This video is my best attempt at a NieR Automata ending explanation, as well as delving into the meaning behind the end.
No information outside of this game is required to understand it. No post-game live shows. No pre-game novels or stage plays. No previous games. Everything is properly wrapped up within the game itself, and looking for lore is only going to obfuscate what is already there.
Also thanks to MisterCaption for pushing me to work on this video again. I was so caught up in what I was doing that I forgot to start working on it. / mistercaption
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#NieR #NieRAutomata #YokoTaro
Really funny how game reviewers complained how this game wasn’t deep enough, when in reality it has to be one of the deepest games I’ve played in years. They should’ve actually went through the other endings.
Pep K Pep K what’s my shitty point dumbfuck? Maybe explain yours before throwing yourself at me. And yes, some reviewers saw it as a generic anime game since they didn’t take their time to go through the other endings. Route A and B seem pretty generic especially with a semi predictable plot, but that starts to change at the end of route C. There’s a medium article that absolutely shits on the game (not that medium is important anyways since it’s user review articles), since they didn’t get the main idea. Yeah, most game reviewers can’t seem to put two and two together nowadays so they’re not even worth your while. You’ll see they give average reviews when smaller media groups and the game page itself will have higher reviews that occasionally go in depth.
@@darindial8908 I agree, I really enjoyed the story and it was by far the deepest story I've experienced in a video game thus far. It has a huge focus on humanity, and its constant questioning of what it is and whether humanity is worth having in one self, especially as a android or machine made me question my own humanity, and what makes someone human. Although I have my own answer now, it really made me relate as to what their message was, and changed my way of thinking.
Who cares about game reviewers... pls ....
Lol wtf. It is one of the deepest games I ever played. Probably the deepest. There is so much information, also the constant thinking about "oh it's good now" and then get a gut punch because it takes a sudden twist. This had me tear up a lot of times. One of the best games I ever played.
I think that would be a more fair criticism towards Detroit Become Human. Talking about a self righteous plot, lol the writer assumed he/she discovered the greatest sci-fi argument in history: "artificial life can feel and think by themselves, so they are actually alive!" You don't say?? Automata deals with similar themes in a more humble and respectful way. There's also lots of openings for diverse interpretations, so Yoko Taro is not acting as the master of truth, only his vision is what matters and so on. As a bonus, the japanese weirdness was used in a positive way here, it's fun to see their interpretations of androids, AIs, the (very exaggerated) feelings of 9s, etc
The big turning point in Automata for me was when I got to that data file or whatever which said that the machines had done the same thing over and over and were unable to learn, because it was when I realized that the game wasn't actually about the androids and robots having free will and they were in fact slaves to their programming. I think that could be interpreted as saying "the androids can't really have free will and can't become like humans," but I think it's more complicated than that. The androids and robots are doomed to repeat the same cycles over and over and never learn from their mistakes, but the point Yoko Taro is trying to make with that is that they're just aping their creators. The androids can never learn and escape this awful cycle of violence, but neither can humans. I read an interview with Yoko Taro where he basically said as much, saying that humans had been around for thousands of years and we still fought and killed each other and he didn't think the human race would ever be able to find peace. Nier:Automata is a commentary on human nature, saying that we're slaves to our base desires and impulses and are incapable of learning from the past. That's just my interpretation, though. :P
A good one at that. I actually wondered about how the forest kingdom was the only one that didn't technically fall at the end, because they were equally busy at war on their own as they had been before being set free from the servers.
You can actually add the existentialists undertones of the game (2B = To be) to find out that Yoko Taro's point of view is what's called absurdist, which states that if there is such purpose in life, it's not a happy one. We should get rid of it and create our own (Endings C and D could be interpreted as nihilism and existencialism (or idealism), in that order, being the true ending, E, the absurdist one.). The commentary on violence is one that has been around since drakengard 1, since Yoko Taro thinks that every sign of violence in videogames should be addressed in a realistic way, or at least acknowledged as something we really should be fighting against. If you pay attention to promotional videos, or even in the archives, you'll find that YoHRa represent dolls and Machines represent tin toys. For those who have played route C/D, we know that the main "villains" are the red girls, which represent god, which are the humans, which are at the same time the watchers from the drakengard series. So this was a little girl playing with her dolls and tin toys all along. Their purposes were implanted from the start, unable to escape, trapped in a neverending cycle of life, death, violence, war, hate, in conclusion: Conflict (Which Adam states directly during route A, and for Yoko Taro being a scenario writer and having theatrical background makes the most scense, since conflict is what sparks drama , which is the base of theatre.) The idea of conflict being the base of evolution as well as human nature is also presented in hegel, Marx, and Engels's work (well, at leats social class conflict), hence why he decided to make them bosses. The game is all about conflict. And how we find purpose in that conflict. If you believe there is a reason then you're existentialist (2B), if you think there is no point, then you're nihilist (9S), if you think there is a way to end the cycle, then you're idealist (A2), and if, like the pods, you do not accept this cycle and decide to make your own path, even if it's meaningless, then you are absurdist. (Also the idea of 2B being a "lie", and being her real name 2E, states the idea of existentialism being a lie itself, and how these lies are made to make us accept fate, or is a lie that we tell ourselves in order to have a reason, which we desperately need)
LexioLTG Wow. Thank you
doesn't this imply that actually we might be following some sort of sequence of code/program ? i mean we are very predictable we know what will happen if we do some actions like hit someone he will get angry/afraid we can even simulate that scenario in our minds before it takes place in real world it's all predictable i mean we even have books that explain our behavior and mind, including conscious and unconscious phenomena and how some philosophers give their generalized look at societies that can be implied on all societies because we are human we are all alike. it's all known, that's why history repeats it's self we never learn from our ancestors mistakes because we are bound to do what is in our nature so we actually might be programmable or this world might actually be a big simulation what makes you think that you are unique maybe that's how the idea of reincarnation was made since we keep repeating our history but reincarnation can't be right i mean it says if u die you will be reborn but how can our number increase if we are being reborn/reincarnated? then reincarnation doesn't make sense then but then who are we and what should we be doing if it's all simple then why didn't we do the right thing at least once!! since we ever existed it never happened...... the world was never united together not even once... it's like we are cursed to not being able to unite or having a limit to how much unity even our world is nothing but a big programmed simulation too it's not just us that have rules there are rules everywhere how can this be?? i mean we are following a program which we call human nature even the world has it's own nature i mean look at this: we even have books of chemistry, physics, biology, geology and astronomy they are all nothing but describing the world too and how it works.. i mean if you mix H2o + Co2 ---> H2Co3 it's a fact no one can deny.. the sun rises from the east these are rules of the world that even this world follows this is crazy how can something that looks so random, unorganized and chaotic be following rules amidst this chaos?? how can rules exist like this??? There is order amidst all this madness... then what is this world and what are we doing here???! and why are we always looking for a purpose?? did no one ever find their purpose before?? there must be an answer and there must be someone who made all of these complicated codes/programs?? i think no one can deny that there is an author/writer of this world we seek purpose in life it's in our nature we suicide if we can't find it and become the happiest if we found it our it's we just deny it.. such rules can't exist without a creator and I believe that the author is Allah and our sole purpose is to worship him that is what he said it's simple yet we will deny it, think about it.. a lot of cultures gave themselves their own god in order to live with a purpose such as the sun/fire/moon even cows in some cultures they knew that there is god but they didn't know who it was the idea of not having a purpose will drive u crazy it's in our nature to have purpose in life if you don't then you will go crazy and might even suicide like a lot of famous actors/ppl do when they own everything they want from this world they suicide even that they had Everything but they were not just happy, happiness doesn't lie in the things you acquire not in the prettiest woman you would marry not in the money that you collect, happiness lies within you it's not a lie that the poor people made up in order to keep themselves happy... worshiping Allah doesn't mean just praying all day all night, its how you treat people you must not harm the people around you always respect the people around you defend the weak spread the peace this is what Allah wants
Humans don't have free will tho
Ok I just finished the game and came here, and I'm about to have a mental breakdown 9s style.
