Microsoft Nier: Automata port is a marked improvement over the Steam one

Don't get me started on all the Dragon Quest XI versions.
yep, what I listed is just touching the surface, there "will" be many many more examples. :(

Also of course been someone who wanted to support them, I have the delisted version on steam, I get a measly 20% discount on the proper full version called "defenitive edition". (discount is a sale so I actually get no discount for buying the original game).
 
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chrcoluk your point stands, but I think Eternal Sonata and Tales of Vesperia are Namco games, not Square Enix.

I’d also include FF12 in your list. Though the “international version” was used as the basis for the recent remake, and all of the remake releases were the same at least.
 
I think unless the press pick up on this and give SE a ton of flak (unlikely), the steam version wont get the improvements.

Its been done so many times I expect its a deliberate practice, they will want people to double dip on the game.
They are also just really lazy when it comes to ports a lot of the time. Their oldschool FF games like FF5 show that. Just garbage ports based off of the mobile versions, which weren't done well in the first place.
 
I should make it clear - it is definitely worth playing Nier Automata (especially if you can get it on the deep sales available these days) and if you get it on PC specifically, seek out the Steam version. If you have it as part of GamePass feel free to enjoy it there, but if you're specifically going out of your way to get it for any platform, I still suggest PC Steam - just not at full price these days. The game itself is fantastic if you have at least a tolerance if not an affinity for anime, related deeper story paths, and Platinum Games high action combat style. Many of Platinum games titles encourage replaying to optimize the stylistic combat, but Nier Automata has built in story reasons to replay "new game+ " style which is nice. These days you should be able to get at least the "Game of the YoRHa" edition which bundles the major DLC too, and hopefully soon the Steam version will add the "Become as Gods" edition fixes.

Overall its still a great game and that playing on PC via Steam is worth it for access to mods. Its well known that Square Enix didn't do a very good job on the original PC version which, while better than no port at all, is frustrating especially in light of suggestions that Platinum Games wanted to patch and update but SE basically told them it wasn't worth the time. One of the "must have" mods that fixes a lot of the issues is FAR (Fix Automata Resolution) - https://github.com/Kaldaien/FAR . Legendary modder Kaldaien is well known for his "SpecialK" mod family that focus on fixing these common issues with Japanese (mostly Square Enix and Bandai Namco ) ported to PC while overall enhancing the experience. While FAR is a baseline, there are also others found on Nexus Mods , such as "The Definitive Experience" - https://www.nexusmods.com/nierautomata/mods/29 - that showcase a massive graphical overhaul. Thanks to FAR and other mods, its possible to get similar features to the Xbox / Windows Store "Become As Gods" edition update - borderless full screen, resolution fix, and more. However, it shouldn't be necessary.

While we're lucky enough this time that extensive mods and fixes can provide not just a working game but parity to (and with certain optional enhancements, beyond) the Become As Gods version now available on GamePass/Windows Store/Xbox, its an issue of principle as well as tech. Square Enix should not leave the Steam version to languish without the parity updates to the version on another launcher/platform. Its frustrating that Square Enix (and to a degree some other major devs ) are so uneven with how they interact with PC. Granted that I prefer even the current state to the previous "console only" focus by far, but its always a gamble if a PC version will get a parity launch, be full featured "best / most content-complete" version of the game, uncut in terms of content , maintain original audio tracks, have a solid technical base, be priced reasonably, and these days has to worry about the game even coming to Steam at all (see the catastrophe that is Kingdom Hearts long awaited PC arrival...bloody Epic Store exclusive and insanely priced)!. Sometimes they do quite well but others there's something missing. I'm glad they're bringing the next Nier (really its a remade prequel) title to PC via Steam in April, but there's no excuse not to ensure that Automata on Steam is given a parity update to the Xbox / Windows Store / GamePass version.

