How NieR: Automata Tells the Ultimate Humanist Fable
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- A comprehensive analysis / critique / thematic deep-dive of NieR: Automata, one of the best games ever made. What is the meaning of life? And how should we then live, if existence has no innate higher purpose? It sounds unlikely, but this 2017 game about gothic-lolita androids has a very compelling answer: Humanism.
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Sources:
Archipel's documentary of Yoko Taro: • Yoko Taro, directing N...
Yoko Taro at GDC, "Making Weird Games for Weird People" - • Video
What is humanism? americanhumani...
![A Comprehensive Reading of Nier Automata [MASSIVE SPOILERS]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4EnbSokFpjQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I probably don't say it often enough, so I'm saying it again: Thank you to everyone who watches for all the kind words, encouragement, and debate and discussion. These videos are incredibly time-consuming to produce and it's a neverending struggle to get traction on TH-cam, which can be hella discouraging, but all your feedback and kind words are so uplifting and gratifying for me. Even the smallest bit of encouragement goes a long way, so, thank you.
Michael Saba Thank you Michael. I hope the best for you. Your work is truly a pleasure to watch.
Thank you. This is probably the best analysis of this game I've seen and you did a great job of relating it to the modern day in explicit terms.
Thanks, I really enjoyed the analysis. But ever since I've seen the ending E it got me thinking, how selfless the ultimate sacrifice is really?
Yeah, the save sacrifice is cool move, but thing is that it isn't as pure as it appears. It asks you for help *after* the other player's avatars already assisted you.
What it means is, that you have debt of gratitude, an obligation to do the same sacrifice. It's a little psychological mechanism, that almost everyone reacts the same way, which is the reason why so many people choose sacrifice option.
Even Gaunter O'Dim in Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone refers to that simple trick, saying that no matter what time or age he is in, and no matter how much scum the subject is, man or inhuman, everyone recognises debt of gratitude and acts upon it.
Fantastic video. I'm glad someone did a proper deep-dive/analysis of my favorite game to date. I'll be looking forward to your future videos.
Amazing job on this video and on bring to light more in depth concept of philosophies that many of may or may not have known about. While I have yet to play this game; I consider it to be one of my favorite games due to its complex/confusing storytelling and Ingame designs. There were many things that I did not know about philosophy, and your video certainly opened my eyes. Again amazing job on making this video even for someone who worked on it alone. But here is some silent bit of truth you are never alone, your viewers and subscribers are always supporting you and have your back.
I agree, it's hard to beat the end credits scene through a blur of tears
I can't even begin to describe how that end credits made me feel. It was the perfect ending to the game and whenever I just look it up on TH-cam or watch people beat the game I always tear up, there is no game that has ever left me more emotionally satisfied then this one
The weight of the world often brings out tears lol
@@latima123ify damn, it left me emotionally empty af😂😂😂 but in a bittersweet way, ya know?
@@axelk.8275 Agreed I just felt a nothingness full of everything. It's weird but it must be that I could not process all these questions posed to me.
Literally just finished the game...And yeh...mini windshield wipers would be good for this part
WHAT I PLAYED: NieR Automata
WHAT I EXPECTED: *EPIC JAPANESE HACK ‘N SLASH WITH ＥＸＴＲＡＴＨＩＣＣ ROBOT BOOTY*
WHAT I GOT: philosophy lessons, feels and all of the above.
Swiggity Swooty
My peepee has never gotten more confused then the time i watched Boku no Pico ._.
unless you've played Previous Yoko Taro games
Ah classic Yoko Taro
@Yuki Taiyō
You mean aesthetic
I started tearing up when I came back to the village after wiping pascal's memory and found him selling random robot parts..and realising they were taken from his children's corpses. Heartbreaking moment
A lot of people don't consider the third option, which in my opinion is one of the better ones. Leave him there to grieve.
@@jackawaka I might be wrong but I think if we leave, Pascal would take his own life instead. It's been a long time since I played it though
@@cipley not sure if it is possible because pascal needs us to kill him , so maybe wondering endlessly?
It is up in the air. Pascal is never seen again after leaving him with his grief.
I think this is the most humane option. Pascal accuses A2 of cruelty when leaving the factory, cruelty for leaving him in this state of absolute despair. Is it cruel to wish for someone to live past his grief, learn from tragedy, retry and eventually succeed in endeavors? Isn't Pascal the cruel (and unfair) one for leaving in A2's hands his fate, his life, his past experiences? Pascal broke my heart, but the choices he left A2 showed how self-centered he was in my opinion. It was his experiment, his village, his children, his pocket of society, he made himself primordial to its success, and gained a lot of self-importance. I hope he learned from A2's choice of leaving him be and came out wiser.
At any rate, A2 could have acted as an ear for him, and Pascal deciding to burn that bridge may have led him to take his life.
It is up in the air.
I was already in love with the game when I got to that moment, but that was what broke me. Even though we were able to save 2B, 9S and A2, we couldn't save every one of us. The great side characters like Pascal and Jackass are just left in the air; there's no real "good" ending for any of them. We can fight the credits all we want but there's no way to get the "perfect" ending.
I'm a completionist. And when I got to the end of the game and it asked me if I wanted to delete my save data I was surprised that I wanted to do it. Even though I still had stuff left. For a brief moment, I felt happy to be given the opportunity to sacrifice something even as silly as a save file for someone else even if it doesn't matter. As the prompts asked me to reconsider I understood what the game was leading me to do. And if I didn't delete my save file I felt that all of my time spent with the game would have been wasted. At that moment, Nier Automata transcended it's medium. It was more than a game. It forced me to make a "senseless and selfless act" as you put it. It truly changed me.
Same here. I wonder though why Michael used the word senseless. In my humble opinion, no selfless act (as in compassionate) is ever senseless.
@@mshieldd sensles in the way that no other player actually needs your help, even the first player of nier automata could get trough the ending scene, reading quots from the developers and geting help from "others". So you are not actually helping anybody "it may be just for show" the game even says it.
Doesnt make the moment feel any less Meaningfull imo but still.
I wouldn't brush off deleting the save files so simple. The act of deleting save files in the game world is equivalent to ceasing existence in the real world. So yeah it's a pretty tough question, to be or not to be :P
@@yqisq6966 no, you can just restart the game
You can start the game again and maybe youll do all the same things again. But its not likely that you would play the game the same way twice with all the new knowledge youve gained. So yes in a way that version of that world ceases to exist
It's incredible how the universe Yoko Taro created is probably one of the shittiest in all media to live in, and yet you always find a glimpse of hope that never fades and push you forward. A true hymn to humanity.
Oh I see you don't know Warhammer. Yes it's not as emotional and depressing as Drakengard/NieR but that's because the war has to keep going. Grimdark struggles, war crimes are everywhere in it. In Yoko Taro's world there are still some cute moments like side quests with helping families.
@@alittledeath2817 I know just a bit of Warhammer and now that I think about it you're probably right, I don't even know if happiness even exists in that universe, it's just so freaking depressing
This doesn't even get into the top 10 probably, now if you want shitty go read the Xeelee Sequence.
There are worse fictional universes. Some that come to my mind are Cthulhu Mythos, Warhammer 40k, SCP Foundation, Berserk, maybe even I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream and Dark Souls.
don't forget Bloodborne ... even if i love this place that is Yharnam, it's truely hell@@deft4184
"..to kill god"
》God is mankind
》Mankind is dead
》The player, representing mankind, gives up everything to give life to the androids at the end
Wow
@@muktadirahmmad1927 God god is the developer team
@@muktadirahmmad1927 As said at 25:41, the philosophy of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard says God is subjective. And well, the believers died so there goes your God. In reality, if humans disappear one day without a trace and thousands of years later if some alien civilisation comes and looks at our remains they wont see "Ah so heres the book for Jesus", if they have a belief-in-God system they will associate Jesus with God, given they find some remains of our naming and knowledge about Jesus with their own equivalent God, if not they will simply say something like "these ppl worshipped the sun" an analagy of "the egyptians worshipped the sun in cleopetra timeline" .
God also may be you - the player. At the end of every route there is a song where a singer asks god 'I need you more than ever right now can you hear me now?' But we all are deaf to her call. It's us who make characters suffer by playing this game and repeat whole cycle over and over again. But of course this is one of many interpretation and none is privileged.
There never was a god. Man created the notion of god to cope with life's meaninglessness, then over generations, forgot that man created god, not the other way around.
