I refunded NiEr:Automata on Steam

craigdt

craigdt

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 27, 2016
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I really wanted to try this game for quite awhile.

Finally got it on sale, and gave it a try.

Played it 44 minutes before requesting a refund.

Crashed 3 times within 10 minutes.

Locked at 60fps on my PC. Worthless.

Wtf is the side-scrolling camera change thing?

Colors, or lack there of, are depressing.

Damn it's hard.

WTF you can't save and if you die before the first save point you have to start all the way over at the opening cinematic?

And that's when I rage-quit and refunded.

I liked the "feel" of the story. Sorta like the Sucker Punch movie.

Never played this genre before-- I really wanted to like it.

But I'm just a casual who doesn't have large blocks of time for a game like this.
 
Camera auto-drift could be disabled in the options menu.

Edit: just realized you probably meant the change from 3d to 2d, yeah that was certainly an aesthetic they went for that worked ok at some points and terrible at others (i.e the forgotten king palace). It wasn't used a whole bunch but it was there every now and then.

I'd say you should've played more than 44 minutes but it is what it is.
 
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Yeah, it's really just a broken game on PC - even with all the 'fixes' that exist.

Even if you manage to fix the technical issues - The game itself has fundamental problems that really kill the enjoyment of it.

The map is god awful. It's one of the worst in any open game I've ever seen. It provides no real utility and the game desperately needs a map.

Another issue is just the poor quest management/item management and menu system in general. This is a common issue with most Japanese focused market games, but it really fails here. I hate having to spend time diving through menus to do shit.

Finally, the way spawning is handling, saving, etc.

It's a game that could be brilliant but is just hamstrung by what are really typical Asian-centric market problems. Too much time is spent dealing with crap that really has nothing to do with the actual gameplay.

I personally thought the mix up of gameplay types was a really cool idea - But as soon as the game really becomes 'open world' it just becomes too much of a chore to sit down and play.
 
I remember when playing old school games that you had to memorize the layouts to get good, countless hours spent on a certain part before I mastered it. This is like the original Mario, if you die you start from the beginning. Having to watch the Cinematic video would annoy the bleep out of me tho. EVERY time i died
 
Don't blame you. The PC version has received zero patches since release, while the developer had enough time to develop and perfect a version for the Xbox One. Japanese developers don't see the PC as a serious gaming platform. They group it in with throwaway devices like cell phones.
 
That's a real shame, because the game is superb. I can't say I had any issues on PC other than some weirdness with having a controller plugged in (IIRC), but I have heard of people having issues.

EDIT: Actually, I remember now - the weirdness was with a framerate unlocking mod. Never had any actual technical issues with the base game that I can recall.
 
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I never had any technical issues with the game. Unfortunately, I just don't like it. As is the case with many open world games, there is a lack of direction and most of the quests are just boring filler. I've played a few hours of it and beyond the somewhat repetitive combat, there isn't much for me to like about it. As a console port, it doesn't even look that good. The art style is nice, but I can't say too much for the games visuals. The story from what I can see falls into the same tropes of all Japanese media. The Japanese don't think a story is good unless its complex enough to need a massive flow chart to take it all in.
 
Dan_D said:
I never had any technical issues with the game. Unfortunately, I just don't like it. As is the case with many open world games, there is a lack of direction and most of the quests are just boring filler. I've played a few hours of it and beyond the somewhat repetitive combat, there isn't much for me to like about it. As a console port, it doesn't even look that good. The art style is nice, but I can't say too much for the games visuals. The story from what I can see falls into the same tropes of all Japanese media. The Japanese don't think a story is good unless its complex enough to need a massive flow chart to take it all in.
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I feel you on the Open World aspects. I had to focus myself when playing this...and I'm glad I did. I do think the game is rewarding to a degree...however, there's a lot of backtracking. A lot. So, you'll be seeing the same environments a lot and mostly in the same manner. Very little in terms of "changing" them. Now, the game is odd in that there are several false endings and what have you. So, from a narrative perspective it's very interesting. Still, if you can't seem to find the right balance between side quest and main missions...it becomes tedious.
 
