When comparing Quantum Break vs NieR: Automata, the Slant community recommends NieR: Automata for most people. In the question“What are the best story rich games on PC?” NieR: Automata is ranked 38th while Quantum Break is ranked 51st. The most important reason people chose NieR: Automata is:
The combat in NieR: Automata is fantastic. It has a hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and showy acrobatics. With the fluid and responsive controls, you can switch seamlessly from using swift attacks with your weapon to devastatingly strong attacks as you combo them together. You also use customizable ranged missile attacks from your personal robot pod, such as powerful laser beams or a giant hammer attack. It can be difficult to win battles sometimes, especially on the harder gameplay settings, but it's worthwhile to keep at it and watch yourself progress and improve.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Real actors are used in an interesting way
During gameplay the character models in the game are made to resemble their real world counterparts, using their voices and mocapped animations. What is even more interesting is that the game will have live action plot TV episodes staring these actors in between gameplay segments of the game. these TV episodes will differ in play depending on what the player is choosing to do in the game. While not the first time to base characters off of real actors, the TV episodes will definitely flesh out the game into even more of an interactive story than previous games out there. Which makes for an original experience.
Pro Real time destruction
Each stage in the game allows for real time destruction, either done by you or your enemies. This makes for shifting elements in each stage due to enemies being able to destroy your hiding spots. This way the player can't just camp in one spot in order to kill everyone to then advance forward, it forces the player to stay on their toes, which is welcome for those interested in constantly adjusting how they play.
Pro Interesting time manipulation mechanic
An iteration on bullet time (something this developer is familiar with as they also created Max Payne) the game allows for time manipulation in that the user can slow down or stop time in order to solve puzzles as well as get the upper hand in battles. It is a pivotal mechanic in the game and as such looks to be very well done.
Pro High production to TV segments
The TV segments of the game are really high in production value as they rival any top show on the big networks or streaming services. On top of this the story contained within them offer some great incites as to the motives of the bad guys and heroes alike. All this adds up to a level of polish not seen in many games.
Pro Replayability through branching paths
For those that would like to see all outcomes of the game and all live action story elements, the game will have to be played through again, making different choices than the first playthrough. This adds replayability to the game for those that would like to see everything the game has to offer.
Pro Choices affect gameplay
Depending on what choices a player makes in the game the story will adjust to reflect them. This is often done in many games (such as one made by Telltale Games) but for Quantum Break there are TV episodes that will also play depending on what choices are made, making for a very interactive and deep story through professional acting.
Pro Fast-paced, action-packed combat
The combat in NieR: Automata is fantastic. It has a hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and showy acrobatics. With the fluid and responsive controls, you can switch seamlessly from using swift attacks with your weapon to devastatingly strong attacks as you combo them together. You also use customizable ranged missile attacks from your personal robot pod, such as powerful laser beams or a giant hammer attack. It can be difficult to win battles sometimes, especially on the harder gameplay settings, but it's worthwhile to keep at it and watch yourself progress and improve.
Pro Unique storytelling with a real emotional impact
NieR: Automata's outlook on storytelling is incredibly special. To get the full experience, you have to run multiple playthroughs of the game, each of which offers a new experience and perspective. Your world view of the story events and characters expands drastically as you complete each playthrough, playing on your expectations to help you develop a deeper emotional bond with the protagonists and become invested in their plight.
Things take a real turn on your third playthrough, putting you on an emotional roller coaster all the way to the true ending. The plot twists and knocks on the fourth wall elevate the story to a truly unique place. Getting all the way to the very end can be a religious experience from how much heart and meaning you discover in the symbolism.
Pro It's got a hauntingly beautiful environment
NieR: Automata is set in a post-apocalyptic landscape after Earth has been overrun by hostile machines, 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.
Pro Varied genre-spanning gameplay elements
NieR: Automata has different types of gameplay to keep things interesting. From the very start, you're on an on-rails bullet hell section, and then you switch over to the more traditional action RPG style of fast-paced combat. Things change up again not long after with some side-scrolling platforming from a 2D view. Later on in the story, there's a hacking mini-game where you navigate a tiny ship through a short puzzle, with the music changing to a charming retro sound to fit the theme and mood. This is a game that doesn't stay boxed in a single genre.
Pro An incredible amount of content
Outside of the main story, there's plenty of optional content to dive into. The side quests are the best way to get to know the characters and lore of the world, with some of them giving clever and subtle foreshadowing of the game's most critical events. There are also weapons to collect and upgrade, each of which offer nice little tidbits of lore after you get them to max level. And after reaching a certain point in the story, you get access to Chapter Select that lets you go back and replay whatever you want. You can easily spend 60+ hours exploring the world and still have much more to do.