And on humanity goes, continuing questioning. Who are they. Where are they. Why are they. What are they. Where are they going. Why do they exist. Is there a creator, who is the creator.
Anyways. The entirety of Creation can be considered the Source Divine, so humanity can be considered part of God. This separation and divorce has a purpose.
A fractal pattern originates from a single source that has everything, but every sub pattern has its own patterns and child formations. Divine God Source is not an entity nor is it matter. It is a pattern that is ongoing. It will fold back in on itself and return everything to Source, thus regathering all experience back to itself.
The reason why humanity does not know for sure where the Creators are, is because this was part of the experiment, on purpose. Amnesia is intentionally part of the test, because the Creator needed an experience where it did not know that it created itself. And thus through this experience of fractal expansion and collapse, God learns and grows from itself. Because what humans will be, has created the God, which went back in time and created humanity. It's like a temporal paradox.
In simpler terminology, imagine a game creator who needs to wipe his memory of the game, in order to first play the game and have fun with it. Then imagine a New Game+ where the creator of the game, thinks he is a player of the game that he does not know who created it, reviewing his previous decisions and learning from it. Eventually, after NewGame++++ is over and they remember that they were the creator, they can combine the experience of Player+Creator=Unity.
“I read Kant, Voltaire, Pascal and other philosophical masterpieces, what did you do?”
“I played Nier Automata”
It would be silly to think that playing a game where there are some vague references to some philosphy works, is equal to diving deep into the actual works. Nier is great and so is this video, but I hope that people realize that this is just scratching the surface, it's just an humble invitation to think and to go further about these thoughts. Which is natural, after all it's a videogame.
@@TheAskald Yeah, without prior knowlege to the philosphy behind these characters you don't really learn anything from them. Going into why pascal is named pascal does not make sense if you don't actually go read what pascal was saying in his works, same for all the other characters.
@@TheAskald Well, it's obvious, to think otherwise is silly. But even so, the finale take of Automata isn't even that "simple" if you spend time on it.
There are of course others in recent years with similar positions (Taro is a game designer/writer, not a philosopher), but ultimately what makes it so effective is the ability to communicate this idea through a narrative and, even more through, the experiences invoked in the player outside of the narrative itself.
Is Nier Automata a piece of phisolophy to be studied in academia for decades to come? No, I guess, but it does so much more to communicate an idea than what 99.99% of any part of the academical world has ever done.
And actually speaking to people rather than to your small world of circlejerking thinkers that hold no effect on most people of the world is an effort that I can admire much more than most modern philosophers
@@TheAskald At some point their ideas will either become history (forgotten by most) or integrated in culture and other work. You don't necessarily need to read about something if you live and breath it every single day. I like reading but I do my best to not be swayed by the effect that e.g. Leibniz's monads have on me. I'm not saying that it is wrong if you decide to go deep into the work of someone like Leibniz or even Kant, just that if the goal is to reach new insights (that isn't related to the person in question, their historical context, etc.) then maybe (and I really do mean maybe) clinging to the study of texts written more than a couple of centuries ago that have been reinterpreted and probably overinterpreted and written about a million times by people who have been either told or somehow gotten the impression, indirectly perhaps, that this is what you need to do if you want to do philosophy (by their teachers, mentors, idols, their curriculum or what have you) - even if they might contain something approximating truth in them when/if you look really hard - isn't always the best idea. Again, you don't need to read about something if you live and breath it every single day (which includes your subconscious - uneducated or not - soaking up ideas from cultural artefacts such as Nier Automata). Again, I'm not saying that it isn't worth doing for someone (e.g. you). In fact, I might still buy that book I saw on Leibniz's principle of identity of indiscernibles. Though I probably shouldn't 😂.
@@TheAskald r/whoosh
The part about not being able to look at Simone is absolutely brilliant and I've never seen anyone mention it even almost 4 years after this came out. Also finally someone who looks a bit more into the philosopher names. Alot of youtubers tend to skim over or ignore them.
I get the main gist but do you think you can explain why not being able to look at Simone is such a well written moment? I get it ironic considering simones actual philosophy but what else?
Essentially Simone the machine went insane as she wanted Jean paulle (machine) to love her, she tried imitating human beauty standards but nothing worked, so the fact you can’t actually look at her when she says the line hammers home that her search for love was completely pointless in a really depressing way
About a month ago I wrote on the Nier subreddit about my disappointment in the way this game has been covered. When you started your essay with Taro's quote about the emotion evoked in the player being more important than the narrative or lore of the game, I knew I had finally found what I was looking for. This is the best video about Nier: Automata I've seen yet. And I've watched a lot of videos about Nier:Automata. Thank you for this.
the music is what really gets me
The various takes on Emil's theme in both this and the previous nier game are the only pieces that actually evoke emotion in me with respect to a fictional character. I can listen to the soundtrack and enjoy it for being good music, but it's when something reminds me of Emil that I get sad.
I’m a year late, but honestly, I literally can’t stop myself from tearing up whenever I hear even just little parts of the OST from this game.
Bro...
It's never too late for NieR: Automata
I feel the same, the NieR: Automata and Ghost In the Shell soundtracks are something special.
I demand that Vague Hope: Cold Rain and Kaine (Salvation) be played at my wedding if I ever get married. Those songs are so beautiful and they both invoked so much emotion. When I was able to play Gestalt, the scene in Automata with Kaine's song just hit that much harder, but even without the knowledge of Gestalt it was still so impactful.
The best game I ever play.
That's definitely the emotional reaction Yoko Taro was aiming for with the game, and especially the soundtrack.
In a game where there are no humans left, the characters in Nier:Automata are more human than actual humans and that is the reason why most of us who have played this until Ending E are so emotional about it.
Nier: Automata is more of an art form that is meant to be experienced and absorbed rather than it is something that you'd waste your time on while you wait for other AAA games to come out. Never have I ever played a game that brought out emotions from me. Sure, there are lots of games out there that I've played where I felt sad for a few minutes and just sat in silence as I try to process everything that has happened. However, Nier: Automata is the only game (that I know) that skipped past conventional storytelling and told you a story of what humanity is at its core. At the end of the story, the game doesn't ask you as one of the three characters you get to control to make a decision, no. The game asks you, as the player behind the screen, the one that controlled the life of the three, to make a decision. Like the three, are you willing to risk everything that you have, everything that you worked for, to possibly save somebody else? Because that's what Nier:Automata is about. It's a game about sacrifice.
In my 20+ years of playing video games, I can say with absolute certainty that Nier:Automata is my favorite of all time and I don't think that will be changing any time soon. Probably not until Yoko Taro graces us with another game, that is.
Every thing you said is spot on, and it interests me that he used a blade runner reference in the video, which is also a film that got famous for showing the replicants as more human and motivated to live than the humans themselves, leaving the viewers to sympathise against our own kind almost. Incredible how media can force such understanding, even in such extreme reversed situations.
I played this game after hearing all the reviews, and I'm usually particular to complex and deep narratives. Especially emotional stories that tug on your heart strings. Yet, when I completed this game, I didn't feel any emotion at all... not even after ending E. I feel like I've been robbed of my experience and I don't know what went wrong 😔
Well, good news for you, the only game better than NieR Automata in its lane, NieR Replicant, is getting a remaster/remake next week. So you can experience this great of a game sooner than you think. If anything, NieR Automata is a watered down version of NieR Replicant.
@@jase276 thank you, I’ve heard about it it, and have preordered the remastered version. Cannot wait :)
Replicant is better the characters had more emotion in them
"Or perhaps he skipped right past profound and went straight to crazy instead." one of the best lines in the game.
Actually, it's a popular hot take on Nietzsche, and it originates with people who aren't capable of either realizing or admitting just how forward thinking he was. Those who do can't really interpret him either, because they're not insane enough to pretend like they can.
@@finalform6667 the biggest problem we ve got is, that we dont know, what he realy has written, since his sister changed many of his works in her own mind...
Fucking savage roast tbh
@@finalform6667 indeed, sometimes one must become insane to be truly sane
@@finalform6667 Buy the way he lived I could say he was rather insane
Nier doesn't purport to answer the question: "What if robots were more like humans?".
Instead it urges you the player, to answer: "Is there anything that truly makes me different from a robot?"
And the commander indirectly states that you may as well be if you don't have a god. Basically a belief in something that separates you from being just a thing, a dilemma that atheists have.
@@warmachine40k Yet, the commander was perpetrating a lie which fueled conflict and led no where. Man, this game really is like real life.
