he combat in NieR: Automata is incredible. It has a very hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and acrobatics. You will have to switch from using small, quick jabs with your weapon, to devastatingly strong attacks. You also have to utilize ranged attacks, as well as the companion that follows you around if you want to have any hope of surviving every encounter. It can be very difficult to win battles sometimes, but it also feels equally rewarding when you finally achieve victory.

NieR: Automata is set in an apocalyptic time where Earth has been overrun by robots, and the artists really nailed what that would feel like. Abandoned and overgrown cities litter the landscape along with old refineries, graveyards, and eerie forests. When you add the beautiful soundtrack to the experience, it fills you with a bittersweet mix of loneliness and hope.

NieR: Automata's outlook on storytelling is great: in order to get the full experience, you've got to do multiple playthroughs of the game. You unlock more chapters of the story as you complete the previous chapters more times: completing the first chapter twice will unlock the second chapter, then when you complete that you will unlock the third.

When you begin, you play as an android known as YoRHA. However, subsequent playthroughs will allow you to choose different characters. This lets you experience the story from a different perspective. It's really interesting and certainly serves to make the game more fun overall.

Side scrolling platformer one second, top down bullet hell the next. The gameplay never gets stale.

You can easily spend 60 plus hours exploring the world NieR: Automata, and still have much more to do.