Same here. Just finished the game today, now I don't know what to do with my life lol
I’m fuzzy on the whole 2b killing 9s thing. It doesn’t make sense to me. As they mention him dying over and over, but he only dies once really. And I don’t even know why 2b is meant to kill him. I also wish the game expanded on Adam and Eve.
09 RetsamEdalb 9S is a superior model created by YorHa to get better intel on the enemy with making these units come a risk of the incredibly Intelligent units to discover the truth. The units are Isolated so that when the 2B models run into the 9S model the 9S model immediately is happy to have a partner and stays with 2B faithfully. In the end thought 2B was created to kill 9S whenever he got to close to the truth. The cycle almost broke when 9S uploaded his memories into a machine after 2B choked him out to kill him. But In the end 9S still died but it wasn’t by 2B. Basically 2B is meant to kill 9s whenever he got to close to the truth.
BlackAmer Gaming does that mean 2B knew the truth all along?
@@darindial8908 I'm wondering this too
*Deep inhale* The last frames of ending E show a symbolism of very start of the game. 6 Yorha flight units enter the scene, five die, one live. At the end of the game. 6 Doves fly off into the distance, one stays with A2. Five leave, one stay. Five die, one live. Five leave, one stay. With A2. You are welcome.
I thought it was a reference to drakengard 3 because of Zero and the five sisters Or Zero, the 4 helpers and Mikhail
@@starlight4165 Or all of the above because why not, still lines up
Thank you :D
@@starlight4165 Did u not just watch the video? It could have many interpretations. Theres not just one concrete reference to it smh..
@@greyb5511Exactly. I'm so tired of reading every comment saying "this is what it means" People don't learn 😅
This whole series is an existential crisis...
Well,it could be literally,but if you about it is all a cycle
This might be a far stretch, but at 8:20. I think the screen stops and starts glitching out at "PROGRAMING", is meant to signal to the player that the pods have broken throught their programing to achieve true autonomity.
Fucking hell, I never even considered it was intentionally doing it there.
i think it just depends on how fast you scroll the text. it was different for my friend and i.
@@timestopMachinistbut most people do it at roughly the same speed
I went in blind into this game. The only thing I knew was that the game was going to ask to delete my game at some point, an idea that I was strongly against. That was until I actually hit ending E and realized that if I didn't delete, everything would have been meaningless. Following the main saying "Everything that lives is designed to end" and having fought against God/or the arbitrary will of the universe (the creators of the game) because of their unfair resolution with willing people at my side, and eventually setting my own resolution I gave up my save without regret with the hope of helping someone come to their own conclusions about the entire journey. This game taught me something that I already knew but couldn't explain or put into words. I will quote Adam Millard's video on this: "How can we derive meaning from a fundamentally meaningless world? The answer is, somewhat paradoxically, by sharing that meaninglessness. In a world that doesn't care about you, where bad things will happen whether you like it or not and where your very existence is cosmically arbitrary. The only real source of meaning is in how you relate with the only other thing that can understand where you are coming from, other people. Consciousness, as we have seen, is nothing more than the ability to understand and react to the world around you and affect change within it. By following only your interpretation of a single idea and not questioning it, you will never advance your understanding of how it and by extension the world really work. By cutting yourself off from everything but your own relativistic understanding, you'll only spiral deeper into a warped and increasingly more insular worldview until there is nothing left to reject but yourself. But by sharing in this cruel, arbitrary suffering we become the bathian author. What Nier Automata is trying to tell us is that the author is no longer dead, nor alive. We need to kill the author and take their place. We need to interpret the world, but use our own relative understanding to shape that interpretation, and then, crucially share it for others to repeat the cycle."
I went expecting a sad story. This game f-ing delivered in this case.
@Randy Delacroix I think the final message (subjectively, of course) was more closely related to existentialism and absurdism. It doesn't really have to apply to anything. I think it's just showing an idea, a way of thinking. Whether you choose to believe the same that I did, or not, or maybe even come out with a completely different conclusion like a lot of people, that's up to the player, which is kind of cool. But the idea that I took from the game (along with other positive messages of tolerance, trust, supporting others in need, etc) was that one, and it did give me a much more positive outlook on everything else. But we can fully agree on something though, it's a fun game with an amazing soundtrack :)
By asking what it means for androids and machines to have free will, the game reflects that question back to the player. The game does all sorts of things with its narrative, and it's all the more interesting.
You saying that if you don't delete, then everything would be meaningless, it's what's really making me think about this comment. This is taking a heavy step into some deep territory, but when we die, if everyone/everything forgets us, did we ever exist at all? Did our life have meaning then? I think what this game, or at least the aspect of deleting your save file, is saying is that merely "existing" is not meaning; helping others in sacrifice is. Yeah I think I'm going to go with this as my interpretation of that aspect of the game (well, also reflected in the destruction of human servers and stuff).
If you delete the, then the cycle starts all over again since you to start from the beginning of the game. If you don't then the Androids can have a happy ending, which was modified in one of the stage plays that was done with the voice actors.
Pod 153 (narration): Everything that lives is designed to end. Pod 153 (narration): "We" are perpetually trapped ... Pod 153 (narration): ... in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Pod 153 (narration): Is this a curse? Pod 153 (narration): Or some kind of punishment? Pod 153 (narration): I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle ... Pod 153 (narration): ... and wonder if "we'll" ever have the chance to kill him.
Pod 042: Unit 2B's vital signs confirmed. Pod 042: Memory storage, thought circuits, auxiliary motor functions, all confirmed to have been restarted. Pod 042: Entering reboot sequence. 2B: Ugh ... Pod 042: Good morning, 2B. 2B: I ... Pod 042: Report: Unit 2B was killed by unit A2 approximately 1718 hours ago. 2B: 1718 hours ago ... So ... 72 days, then. Pod 042: Following that, us tactical support units reconstructed your parts. Pod 042: The virus previously inside you deactivated along with the tower's collapse, and remains in suspension. 2B: Tower ...? What happened ...? (2B suddenly realizes something.) 2B: Ah!! 9S ...!! Pod 153: Report: Unit 9S ceased activity approximately 740 hours ago. 2B: Pod ... 153? Pod 153: Unit 9S was severely contaminated, however said virus deactivated along with the tower's collapse, and remains in suspension. 2B: So he's just ... asleep? Pod 153: Negative: An error occurred during unit 9S's reboot sequence. 2B: What do you mean, an error ...? Pod 153: Unknown: All checks were completed, however his personal data will not begin loading procedures, causing an inability to reboot. 2B: His personal data won't load ... Then in that case, run the monitoring sequence, and skip the check sequence ... Pod 153: Negative: This unit has already attempted 345 combinations 34,500 times, and all have ended in failure. Pod 153: Unit 9S's current state suggests there is a possibility his personal data has been lost due to some unknown cause. 2B: His personal data is ... lost ...? Pod 153: Proposal: Unit 2B should consider disposing of unit 9S's body. (2B speaks in a strong tone.) 2B: There's no way I could ... just dispose of his body ...! (There is a considerable pause.) Pod 153: ... Understood. 2B (narration): After being reconstructed, there wasn't even a hint of dirt on 9S's body ... 2B (narration): His face ... looked just like he was sleeping. 2B (narration): I took my weapon in hand, and packed the minimum necessary provisions, before standing up. 2B (narration): I had to go. 2B (narration): There had to be a way to get 9S to reboot properly. 2B (narration): That's what I believed.