@@sanzuriver2959 Yeah and it doesn't really matter though, lie or not. If yer an android and have no soul or spirit or whatever, a conflict is merely a bunch of particles smashing against another bunch of particles in space. Morality don't mean shit when yer just a thing and the only way to justify it is with yer beliefs. Otherwise, yer just a computer I can shutdown. The machines don't want to get scrapped because they belief it's evil which in my opinion is better than a bunch of humans who believe in all this morality bullshit and crying foul when evil's done to them when they don't even believe in an afterlife where it supposedly "matters." Just a bunch of confused idiots.
@@warmachine40k Except that wasn't the case in the game. Did you even play it? Sure, the Commander gave them a purpose even though a pointless one, but other than that, there isn't anything that suggest the androids and machines are just things in Nier: Automata. Morality is only a minor part of human existence, and Nier pretty much addressed it as such. You got machines who want peace, you got machines who are looking for evolution, and you got machines who are trying to ascend through religion, and you got androids who fight a meaningless fight.
So in the end, the machines and the androids are actually representing us, the humans. Morality? Better or worse? Are those meaningful? That is what the game is also asking players.
@@sanzuriver2959 Except that It WAS the case in the game. Replay it and finish the entire alphabet. I won't assume that you didn't play the game but I will say you didn't understand my statement. It's the fact that they BELIEVE in something despite what they are. From Beauvoir trying to be beautiful for Jean to Pascal trying to live in harmony to the androids trying to be the last hope for humanity, it doesn't matter that they're non-human when they have desires just like everyone else backed by their FAITH in something (humanity, beauty, forest king, etc.). It's even emphasized in ending D/E where 9s starts questioning his purpose and faith in their "gods" (mankind) AKA you lose your purpose = you can fuck everybody up because it don't matter.
One of my favourite "makes you think" moments of the game was the side quest to escort and keep safe a robot parade for peace through a hostile area, just think about how many robots you had to kill at the behest of so-called pacifists just so they could spread their message to those unwilling to hear it.
Pure pacifism would require it's adherents to either separate themselves from any possibility of conflict or bend the knee and accept their fate as soon as someone else tries to dominate them.
Getting other people to commit violence on your behalf is merely domination of others by proxy... you are no less guilty of murder if you hire an assassin to do the deed.
So pure pacifism is ultimately self destructive and regular pacifism is selfishly pushing the responsibility of violence and destruction onto others.
I just made a funny part two to my NieR Replicant Playthrough Can You Check It Out
This speech is.... so great. Trully.
Then that leaves me with a question: What do we do? What do we do to bring peace to the world, if we can't defend ourselves from those who refuse it because it makes us hypocrites? Is there no answer, no solution to this problem?
@@stryker1797 defending yourself or others only makes you a hypocrite if you call yourself a pacifist.
Just don't be a pacifist and embrace the truth that Starship Troopers taught us, that violence is the supreme authority from which all other authority is derived.
@@CordovanSplotchVT So just another might makes right?
Great video, I'm glad someone shed some more light on the philosophers, but I'm disappointed that you didn't mention the eastern thinkers behind some of the bosses - it seems they went over other people's heads.
(Text wall incoming. I write only what I know about the subjects below, I'm sorry for anything I got wrong.)
So-Shi, the final boss of the factory overrun by the cult and Boku-Shi, the robot piloted by Eve prior to his final fight in endings A and B, are both named after the Japanese pronunciation of Zhuangzi and Mozi.
Zhuangzi was one of the founders of Taoism, known for dismissing how humans perceive concepts like life or death and good or evil. In his eyes, people could not accurately convey the reality around them because of a gap between what we experience and how we convey our experiences. That's the idea behind one of his poems, the famous Butterfly Dream, where he questions the validity of human perspective, the limits of our ability to observe and the distinction between waking and dreaming: "Did Zhuangzi dream that he was a butterfly, or did the butterfly dreamed that he was Zhuangzi?" Because of that he encouraged people to live a carefree life, in harmony with nature, and to not be egotistic. He encouraged rebellion against the tyranny of political, societal, intellectual and emotional oppression, even against the "tyranny of death".
So-Shi ended up representing a complete opposite of the cult shown in-game, but Zhuangzi's opposition of societal structures aligned with Kierkegaard's hate for the church.
Mozi, on the other hand, argued strongly against Taoism and Confucianism, because he believed in the concept of unconditional love; that everyone should love each other equally and that the lack of that love is the primary source of evil. His teachings went directly against Confucians, who believed that people should care about different people in different degrees. Mozi wanted to replace the Confucian focus on family and clan, the group consciousness, with the love that was not constrained by any structural barriers. He also believed in one personified god that loved people and wanted for people to love each other. Because of that the Jesuits called him the "naturally Christian".
I think it fits Eve too well, as the love for Adam was his driving force. After Adam's death, when the primary object of his love was torn away from him, he felt hatred for everything around him - a cruel twist on Mozi's philosophy.
Then we have the bosses from the Tower: Ko-Shi (who chases 9S) and Ro-Shi (who chases A2), both are named after the Japanese pronunciation of Confucius and Laozi, respectively.
They were the founders of Confucianism and Taoism, both being considered to be opposites of each other. Automata hammers that in when Ko-Shi and Ro-Shi fuse to create one, black and white machine (obvious allegory to yin and yang).
9S faces off against the representation of Confucianism, which taught about the importance of duty, loyalty and stability. Like I mentioned before, Confucians believed in a society divided by classes, each of different importance, but each person has to commit to their duties so the societal order can be maintained. Confucius taught about the importance of loyalty to the family, the ancestors and respect for the elders. The famous golden rule, "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself" was also his creation.
All of this is a great commentary to the entirety of 9S' downfall, as he is doomed to always betray YoRHa, his "family", disrespecting his "ancestors". Because of his curiosity, he will never fit into the order established by YoRHa. In the end, he realizes the hollowness behind all of the duty and loyalty that he's been taught, that all of it was just for the sake of stability, for the sake of order. On the other hand, he remains loyal to 2B - the closest he had to family - to the very end.
A2 battles with the representation of Taoism. It teaches that in order to achieve "perfection" one must become one with the unplanned rhythms of the universe. One way to do it is through "action without intention", meaning to let things exist in the way they were created. The world works harmoniously and as a person exerts their will against or upon the world they disrupt the harmony that already exists. So any man made commandments or moral rules should not be followed, because a person should not do virtuous things because they are ordered to, but because they should be naturally compelled by their heart and mind, and therefore they shouldn't require any intention. Another important principle of Taoism was the belief that when something reaches its extreme, it becomes its opposite; evil becomes good, good becomes evil. When we try too hard to fulfill our desires, we instead suffer.
I think it all goes well with A2's journey of someone loyal to YoRHa, unnatural and not tuned with the world around her, to being left to fend for herself on earth, finally to slowly start experiencing natural human (well, not too human in this case) interaction with the robots in Pascal's village. I also think that subplot hides a small deconstruction, because Taoism believes that a sage will achieve that perfection, while I like to believe that A2 comes closer to the "unplanned rhythms of the universe", to the harmony, simplicity and spontaneity that is such a great focus of Taoism, not through meeting a sage, but by interacting with children.
That's stunning
Many thanks random stranger on the internet!
I was just wondering where I could find some insight on the eastern philosophy nods within the game since many analysts kinda glossed over them.
Have a great day!
There is similar boss named Hegel too
I wish I could give you more uplikes
I'm screenshotting your comment it's just great lol
Punished Nietzsche killed me.
PUNISHED NIETZSCHE ENTERS THE BATTLE.
I think it's beautiful. The game was like "lmao Nietzsche is crazy", and then hit us with "Humanity (God) is dead"
I think the moment where I really began to emotionally pay attention is when they make you play as the machine at the beginning of the second play through. Him trying to pour oil on his “big brother” to wake him back up struck me, as the machine you play as is clumsy, slow, and weak. In fact he’s rather pathetic, and that pathos I felt toward him made me feel for the machines in a way I hadn’t before, only to have it broken by 9S who coldly brushes the event off as nonsensical. It was then that a three party event was occurring where the androids, machines and myself are all watching each other and evaluating if each other’s point of view is worth having.
I can’t lie, that was such an emotional moment
Ngl when 2B died, I had no emotion for Machines, and just like 9S I kinda wanted to kill A2
this game and Death Stranding are the only games i've ever played that had me acting out the game's "message" long before it was properly revealed
both are profound experience that i always try to push onto friends and acquaintances. hahaha
@@celfhelp I don’t blame you! Deaths Stranding was another underrated experience.
