective with some added insight in certain scenes. Endings C and D are earned by playing after ending B and depend on a choice towards the actual end of the game. E comes from playing through both choices (as you will unlock Chapter Select to be able to back and choose them.)
[BE CAREFUL if you reach ending E, as the text about losing save data is not a joke, you will in fact lose all data.]

The story for this game is genuinely incredible, I originally thought people were exaggerating but this games takes deep philosophical questions and utilises existentialism brilliant ways and you will question a lot of the things you're seeing. There's so many great moments that will actually go over your head on your first play-through, so I heavily recommend replaying just the story when you finally achieve ending E and making a B-Line to the story quests.

The combat in this game is pretty good generally, it isn't crazy in depth, but it has enough to keep you interested in it with many ways to switch-up your play style and increase power. Some people are incredibly stylish with this games combat, so there is definitely room to do some crazy stuff.

The music, oh my god, the music in this game is phenomenal, especially in the way it's utilised, I often turn music down in a lot of games as it often feels like it's too loud, but, this game's music truly does add to every moment, especially in the more story-focused segments. Please, listen to the music when you play, it's beautifully utilised.

The only thing I'd change about this game is one of the boss fights that are just a flight segment and was really easy to beat, I'd have loved if it were a more challenging fight where we could use actual weapons, but, it was pretty great for the story, so I guess it's fine.

Overall, I would say this is one of my favourite games of all time. 9.7/10. I adore it and it has roped me into Yoko Taro's world.

(Side notes:
I adore how this game spins some of the greatest philosophers' ideas against their namesakes in a twist of cruel irony.
Don't be discouraged by the game being a bit of a mix of genres when it comes to combat, the top-down segments threw me at first, but you get used to them, if all else fails just keep shooting lol.)

[EDIT: I 100% the game, including the fishing, the beetle fish had me at my breaking point lmao, but finally got it. Definitely recommend this game to basically everyone lmao.]

NieR: Automata is a genuine masterpiece in storytelling, existing within Yoko Taro's DrakeNieR world, but not necessarily requiring you to play any of the other entries, it welcomes players with a seemingly simple story, but as you progress through the endings it becomes more and more evident that is an existentialist fantasy world with philosophical themes running throughout. This game has several endings, 5 "endings" and 21 "Joke Endings" (which are mostly just from failing certain missions in certain ways), the regular endings come from what are basically different arcs in the game as different characters. After ending A comes playthrough (and in turn, ending) B, which is where I feel most people drop the game if they do, as it's not much new content, it's just another perspective with some added insight in certain scenes. Endings C and D are earned by playing after ending B and depend on a choice towards the actual end of the game. E comes from playing through both choices (as you will unlock Chapter Select to be able to back and choose them.) [BE CAREFUL if you reach ending E, as the text about losing save data is not a joke, you will in fact lose all data.] The story for this game is genuinely incredible, I originally thought people were exaggerating but this games takes deep philosophical questions and utilises existentialism brilliant ways and you will question a lot of the things you're seeing. There's so many great moments that will actually go over your head on your first play-through, so I heavily recommend replaying just the story when you finally achieve ending E and making a B-Line to the story quests. The combat in this game is pretty good generally, it isn't crazy in depth, but it has enough to keep you interested in it with many ways to switch-up your play style and increase power. Some people are incredibly stylish with this games combat, so there is definitely room to do some crazy stuff. The music, oh my god, the music in this game is phenomenal, especially in the way it's utilised, I often turn music down in a lot of games as it often feels like it's too loud, but, this game's music truly does add to every moment, especially in the more story-focused segments. Please, listen to the music when you play, it's beautifully utilised. The only thing I'd change about this game is one of the boss fights that are just a flight segment and was really easy to beat, I'd have loved if it were a more challenging fight where we could use actual weapons, but, it was pretty great for the story, so I guess it's fine. Overall, I would say this is one of my favourite games of all time. 9.7/10. I adore it and it has roped me into Yoko Taro's world. (Side notes: I adore how this game spins some of the greatest philosophers' ideas against their namesakes in a twist of cruel irony. Don't be discouraged by the game being a bit of a mix of genres when it comes to combat, the top-down segments threw me at first, but you get used to them, if all else fails just keep shooting lol.) [EDIT: I 100% the game, including the fishing, the beetle fish had me at my breaking point lmao, but finally got it. Definitely recommend this game to basically everyone lmao.]