Fieldnotes is a weekly column where I drop into a new (or old) game and report back with raw notes, sharp takes, unfiltered, and sometimes unhinged thoughts. This week, I start a new playthrough of NieR: Automata on Switch 2.
“Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle… and wonder if we’ll ever get the chance to kill him.”
Chills.
A couple weeks back, I bought NieR: Automata for the Switch 2 because there was an eShop sale running. That, plus I bought tickets to the NieR: Orchestra concert that’s actually coming to Singapore this November, and I thought, hey! I should revisit what I consider to be one of my favorite video games of all time! Why not plunge myself back into that deep abyss of suffering, existential crisis, and android depression? So I did.
NieR: Automata’s Intro Is an All-Timer
I’d forgotten how good that intro is. The game opens with a bunch of YoRHa flight units speeding their way towards an abandoned factory on Earth. The opening line is narrated by 2B, who ponders the meaning of life and wonders if she’ll ever get to kill her maker. Then, the harsh drums kick in, and the YoRHa mission is a go.
That opening gave me goosebumps when I first played it all those years ago, and it still has the same effect on me now. It sets the tone for the rest of the game, and also quickly sets up all of the themes the story explores.
I’m not given much time to ruminate on those words though, because the mission commander and the rest of my comrades are immediately lasered to death and 2B is the only one left on this godforsaken mission. Fantastic start. She asks Operator 6O (fave) for further orders — probably assuming this mission would be aborted given that everyone’s dead — but she’s instructed to stay on task. “Understood,” 2B says, without a shred of emotion in her voice.
The way the game’s camera seamlessly moves from being a top-down shooter, to a full, rotating twin-stick shooter, and then to a 3D melee action game, and then back to a top-down shooter again is just deliriously fantastic. It’s not long before we’re introduced to 9S, a scout unit who’s in charge of hacking things and surveying the area for the combat units like 2B. He’s much more personable, though when he tries to make friendly conversation with her and shows any type of emotion, he’s shut down with “Emotions are prohibited.” Yeesh, that’s harsh, Toobs.
Anyway, apparently 2B’s mission is to destroy some giant machine that’s residing here. We eventually find it and 2B has her work cut out for her. This was originally a six-man mission, after all. She pulls through, but not without some clutch ass help from 9S, who hacks into the machine to give her an edge. It comes at a cost, as 9S gets critically injured and he lands on top of the giant machine.
2B makes her way up to find him, but her Pod tells her that trying to rescue him is futile. “Shut up!”, 2B yells, “Just shut up!” And when 9S tries to tell her to continue the mission, she shouts at him too: “You shut up too!” Jeez, Toobs. For someone who believes emotions are prohibited, you sure are showing lots of emotion.
This all culminates in one of the coolest boss sequences in any video game ever, as 2B gets into 9S’ flight unit and starts pelting the machine with lasers while expertly dodging its attacks. With 9S’ help, she takes control of the machine’s severed arm and beats the ever-living crap out of it. By the end of the fight, however, 2B also gets hurt and loses the flight unit. She and 9S reunite atop the machine, but things aren’t looking good. They may have taken down one machine, but there are several others waiting to tear them to shreds.
2B and 9S both take out a black box — literally called a black box in universe lore — and it is briefly explained to us that they are going to complete this mission by having their black boxes touch, initiating a massive explosion. The screen goes white. 2B and 9S die.
What an intro!
The Creepiest Home Base Ever
We wake up in what looks like a space station. Everything is in black and white. It fits with NieR: Automata‘s monochromatic aesthetic. I like it. Oh, and 2B’s there! Alive and well.
I regain control of her at this point and I walk her around the circular base until she meets 9S. Hey, he’s fine too! Toobs thanks him for uploading her memory data to the server before they died, but 9S doesn’t remember doing that. His own memories are only intact up to the point right before they rendezvoused, so he doesn’t have any recollection of their conversations or interactions on the surface. With that, 9S is like, welp okay then, I got work to do, glory to mankind and all that, seeya! And he walks away.
“Glory… to mankind,” 2B mutters. And we get the classic anime close-up shot of her fist closing in anger. Toobs is angry, everyone! She is showing an emotion! This is not a drill!