That and the DLC made me need a break from the game for a few days until I could continue lol
People talking about Dante’s “I should’ve been the one to fill your dark soul with LIiGggHt” but not 9S’s “A2222!”
White haired, swordy bois and them screaming their regrets who are in the form of hot, long haired women wearing black.
That specific “A2!” SHOOOOK me.... what a fookin arc Nines has
9s is very well written, so that disguises the awful and cheesy voice acting. I don't know if the english voice actor did a better job, but the japanese voice sounds extremely corny and embarrassing
@@RRRRRRRRR33 The english acting in this game is easily one of the best, with 9S' actor, Kyle McCarley, being the peak performer among them. I'm honestly upset Michael here opted to go with the Japanese VO for most of this video, as it really undersells just how well the acting helps relate the narrative natively to the player (Being an English-speaking video and all). Legit my only gripe on an otherwise stellar video on this hellsite.
Square Enix: So what’s the plan for Nier Automa....
Yoko Taro: EVERYONE FROM FROM THE FIRST NIER GAME IS DEAD.
Not strictly true. The rolling head is still alive....
Become as trucks!
Square Enix: So what's the plan for the next Drakengard or Nier ga-
Yoko Taro: *Everyone who got Ending E in Nier: Automata have killed us all.*
@@TheNobodyNamedDubyaBee i toke that more like overthrowning than killing
Emil, devola and popola are alive
I cry every time i hear "Weight of the World". What an awesome video dude, one of the best in depht looks at Nier Automata i've seen.
I cried from watching it here too. Kinda like listening to clannads dango song or deemos lullaby.
*hugs* don't cry ma dudes
As we all should.
I am here crying to Weight of the world 18 months after I beat the game, Nier Automata truly a masterpiece
We all cry my friend, we all cry
I watched this video countless times. Thank you for this :)
Hello, great animator
Just recently bought nier: automata thinking it was just a good time waster. Played through all the endings and realized this is the first ever game I've played to cause me to flat out cry and ponder my existence. Played through all the endings and I already wanna play it again. Great review!
Edit: after I finished the game and deleted my data to help someone else. I ACTUALLY GOT A MESSAGE FROM I GUY I HELPED THANKING ME IN SPANISH. he even sent me a video of him beating the end! XD
wow fkn cool story
Nnnice
I hope someone does this to me:)
You're one of the true heroes
I still have to beat that ending, cause no one wants to help
I get some "Nothing we do matters, so all that matters is what we do" vibes from this
Pseudointellectual quote that makes no sense
@@iroga9764 i read it in a meme once dude chill
@@IronicEquius its very fitting that the best way you could summarise this game's themes is with some quote from a dumb meme
@@iroga9764 ARE YOU THE DICTATOR OF INTELLIGENCE? SHUT THE FUCK UP
That is a pretty standard (if not extremely reductive) representation of an existentialist/nihilistic philosophy. It makes all the sense in the world, if The proper context is understood. However if one is ignorant to the relevant philosophical teachings, then yes such a thing seems completely paradoxical.
Other ways of thinking can also explain such paradoxical concepts. I have absolutely no formal education whatsoever. I am a high school dropout. Aside from research after the fact, the vast majority of my views are of my own making. Anything I say should be viewed simply as yet another thing to take into advisement, as one journeys on one’s own path.
I'm trapped in a never-ending spiral of telling my friends about Nier Automata, make them play the game and then suggest this video.
When Horizon: zero dawn took 1st place in story telling in Golden joysticks awards 2017 I was so disappointed, I mean NIER AUTOMATA WAS MIND BLOWING and gave everyone one the forums the feels non stop
Japanese games don't ever get best story no matter what anymore from the well known western game media. If Nier Automata can't get it then it's just time to call bullshit and pretend like this category doesn't actually exist anymore in the western review sites. It's like the people deciding who gets best story are completely brain dead and choose the games that have the most basic and plain of stories the award. If a story gets too crazy they just shun it. Same thing with music too now that I think about it. Lately a lot of forgetful or meh soundtracks in games have been winning those awards for about 10 years now.
To be fair, this is a pretty philisophical game. Not everyone’s gonna understand it. Heck, I had to watch a bunch of youtube videos in order to get the whole message. Maybe there should be a “Thought Provoking” category.
Guy FD Nier and Prey were both better, more interesting games than horizon and are both criminally underrated
It's funny cause Horizon has almost the exact same plot and premise as the first Nier.
Qwerty Bastard true, nier definitely appeals to those of us who like to read into every little detail
This is by far your best work so far; completely blew me away!
There are so many individual things that are impeccably executed on their own - but the way you built up to that finale; like, the way all of them are only small cogs of a giant machine that is the final conclusion of this video essay and build up to a central emotion that you pull the audience through...
feels like you've taken a slice from Yoko Taro's game making process and applied it to video essays. ;)
Damn fine job!
I'm french, I was glitching and speed running super mario bros at 6 or 7 in 87, learned all this shit and more, and this guy managed to cut me off-guard with his read of the Simone fight. This video should be used to teach english and philosophy to french kids around 17 (kill two birds with one stone lol) and this game is "le monde de sophie" of the french philosophers and more.
The theater's boss story is honestly one of my favorite character stories in the game.
A robot compareherself to a human she seeks beauty from jewelery, parts and singing.
She adds more and more parts to herself from other robots and the one she tries to make see her is unable too so she falls into a type of insanity of seeking more and more "beauty".
Weight of the world plays
Me: Immediately starts crying.
True.
everytime.. i still love the song and want to learn it in other languages
The war restard in a New place
SPOILERS ahead
th-cam.com/video/jVAgd9dbYIs/w-d-xo.html
when I played the NieR raids in FFXIV and I heard that version of Weight of the World....boy oh boy, "crying" is barely doing it justice.
I've become jaded and cynical about games over the years for many of the reasons you describe. Nier-Automata broke me out of that cycle. I understood the final "true" ending and arrived at the same conclusions. But your video demonstrated the how and why that I couldn't quite verbalize myself. Tears were streaming down my face as I faced the final credit bullet hell sequence once I realized that other players had come to the rescue. It was an automatic response but I couldn't explain it. Heh. Now I can. Thank you.
Nier Automata is a true masterpiece and far beyond the confines of what the cultural elite consider fine art.
This, this is it. The best review of nier automata that I ever saw on TH-cam. Understanding all the subtle details 3 years after playing the game where it made me cry is literally a magnum opus in and off itself.
People say that Nier: Automata is a depressing game and while it does have it's messed up moments I can't help but feel happy at the end of the experience. The game makes me feel less depressed overall honestly. It actually gives me hope and I think that is what this game is all about.
The main characters names are based on Shakespeare's works and also summarize their story.
A2 is based on "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" who was betrayed by his own people just as A2 was during her mission with Yorha.
2B is based on Hamlet as the quote, "To be or not to be" was Hamlet questioning death and suicide. That it is easy but we don't go through with it because we fear the unknown after death. Hamlet also questions whether or not to kill the king throughout the story as well.
9S is based of "Midsummer's Nights dream" the word "Ninus tomb" was pronounced as "Ninny's tomb" both because 9S wanted to be called by his nickname but also Ninny's tomb was a play within a play in Midsummer's Nights Dream.
The play in a play was the story of Thisbe and Pyramus, two ill fated lovers who met tragedy. Thisbe and Pyramus promised each other to meet at "Ninus Tomb" to confess to each other. But Thisbe was attacked by a lioness and assumed dead by Pyramus. Pyramus stricken with grief fell on his sword to join Thisbe in death but Thisbe survived the attack and found Pyramus's corpse. She fell on the sword too and joined Pyramus in the afterlife.
2B gave her sword to A2 and was stabbed with it so she wouldn't suffer from the logic virus created by Yorha. 9S was grief stricken but promised revenge on A2 for killing 2B. After meeting A2 in the final area, 9S kills A2 but in a strange twist of fate falls on the sword 2B gave to A2 and 2B fulfilled her original mission of killing 9S for knowing too much about Yorha from the grave.
But they were reunited in the ending as their bodies were together in the city ruins along with A2.
wow
This made me cry, it brought me back to that emotional catharsis I experienced during my playthrough of Nier Automata. I bought it along with a PS4 when I moved to Germany to study. I was a lone foreign exchange student, in an immigrant tight city. Nier Automata did so much for me that I can't even properly describe it in words.