Don't recall is crashing much if at all. Yeah the opening cinematic thing sucked. I think I died at the last moment, bam, 15 minutes of backtracking. In general it isn't that bad throughout the game. Combat itself can be damn fun. I got pretty decent with it and completed all of those high level arenas. Chapter 2 was a letdown as it was 80% the same as chapter 1 with a crappy hacking mechanic. They needed to make 9S' chapter notable more different. The main missions should have had 2B/9S split up more to make each playthrough more unique. Story towards the end of the game (chapter 3) really picks up. You have to trudge through cringe worthy Japanese anime cliches, but the feel of the story is pretty good. Even when awkward and out there, I have to say I like the mood Japanese games can portray. MGSV could have been much better gameplay wise but I enjoyed the story/theme. The story isn't nearly as good as some people claim, but it is a step up from your typical game. There were some minor plot holes / inconsistencies that I don't recall (but really annoyed me at the time) but overall I thought it was good.

Graphically the style is fine but yeah, the graphics can be very barren. Map navigation is okay. Side quests can be meh. Picking up items can be a pain as can configuring your character but you can do a number of good modifications / specializations.

I didn't mind the "2D" modes. Happens a bit during combat especially in the flight unit. But I found it a nice change of pace and I like flight shooters.
 
Good to know. I've heard endless praise about this game. Some even said it's their GOTY or very close at least. Guess I'll get it for PS4 with a decent sale.
 
Kinsaras said:
Good to know. I've heard endless praise about this game. Some even said it's their GOTY or very close at least. Guess I'll get it for PS4 with a decent sale.
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IMO some of the people saying this are overlooking some critical faults with the game that other games from that year didn't have. As I put in my prior post - I really gave this game a fair shot, but it has some really serious quality of life type of issues. This isn't even touching on the technical issues with the PC version.
 
g00z13 said:
might still buy this, steam has a 30 day return policy right?
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The issue is that you’ll easily go over the 2 hour return limit before running into many of the things I’ve described. So take your chances.
 
The technical issues you've had aside, it really doesn't sound like it would be the right type of game for you. It's how I keep trying to like Fallout 4 but I can't get into it. Some games just don't jive no matter what.

Also, I did share the same experience as you having to replay that entire first part about 4 times. It was a bit frustrating. It really is the hardest part of the game since you have literally zero prior experience with the game-play mechanics so the learning curve is quite steep. It doesn't take long at all to get used to the dodging but yeah...that first part was brutal. But then there is the need to fetch the third-party FAR patch to fix the resolution bug so I won't defend the technical issues because they do definitely exist.

All told, I actually ended up really enjoying NieR a lot and recommended it highly to others. Never read a single review and bought it just from watching the trailer which itself was a bag of weirdness and flashy game play but that's all I wanted.
 
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certain games like NieR, Monster Hunter World and Nioh get amazing reviews but looking at gameplay videos they look very dull and repetitive...I want to try them but I can't bring myself to do it...certain gameplay elements seem unique and fun but overall it looks like a grind to play...
 
Typical Japanese game. It's hard to like their games unless you're a Japan fanatic who absolutely love the crap they throw out.
Honestly the only two things I like about Japan is their pussy and pranks you can watch on YouTube
 
Nebell said:
Typical Japanese game. It's hard to like their games unless you're a Japan fanatic who absolutely love the crap they throw out.
Honestly the only two things I like about Japan is their pussy and pranks you can watch on YouTube
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To be honest, I don't understand the appeal. When you look at the game's menus cut scenes and menus, Japanese games like this one seem as though they are stuck in the 1990's. They seem to think overly complicated plots are the only way to tell a story but they don't provide enough information to flesh that story out and convey it to the reader / player / viewer. A lot of it really seems like its the same shit in a different package. Many Japanese stories such as the game in question are fatalistic and I don't enjoy that. Most any Japanese media seems to "end badly."
 
Dan_D said:
To be honest, I don't understand the appeal. When you look at the game's menus cut scenes and menus, Japanese games like this one seem as though they are stuck in the 1990's. They seem to think overly complicated plots are the only way to tell a story but they don't provide enough information to flesh that story out and convey it to the reader / player / viewer. A lot of it really seems like its the same shit in a different package. Many Japanese stories such as the game in question are fatalistic and I don't enjoy that. Most any Japanese media seems to "end badly."
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Yep. Even the latest Final Fantasy XV that tried to appeal to a more western market was still overly complicated in many ways, and the worst part is that they overly dumbed down the combat but still gave it an overly complicated menu system / item management.
 
NieR is like a Christoper Nolan movie.

It makes you think it's complex, complicated, and full of thought-provoking ideas but ultimately it's just a straight forward blockbuster-type story. There isn't much to it. What I liked about the story of NieR was how it was told. Sort of like how part of the appeal of Pulp-Fiction is it's out of order sequences.
 