We also get scenes of the other YoRHa androids in the base. Everyone, aside from the commander who gets to wear white, is wearing the same sexy black outfit. We’re told that humanity was driven to the moon and is unable to return to Earth due to an alien invasion that’s resulted in machine lifeforms crawling all over the surface. The YoRHa initiative was created to help humanity fight back against the machines. After an austere reminder of humanity’s history and the YoRHa mission, all the androids say in unison: “Glory to mankind!” I sure am getting some, uh, communist vibes here. Not gonna lie.
Everything Is Video Game
After that, I’m treated to yet another cool gameplay sequence where NieR: Automata walks me through some gameplay settings. This is one of the main reasons why I love this game so much. It embraces the fact that it’s a video game and ends up doing really cool things that could only ever be achieved in this medium.
In any other game, adjusting your settings would be something you do from the menu without even giving it a second thought. In NieR: Automata, the settings are diegetic. Meaning, you aren’t just tweaking the gameplay settings — 2B is tweaking her own settings and adjusting how she experiences the game world.
The subtitles at the bottom of the screen guide you, and when you’re told to adjust the sound, you press left or right on the d-pad to turn up the audio slider and 9S’ voice comes through clearly. It’s so simple, yet so effective. I remember being utterly charmed by the way the game handled the settings, and I wish more games would find a way to do this.
When 2B’s audio is sorted, you get to choose from a few different dialogue options in how you respond to 9S. I’ve always gone with telling 9S that his voice is calming, which seems very out of character for our dear Toobs, but maybe not.
Back to the Surface
It’s not long before 2B and 9S are given yet another mission on the surface. This time, they’re tasked with investigating more machine lifeforms and they must rendezvous with a resistance camp leader who will supply them with everything they need. After a few more cool sequences of Toobs jumping into the flight unit and shooting things, we’re in the open-world proper.
This game caught a lot of flak for featuring a very dull color palette and bland open-world when it first launched. I understand the criticism, but I personally enjoyed it and saw it as more of a style choice. Everything about this game is visually muted — even the most colorful level, which we’ll get to much later — and I think that is by design.
There are other things I don’t particularly like about the game though, such as the terrible in-game map and how grindy and fetchy some of the quests can be (we’ll get into those at some point). I think I was able to forgive all of these things because I was already such a big fan of NieR and Yoko Taro, and I was more than grateful to see this series revived against all odds. Enough time has passed now, though, that I’m able to cast a more critical eye on this game.
I reviewed it for Twinfinite back in the day and gave it a 5/5, and I still stand by that score. This game has been talked about endlessly since 2017, and it will continue to be talked about for years to come. If I could change anything about that review, I’d probably, I don’t know, crap on it a little bit more, I guess?
Anyway, we make our way to the resistance camp where we’re introduced to Anemone the leader, and we’re also treated to Peaceful Sleep, one of my favorite songs in both NieR soundtracks. We do a few fetch quests for the NPCs around camp and get hit over the head with the themes of the game. NieR: Automata loves philosophy. These NPCs get into Theseus’ ship, the identity struggle, and other broader themes like war and what it means to remember fallen comrades. And is there even any point to remembering your fallen comrades when you’re an android? You were made specifically for this purpose, after all.
Toobs ponders this as she gets her next mission. There are signs of a machine uprising in the desert and we gotta go check it out, but that’ll have to be for another time.
MVP of the Week: 2B
Is there even any question? 2B is one of the coolest video game characters in history. Even just by visual aesthetics alone, she’s gotta be one of the most cosplay-able characters ever. Sexy, but tasteful. Elegant, but will beat the crap out of you if you even look at her wrong. Emotions are prohibited!
But seriously, the way this woman gets the job done is on a whole other level. Her entire team straight up dies before the mission even begins, and she doesn’t even bat an eye when she’s told to proceed anyway. And guess what? She gets the damn mission done even when it ended up costing her own life. Emotions are prohibited!
But emotions are not, in fact, prohibited, as we get hints into what she’s feeling when she talks to 9S in the space bunker. Within the first hour alone, Toobs demonstrates so much depth and nuance as a character it’s hard not to be drawn in.
Emotions are still prohibited, though.