Edit:

While speaking about old school-ish SE ports, I've always found it annoying that the Steam version of Final Fantasy IV (the 3D remastered and updated version originally on the Nintendo DS, but subsequently ported to Android and then PC) does not include Japanese audio + English subtitles. This is because the game was built on Android which (much like many stupid mobile apps; I noticed this the very brief time I played that Fire Emblem gatcha) basically binds audio and UI/text to the locale of the device. Setting your Android phone to Japanese locale would unlock the Japanese audio right there in the FFIV game files, but it will also switch all your phone and the game's text/UI to Japanese as well! This could have been avoided with a very simple option to choose voice and text language independently! The Steam version has the same problem even after the vary rare post-launch patches added years later!

There are some other fixes you can use for the game or various mods (ie to get more DS style fonts, change the audio etc) , but eventually I took up my old hobby of working on an "Undub" patch only , when I found that someone else was farther along than I with an already working patch. Thus, I wrote a guide for finding and installing it on Steam, as I noticed that every time FFIV went on sale there would often be an influx of "Where's the Japanese audio option?" posts in the Steam Discussion forum for the title. With the undub patch (and others if you're so inclined), its likely the best version of the 3D remake FFIV around on PC, but really it would have been much simpler for SE to include an audio/text language choice and other features that now require mods.
 
Though absolutely moving out of Nier discussion. The FF6 Atma Weapon Mod injector and the FF7 7th Heaven mod injectors are both awesome at making those games really worth playing on PC.

Super easy to use front end GUI that autodownloads and installs mix and match mod choices with visual or audio previews. Neat stuff.
 
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chrcoluk your point stands, but I think Eternal Sonata and Tales of Vesperia are Namco games, not Square Enix.

I’d also include FF12 in your list. Though the “international version” was used as the basis for the recent remake, and all of the remake releases were the same at least.
Thats why I listed them below a comment saying other japanese devs as well. :)
 
Though absolutely moving out of Nier discussion. The FF6 Atma Weapon Mod injector and the FF7 7th Heaven mod injectors are both awesome at making those games really worth playing on PC.

Super easy to use front end GUI that autodownloads and installs mix and match mod choices with visual or audio previews. Neat stuff.
I am glad you like the ff7 mods, I maintain ESUI (one of the menu/battle theme mods) and also had input in the new 7th heaven development.

The ff7 steam port may not have existed without the modding community community, a member called aali developed a modding driver for it which also allowed the game to run easily on modern operating systems, this driver is used in the steam version of the game.

Also I see Kaldaien got a mention, not without good reason he has made many steam jrpg ports much more playable.
 
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I played Nier on PC via the steam version and had no complaints (other than the game getting repetitive). Made it through the first two loops and half way through the second before I ran out of steam and switched to a different game. I don't see a hell of a lot of improvement in this - it was good before, better now?
 
Are you serious? If one has good PC, why would he buy console?

Also as you very well know, it's flooding AAA PC only games lately. /s
Because that's where the good versions of the games are?

Edit: Stuff that's made for Japanese audiences is usually kind of lost on me, but I don't remember this game being particularly good. Like, I read that it was great, so I bought it at some point when it was on sale on Steam, but then I tried to play it, and it reminded me of something I'd have played in the mid 1990s, with terrible voice acting and women dressed in fanservicey outfits. I think I got maybe 45 minutes in and gave up.

Does it get better at some point?
 
Because that's where the good versions of the games are?

Edit: Stuff that's made for Japanese audiences is usually kind of lost on me, but I don't remember this game being particularly good. Like, I read that it was great, so I bought it at some point when it was on sale on Steam, but then I tried to play it, and it reminded me of something I'd have played in the mid 1990s, with terrible voice acting and women dressed in fanservicey outfits. I think I got maybe 45 minutes in and gave up.

Does it get better at some point?
Yes. Same opinion here at first, but recommendation from a friend kept me playing. The story gets good, the humor is solid, the "weirdness" starts to make sense (including the outfits). It clicks. Then it gets a bit repetitive, but the gameplay is good, combat works well, etc. It's a bit 90's styled - sure, but I really enjoyed it once I pushed through the first couple of hours (it's a slow start). Once the story really kicks in it makes more sense.
 
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