NieR: Automata - Popularizing an Offbeat Image

Yosuke Saito, producer of the upcoming PC JRPG NieR: Automata, reassures western RPG fans that a deeper RPG experience awaits, and it won't be just twitchy combat.

Before fans of dizzying combo strings and full screen special moves get too carried away, this is not a dedicated brawler. Saito is delicate in his attempts not to ostracise returning fans of the series. “The image I have is of a game 60 or 70 percent RPG and 30 or 40 percent action. [Automata] isn’t necessarily more action-orientated than previous games in the series, it’s just the action is better.”

My short hands-on demonstrates some progress with the hack-and-slashing element of Nier. Attacks have all the trademark flair associated with Platinum Games, with swordplay and mid air juggling aplenty. Even in isolated sequences of combat, Automata offers more visually exciting action than anything seen in the dull-looking original. While Automata has the spectacle of a traditional Platinum game, it doesn’t necessarily have the same level of challenge—Nier is still an RPG at heart, if you want it to be. 

The developers promise difficulty settings that will appeal to players who prefer either approach. Saito goes out of his way to make clear that progress through skirmishes can be achieved by levelling up your characters and assigning them greater skills, rather than forcing players to learn complex sets of inputs and attain perfect dodge and counterattack timing.

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