Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Nier Automata launches on Nintendo Switch this fall and its not a cloud version

Summer Gaming Marathon Feature Image
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Nier Automata: The End of Yorha Edition will launch for Nintendo Switch on October 6, as announced during the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase. This version of Nier Automata features all previously released content, including additional modes and costumes. It’s available to pre-order now.

Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase | 6.28.2022

The End of Yorha Edition (not to be confused with the Game of the Yorha version) features additional battle colosseums and boss fights, and the Nintendo Switch version will even include exclusive costumes available on launch day.

Recommended Videos

Nier Automata first launched for PS4 in 2017 as a follow-up to 2010’s Nier. It then came to Xbox One in 2018 with additional content including the 3C3C1D119440927 DLC, which will be featured in the Nintendo Switch release. This particular add-on gives players access to the Underground Colosseum, Gambler’s Colosseum, and Trial of Sand, and even features boss battles against Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda and former Platinum Games head Kenichi Sato.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Nier Automata is regarded as one of the best RPGs of the past decade thanks to its music, fast-paced action combat, story, and writing. Its gameplay is often praised for being particularly engaging, offering a variation of shoot ’em up mechanics and melee hack ‘n slash action. But beyond that, Nier Automata tells a fascinating story that feels philosophical at times, with a narrative that will certainly make you think.

The game is developed by PlatinumGames, the Japanese studio best known for its work on Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Astral Chain. The company is also set to drop Bayonetta 3 on Switch sometime this year, but that title didn’t show up on today’s Nintendo Direct as some fans had hoped.

Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
Visions of Mana’s class system sticks to the series’ roots while still feeling fresh
Val and Hiina in Visions of Mana

I really appreciate Square Enix taking risks to revive dormant franchises with new entries while also continuing its flagship Final Fantasy series. Over the past few years, we’ve gotten Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, SaGa: Emerald Beyond, Star Ocean: The Divine Force, and Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. Now the Mana series is the latest one to get Square Enix’s treatment with Visions of Mana.

After about 10 hours with the game, I’ve come to realize that it takes a lot of inspiration from its real-time combat and open-world RPG contemporaries like Tales, Xenoblade, and modern Final Fantasy. But what makes Visions of Mana stand out is its excellent class system that offers unrivaled flexibility and unique combat mechanics. It’s a different approach to classes compared to past Mana games that had more linear progression, but it allows Visions of Mana to stick to its roots. The game also extends this with a simple plot with some relatively predictable twists.
Old roots, new story
Games in the Mana series always share similar plots, typically involving a magical tree, and Visions of Mana is no different. Here, it follows a young boy named Val, who is chosen as the Soul Guard and must make the pilgrimage to the Mana Tree. Along the way, he also must protect “Alms,” special residents in each village who have been chosen to sacrifice their lives to the tree in order to keep the world safe. It’s a rather simple plot, but it immediately sets up the stakes and gets straight to the point. There’s no slow burn that takes forever to know what the protagonist’s goal is, and I really appreciate that.

Read more
Nintendo just proved me wrong about the Switch
Zelda stares at a landscape in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

It was only one month ago when I proclaimed that the Nintendo Switch was in its "filler era." At the time, Nintendo was riding a wave of re-releases and left-field oddities that made it clear that its console's life was winding down. We were knee deep in a return to the Nintendo 3DS' final days, with the console going out quietly as developers saved their big guns for Nintendo's next system.

Now, I'm eating my words. And I'm happy to do it.

Read more
Nintendo is going mature with new Switch Online collection
OLED Nintendo Switch

Perfect Dark, Metroid: Zero Mission and more join Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack!

Nintendo and its consoles are known for being family-friendly, but the company is bringing some games for older audiences to its Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription service with its first "mature" collection.

Read more