![]() A paper airplane that could only survive three hits, just when I’d decided my strategy was to become a damage sponge. Instead of a giant sword that gave me nice memories of Final Fantasy VII, I had a paper airplane in a box. Instead of slashing through problems with my sword, I now had to deal with enemies as 9S and his power of…mini-games. Of course, just in time for me to feel comfortable playing as 2B, the game reached its first ending and abruptly switched gears. I deeply appreciate that a game that was often punishingly difficult, even on Normal, gave me a way to save my own butt that didn’t feel like cheating. I was able to switch back to Normal mode and survive the lethal roly-poly robot because anytime I wasn’t getting hit I was gaining my health back thanks to the right equipment. I never mastered the chip system, but I made it work for me. Or, if you’re me, you can equip all the auto-heal chips in your inventory and charge into danger without regret. You can even fine-tune those sets to defeat specific bosses. When, hours after defeating Simone, I stepped into a boss fight with a giant rolling marble of a machine that alternated between murdering me by crushing me into the floor and murdering me by frying me with lasers, I had to switch to easy mode and consult a walkthrough, which is how I learned about the chip system.Įach of the three characters you control in Nier: Automata has an ideal chipset suited to their abilities and play style. Nier: Automata offers the player many moments of triumph. I ended the fight smiling because somehow I’d finished the battle. At some point, I stopped mashing buttons and scrambling and started timing my movements and seizing my moments. I never understood why people love difficult games until I took down Simone as 2B. I didn’t know that at the end of the firework-laden path I would die dozens of times to a mechanical opera singer named Simone and that with each death I would fall more deeply in love with Nier: Automata. The game world, which was already beautiful to look at, went from gorgeous to magical. The music morphed into something tinkling and childlike as if in the middle of a professional performance a little kid ran their fingers over the piano keys. I felt the wonder of a child walking into Disney World as an adult curled up on the couch. When I managed to survive, I decided to risk $20 and my emotional well-being and play the game.Īt first, I fell in love with the things that were easy to like: the adorable enemies with trashcan bodies and wide eyes, the soundtrack that felt like it was written for an epic fantasy film, the dialogue that switched from snarky to wistful to tense at just the right moments-I was having a great time.Īt peak “Things Erica was Programmed to Like,” I entered a huge amusement park run by pacifist machines that shot balloons instead of bullets. I played through the demo to make sure I wasn’t going in over my head. Is this story good enough that I’m willing to suffer? It was time to ask an important question: Eventually, I ran out of visual novels and walking simulators and Nier: Automata went on sale. I listened and absorbed this information while I continued to play games in my comfort zone. ![]() I heard from friends and podcasts that Nier: Automata stood out from other big-name video game titles for reasons other than the protagonist’s impractically short skirt. There’s a reason I’m writing this review in 2021 and not in 2017. ![]() This is why I tend to pick games in a genre that has “novel” in the title.īut what am I supposed to do when a game is rumored to have an incredible story and be incredibly challenging? Video games are only allowed to make me cry and scream so long as they do it through the story and not the gameplay. Spoilers abound, particularly for the true ending. ![]() Who knew a change to the title screen could make me emotional?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |