"WTF is NieR: Automata?" You ask. It's the latest game from Yoko Taro, known for his weird rabbit-hole narratives (Drakengard, NieR) and one of the most experimental non-indie game devs in the business (NieR is still one of the only games I can think of with a major trans character). It's produced by Platinum (Bayonetta, MG:R). It's a story about existentialist philosophy. It's a story about what life means when you're an immortal machine built to a purpose. Also there are explosions, sweet sword combos, and sexy android butts. (This game's genre is more or less "open world platformer sidescrolling bullet hell shooter action rpg" so, like. That's a thing.) Far in the future, Aliens invaded. Rather than do the work themselves they sent a vanguard force of self-adapting machines to conquer earth. Humans fucked off to the moon and sent a force of androids to clear the machines out. This has not been going... Well. Come on down and discuss robot philosophy! We've got lesbians! We've got downmarket Sephiroth clones! We've got horrifying plot twists! We've got 26 endings (okay, 21 of them are jokes, but y'know)! We've got the best minor character ever to exist in a game! (Jackass. It's Jackass. She's magical.) (http://vanillatea-er-blog.tumblr.com/) Here's a song to listen to while you're here. The soundtrack is also great.
I want to participate but we're still playing through B ending. I say as I continue to learn the A route speedrun instead of progressing because dem lifts baby. DEM LIFTS THAT MY BOY CANNOT DO. you have never so thoroughly disappointed me in my entire life 9S LIFT YOURSELF BOY. LIIIIIIIIIIIIIFT. my life is this one fucking trick (which has no real spoilers)
Other fun trick is the damage glitch aka "You are now doing about 5x the damage of a normal heavy attack". Take that and double it to 10x with the enhancements and then double that again with the taunting and you are in for absurd amounts of damage very, very, very fast.
You're in for a treat. The Yoko Taro Crazy Plot Escalation™ never stops from happening. I tried to beat the speed star quest with 9S. I... I don't think it's possible. The boy don't got the moves.
Spoiler: abt 9S Pathway i watched my boyfriend play the whole game and about... Ten? Fifteen? Of the endings and omfg, 9S's main storyline it just. It got to me man. It got to me. He was so kind and hopeful and then........ *sob*
The way 9S is supposed to is with some slowing down thing he gets for the pod I believe? With 2B you can do it via abusing how the combos work to do lifts up the big pit area. You can also murder Master Servo very easily as 2B due to damage glitch. Boy goes down pretty quick with it. I'm guessing you're supposed to wait on the end of that quest or something until route B and I dunno do something with 9S's hacking, but damage glitch just rips and tears so there's no point in waiting. why wait when i have absurd amounts of damage i can dish out 9S can damage glitch too, but it's slightly more involved than 2B's. He also can't do lights during the sword throw like 2B can for slightly more damage due to only having the light attack. The basic pattern for all fights you want to be doing being taunt>dash+heavy>light>dash+heavy. Dash+heavy being the damage glitch. Bosses, some of them, also add in what is called pod slowmo. Which is starting the charge animation for the pod program and then canceling it to prolong the slowdown effect of the charge. This doesn't deal more damage in and of itself, but it does make it easier to ensure that the spinning sword is hitting each time it is able. Do that and put on damage ups at certain points and you just rip through bosses stupid fast.
I remembered out of nowhere today that Emil is confirmed gay. Though how relevant that is in his current cursed living magic weapon form I don't know. I love my dead gay immortal self-cloning skeleton son.
Spoiler: spoilering because fuck whatever We're heading through C/D right now. This probably isn't helping my depression.
It's definitely not helping so we're taking a break from Nier for a while. Because it has caused a flare in my suicidal ideation. Murderous ideation too. Let's go be triggered or whatever with something stupid like Nioh instead for a bit...
