Nier: Automata

Nier: Automata is a 2017 action role-playing game directed by Yoko Taro, who is also known for his huge success for his other games such as NieR Replicant/Gesalt, and the Drakengard series in which Nier: Automata is a sequel and spin-off to. Nier: Automata won The Game Awards for Best Score and Music. The soundtrack itself is one of beauty that calms and entrances the player. Nier: Automata takes place in a post apocalyptic world in which aliens have invaded with their machine lifeforms, leaving those who survived to escape to the moon. In their effort to reclaim earth, the Council of Humanity had sent YoRHa, an elite military force of androids, to fight off the invaders in order to restore the world to its former glory. The story follows 3 main protagonists: 2B, 9S, A2. The game has 26 different endings ranging from joke ones to canonical which can all be achieved through the game's main 3 routes (Route A,B and C). Route A is the first play-through which starts the player as 2B, an all-purpose battle android who is sent to an abandoned factory on earth in order to defeat an Goliath-class target. She later meets up with 9S, a scanner type android, who specialises in investigative purposes by hacking and analysing his targets. The pair work together throughout Route A in order to investigate and destroy the machine lifeforms who start to exhibit human-like behaviour. The game as a whole focuses on the relationship between these two lifeless forms who come to be aware of their emotions for each other and those surrounding them. This plays a significant part of making the protagonists conflicted with their duties as androids. Route B follows a similar story to Route A but has some differences like instead the player controls 9S and are able to use his hacking abilities throughout the play-through. Lastly in Route C you are able to play as A2. To avoid spoilers i wont go into it but she plays an important part in unravelling the mysteries behind humankind and YoRHa itself, often crossing paths against 2B & 9S. This game dives deeply into the complexities of human nature by mainly focusing on the theme of existentialism. Also, it repeats the cycle of death & destruction and expresses the repetition of suffering and lies through the characters. Nier: Automata challenges the player emotionally throughout the entire game with difficult choices and leaving the player with emptiness after playing. It is one of my all-time favourite games and i highly recommend it to anyone who loves in depth story-telling and character development.