Sonicks said:
NieR is like a Christoper Nolan movie.

It makes you think it's complex, complicated, and full of thought-provoking ideas but ultimately it's just a straight forward blockbuster-type story. There isn't much to it.
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Couldn't disagree more, but I will admit that to get the full experience you have to play through the game at least twice, which kind of sucks. I enjoyed the gameplay, though, so it wasn't a big deal to me.
 
Dan_D said:
To be honest, I don't understand the appeal. When you look at the game's menus cut scenes and menus, Japanese games like this one seem as though they are stuck in the 1990's. They seem to think overly complicated plots are the only way to tell a story but they don't provide enough information to flesh that story out and convey it to the reader / player / viewer. A lot of it really seems like its the same shit in a different package. Many Japanese stories such as the game in question are fatalistic and I don't enjoy that. Most any Japanese media seems to "end badly."
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I don't mind the plot or story style, but rather their mix of extremely cringe worthy scenes with otherwise complex and serious settings. Taking Nier as a direct example, there is one part in which your operator apparently tried to get into a relationship with someone else and gets rejected. She tells your character this over the comms in an exaggerated voice, while crying / shouting that it was the worst thing ever, literally. The over the top silliness, unrealistic voice acting and outright pointlessness of it can be unbearable at times. I'm really looking forward to Ace Combat 7, but in the story they had to introduce a princess. I wouldn't mind if they took the time to explain, coherently, how that came to be. Previous regime gets toppled, former monarchy installed temporarily by a foreign power to keep the population docile or something plausible. But being a Japanese game I know they will gloss over that but won't forget to throw in some cringe worthy cutscenes here or there. The fans of Japanese games take it to another level as well. Go to any forum or reddit page for a Japanese game. It gets damn creepy.
 
MavericK said:
Couldn't disagree more, but I will admit that to get the full experience you have to play through the game at least twice, which kind of sucks. I enjoyed the gameplay, though, so it wasn't a big deal to me.
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I don't mean that it lacks those traits entirely. What I'm saying is that it isn't so in depth so as to scare away people like some of the other posters in this thread. Making the Christopher Nolan reference again: People love his movies for the 'cerebral complexity' and yet they have mainstream appeal because they aren't hard to follow.

NieR isn't so complex so as to force you to keep track of 'many threads' and make a 'flow chart' just to get it. It's not difficult to follow.
 
Sonicks said:
I don't mean that it lacks those traits entirely. What I'm saying is that it isn't so in depth so as to scare away people like some of the other posters in this thread. Making the Christopher Nolan reference again: People love his movies for the 'cerebral complexity' and yet they have mainstream appeal because they aren't hard to follow.

NieR isn't so complex so as to force you to keep track of 'many threads' and make a 'flow chart' just to get it. It's not difficult to follow.
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Oh yeah, fair enough. I did think it asked some interesting questions (and answered them, in some cases).
 
Umm I was thinking of getting this...

I think I wait for it to drop some more til its about $20.
 
I played through the game a few times to get most of the endings and it has crashed very few times.
Considering that most games crash once in a while it seem on par for the industry.
 
silk186 said:
I played through the game a few times to get most of the endings and it has crashed very few times.
Considering that most games crash once in a while it seem on par for the industry.
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That's not normal. I can't remember the last time a game crashed on me.
 
Never had crashing issues, but the forced 1080p, forced 60hz, and incompatibility with g-sync make it a chore to run with my setup.
 
The PC version sucks, the PS4 version is interesting, hooked me enough to get too playing 9S but then lost me.

It's an odd game with a huge mashup of game play loops from other games, genres and eras.
 
Yeah I never picked it up some Japanese games are good some have alot to be desired.
 
I did not have issues with it. DLC was released and I think there was undocumented patch content in it. I enjoyed the game enough to get the DLC. The game is very different in what it does and how it works. I did use an ahk script to map the tab button to be the fire trigger.

The first part of the game is like an intro. It is easy enough once you do it a few times, just getting to that point is hard on your first attempt. The music is some of the best in any game IMO. I still enjoy listening to the music.
 
Comixbooks said:
Yeah I never picked it up some Japanese games are good some have alot to be desired.
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Excluding Street Fighter and Megaman, I haven't gotten into too many Japanese games in general. I don't know what it is but I rarely like them.
 
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