Pro Gorgeous, ethereal soundtrack with amazing vocals
NieR: Automata's music is out of this world. It's so stunning and elegant in a way that nothing else can really live up to. The soundtrack manages to emotionalize the game through music, from the action-packed tracks with hard-hitting wind instruments and percussion, to the softer, somber songs that encapsulate the hauntingly beautiful environments and story moments you encounter. Vocals in the lore's indescribable language makes the music even more memorable, adding to the ethereal quality of the sound. This soundtrack is definitely one that you can go back to again and again without getting sick of it.
Cons
Con Awful performance
The game has serious issues running smoothly on PC. The framerate is capped at 50fps no matter what equipment is used. Being that monitors are normally 60hz or more, this means the framerate can not even reach the refresh rate of any monitor available for PC. Though there is a 30fps cap available in the settings (which ideally should allow the game to run smooth, though at a low frame rate), it does not work properly and results in a jerky framerate.
Con Exclusive to Windows 10 store on PC
Games on the Windows 10 have several minor issues. Can't add to Steam games list, no third party overlays, can't disable V-sync, no unofficial mods, etc. Might not matter to most people, but can be an issue to some.
Con Gameplay progression is not balanced
The first half of the game sees the player unlock all of the main characters special powers, meaning the second half of the game gives little to work towards other than finishing the game and defeating the bad people. It would have been nice to see elements of gameplay still being unlocked in the second half of the game, as there is no little incentive to finish other than a bit of closure.
Con Poorly implemented action sequences
There are sections of the game that require a bit of platforming, sadly these sections are pretty linear, which break the immersion of the game tanks to areas where you just walk against walls instead o being able to climb. It seems like these segments could have been designed better, to at least give the impression that they are less linear than they actually are.
Con Shooting and cover mechanics could be better
The cover mechanic in the game is dynamic in that you walk up to somewhere were you can cover, and you auto cover. While this itself is not that bad, the shooting mechanics once you are under cover are poor in that you can't shoot at all while under cover (there isn't even any blind fire with guns). You will have to stand up in order to shoot, which leaves yourself vulnerable. Other games have done this system better and it would have been nice to see as much polish put into the gun-play as it was into the story of the game.
Con TV episodes are streamed online
The TV segments of the game are no on ones hard drive or disk, they are streamed from the game developers server, meaning those with a poor connection may see stutter and dropped frames in the video. This makes for a poor experience for some and it would have been nice to see them as local file, but of course the storage requirements for the game would have been a lot higher due to the size of the HD video.
Con Really short
The game is at max 10 hours, and that is including the 4 live action TV segments of the game. While the mashup of these elements can be appreciated, to see the game beaten in such a short time for a $60 game is disappointing.
Con Main story is a bit cliché
The basic premise of the story in the game sees the main character in a catastrophic accident, which gives him special powers. There is definitely nothing new about this story element and it would have been nice to see something new or fresh as to why the games story develops as it does.
Con TV episodes may interrupt flow of gameplay
Being that the game has not been played yet it is still unknown, but 20 minute TV episodes that take place in between gameplay may interrupt the flow of the gameplay. It is still unknown if they can be skipped, and even if they can are they necessary to enjoying the game.
Con Limited open world
Even though NieR: Automata is technically an open world game, it doesn't always feel like it. It's more that there's a big open space in the center of the ruined city you explore, with branches that lead off to vastly different environments, like a desert, a village, and a few other places. These locations aren't that spacious, either, and it's a bit of a stretch to even imagine all of these places being so close together in the first place. It's not too much of an issue as long as you find the story and combat engaging enough.
Con Second playthrough can get repetitive
Once you get to Route B, your second playthrough, you may find that too much is the same. There are some big differences, such as the new way you get to see things play out, but a lot of it rehashes Route A, your first playthrough. There's a ton of hacking you have to do as well, which gets pretty boring after repeating it over and over again. But if you stick with it, Route C and onward are absolutely worth the time spent getting to that point.
Con Some boring fetch quests
The pacing gets messed up when you're forced to run certain fetch quests near the start of the game. This is somewhat forgivable after the fun and action-packed introductory level, but the quests themselves are still a drag to play through. Some of the side quests can also boil down to the same thing. Even though these quests give a lot of useful information about the world, they're not all that fulfilling, and you may dread having to repeat them when playing through the game again.
Con Buggy on PC
Some players complain about the game crashing, freezing, their save files mysteriously disappearing, and more. As of June 2018, over a year after the game's initial release, there is still no patch to fix these problems. Not everyone on PC will have these bugs, but it's still quite prevalent. If you continually run into issues, your best bet is to find a mod or play the console versions instead of waiting on an official patch that may never happen.