Lone exchange French philosophy student in the UK, feeling pretty much the same, and finding this video for similar reasons as yours when you bought Nier (except I knew of Nier quite some time ago, since Gestalt's release). This game is a motivation to keep on dreaming, and most importantly, to start or keep on doing what we do best: love others, maybe not as ourselves, nor as they might deserve to be loved, but because this is the most meaningful act one can perform in life. Love for the stranger as both Christians and Eastern wisdoms say. To anyone who would ever read this, good luck in life!
@@hungriarckie As a Computer Science student, I wish to research Artificial Intelligence. Especially, I want to understand it, philosophically. You can already understand why this is one of my most favorite games.
@@TheALPHA1550 In that case, check older projects like the Bubblegum Crisis 2032 OVA (it's quite good at presenting many ethical issues surrounding AIs) [please watch in in Subs, not Dubs], or the more celebrated 1995 Ghost In The Shell. It seems to me that Automata is less about AIs than it is about what defines humanity itself, which is its main (hidden? - not so much, as this video shows) virtue. Faith, values... down to the roots of it all. Well, good luck in your studies. Cheers!
First Person to clear the game and leave a note: I think I kick started something great.
Media: Yoko Taro is a modern philosopher using games as his medium.
Yoko Taro: You're all just reading too deep into it. It's just a game. *sips tea*
Though to be fair, Yoko Taro would rather keep a low profile trying to explain his thematically deep, dark, and sad franchise to the general public with cop-outish statements. It's all just smoke and mirrors to lay our guards down until he concocts something to fuck around with our expectations every step of the way.
And that's the point ! It's just a game. It's not important.
What's important is what it made you feel, what it changed in you. They are reading too deep into the game, and not enough into themselves.
@@arenkai he said this in the GDC talk. Its not about the game. Its about players thoughts.
You have to admit he is a deeply weird man like every genius so far.
@@zsolti357 he seems almost as if he is trying to convince himself of the world
When the music tells the story, you know the game is a masterpiece
This game is a masterpiece. It is perfection. It truly is art, in it's purest form. For the ultimate purpose of art, is to evoke emotions from those who behold it, specific or otherwise.
Well said
It is not perfect especially in the gameplay department. The basic action mechanics don't invoke any emotion other than boredom.
@@weaverquest Fuck off
First of all video game mechanics aren't supposed to invoke emotional response in a person regardless of the game or genre. Unless of course you want to coin fun as an emotion. The game has some of the smoothest combat animations in quite literally any game ever. Like actually. It really does. The combat is smooth, varied, fun, and fast. If you're bored you either have objectively shit taste or your eyes are glued shut.
@@trevorveillette180 Who're you talking to mate? I made a coment praising the game and you go and and tell me if I'm bored I have shit taste... You were looking for a fight and acidentally ended up agreeing lol. Just fuck off, will ya
It’s amazing how a “little spaceship,” moving names, and a ton of colored balls can bring me to tears as long as Weight of the World is playing in the background. 😭
I love this game and I think the [E]nd Credits will never stop making me cry
SAME I EVEN CRIED AGAIN WATCHING THIS OMG
And I cried again just seeing this comment
I can relate to that
This game really has a shit ton of meaning that an unintelligent idiot like me will never get alone. However, through your video I finally understand most of it. I won't say I understand all of it, as everyone will still have struggles no matter how much they know about life itself, but this certainly helps.
And this goes right back to the point you made at the end. We must, in a an act of senseless and selfless compassion, help others in order to truly be free. We humans must stick together, in order to brave through the obstacles that the universe had set for us.
And, through suffering agonising amounts of research and writing.. You have committed that act of selfless and senseless compassion to help me as an individual, to understand the way of things better.
Thank you.
Or feel better about ourselves by doing something selfless.
Ow so noble.
Ow so naive.
@@mordredvonumbra154 But it works.
Ironically, framing yourself as an idiot already puts you as in the 50% cohort of the smartest population.
Most, unfortutatenly, are unwilling to learn new things.
@@mordredvonumbra154 Then live that way, it’s enough
@@mordredvonumbra154 It's not about nobility. It's about giving up the fear of being vulnerable and giving up the expectation that we should receive something good for our acts. Logically,this poses a huge risk when it comes to anyone who we are not familiar with and trust. But worrying about it traps us. We don't need to do that to ourselves.
The moment when 9S screams out in rage, sorrow, despair, the moment where he actively loses his mind, his dreams, his love, everything he had that made him the sweet boy we all grew to adore, is the moment this game broke me. What happened to 2B was essentially inevitable, but seeing his reaction to it just hurts so bad because it is so painfully realistic.
The Japanese voice acting portrays it best, as I think the English dub can't even hold a candle to the perfection of Natsuki Hanae's acting.
I think both 9S voice actors are incredibly talented in what they do
@@zomblox6721 I absolutely agree, they're both insanely talented, however the English actor and actress are just Not fitted for the roles of 9S and 2B. Then again, I despise the entire English dub, so it might just be me. It's my opinion.
@@spookypaladin4667 I always fail understand how people can feel emotion in Japanese acting
This language is foreign to me that I just can't be sure about expressions they made besides basic happy/unhappy. Choice of words matter, but with japaneese I often don't even get when sentences begin and end, therefore always feeling like I miss context.
And also since my native language is russian, I know that subtitles can't be fully trusted since errors in tranlation or untranslatable language is a thing
@@saniel2748 My native language is Bulgarian, so I know what you mean. However, emotion is emotion. It's raw, it's rough, it's there. I don't understand how you don't understand it, but I suppose everyone works differently. I've grown up listening to Japanese, be it games or anime then later on learning it, but I don't think that has much to do with the emotion.
You'll always know the kind of emotion a character is feeling when they're screaming with all the air they have, crying their eyes out or generally having a nervous/mental breakdown. Words don't matter. Tone does.
@@spookypaladin4667
> I've grown up listening to Japanese
This is key difference I believe
I grew up listening to my native languages and english.
I agree that you know raw emotion when character is screaming, but there are also things that are in language, like specific use of words that allows to better shape emotion. Not to mention there is no way for me to spot sarcasm in Japanese, for example
You have to appreciate TH-camrs like this.
This is too underrated
I haven’t played the game yet but I’m definitely watching this after I finish it to not spoil myself, I love when people can truly understand the message behind the amazing media we worship everyday, there is more to life than living day in and day out and it makes me so happy to see that others that share the same interest I do, actually try and see things for what they are and not just another fantasy story
just finished the E ending today, and this game must be one of the best games I've ever played. The combination of gameplay, philosophy, plot and themes is uncanny. I literally played through those credits with tears in my eyes, and I can completely agree with you that this game is written first to find your emotional triggers and shoot, and then to tell a story.
There's a masterful use of environmental sound and music to convey emotions, there's a feeling of abandonment and loneliness that only deepens the bond between B2 and 9S and the bond between them and you as a player (the only game i've also felt that connection was with Death Stranding). If you're attentive you can notice how the music reacts to the changes in landscape and story. and most of the "small" endings are jokes on the expense of the player, the game is telling YOU that you made that ending happen, which is also a masterful class on how to push for urgency in video games, subverting the general rule that you can just go on sidequests when disaster is imminent.
When I saw the end credits again I cried, harder than I've cried in a long time. Nier Automata is truly a beautiful game with so many elements which evoke the deepest parts of the human psyche. Okabe should be proud of the work he so graciously decided to release on the rest of us.
Kinda crazy how just seeing those end credits again can elicit the same emotional reaction as the first time playing through it.
@@liesdamnlies3372 i just had this!! I started tearing up whilst eating breakfast!