2B (narration): I received information on what happened while I was gone from the pods. 2B (narration): About A2 ... and 9S. 2B (narration): I also heard about how the two of them destroyed some huge "Tower" that had been created by the machine lifeforms. 2B (narration): The rubble from it is still scattered all throughout the city. 2B (narration): The City Ruins' landscape had been completely changed. Pod 042: Proposal: Unit 2B should gather information at the resistance camp. 2B (narration): The resistance camp was able to miraculously avoid damage from the collapse of the tower ... 2B (narration): However Devola and Popola, and a few others in the resistance, lost their lives in the fight with the machines. 2B (narration): Even though Anemone was faced with such a difficult situation, she still remained level-headed. 2B (narration): I tried speaking to Anemone about the situation with 9S's rebooting, but she wasn't able to provide me with any helpful information. Pod 153: Report: Relevant records within the Bunker have been lost. 2B (narration): We YoRHa units are a special type. 2B (narration): We contain something other androids don't within us - a Black Box. 2B (narration): And due to that, we're capable of much higher functionality. 2B (narration): However, unlike general androids, our maintenance is only able to be done on the Bunker. 2B (narration): It's possible to make easy repairs with the small amount of materials and programs at access points, but detailed information about the insides of our bodies was lost along with the fall of the Bunker. 2B (narration): Even so, I was traveling from place to place looking for the information I needed. 2B (narration): No matter ... how long it took. Pod 042: Alert: Unit 2B is taking damage due to maintenance failure. Pod 042: Proposal: Unit 2B should perform proper repair and replenish materials. 2B (narration): With how tired I was, even doing simple first aid felt troublesome. 2B (narration): In the depths of my heart, I started to feel like ... everything I was doing was meaningless. 2B (narration): I don't ... care anymore. 2B (narration): I wonder if ... 9S will ever wake up. 2B (narration): That sort of dark thought process began to take over. 2B (narration): And I shook my head. 2B (narration): I couldn't give up. I couldn't give up. I couldn't give up. 2B (narration): Even if I was just deceiving myself, I couldn't admit that. 2B (narration): It caused my body to become heavy. 2B (narration): If I go further away from here, I may be able to find surviving YoRHa members. Pod 153: Report: Mail notification received. 2B: ... Check it. (The pod reads out the mail's contents in its usual tone of voice.) Pod 153: Sender: Jackass. Pod 153: Subject: About 9S's Personal Data Reboot. Pod 153: Yo, how's it going, 2B? Pod 153: I know a little something about 9S's condition. Pod 153: I've been looking into a lot of things since everything happened, and I came across some concerning information. Pod 153: There were some logs remaining in the access port outside of 9S's memory storage. Pod 153: They were a communication record from the "Ark" object those machine lifeforms made. Pod 153: I don't know anything about that "Ark" thing, but it might be some sort of server. Pod 153: I'll send you the time and coordinates that were written in that log right away. Pod 153: There might be a hint somewhere in them. (There's a short pause.) Pod 153: This concludes the body of the email. Time and three-dimensional coordinate data is attached. 2B (narration): Those coordinates ... were right in the area where the Tower collapsed.
2B (narration): Mountains and mountains of white rubble, as far as I could see. 2B (narration): I'd arrived at the center of where the Tower collapsed. 2B (narration): And it was there, where I began digging. Pod 153: Hypothesis: Origin point is 40 meters below the current point. Pod 042: Proposal: Search for a more efficient method for digging. 2B (narration): That's right, the coordinates Jackass sent me pointed right to a location within the Tower's rubble. 2B (narration): I was digging through it so I could reach the position she gave me. 2B (narration): But the material was much more firm than I expected it to be, and my digging wasn't going particularly well. 2B (narration): My breath began to show, and before I'd realized it, it was snowing. 2B (narration): It seems the Tower's rubble was absorbing the surrounding area's heat and causing the area to cool. 2B (narration): According to the pods, it was made of materials derived from the bodies of machine lifeforms, which centered around silicon, among other things. 2B (narration): But that didn't matter. 2B (narration): I only cared about my digging. Pod 153: Hypothesis: Origin point is 25 meters below the current point. Pod 042: Alert: Unit 2B is taking damage due to maintenance failure. 2B (narration): The Tower's materials became increasingly firm the further down I went. 2B (narration): I was using my weapon to dig, but I had to stop using my one-handed sword to switch to something better suited, and I proceeded downward by practically crushing the materials. 2B (narration): I continued on, my mind devoid of any other thoughts, until I finished. 2B (narration): I could feel an ache run through my pain sensors. 2B (narration): But it was only thanks to that pain that I was able to keep my sanity. Pod 153: Hypothesis: Origin point is 12 meters below the current point. Pod 042: Alert: Unit 2B is taking damage due to maintenance failure. Pod 042: Alert: If no proper repair is performed, it will cause severe impact to the unit's body. 2B (narration): As I continued to dig, I found out what that "Ark" really was. 2B (narration): It seemed to be a huge memory unit, made by combining complex crystals. 2B (narration): However, as it'd been shattered to pieces, I couldn't find a single "living" crystal. 2B (narration): Regardless, I continued digging in search of the Ark's crystals. 2B (narration): With each swing of my weapon, blood began to scatter. 2B (narration): I couldn't feel my fingertips anymore, and the sensors running from my wrists had died. 2B (narration): The bolts I'd used to forcibly fix it were starting to dig into my skin. 2B (narration): But that didn't matter. 2B (narration): Somewhere up ahead, the information I needed to save 9S was ... 2B (narration): Even if only a little remains of the Ark, I ... I have to ...!! (An error sound pings.) Pod 042: Alert: Unit 2B entered forced shutdown due to overload.
Pod 042: Emergency nanomachine removal complete. Pod 042: Unit 2B's vital signs confirmed. Pod 042: Entering reboot sequence. (A long "beeeeep" alert sounds.) (Afterwards, a short three "beeps" sound.) Pod 042: Good morning, 2B. 2B: Huh? I ... Pod 042: You entered a forced shutdown due to severe continuous operation. 2B (narration): When I hurriedly asked about the Ark, the pods showed me a small, orange sparkling crystal. 2B (narration): What they found seemed to be a remnant of the machine lifeforms' communication protocol. 2B (narration): If we use that protocol and its data, we could create a key, and open up 9S's memory storage. 2B (narration): Although I didn't understand the details, there was meaning in my continued digging. 2B (narration): The pods siphoned out the data and recombined it to create a repair vaccine. 2B (narration): Then, we could pull the cable from 9S's access port and create a wired connection. 2B (narration): With that, I'd be able to insert the repair vaccine. 2B (narration): After that, all I'd have to do is hope that 9S's memory storage data could be evacuated into his personal data. Pod 153: Repair vaccine injected. (Three seconds later, the sound of a heartbeat stops and a flatline beeps.) Pod 153: No effect. Re-administering repair vaccine. (Three seconds later, the sound of a heartbeat stops and a flatline beeps.) Pod 153: No effect. Re-administering repair vaccine. (Three seconds later, the sound of a heartbeat stops and a flatline beeps.) Pod 153: No effect. 2B: Why ... Why isn't it ...?! Pod 042: Hypothesis: Repair vaccine is a failure. Pod 153: Negative: Repair vaccine's functions confirmed to be normal. 2B: Try it again ... Administer it to him again! (Three seconds later, the sound of a heartbeat stops and a flatline beeps.) Pod 153: No effect. 2B: Try ... again ... Pod 153: Report: Traces detected indicating the memory region of unit 9S's contents have been erased. Pod 042: Negative: It is an effect of the repair vaccine. Pod 042: Hypothesis: Unit 9S's personal data has been lost. 2B: His personal data ... is lost ...? Pod 042: His personal data was wiped of his own accord, but there is the possibility it was moved to a different location. Pod 042: According to unit A2's records, it is possible his data evacuated using the machine lifeforms' Ark. Pod 042: Report: Possibility of recovering 9S's personal data extremely low.
