©SQUARE ENIX/HUMAN COMMITTEE
this is part of NieR: Automata I’ve been most eager to see an adaptation, mostly because I want to know what exactly A-1 Studios can do to try and achieve the game’s ending.
For those who only watch the anime, to be clear, I’m not talking about the final conflict between A2 and 9S. I thought this part of the story was handled beautifully. The action sequence is satisfying, cathartic, and tragic all at the same time, and the show’s interpretation of game mechanics like 9S’ hacking gives the battle an appropriately cinematic feel. I may not have considered the impact of the show on Keiichi OkabeEnough credit is given, if only because I’m used to how perfect it is for the material, but man, the new combination of “Weight of the World” is just as strong as the first time I saw it.
Really, the only major “flaw” I can point to about this penultimate story beat is the predictability that comes with this tragic style, which I discussed at length last week. There’s nothing particularly surprising about A2 and 9S’s final conflict, nor does it explore any territory we haven’t ventured into before. A2’s belated desire to make amends for her apathy and dedication to saving this ruined world is an obvious (but still perfect) foil to 9S’s all-out rage and desperation. There was no other way for this to end other than their mutually assured destruction, and that’s exactly what ended up happening… until it didn’t.
Warning: spoilers for highlights NieR: Automata Video games await below! You have been warned! (Also, for the love of Pod 153, if you haven’t played the damn game yet, go play it!)
You see, this is what’s going to happen back I was both eager and terrified to see the ending, because the way it was executed in the game may be my favorite example of a game achieving perfect mechanical, thematic, and narrative synergy. For those who don’t know, the original game ends with Pod 153 and 042 arriving and destroying the fourth wall, and forcing players to make deeply personal choices that reflect their origins. NieR: Automata experience. You see, the end credits take the form of an extremely challenging bullet hell shooter that’s nearly impossible to beat unless avatars of the player from different times and around the world come to help. Players will then be asked if they are willing to provide such assistance to others, even if it means permanently deleting their game saves. It’s not a hypothetical choice, either – if you choose to offer the help you receive, despite not knowing who you’ll be helping, or whether it’ll be noticed or appreciated, you’ll have to watch carefully as the game erases the dozens of hours you spent every memory and achievement achieved in hours of play.
this Neil Games have always been about depicting the cycle of violence and self-destruction that occurs when people are held captive by selfish desires and cheap prejudices that cause them to ignore the suffering of others. at the end NieR: Automata Players are asked to perform acts of true self-sacrifice in order to show unconditional compassion to strangers. It’s such a powerful and intimate artistic statement that simply can’t be replicated in passive media like television or film. Anyway, I knew it from day one NieR: Automata Version 1.1a A different route had to be taken, and I knew it probably wouldn’t be as perfect as the game made it.
To its credit, though, the show came up with an alternative that at least captured the basic point of what the story was trying to say. Considering they are literally the only “alive” characters left, it makes sense that we return to the pods and their slowly burgeoning consciousness and “humanity,” and I love that the story forces one last ditch effort from the beloved Watchers. To save 2B and 9S. As Pod 153 readily admits, resurrecting our Android heroes will likely lead to the two of them betraying each other again and killing each other. Yet, as Pod 153 also reminds us, there is only one truly human response to an overwhelming challenge that almost guarantees failure: “It’s too much.”
Coupled with Pod 042’s timely space laser intervention, it brings us an exciting climax to end this adaptation. Is this the sublime poetry of the game’s ending? No, obviously not. Is that good enough for an extraordinarily brilliant interpretation of a masterpiece video game? Of course, I will continue to say: “Why not!” Also, Yoko Taroyou bastard, don’t think I missed the Accord’s cameo at the end of this thing. Stop bugging us with these side projects and dead mobile game spin-offs and tell us when the next proper game will be released. Neil The game has arrived! At the very least, can we get a shiny remaster/remake? Drakengard 3? After forcing us to watch these precious robots and machines die tragic deaths countless times, you owe us so much, now…
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NieR: Automata version 1.1a Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found in twitterhis blog and his podcast.
