The best Square Enix games of all time

The first game in the NieR series had a rough reception here in the west. To be fair, it was a clunky game with some odd choices early on that turned a lot of people off. However, beneath the surface was something truly special from writer and Director Yoko Taro. For that small subset of fans, seeing the announcement of a sequel called NieR: Automata felt like a miracle. What made this miracle of a sequel hit in a way the original couldn’t, was the combined efforts of Yoko Taro’s unorthodox writing and game design philosophies and also being grounded in smooth, tight, deep, and extremely compelling combat designed by Platinum Games, who are best known for the Bayonetta and other character action titles. Let’s start with the combat. You have two primary weapons equipped at a time, of which there are around a dozen or so to swap between, ranging from giant heavy blades to swift spears, plus your support pod that can also be equipped with different ranged options. You can combo light and heavy attacks, perfect dodge for a time slow effect, and perform flashy finishers. Or, sometimes the game is a top-down shooter or a bullet hell or all at once. The story, without spoiling anything, is incredibly well crafted. It deals with everything from the meaning of life, what it means to be human (or not), purpose, and so much more. Don’t let people write it off as bad because you “need to replay the game four times” or whatever. Each replay either completely recontextualizes the events you saw, puts you in a new perspective, or isn’t even a replay of the same events at all. You won’t expect it in the first few hours, but by the time you reach the final ending, NieR: Automata will have you in tears.