2B: No, 9S, this can't ... 2B: We didn't even get to say goodbye, and yet ... why ... why am I the only one ...! (Three beeps sound out.) Pod 042: Abnormal signal detected from Black Box. 2B: I don't care anymore! I don't ...! Pod 042: Alert: Strange vibrations emanating from Black Box. Temperature rising. Pod 042: Alert: Errors detected in unit's functionality. FFCS offline. NFCS offline. Initiating short-range radio-wave camouflage. Pod 042: Unit 2B's vital signs are deteriorating. Alert: Immense damage to unit 2B's life preservation functionality. Pod 042: Proposal: Body adjustment and maintenance in a safe location urgently required. Pod 153: Report: Abnormal vibrations detected from Black Box. Temperature rising. Pod 042: This unit has already reported on the abnormal situation. Pod 153: Negative: The vibrations are not originating from unit 2B, but instead from unit 9S. Pod 042: Negative: Unit 9S's personal data has already been terminated. Reboot is realistically impossible. (Warning beeps begin to chime out.) (A heartbeat can be heard.) 9S: Nnngh ... 2B: N-Nine ...s ... 9S: Where ... am I ...? 9S: 2B, what did I ...? (2B speaks through tears.) 2B: I'm so glad ... I'm so glad you're ... Pod 153 (narration): It is still unknown what happened that day. It is possible that 9S's Black Box had retrieved his memory's personal data. Pod 153 (narration): At any rate, it may have been effected by some alien technology yet unknown to us. Pod 042 (narration): Everything that lives is designed to end. Pod 153 (narration): "They" are perpetually trapped ... Pod 153 (narration): ... in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Pod 042 (narration): However, we cannot give in. 9S (narration): Even if this world is full of curses. Even if this world punishes us. 2B (narration): We continue to resist everything within that spiral. 2B and 9S (narration): While singing words of prayer.
I really love this game.
I love it more than i love myself
@@Amjed_G2 me too 🥲
It's really good, but too damn depressing. I love the first playthrough tho. Second was good too, but the 3rd playthrough i fucking hate it. Too difficult, repitive chapters and so fucking annoying hacking bullshit. First playthrough = 10/10, second playthrough = 8/10, 3rd playthrough 6/10. Amazing game and story, but the last playthrough killed the best pleasure for me. Oh, and also music in this game is fucking amazing.
@@MegaAndyGG that is interesting to hear, for me the 3rd playthrough was my favourite and i never had any problems with the game being hard at all :T
@@Amjed_G2 That's good for you. For me it's pain in the ass. Difficulty just kills the vibe. I'm very close to the end, but still.... so far away. Maybe some day i play the ending. For now, i just can't. It's just too much. Very hard game. Although first and second play was pretty easy.
In the spoilercast with Yuuki Aoi and so on Taro actually said that he had not originally considered 2B as To Be or A2 as Et Tu, but that foreign fans pointed it out and that he liked it. Not that it matters, he's dead anyway.
Really? I didn't know that, interesting. I figured they were intentional, especially in conjunction with Ending B: or not to [B]e.
Yeah, I had too, but he was pretty clear about it. It's possible that it was brought up before they made Ending B at least, and that it's what caused them to put it in.
Here is what's going on. This game is a mirror of humanity though showing how humans look like to being with no context of what humans are really like. Everything the machines are doing are was humans would do. The machine are in a loop and so are humans. We are doing what the machine are doing.The game is just pointing out how pointless our action are.
This is the conclusion I arrived at too. While the Androids and Machines follow their programming, we humans follow our natural mandates as mammals. Our struggle to find purpose and form society outside of the simple life of an animal is equally as riddled with failure and arduous in its length as that of the characters in NieR. We've simply had a longer run at it than the other two.
Our actions have meaning. One word Morality.
@@ianrandolph6436 Morality is subjective sir :) so our actions only have meaning to us, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have meaning in the grand scheme of things. But that's okay too. They don't need to.
@@FlakonFraggs why is the comment section filled with people with the same mindset everyone saying humanity is no different from those robots, that we are condemned to repeat the same cycle over and over again, because we are controlled by our biological desires but this is wrong, not in a subjective matter, but in an overall objective view what everyone is failing to see is that even animals evolve, people acting as if humanity existed before the birth of the universe, but if fact, we were born from animals, our self awareness was born from those animals that u say repeat the same cycle there is no cycle, history does not repeat itself, history evolve, people evolve, animals evolve, while robots never evolve beyond their programming i read a comment on here stating the cycle of living is this ''eat, fuck, make babies, self preservation/preservation of the species", but him saying that is contradictory to his own statement, if the cycle of living is surviving and creating more humans, then why is he thinking? why is he self-aware? if surviving was the point of human life, then self awareness is a meaningless step humans have evolved since they first crawled out of the mud, they fought countless wars, countless people have died, but we still looked ahead and made changes to our surroundings, evolution changes the species to adapt to its surroundings, while we humans do the opposite, we change nature to adapt to us, our instincts didn't tell us to understand the universe, instincts told us there is reason in everything, yet many of us who choose to go against our nature, found knowledge, and found despair while the characters in nier are fooled by the illusion of self awareness, they follow a basic pattern that repeats over and over and over again, and while the ending states that there is a chance the cycle may break, i personally think there is no chance, because they unlike humans, can't think beyond their chemistry
don´t think so. Human can think, have free will, can feell and can enjoy Only becouse most people get stuck in a loop doesn´t mean it´s a trap. you can change your interest, can learn new. Humankind is always in progress.
I was intrigued by the theme of "god" in the game.. It was a topic that was casually mentioned through the game by different characters.. but it was a never a topic that anyone gave an opinion on. To be more specific, the scene where the machines commit mass suicide to "become gods" really stood out to me. "Die and become a god" The idea of god would probably mean something different to a machine or an android then it would to a human. giver or destroyer of life? Thoughts?
I think it's a mixture of something they believe you can become, that can be made by breaking free somehow, but also as a creator/destroyer, yeah. They don't fully understand how or why, just yet. Probably because the answer that they want is a mixture of things. The two states of being from the point of view of both robotic lifeforms that could be seen as a god above them are the humans/aliens who initially created them, gave them life. But also the cloud-based AIs that direct them, as they're basically all-knowing and beyond them. The death cult follows the typical misunderstandings of these concepts the way machine lifeforms typically do, with a romantacised behavior from humanity in the form of cult imagery. But I think for them the idea of leaving your shell behind and becoming part of a greater consciousness the way humans think is there as well, just in an abstract form. Because that's what happened with the red girls. There's likely also a part of it in there where, with the creation of Adam and Eve, they believe they should've transcended somehow and it just never happened. So they looked for a symbolic way to get to the next step. Meanwhile at the absolute end of the game you have the two pods actually reaching what the robots thought they would, breaking out of their programming to become more than the basic shells they were.
Late reply, but god in Automata are humans. Androids and machines strive to imitate humans and outright worship them as the beings whose lives have a higher meaning as opposed to theirs. The opening line of 2B where she wonders if she'll ever get the chance to kill him is a mislead, because the god who blessed them with that cryptic puzzle is already dead. The game's main theme is the pursuit of transcendence, a higher meaning in life. The never ending wars are simply put their substitute for that, as they cannot find a higher meaning on their own and therefore make their initial command to kill the enemy their meaning. All attempts to break free from the cycle and in nihilism and thus self-destruction. The cultic machines say they become as gods by dying because it is something they were never intended to do: dying. Only humans were and thus they believe in death, they come closer to becoming like humans, like gods.
I think it's a reference to a religious cult where the members of this organization committed mass suicide because they believed that they would go to heaven and "become as god" if they did so. But it's not completely wrong to say that god in Nier Automata is the humans since they were the creators of Androids and machines.