God it's amazing how even seeing that end credits sequence still chokes me up, I actually cried just seeing it, that's one powerful scene. That aside, this was an amazing video, well done in all respects and brought a lot of fresh ideas (to me at least) to how I look at the game. One thing I want to say though (maybe more, sorry in advance i feel like this is gonna be super rambly), I don't think Yoko Taro is reluctant to share his ideas on what his games mean, I think he doesn't want to. If he said what he thought, most people would take it as fact, no one would really question it, he's the creator after all so he would know best. I think Yoko Taro prefers everyone to be able to make up their own minds about his games and see their own meaning and lessons. For instance (two points): you glazed over Jean Paul Sartre and in your context he wasn't incredibly vital, but in my opinion he was one of the most important characters in the game. I find it super interesting the only philosopher that left the game unscathed was Jean-Paul. The man who said bluntly that we, individually, make up our own ethics. Every philosophy dealing with ethics comes to the same conclusion but they try to resist it with intermediary steps (cue hedons and dolors). So basically the only survivor is the guy who says we make our own world with our own choices (fighting a meaningless fight against a meaningless cycle is meaningful if we consider it so, like the end scene with the pods). Secondly, I definitely see how you can view this as a pacifistic lesson, it definitely makes sense when you look at it that way. For me though, especially with the Jean Paul idea, the meaning is more along the lines of "do what you will with conviction, be unapologetically you and find your own meaning, even if it doesn't end up correct" or something like that. You said yourself that the game element is extremely important, so, in my opinion, both choices at the end (to delete or to not) are equally viable. From where I'm at, the game doesn't want you to sacrifice for others and be pacifistic and caring, it wants you to make your own decision and be happy you made it. Sorry, this was way too much for a comment. Anyway, loved the video, now the plan is to start binging this dreaming in neon series.
Damn, you bring up some good points. Its very interesting, what you said about Jean Paul. Its like he "got out while the going was good". Meanwhile, everyone else hung around and experienced a form of a descent into madness (for Pascal, it was actually pretty literal), since they got too caught up into it all and either lost their internal battle and became the thing that they criticized (like Kirkegaard/cult leader), or they simply perished (pretty much everyone else)
Your not the only one. I really enjoyed the end credits song but can't listen to it because I can't stop from crying. I will admit that most of the themeing went over my head and this overview really helped. But what hit me hardest was the ending sequence and getting the death messages of other players each time I took a bullet. Only to be hit harder when I realized what they gave up to help.
I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying.
... Okay we're both crying.
Those credits were such a powerful scene for showing so little. The music and the meaning behind your actions of destroying the credits.. I cried during them too. Everytime I see them I feel like I could start again.
This game, and Yoko Taro, should be treasured.
Wow. Thank you. I felt guilty for not wanting to destroy my save files before. Why do I feel so relieved after reading this?
The choir is one of the most beautiful things happened in video games, if not the most.
One of the things that makes NieR: Automata so special and unique is that it's exactly like the OVAs and stereotypical anime of the mid to late '90s. It's something that would feel more natural airing on Adult Swim at 2:00 AM five years after it was aired in Japan, and not as a AAA video game in 2017. This is the kind of story that, if it were an anime from the late '90s, would end up becoming one of the titles we reference as "quintesentially anime", alongside Ghost in the Shell, Eva, Berserk, Ninja Scroll, Cowboy Bebop, DBZ, on and on. In the medium of video games, this is not something that would normally be green-lit, something so special, unique, and profoundly Japanese in style that most producers would fear for it's success. It doesn't play it safe, and thus, it stands out. Sorry if you go on to say this later in the video, only ten minutes in, just wanted to put in my two cents.
Honestly I constantly got Berserk and Evangelion parallels while playing this game
As I type this, this video is now over 2 years old, and I have no idea if you’ll even notice this comment. However, I still have some things I want to say...
This game has made me rethink and ask questions about myself that I never thought I would before... like... I’ve taken philosophy classes before, but none of my professors have ever managed to make me TRULY question myself and the world I live in like NieR has...
A day or two after I completed ending [C], I literally woke up crying because of how confused and quite honestly upset with who I felt I’ve been since the pandemic started... I also felt lost and unsure about what the future would have in store... On the surface level of my emotions, I had always felt confident in who I was, and where I was going to go in life, but NieR, for the first time in my life had me slam the brakes and really ask myself “Are you SURE?!”... and it was one of the biggest wake up calls I needed for me to really grow as a person and take the time to realize if I need to find a new path or not...
Moving on to today, I finished ending [E], and I didn’t really know how to feel after giving up my save data. I felt so many conflicting emotions (or lack thereof) going on at once. I felt depression coupled with happiness. Emptiness coupled with pride. Sorrow for loss of data I have caused for others coupled with hope for the completions of runs of players in the future. So many emotions running through my mind and heart... but not a single one of those emotions was regret. I do not, and will not regret giving up my data because I know someone somewhere is going to need it no matter how small the contribution may be, but... that’s enough for me
I’m sorry for the mess of an essay I put above if you do end up seeing this, but I just wanted to let you know that this game is still reaching out to and affecting players in a positive way to this day, and so has your video. This game and your video have helped me rationalize about myself in ways that I can’t thank you enough, so... Thank you!!!
Hi, I saw this comment today as I reached ending E. I cried hard. I appreciate your comment.
The game and the video has inspired me to use empathy every day with humans and do my best for others.
Hope you’re doing well
I just got done typing this same thing almost 7 months later.. the game is truly interesting and new to me. I've never played another game quite like it.
@@McSnezzly yeah.. not to butt in but I think for me it's also to give empathy for others and to continue helping and being nice to each other no matter what kind of person they are..
After ending E, I *felt something* and it was a different feeling which I never felt in any game or it was my first time feeling it, it felt something satisfying. I never felt this to delete my save file, I was satisfied, happy and also sad but that feeling made me complete. It healed me. So the game really helped me and it was a nice message for players but I was sad at the same time. The game really made me feel a emotion which I never felt. It sure was a awesome experience.
Up!
You made cry because of nier automata, this is the second time it happens. The first time was after the credits sequence while playing the game. I hope us viewers remember to do acts of kindness in our daily lives when we can. or otherwise make this sequence itself meaning less. Good day people.
I'm trying not to cry.
Extra depresso expresso
Bravo! This is one of the only attempts to discuss this game that addresses the meta story and philosophical brilliance that made this game my #1 that year and possibly the best I've played.
Your editing, writing and cadence are exemplary and this is a sublime video!
Wow, I’m practically speechless 😮 I already loved Nier Automata, but your video somehow made me appreciate it more than I ever have. You connected so many dots I never did during my original playthrough of the game. It’s become a cliche thing to say, but seriously: you deserve more views 👏🏼
The Algorithm was favorable to you. Thanks for the video, I was finally was able to shed tears over the [E] ending.
I cried sooo ugly during that sequence omfg re-watching it here triggered it again TwT
"I watch Discovery Channel, I know you eat people."
-Bunkley
Given Dunkey's ridiculous disdain for JRPGs, I feel like he didn't make it to the true ending
Never seen your works before, but my goodness, this just nailed almost every thought I had about this game. I'm especially glad you covered the part with the Ending E credit sequence. I've never played any one sequence that had such an incredible effect on me; it was such a powerful fourth wall break. You especially nailed it when you brought up that you're essentially fighting the creators of the game. To me, the sorrow of the ending was almost unbearably strong, and in any other piece of fiction in a similar genre, that would be the end of it. The sorrow would be the final taste of such a depressing conclusion, and there would be no recourse for it. But because this is a video game, because the creator can give us agency, he can give us the option to defy his will.
It would be as if Flowers for Algernon could break the fourth wall and defy Charlie Gordon's decline, or if George and Lennie could have lived fat off the land at the end of Of Mice and Men. Fundamentally, books filled with sorrow are just that, doomed forever to be unchanging and unable to change. And perhaps it's better that way, in that it forces us to accept the things we cannot change in life.
But for once, just once, Nier: Automata subverts even that most basic assumption about sorrow. Perhaps it is that Eastern philosophy creeping in, a hopeful note to the endless cycle of life and death.
I feel as though most Western media would never try this. Maybe the only place that would ever dare challenge that convention is the roleplaying realm. As a casual DM, I know the will of the players sometimes outweighs the will of the gods (IE, myself). I know I took a few lessons away from Yoko Taro's masterpiece, though I'll never integrate them as artfully as he has.
Thank you again, Michael, your video essay was beautiful and fantastic!
Still, after all this time, I can't even watch a video about this game and not cry. What I wouldn't give to truly experience this game again for the first time.
I played this game after hearing all the reviews, and I'm usually particular to complex and deep narratives. Especially emotional stories that tug on your heart strings. Yet, when I completed this game, I didn't feel any emotion at all... not even after ending E. I feel like I've been robbed of my experience and I don't know what went wrong 😔
@@AldenDoble The story becomes more emotional when you understand the previous games and their stories and how they connect. That's what it was for me
Hi! I'm from Pakistan. I never knew the inspirations behind this mesmerizing game. The Coca-Cola ad that really made me happy to know about it. This game is just sooo good! Its soo good.
Greetings from Indonesia
Greetings from the US! Nier was such an amazing game!
