NieR:Automata BECOME AS GODS Edition

 When Platinum Games announced that NieR:Automata would receive an enhanced version for Xbox One, I couldn’t be happier. The title has been frequently nominated one of the best PS4 and PC games from 2017 and now I had the opportunity to see why. NieR:Automata BECOME AS GODS Edition is the ultimate version of the game, with all extra content already released for it. Prepare to face tons of enemies while you fight to take earth back in this adventure for the sake of mankind. But first, let’s see everything the game has to offer and believe me when I say the game is no short on content to offer you!

THE GOOD

• NieR:Automata has a captivating story! You start your adventure playing as 2B and her companion 9S , Androids of YoRHa squad, the last attempt of defense from human civilization, during the 14th Machine War. Humanity has been cast out of the planet for invaders from another world that unleashed machine life-forms upon earth many centuries ago and now YoRHa is fighting to take back the planet. Now it rests upon your Android shoulders to accomplish this task. But soon you’ll start to wonder their real role in this conflict that will uncover some ancient secrets about the world.
• Few games catch me by the song like NieR:Automata has. I mean: how many games you spend as much time playing with the jukebox as you spend playing the main story? Expect great sound effects and some wonderful music, including voiced tracks in French, Japanese and Gallic that are truly impressive. If you ever find the soundtrack of this game available for sale in your favorite streaming platform, do yourself a favor and but it!
• The world of NieR:Automata is impressive! It’s dense and full of beautiful places for you to sightseeing. Although it’s a world taken by machines and inorganic lifeforms, nature was able to recover over the surface of the planet, with huge trees growing in city ruins and animal life roaming around freely. It’s a nice contrast, if you ask me, that enriches the visual of the game. And it gets even better when we add the fluid animation from enemies and your characters to theses scenarios. And if you intend to play it on an Xbox One X, you’ll have 4K graphics with HDR support with this enhanced version.
• The gameplay is another aspect that shines in NieR:Automata: its variation between different game styles was a great surprise! Its core gameplay is a 3D hack’n slash action RPG that sometimes changes for a shoot’em up, a twin-stick shooter, a rail shooter or a 2D platformer, always a breeze of fresh air in your gameplay.
• To fight your enemies, you use a pair of weapons (between short swords, long swords, katanas, lances and much more) in a sword-dance that’s magical, beautiful, swiftly and lethal to your enemies. Always by your side is your pod that can shoot enemies like a machine gun or use special attacks that you can equip it with.
• On the RPG aspects of the game, you gain experience and level up your character, increasing its status. You can also buy, equip and upgrade your weapons, unleashing some useful new abilities for your androids. And, if you’re a completionist, remember there’re some achievements tied to fully upgrading your arsenal.
• The boss battles are a standalone show! Expect some challenging foes that could use a Megazord to be defeated but, instead, you fight them using your tiny androids. The first boss battle was a big surprise and a fight so intense I doubted they could keep it on the same level with the following stages. Lucky me: I was wrong! And things keep getting more and more fiery.
• After beating the game for the first time, to fully accomplish the story and see all ending possibilities, you must fulfill some requirements to see one of the 26 DIFFERENT ENDINGS!!! I can’t even think about another game which had so many different outcomes. My question is: will you be able to see them all?

MIXED FEELINGS

• Although enemies have different behaviors, there’s small variation of them. They fight differently, using different weapons and accessories, but they all look the same. I believe it was intentional, to represent life-forms originated from a production line, but being a little more different from each other wouldn’t harm anyone.
• NieR:Automata world is beautiful. Period. But even in its beautiful world, sometimes you’ll find places with poor textures that contrast with the all-around beauty of the game.

THE BAD

• During combat, the camera sometimes become a big problem. It insists in flying between enemies, focusing on the enemy you’re fighting against. If there’s only one enemy, it’s no big deal. But if you’re facing a group of foes, you’ll want the camera to zoom out, so you can keep an eye at every enemy that could harm you. Unfortunately, it does not.
• I run into some minor bugs during my review, being the most prominent the moments when I couldn’t aim at enemies, turning my pod useless during the fight.

[Score: 92/100] NieR:Automata BECOME AS GODS Edition is a terrific game! It has a complex and compelling story, great sound and visuals and exceptional gameplay. Add to this formula an immense amount of replay value and your fight for the mankind will be one of the best experiences to date on your Xbox One.