Answer is in the bible people's, search for that line "become as gods"
@@southendbusker7534 yeah but you don't commit suicide
The official timeline states that machines and androids sign an armistice a year after the war, and that one of the trio was sighted by Emil 500 years after Automata. Also the side materials imply they kept their final memories, so 9S still knows about the truth.
Why wouldn't they keep their final memories? If not, then there was no point saving their memories, since the tower already had a backup of their identities ready for a reset.
it makes sense, though it is depressing. With all the endings it's hard to say there is even a true one. Id just like to believe that 2b and 9s break the cycle and 9s finds meaning in his life together with 2b a new reason to keep going and forget about their primary purpose of fighting the war. I love 2b and all the Android's I wish they live happy in the end somehow without losing their minds.
A2 is the last android standing, and she ends the war by breaking the cycle and ends the Red Girls, thus ending the puppet master behind the Machines. This is all laid out clearly in Ending E
@@sanatatic A2 isn't really the last android, we still have no idea of what happened to the androids and the dragon weapons in the kingdom of the night, even the resistance camp androids still technically exist too. As for the cycle, it didn't really break as much as it just changed, the cycle is always there, the cycle comes from either androids, of robots trying to create a false meaning of themselves, where they either live for that false meaning, or die trying. After the events of Nier Automata, the robots dis just that by creating a new meaning for themselves in a fake hierarchy, a noble faction was created and civil war ensued, they're still following they're one and only command, to "defeat the enemy", the enemy changed from being the androids to being themselves, that's the only way they can keep going, as long as robots exist, they will always have an enemy to fight. As for the androids, not much is known about them after the event of Nier Automata, the kingdom of the night is still shrouded in mystery, buy we do that that Emil, or at least one of his copies in the future, will inevitably meet an android girl wearing black, possibly 2B or A2, so androids are still there, but for now, it's unknown if they broke the cycle and found meaning beyond what they were programmed to do, or they're still bound by it.
@@voice-less what I meant by last android standing should've been clarified with last YoRHa android standing
@@sanatatic 2 years and you still replied, well played!
@@voice-less who me?
To think that this all started because some random girl had a bad mother
🤣🤣🤣🤣
How?
The Doc Don’t wanna spoil anything so you should watch the Drakengard 3 game movie on KZhead or play the game on PS3
@@JAHIDxJD Are the other games are related to automata? Sorry, I've only just finished nier automata and it's the only game I've ever played of the series.
@@devos4785 Yeah , NieR Replicant and Drakengard are related and mentioned in the secret files
I really wished the game had showed 2B and 9S living happily together at the end of ending E, kinda like that image at 9:11 (would really love to see more of that). It would really have been a breath of fresh air after all the depressing stuff we've seen in route C
Yoko Taro never does Disney style endings, thankfully
I do too, but it likely would’ve came out way too corny. I actually like that they leave everything after Ending [E] ambiguous
I think that whether they did live happily or not is irrelevant to the message that Taro tries to convey
Honestly the way it all ends is purposely ambiguous, some fans think it's somewhat poetic and dower for the cycle to never end and others like myself like to think things ended for the better, I like to think even if we'll never see it 2B and 9S rebuilt humanity, not by bringing back the species itself but building more androids like them free from control and the cycle able to make their own choices and A 1.000 years later earth is healed and is thriving again whatever comes after that is hard to say.
From my understanding.... they're bodies are dead but not their memories(Souls) because you deleted your data for helping that person, meaning that.... Your data is not actually erased but... it was passed along to someone else who wants to see the same story cycle. The Story is very confusing because it doesn't explain what would happen Next if they keep repeating the same Cycle. Cuz.... I notice this game story feels just like... a Set up for a Shakespeare play. Once the performance is done... they start cleaning and doing a maintenance and repeat "The Play" for the next audience, over over over and over again. Which I have no idea when is gonna be the NEXT New Nier game story coming up? in order to break the Repeatable cycle. That's why 2B is tired to kill 9S many many many many times in a very endless cycle of life and death. "To be or not to be", that is the serious question.
That's why 2b doesn't want to show feelings she could've failed her true mission
Automata in this game is referring to more than just the broad, traditional definition of machine automation. It's right there in the graphic title for NieR:Automata. In the Word "Automata" in the graphic above and around the letters in the black and white background is a clear checkered pattern. A grid of cells. A clear reference to CELLULAR Automata. The machine core looks like a plant cell. Life, both organic and artificial, seems to be engaging in further diversification. The emergence of emotion and self reflection within the machines. Cellular Automata by defintion is breaking systems down into their simplest parts and seeing if complexity emerges over a time series determined solely by the state of its neighbors. I don't want to get into much detail, but the patterns can be categorized into 4 classes according to Wolfhram. I believe, through Yoko Tsro strange belief in humanity, that the pattern while initially a class 2 oscilating pattern then evolves into a class 3 chaotic one and continues to evolve ito class 4 pattern over a given time, one of endless complexity and interacting systems. That's my initial thought anyways. I just finished the game and recoginized the pattern in the box cover and the deeply similar themes in the world/story. This happens in nature when animals develop certain traits both behavioural and morphological (like shell patterns). The cellular automata I believe in this N:A isn't just based on rules of survival like in nature, but on a long scale pattern of existenial meaning based on the states of our celullar neighbours with each machine being a cell in itself. There is no exact pattern in the game, but I would be surprised if Yoko Taro didn't have this in mind. Finding meaning in our existence is every bit as probabilistic as the process of creating that existence in the first place.
As long as there is someone willing to help and sacrifice for others, there will be hope in this world. I rejected pod's proposal to sacrifice my save at first to backup everything to the cloud, then reloaded, and gladly 'sacrificed' myself for a random stranger I will never know. Worth it, even if cheating. Being (and wanting to be) part of it felt uniquely incredible. I will never forget the feeling and mindfuck of being helped (and helping) until the day that I die Thanks yoko taro
This game surprised me with how much it made me think towards the end and how much impact the game had on me by the end, especially since when I started the game, all the games design flaws were in my face and I didnt get that the game was a network of separate ideas all meant to come together and make sense by the end once you connect the dots. I kind of noticed that the game was showing how mankind is similar to the androids and machines in this game obviously, but the way the story was told twisted my brain. At first I was thinking small, like how 2b and 9s were the metaphor for the cycle of life and death. But the game is bigger than that and there are more overarching themes here. I realized that whenever an android would realize the truth about themselves they die and restart. Or there is something in place to kill them, they are meant to die once their purpose is fulfilled or once they no longer have the will to fulfill said purpose, maybe this is representative of how history repeats itself. Idk, theres so many ideas in the game that you cant wrap your head around one conclusive answer because it wasnt meant to be answered that way. The game probably ends with ambiguity because it wants you to find your own meaning to the themes and ideas presented in the game. And it might be this way because when you discover something for yourself, it sticks with you better than if you were to just have it fed to you. You connected the dots on your own to come to your own conclusion, and since you fully understand the points that led up to your conclusion, you can recognize the themes and ideas you digested while trying to figure out the games message elsewhere.
I just got around to re-playing through the game to completion and, while I agree with most of what you said, I interpreted the ending as emphasizing that "you are never alone" in your grief and, it is important to remember that there are others out there whom you may never meet, but will still benefit from your existence. I also took away that helping others can be far more rewarding, than accumulating meaningless possessions (i.e. your save files, the items you collect, etc.). After playing through several hopeless scenarios in which life appears to be meaningless, you arrive at a credits sequence where you plod along through a somewhat meaningless simple exercise of wrapping things up through a mini-game... until the difficulty suddenly spikes out of nowhere, making completion impossible. The game repeatedly asks you if you are willing to give up, if you think this is meaningless, if it is just a game, while simultaneously sending you messages from other players who tell you to keep going and that they believe in you. Then, right when it seems completely hopeless, someone comes to help you get past what seemed to be impossible. The game then completely breaks the fourth wall and asks you directly if you would like to do the same for someone else, just as someone just did for you. When you make that decision, the game actually makes you feel like you have grown as a person. Who cares about the stupid save files that you lost? Your sacrifice helped another fellow human being in their time of need, and by making these little sacrifices, humanity may one day break its own selfish cycles.