Greetings from Switzerland I hope I’ll be able to play this game one day
Greetings from other side of border . This game is amazing and our people should understand the importance of peace
Greetings from India! and ye i felt the same
"These days, it's easy to feel like life has become a never ending fight for survival"
Hearing that during the global pandemic hits really hard. Anyway, amazing video that, to me, touches in detail into a single aspect of the bigger picture that is this masterpiece of a video game that I'll never forget
人類に栄光あれ
Tell me about it... the pandemic is rough but so is all the ideological crap that's getting thrown around with it. And yea, the game is def a masterpiece... and its kinda crazy that it has such an impact even if you don't catch the massive amount of philosophy that's being thrown around (I know I didn't and I studied a bunch of the stuff >.>)... guess that speaks to the weight of the questions all those imperfect people were asking and the way the creators managed to present it. And on top of it all, I'll never forget the moment the game asked me to give my save for someone else after I had worked so hard to complete basically everything. Thought I was calling some kind of bluff at first when I said yes... then I was just amused and happy that my save and chosen message might be worth something to someone else. What a nice way to end the experience.
@Ecard Ecardian dont know where you got that figure from but, especially in this pandemic, i doubt thats a true number. Children can die of cancer and other illnesses, car crashes and accidents etc.
@Ecard Ecardian It's not just about us being safe, it's about our loved one's, the many incredible memories that we could have made in that wasted time of the pandemic, and about the loneliness that it caused to many of us
I’ve finished this game in early 2021 and I’ve been revisiting this video for a while. The experiences I have and the thoughts that fill my mind brings me back to how this game impacted my mentality.
I saw myself being critical of others and irrationally self-reliant in some cases as a younger teenager. I had no support system and it built up too much for me to handle. I don’t blame myself because I was a teenager, but it wasn’t a pleasant time. I’m still a teenager(18yo as of writing this post), but after spending some time alone, self reflecting, and learning about mental health, my perception of myself and other people slowly but surely changed. I then got my gaming pc for Christmas and played through NieR: Automata and it felt like I found a light at the end of a tunnel.
Teenage life isn't always the most pleasant time. I just turned 38 this past August and believe me your thought processes are constantly evolving as you age. If my 18 year old self met my 38 year old self there's a strong chance they wouldn't like each other as I am a very different person today then I was at that time. That said, while it's good to be individualistic and think for yourself it's also just as important to be able to see others points of view and not be afraid to rely on others sometimes.
@@jbellflower83 I can imagine(kinda) that the experience is totally different. I have a bit of hope for myself though.
I turn 21 this month. NieR: Automata is still my favorite game right now. Upon learning more about myself and reflecting on my experience with this game, I find that my willingness to choose kindness and compassion is further reinforced. Everything that happens to me or will happen to me is my karma. It's a gift I've received from the universe. I am always in debt to the experiences I have for they give me what I need to preserve myself and become stronger. Nothing I do will ever be enough to pay back what the world has given me so all I can do is give back my best and show gratitude.
This just made me realize that im am one shallow of a person that will never be able to think on the level this game requires you to.
It made me realize I want to be shallow. Thinking hurts.
@@mikedanielespeja6128 For me, it happened otherwise.
I strive to not think shallowly.
It’s really a matter of faking it till you make it. Every time you catch yourself thinking shallowly, make an effort to deepen your thinking. Read a chapter from a philosophy book. Find a firsthand account of a battle. Look for recent pictures taken of the cosmos and think about your place in it. Or just sit for a moment and consider what you want to do, and most importantly WHY you want to do it. Baby steps are all it takes, and someday you will be taking great strides.
Nobody is born wise.
@@Nobythulhu Nice advice friend,you beat me to it :D Cheers
This video essay can easily be used to describe basically the entire SMT series of RPGs. Would love to see you delve into that. SMT V in particular is bizarrely similar.
One of if not the best video I have ever watched on TH-cam.
Thank you RagnaRox for introducing me to this channel.
Nier will likely forever be the most intense experience I have ever had playing a video game and just in general.
The emotional and psychological connection to the player is unreal and this video does an equally insane job of breaking that down and explaining why.
Absolutely incredible work!
Everyone who has 45 minutes should honestly see this and try to digest it.
The only thing comparable to Ending E for me would probably be the final stretch of Undertale's True End... and Yoko Taro has definitely played that game too, he's brought it up before.
playing this, experiencing this masterpiece to its full potential, realising the mastery of the craft and then seeing a essay on the game such as this, its truly what gives true artists courage and strength to carry on. genius man, genius.
Nier Automata and Nier Replicant 1.22 have changed my views on the medium of gaming and storytelling forever. Absolutely brilliant games and emotional experiences, in spite of their flaws. A thorough and comprehensive analysis. Much appreciated!
I almost teared up on the train to work while listening to this...
In a good way, I have a lot of good days at work
Me2 man...
WHAT A WORLD YOU LIVE IN THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN CRY ?
@@StarvEgoFeedSoul they only said they almost teared up. Never alluded to any type of anti-emotion social agenda. Not to mention personally my anxiety would kill me if I cried around a bunch of strangers. Calm your jumping beans buddy because you sure do jump to conclusions
Installation screen? I never got that :(
Same
Did you play it on PC? That's why I didn't get it.
Addison Langston yeah
I played on PS4 if you try to play the game before it’s done downloading you’ll play the demo. After which the installation screen will be prompted to you until the game finishes downloading.
yeah same... bought it on steam and then just started it up...
Love this video. Something I noticed in the game that I also think is important is the concept of a "network", which you can also consider synonymous with the idea of humanism and how a shared network prevents the machines from engaging with these philosophical pitfalls, but at the same time perpetuates the proxy war/the eternal cycle of life and death. Just a thought from a fellow player.
Nier took my "favorite game of all time" category last year when it released. It was so powerful/disturbing/mind-bending and it deserved so much more praise than it got (it got a lot too) I believe everyone should play this game, thanks for taking the time to break down the intricacies of this heartbreaking story and pushing it to another audience. You deserve some credit... I hope TH-cam gives you what you seek!
This review touched me as it gave a strong recollection of my experiences with the game too. I played NieR: Automata very thoroughly and, against my expectations, it became one of my favorite games of all time. I say this not because I had doubts due to its aesthetics or such, rather I was attracted to the game because of them, but because as I've gotten older and played more and more games, I just figured nothing would compare to the great earlier hits of my gaming experiences. Despite being compared to so many experiences before it, NieR: Automata stood out to me and really captured my whole being, offering it something truly special. I'm glad you were able to highlight why that might be so. Of course, every person's experience with the game will be unique, but I do feel that we have shared some sparks with what we got out of the game.
I would like to ask though, why you said only 9S and 2B got reconstructed in the final, true ending, when it seems that A2 is also reconstructed. As the scene goes on, you see her not far from 92 and 2B with her hair restored to full, implying that she was already re-put together.
Yeah, I also noticed that he left out A2 (how dare he do that to my waifu). But I just figured it was a small scripting mistake. Also, I feel the same as you. As I get older and experience more and more media (new anime, games, etc.), im perpetually worried that the current thing that I am experiencing, could potentially be the last "spark", before the fire dies. That this current thing in front of me could be the very last thing that I truly admire, and everything else from this point will be "cold embers", if you will. It honestly drives me insane. I never know whether to cling to the current experience as long as I can, or to frantically search out the next "fire".
The combined level of thought, education, effort, research and appreciation for the game put into this video is awesome. I think we can both agree that Nier Automata was a phenomenal game. Cheers.
It's 2024, and I finally played this game after having it in my library for over 6 years. To be honest I didn't think much of it after the 1st ending, it was a well made game I thought, but that is it. Then after each ending, one is more depressing than the last, and me finding all those side quest stories, it got me to think more and more about what all this means. Then finally the credit scene and me making the ultimate gamer sacrifice, this cement it as one of the greatest game I've played. Now I'm just searching through the internet for analyze, I really love yours. It's a great video man!
I didn't know about NieR Automata until a few months ago, when I finally found out about it and bought it...I was impressed. Really impressed. Getting all the endings and uncovering the plot just made me more interested in it...The story is very well done.
I can't wait for the NieR Replicant Remaster, I'll definitely be playing it straight away.
I just beat the ending credits and was so emotionally invested that i accepted the deletion of my file immediately. How could i not help someone else get to that amazing ending?
What an excellent commentary. I can tell you put a lot of love and effort into this video, and it shows. Bravo.
