I can enjoy a weird story told well and it doesn't get much stranger than Nier: Automata. Nier is a game all about machines and androids with human-like emotions. In a sense the narrative uses these synthetic characters to reflect on the silly and strange ways we as humans behave. Of course being developed by Platinum games you can expect intense combat to fill out the campaign. Nier manages to fine a good balance of being quite strange yet stays tightly polished like you'd expect from a triple-A game. Lets unravel some of the layers that this unique experience is built upon.
Nier follows the adventures of the Android 2B and her partner 9S. Both androids are a part of an organization called YorHa. After aliens invaded the earth the humans were forced to flee to the moon and its up to YorHa to preserve and promote the humans interests on the earth. Although there don't appear to be any aliens left on the earth the machines they left behind are hostile. After the machines start showing human like traits some of them eventually merge to give birth to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve cause quite a bit of commotion it it will be up to 2B and 9S to take them down.
2B makes for a very stoic protagonist while 9S on the other hand leaves his emotional settings turned up. Its fun to see how they interact as they are quite a contrast in personalities. I described the setting for the first narrative but the story keeps evolving even after the credits roll for the second time. Along your way you'll encounter Parcel, a friendly machine that leads a colony of similarly minded robots that have given up violence. Later on you'll encounter Devola and Popola, two androids with dark past that are over worked as they try to prove their worth to the Earth colony.
The gameplay in Nier is pleasantly fluid and versatile. One minute you'll be slashing through foes with 2B and her two blades, next you'll be hacking into machines as 9S. What appears to be primarily an open world action game will transition to a side-scroller, to top-down views, and to aerial combat. 9S's hacking ability turn Nier straight up into a classic arcade inspired twin-stick shooter. You also have these PODs that following you around; they not only offer suppressing fire but special attacks that can turn the tide of battle. These PODs also have personality of their own and have a big narrative impact through several of their own cut scenes.
Nier manages to keep its near 30 hour campaign quite interesting. The combat looks more exciting then it really is but it does what it needs to. Its the weird story and all the fun characters that fill it that really makes playing Nier worth while. Seeing how emotional the androids and machines get will kind of make you wonder if this really is a game about robots or humans. Nier breaks so many norms when it comes to videogames, such as what it means for the credits to roll and how players can help each other in death. This is definitely a unique experience for those looking to spice up their game collection.