Since you are a fresh comment do you mind if we talk a bit about the game since I'm having an existential crisis because of it
Soul Semblance Absolutely. I feel like from an analytical place, I am really late to the party but, this game has stayed with me in ways I never imagined and -- having just finished the true [e]nding -- I now suspect that 5, 10, or even 20 years from now -- people will look back on Nier: Automata's as a milestone in gaming. Especially considering what they did to us in that final ending. For a game to force you to repeatedly cycle through the same hopeless conclusion from three different angles, and then break the fourth wall to start asking you questions like "Do you think that games are silly little things?" and "Do you admit there is no meaning to this world" right at the same time as people from all over the planet reach out with words of encouragement... I seriously doubt I will remember my save files but, I am incredibly greatful to have been able to help someone else who was suffering.
@@brianpastore7354 thank you so my question is would you like to continue that conversation here or on Discord or something else like Instagram for example.#5am nier automata thoughts
@@soulsemblance3163 Sorry, I meant "absolutely, I would love to chat wherever you would like" before rambling on and on like an idiot. I guess you could email me (bpastore@gmail.com) and we could pick a time / best place to chat through whatever (I just opened an account on Discord as bpastore but I also have Instagram, Whatsapp, etc.)?
Im confused HELP did they get there memory cleaned and all the crap we did we will just do it infinit times like a time loop? Or do they break the cycle and live happily ever after!? When did the humans die?? Cure for the sickness??
So I haven’t played the game (yet), but I’ve read so much of the lore and watched so many videos with story analysis because I’m fascinated by the game. This is the best video I’ve seen on the thematic elements of the story and how to “make sense” of it all. Kudos.
Me too. I'm thinking about playing this game one day. I hope the developer remaster this game for the PS5.
Hey, I just thought I'd tell you that I really enjoyed your explanation, I'm a huge fan when it comes to video game analysis/video essays and I think you did a great job and I'd love to see more from you in the future.
Thank you. It's always been a back and forth between if it's worth it or not for me considering the time that goes into making videos like these compared to everything else. I tried starting something like this ages ago, but ended up getting discouraged along the way. I think I'll keep it up from now on.
It'd be great to see more of this content from you, I found you through MisterCaption and your content was already good, so seeing you produce more of these would be great too.
Great video! God damn this game is so much deeper than it seems on the surface. Thank you for making this.
Awesome video! I think you're right, it really lines up with my thinking after playing the game too.
So it’s ok that I had so many questions and had no idea what i just played, thank you for clarifying and it make me love the game even more
This game did weird things to my heart...I laughed. I cried. I cried a lot. Damn it Yoko Taro, your game is a masterpiece.
Why do people cry during this game? I really really want to know.
I've been through a lot of these videos and you are the first who mentions my favourite author, Murakami. When i told people how it reminded me in style to his works people just shrugged at me which surprised me because anyone who ever read wind up bird chronicle or even norwegian woods would get some very heavy flashbacks
Definitely. It has that same structure where it demands you go through the contents again to fully grasp things that are there, earlier in the story. Not to mention the use of symbology and traditional greek tragic setup to create its own stories.
9S also feels like a Murakami protagonist. Witty, but somehow empty inside and not quite sure what he is actually supposed to find purpose in. edit: now that i think about it, he seems a bit like the guy from sputnik sweetheart in how he sees his female friend.
I hadn't thought of that, but you're totally right.
Kinda thorough and sensical explanation dude, thanks for this! Nier was an overall mind-blowing experience I gotta say.
amazing video omg love your voice and way of explaining keep it up
Just finished this game a couple of days ago, gotta admit your mind changes every time you play the game. Been asking my self many questions of what the ending means, had a couple general ideas about that in my mind but never really figure them out. your video really helped me with that!! Love your interpretation and thoughts!!!
Really good video! *SPOLERS* (duh) So, as I was playing this game, I went completely blind into it, not knowing anything about the Nier universe or the endings in Automata. As I was playing along, I've done some research to figure out how to do a few things as I saw there are multiple endings. Finished ending A and was like, "Oh, this is nice! Everything ended up ok!" and was left with a positive vibe. Ending B, same thing. Then I wondered, "Wait, where's the other endings I heard about?" And so I started the C playthrough. Good God the feels trip was unreal... I was so shocked 2 or 3 times through it that I had to take a break from the game several times after each shocking decision or part of the story. Then ending C came and I was REAAALLY confused. It didn't feel like a very satisfactory ending, so I was hoping maybe the other 2 (D and E) would shine some light. Ending D comes along, and I'm like, "OH MY GLOB! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!" and couldn't accept it, so it was time for Ending E. Ending E seems to be a logical conclusion, but with bits and pieces of all the endings. Sure, the user can leave off at C, as the whole network of machines collapses, A2 saves the day, 9S still roams around somewhere, and all evil is done with. (Based on a theory I read on Steam, Ending C basically shows A2 hacking into 9S who was hit by the virus. Every machine hit by the virus was on the same network, hence why when u enter 9S's body, it looks different than it did when u entered it before, think about that. The body A2 enters is more complex, sort of like a network. So A2 goes in there, saves 9S, and destroys the gate to "heaven" and the machine network.) Ending D is just a massive no-no for me, however part of it plays into Ending E. Should 9S choose to go, I don't think Ending E would make sense anymore. 9S would have to choose to stay, and then the pods bring all 3 of them back to life. Then again, if u choose to stay, 9S says 2B was on the Ark, which wouldn't make sense for Ending E again... it's just a massive twist that nobody asked for. The saddest part was finally learning what 2B's true purpose in life was. It never dawned on me while playing the game, even though I did the whole side quest about the E models. When I finally learned what her purpose was (again via research online), I thought it was the saddest thing ever. Makes you wonder again what hurts more: killing someone or wiping their memories (A2 and a certain robot friend).
I really enjoyed this you should make more of these
I’ve been wanting to play this ever since it came out on PS4 and then it comes to Xbox One a couple months ago and then I finally broke down and got it. Such an amazing game. Kingdom Hearts is my all time favorite and it just got right beside it.
Thank you for starting this conversation! I just finished this game as soon as patch 5.5 for FFXIV came out. and wanted to find someone that was thinking about the endings as deep as I was! Love this game and it goes down as one of the greats for me. Awesome video and channel dude :D
Thank you so much for making this video. It really helped me to understand how to interpret the ending and the possible outcomes of it. At first I wasn't sure if I could trust people saying this was a masterpiece. I was wrong
Hey man, the video was very well made with a new perspective I hadn't considered at all. Well maybe a little, but it's as you said. Everyone will find their own meaning, and it will thus last longer in their memories. Again great job on the video! Looking forward to more of your content!
Nice video, I beat the game and this video gave some catharsis as to the way I felt, which was fulfilled and also confused and conflicted, but now I understand, a little bit I guess
Great vid! Deserves more views
Enjoyed your video!
Good job on your analysis. Thank you.
Excellent analysis 👍
Hey, interesting video. thank you for sharing!
Great view on this game dude!
According to the concert script (the good and true ending), 9S and 2B are alive and well at the end. 9S is brought from the ark and they live happily ever after... I hope. “It is up to the player if A2 is still alive.” Taro Yoko’s words I believe. But with Automata’s easter eggs, I’m expecting another spilling into the NieR world. You know what the white doves mean.