I played NieR: Automata for the first time a couple of months ago. At first it seemed like an awful decision: I was isolated, lonely, and questioning my own miserable existence as the pandemic raged on. Perhaps 40-something hours of nonstop existential crises was NOT what I needed to soothe that anxiety and depression, but... to my surprise, despite the anguish I felt during the game's bleaker moments, it ultimately had the opposite effect, and this essay helped me to understand why it was so satisfying.
In my first playthrough, I immediately noticed that many of the characters in the game were named after famous existentialist philosophers and religious figures. Now, the only education I'd had in existentialist philosophy was a semester of an intro level course in college about a decade ago, so I'll admit that I was pretty rusty and didn't completely understand all the references and subversions. It was so satisfying to watch this video and fill in those gaps. I feel a little better equipped to appreciate the game's recurring themes. Thank you.
I particularly loved the twist at the end of the ending credits. Even though it would mean losing all records of my hard work, and that I wouldn't get to finish the game to completion, I was so touched and inspired by the support I'd received from random strangers that I gladly sacrificed my data in hopes that I would be able to do the same for someone else. There wasn't even a moment's hesitation. This might sound a bit silly, but I think this helped me relieve some of my fear of death. Being able to give up that "life" I'd lived virtually with no chance to return to it made me realize that all those accomplishments I'd failed to achieve really didn't matter that much to me in the end. I was able to let them go without any regrets. Now I've still got plenty of life to live (hopefully), but I know that even if I leave some things unfinished, that regret doesn't sting as much as I thought it would.
I can't believe the end sequence shown still almost made me cry
God this game was a ride
A quiet wonderful and painful ride, but a beautiful one
very good video^^
This game plays like a slideshow presentation on my computer.
What a shame.
There is a mod called "FAR mod" that allows you to decrease some aspects of the game. Try it out!
F
[dont give up][you can do it]
@@JohnDoe-ug3su Shitty world shitty game!
I picked up NieR: Automata about 2 years ago knowing that 2B was an iconic and beloved character. Roughly 3 hours in I dropped it for the first time, a few months passed and I tried to give it a second shot. I created a new save file to start fresh and I eventually dropped it a second time. Last week I told myself I was going to finish this game because I needed to learn why it was so loved by everyone who experienced it.
I found myself sobbing at the credits. This charming and beautifully written game has become one of my favorite games ever simply because it’s one of the most human stories, without including actual humans.
For 2 years this game lingered in my mind without ever finishing it, I’m glad I pulled through and finished it.
Same
Your video probably is the most analytics, critical thinking, and philosophical explanation regarding on what kind of central theme that Nier:Automata actually tries to bring on medium that is Video Game IMO. Not to mention what other people has already done on their own analytics take of this game is also already very good.
You've done a great job!
Seriously, this is one of the best videos on of one best games ever created on youtube I've ever seen and I'm gonna share the hell out out of it.
This game was one of the few games that made me sit back and really think about life and humanity as a whole and how I wanna live my life and shape me as a person.
Whenever some questions the power of videogames as a medium and as an art form I'm going to show them this video.
Thank you, Michael, from the bottom of my heart for these great 45 minutes.
Just watching this video made me cry like the first time I played multiple times.
I'm a mess fuck why'd you do this to me
This was a great video, and I'm glad you took the time to make it. Wonderfully done. I just finally beat the game myself and it pretty much destroyed me inside. I do wish you included one last characteristic of the end credits section -- the fact that once you receive help, every time you get hit after that, it prompts that the name of another player has died. I was pretty much in tears already from the words motivating me, and the situation as a whole, but it felt like I had the wind knocked out of me when I saw that someone had "died". It caused me to play as skillfully as I could, maybe even more so then when trying to pass it on my own, just to keep as few people from dying as possible. Like, after someone went through all the trouble to help you, and you're letting them down.
Yes this!!! As frustrating as it was dying over and over, seeing that it was “real” people “dying” fucking got me!! I felt like I owed it to them to finish. And then realizing those ppl deleted their entire save... bruh 😭😭
The ending credits sequence of Nier Automata reduced me to tears the first time I played it.
Your video brought me right back there. Thank you.
Killing the credits makes me think at the very beginning when 2b questions god and wonders if we’ll ever be able to kill it and the credits (everyone who made this game and enforced everything that happens) god
Finished Ending E yesterday. With help, of course, which I hope to pass on. Emotionally drained by the experience. Fantastic documentary.
This is the best Nier:Automata video on the internet
Watching this in 2021 and in the middle of pandemic. This explains alot about the emotions I've felt while playing the game and boi, this game taught me about hope, empathy, and sacrifice. It's what we need to survive this harsh times. Damn, it makes me wanna play this game again. Thank you for making this video
Man this was a first class level analysis. Nier Automata manages to cover such an ungodly amount of ideas and philosophical questions that making a comprehensive analysis is nearly impossible, but somehow you managed to make the best I’ve seen so far. Glad I happened upon this on the Nier subreddit, look forward to seeing more!
I am in utter shock that 400,000 people watched this video and only 39,000 are subscribed. The attention to detail and research is outstanding, you definitely do not get the credit you deserve.
From one MGS fan to another - you're pretty good.
Man, I remember crying some emotional tears back when I played the ending for the first time, and I kind of had to squeeze out a tear when watching this video. You did an incredible job and have just gained a new subscriber.
Oh and also: Salari sent me here!
The logical conclusion to the "delete save data" to help other players is the next gaming bricking your console
Can we just have a moment to appreciate how Yoko Taro manage to understand all the philosophical concept and tell it through a Futuristic Harajuku Goth Society ActionRPG Game
I know this is old, but hearing the Ship of Theseus argument again makes me wonder why the fact is never brought up that neurons, which are more than likely the main generators of consciousness, do not undergo mitosis the same way other types of cells do, meaning we do actually keep most of our neurons from childhood until we die, albeit in the form of ever moving configurations.
I like your channel by the way!
This is one of the most narratively impactful and moving games I have ever played, the only other game that has done the same is Persona 5
For me, Final Fantasy VI.
@@ozenky spoilers
Watching 9S slowly descend into madness after the death of 2B was sad to watch. It made the final battle much more tragic to watch. Some of his dialogue during said battle gave me chills listioning to it
@@unicorntomboy9736 *SPOILERS*
But that was the perfect conclusion. 9S is the epitome of what happens when you learn truth that you cannot handle. The biggest truth was not that humanity is not there anymore, or that they shared the core of the machines; he learned that her beloved 2B was supposed to kill him, endlessly, and THAT was her purpose. Watching her die was the best it could happen to him, when it happened. It would have been worse if he realized that with 2B alive.
Persona 5, 3, Automata, Tales of Symphonia, Xenoblade Chronicles...
The most brilliant thing I've ever watched on YT concerning this game. Your statement at 43:13 drove me to tears. Just a beautiful synopsis of a beautiful game. Thank you. You've earned another subscriber.
I've only recently played Nier: Automata for the first time. It took a while to really understand the game. This piece here is a work of art! Well written, researched and captures the essence of the Nier Experience. Well done sir!!
Probably the most impactful and deepest game I've ever played. It still makes me cry thinking about it. Thank you nier....
I arrive a bit too late to the party, but still, thank you for analyzing this modern game philosophy masterpiece
You made me remember all the tears I shed when I went through Nier and made me cry like a baby again in front of the sacrifice
Just thank you
Nier Automata was extremely hyped up for my by many, and after I saw it’s climax I didn’t really feel touched like many did. But after hearing your observations and thoughts on the subjects and themes of the game, I feel like diving back in all over again! Thank you for taking the time to put together this essay, it helped me understand and appreciate the game that much more! ❤️
Yep way too overhyped. Just finished it for the first time and im honestly quite disappointed. Def not playing again
@@jonathanc8008 still better than cybercock
@@jonathanc8008 Will rando internet gamers ever understand that things aren't under or overrated just because they personally don't agree with the rating?
I was nearly giving up, because I died on the first boss and I must began from the start. But after I tried it again and understand the meaning behind it, I was so touched. This is one of my most fovourite games I ever played so far. Thank you for your execellent video
Thank you for diving into this wonderful, rich game. I can't get enough of these breakdowns of Nier Automata by many youtubers, but yours by far was the best. The philosophical content was brought forward and explained very well! I think you had a great focus and rolled with it. There's so much to discuss within the game's narrative, but the relationship between the philosophers and philosophy IRL and in-game is one of the most important.
This video made me cry.
Thank you.