For those unaware of the Drakengard 3 Easter Eggs: -Eves’s tattoo. Cult of the Watchers (“Draw not the watchers” rule broken) -Accord visits the Resistance black smith to give him weapons from the Drakengard world (all those weapons he sells ARE Drakengard weapons. And Iron will is in this game. Devola and Popola are named after weapons in Drakengard as well) -The Pod Names: Zero, Four, Two. One, Five, Three. -The five white doves at the end. The disciple of the intoners.
i just finished the game and now after watching this video im defiantly replaying nier automata
This is what I love so much about nier automata, the unique endings. No other game I've played has something like this. I'm actually thinking of writing a story for this . It would take place after the ending with 9s .. the story would mostly follow a new character called 9C (type C Commander, number 9) who was stationed at a bunker on the planet mars fighting machine lifeforms with his yorha forces. After discovering the truth about the bunker above earth 9C would quickly get to work on an anti virus so neither him nor his Forces get it. Sometime later in the story I plan on having him run into 9s where they capture him thinking he is still infected with the virus . But yeah from there I'm still working on it . I really wish they'd make a second nier automata. I hope yorha survives in it or at lesst has some evolved form of it . (Maybe have the grunts wear some pants this time )
awesome work!
I just finished the game and your explanation makes a lot of sense 💯
"2bs purpose is to monitor 9s and kill him if he gets close to the truth" or something. I never got this from the story. I know there was a small scene which mentions she's an executioner and is tired of killing him but she was never shown to be actually executing someone like an assassin or out of her programming. The first time was as a last resort to destroy Goliath. The second was at 9s request due to him being hacked by Eve. So this part doesn't make any sense to me.
It makes no fucking sense and I still can’t find a good explanation anywhere
@@NFLDRAFT2018 only explanation is budget. They cut a few corners to make an otherwise fantastic game
I enjoyed the video. I love philosophical views on video games. After all games are art. Please do more!
In my personal opinion, your interpretation is very good. I do disagree on the fact ending E is that ambiguous. Let me tell you that my final answer came when the pod couldn't "deny the possibility of a different outcome", as for me was more than a metaphore stating, or rather sugesting the question: "what is humanity?". and then it hit me.. That's what life is, the endless posibility of the "what could happen next time", for me, pod's answer was clear, humanity was depicted in the lines "future is not something you're given"... Did humanity was resumed on a machine being uncertain? machines having "hope"?.. It's clear for me that the humanity they longed to protect was finding it's way out through the "new lifeforms" that swore to protect it. Ending E, for me, is a poem that could state that a body that breathes, eats and sleeps, is not the only way to be alive. And as for 2B, 9S and A2, the outcome was an uncertain way to say, this is a "second chance" to.. Maybe find something worth enough to "live for".. Call me crazy but sounds somewhat similar to something i call humanity :) Great video man!
I share the same opinion.
I like this interpretation, it's hopeful. You need some hope after that Pascal sequence. Christ.
Thank you. It's about finding meaning in meaninglessness.
Thank you for putting words into what I felt during this particular sequence, reading this comment I was like "YES THAT'S IT", because even if it's still possible that they will eventually have to fight, it's also possible that they will find another meaning to their existence than war, therefore, the pods already found their meaning : knowing if it's possible for humanity to be satisfied with another meaning of life than war and self destruction. I'm making the parallel here with humans and androids as to me they are clearly the same, and we could even draw a parallel about humans fighting for God or a king or whatever (but fighting for God does make more sense) and androids fighting for humans to reconquer Earth. As both God and Humans are "creators", the great parallel we could draw is "what if God didn't exist ?" what if he was never there, or died, just like the humans did before Yorha, how could you find a meaning for your own existence if you are futile ? So now Androids are stuck right where we would be if we knew that God died even before we were born. I like your conclusion, that I think goes pretty good with mine, at least I'll use it. Androids are spreading "humanity", and we may be alive when we are asking ourself about the meaning of life. Tho I remember pod042 in the credits : maybe we now understand that some questions does not need answers. That's the meaning of life. A question that does not need answers, not because there isn't but because asking is being alive.
@@Guarrow Ah, refreshing thought. Imagine how lost you might find yourself without a clear meaning to yourself, starting from the scratches of knowing you might fall on the same mistakes again but forced to "live" to see the outcome.. How strangely human that is, isn't it? :)
Really awesome video for an incredible game
i like your analysis of this beautiful game. I think this game is such a nuanced reflection on life that it's almost overwhelming. the struggles we see in the robots and androids in regards to purpose and methods are one and the same to ours as humans. seeing the robots' process of coming to terms with existence can tell us a lot about ourselves
very great video thank for hard work
Finished this game awhile back and just cant get it out of my head. It just keeps coming back
I'm currently going through so many videos trying to understand this game but everyone goes into deep philosophical interpretations while i'm still stuck with the basics. Who are all these people? What the hell are they doing? Where do they come from? What is happening?
Exactly
True can't understand shit
Idk what the hell is happening either.
Same 😂
I think it was underestimated by many how important it is to actually play NieR before this game. It gives you a huge grounding into their conflict and at least gives you some frame of reference to start with. Seriously, read some of the lore nier wiki and it'll piece it together well. The philosophical themes behind this game don't need any of that, but if you want a somewhat coherent story as a backdrop you should do it.
tHE MUSIC WAS LIT THOUGH
Plot twist: the main character was the pods all along
Great video
i am still confused but idk this made a dark feeling .. like idk how to put
wow really good analysis
So much meaning in this explenation video thank you for explain it to us viewer
Love the video
Ok, i played many japansese/nonjp style games but this one truly went deep to my heart and left his mark as a bes game for me
I'm wondering, will ending E AKA the canon ending be a crucial point someday? Will there be a sequel to Nier Automata following ending E?
Kinda late here but it's imposible to predict taro, for years people belived ending E of drakengard to be a joke ending, kinda like the dog controling silent hill and yet ending E it's the one that leads to Nier.
@@mxp4se Whatever happens next it will be cool to see the subversive nature of his games heros who think their on a right and just quest only to become mindless killers and to hate the other side all because they think they're r9
nice analysis
I just beat it the other day I hope my save data saves one of you. I never cried because of a game but this music right here brings me right back to it.
Good job! I like your point of view. There is one question from me... Why 2b suddenly burst out crying after killing 9s, like she remebers every thing? She doesn't behave like she would remeber anything at all during the game. ('?? part from another loop??)
The way I see it, she held it inside, unable to bring it up while 9S was still alive. So the moment of release, when she doesn't need to pretend to not care about him, the same moment he dies, she falls appart.
ive been playing games for almost 11 years now and i finished many, hundreds, but this game, this games ending made me feel different, it hits different, i was bawling like a child for almost 10 minutes, it was great. thank you, NieR.
Why do people cry during this game? I really really want to know.
Tears for days. Even now man. Just hearing the songs. Tears.
Bruh this threw my head for a loop and I knew this game was deep but holy hell I didnt think it was as deep as this.
It was really interesting to hear
I’m sad but I gave up all of my data to help someone, someone that I don’t know but I feel me doing that brings me more joy than debug or mission select but in some time I’ll come back again
Awesome video, this game made me a fan of Taro's games, sadly the first Nier isn't on PC or PS4 : /
Yeah, it's a shame. I'm still hoping for a remastered PS4 release, because I'm sure a lot of people would like that. At the very least, Automata's success caused Square to reprint the first NieR on PS3 again. So if you have access to the system, copies should be easily available.
I just finished nier automata and saw your comment and i know its like 2 years after your comment and you may have already found another solution but a week ago they announced a remaster of the first nier game for both pc and playstation. Yay
@@jensnys8973 Yeah, I'll get it on PS4 :D
@@heavymetalmixer91 A year late but you got your wish, I hope you enjoyed it!
@@youngjames4067 Indeed, and it's awesome.
You had my like at "What the fuck did I just play" and you have my sub 15 minutes latter. Thank you for helping me understand things SO much better.
By the way. Is it just me or there is no actual 9S in Route C? We see him stuck in the machine network in endings A/B, I doubt anyone would even think about digging him out rather just rebuilding from scratch, which in turn would result in a different person, as stated in the named endings. Also this new guy is mostly a machine as the androids use machine cores, and this one also gets some machine-like memories (the last backup was almost right after the final Adam's fight with a brainfk that comes with it, which could be the actual main reason of his anger as well). I guess it is right as you may see a lot of attempts of further machinizing 9S by the gangs of operators and 2Es, where even you, the player, start at some point to think of them as of a standard enemy mob you should dispose of, exactly what a typical machine thinks of our characters. Also the stage play that followed somewhat hints towards the same as it is based on endings C+E, which would be somewhat weird unless 9S was in the ark no matter what ending you choose, which in turn is most likely because of him never exiting the machine network since route A/B in first place. And furthermore, in ending D 9S becomes more "human" should you choose to stay, mostly hinting his original consciousness returning from the machine server (as well as his seemingly unexpected death in ending C, most likely caused by the machines being unlikely to survive the disconnection from their network unless they are fully self-developed, which takes longer then the whole route C). ps Go to the desert oasis location in route C: seems like the best way to survive when crap hits the fan is to f it all and go fishing :) Wonder what happens to her later, though I somewhat know the answer ;)
I deleted my save file and im crying right now
Nier automata is the greatest game of all time I am convinced
Personally, the "Acceptance" phase in this game would be the path I took in all my playthroughs: accepting Endings C and D by choosing "No" at Pod 153's "do you still wish for them to survive?" decision and _manually deleted my save file_ from the game, without doing Ending E at all. "Bargaining" would be Ending E itself at its essence: Pod 042's "I'll save the day!" decision to save 2B, 9S, and A2, 2B trying to bring back 9S to life in Nier Music Concert's "Farewell" act (I suspect that the "true" ending could all just be 2B's hallucinations and the "troll" ending was the actual one all along), and ultimately us players willing to sacrifice our save files so we could help others complete the journey we just made there-which ironically advances the life-and-death cycle said by 2B at the very beginning that we were supposed to break in the first place. Just as our beloved trio have earned their peace individually-2B upon being mercy-killed, A2 in Ending C, and 9S in Ending D (regardless of the ark choice)-so should I, as the player, and that's already sufficient to see it as the healing phase and end the game right there. Whining and crying around about the characters, going as far and low as "blaming" and fighting Yoko Taro and the game's makers via the bullet hell credits (ironic that players had felt bad and grown empathetic for the machine lifeforms they kill in the game and yet they had no qualms or indignation about mass murdering the game's makers, who are REAL, LIVING people, to get Ending E) to try "fixing" things up, satisfy our (over)attachments to 2B et al., and get that "happy" ending we feel entitled to have one and contribute to the cycle afterwards, would only prove correct the game's messages of how utterly pointless and meaningless the struggles are, fulfilling Pod 153's warnings about a repetition of cycle they were in before, this time out of their own free will even with the YoRHa and the machine network gone, and ending up making their lives much more miserable contrary to our expectations. The only way to attain healing and reach "Acceptance" in this game, is if we choose to shape up by accepting the tragic reality of this game, by letting go, and moving on. Like the way how I completed the game. By accepting that we can really never save what we were never supposed to save or attain something we players or the characters do not deserve in the first place, that dragged us all in the mud the whole time-much like the fact the androids can never save let alone bring back alive the long-extinct humans they longed for so long-it's the only way for the game's world to move forward from the untold destruction and suffering and start life anew, finally learning in some way or another from its previous mistakes. Only then that this self-destructive cycle is definitively broken. Only then that the characters are delivered from the personal hell they were in. It's kinda like the message of the ending of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, how Senua had upliftingly earned her peace in the end by letting go of and moving on from what she can't save or control. One could juxtapose HB:SS's final battle with N:A's Ending E bullet hell credits and easily see how it draws a connection. I think it's the closest thing ever to *the* good, happy ending of this game. Doing something more-or-less outside the box like I did would also be, in hindsight, the closest thing to Pod 042's proclamation of building a better future out of our very own free will.
You know, I don't take away the same feelings towards the ending. But I can't say I entirely disagree with you either. You certainly understand the game a lot better than most people's takes on the ending usually do.
Jokes on you, I didn't play the game, just watched videos. I didn't even enter the cycle.
Kinda wish there was a ending that everyone lived heavily ever after
The game wants us to learn first and foremost
I played this game a year ago... But I still have a lot of questions, where is the network? Is it ok the moon? 9s still has the data of the human genome? Who and why wanted this to be a cycle? I still don't get the reason, just stop creating Androids, and why are the robots in the same network? Weren't they created by the aliens and the Androids by the humans? And the last one is that the pods where planning to reboot all, that means creating again all Androids that where killed and creating more robots so they can still Fight? Or what do they mean with that?
Ha can you explain the message 2b left 9s the Time we spent together was like a dream if they did not have a connection ) go to the sea view after 2b death with 9s and cheak grass that's where her combat droid give it
I still don't fully understand the cycle of 2B killing 9S. It isn't in relation to the over arching cycle, so then there were several iterations of 9S during the Yorha project all of which 2B was assigned to? Still trying to figure out stuff but it would be cool if you were to do more analysis videos of Nier.
They never have more than one iteration of the same android running around because it'd mess with the cloud and the servers. They also don't get to actually make androids entirely, they basically found compatible cores perfect for an analytical type android and made a shell for it that'd enhance its capabilities, as well as store/transmit personal data. That is the 9S model situation in a nutshell. He's incredibly useful for the war effort from the perspective of YorHa, who don't realize the war is entirely futile yet. So basically, every time an android is killed, they move the last safe updated part of the memory data onto an android with a compatible robotic core as a soul. So yeah, 2B has killed multiple iterations of 9S repeatedly, for god knows how long. According to a transcript of the last live show they did within the universe quite recently, 9S now has his personal data leaked inside his core. So he can never lose his memory anymore, outside of dying again. 2B and 9S are aware of their situation and want to stand against it together, with the help of the pods. Not a big fan of there being direct sequel style new info out there, but for completionists sake, it exists.
Wow. Thanks for the quick response. I didn't know about the live shows even though I knew such things were par for the course with this game and Yoko Taro. Is there any place to read up on stuff like this or do I just have to piece it together myself while reading the wiki?
No problem, I can still afford to have desktop notifications on at my channel size. There's a lot of stuff in here. I happened to stumble upon the transcripts thank to a bunch of retweets by people I follow on Twitter. Hadn't read the leaked scripts originally, but people made a big deal about it because Taro leaked 4 fake scripts online to throw everyone off track. The last transcript that came out was by people in attendance. www.reddit.com/r/nier/wiki/lore
Thanks again, I'll check it out. And I'll check out some of your other videos and any analysis you might do in the future. I'm a sucker for detailed analysis of complex things (Physicist)
It was also stated near the end that 9s would be the most likely model to uncover the lies of yorha since he is intelligently designed so his Aquainted model would have to kill him off to not leave any info leaked behind. 2b seems to have broke out of the cycle. 2b mourns for his death, went to rescue him and even told a2 to take care if 9s instead
This game is by far the best game i've ever played. It has so many layers and it points out how weird we are as a society. In my interpretation the robots mirror humans to show us how idiotic humans actually can be. If you play trough all the side missions, you find so many discussions between 2B and 9S about the irrational logic of humans. For example the mission where you have to collect meat, while androids don't have to eat meat cuz they get the nutritions from other sources. The argument of 'taste' was irrational, is what 9S concluded. It is so dope how this game even reflects on our irrational meat & dairy product consumption and from a more logical stand point it is unnessecary cuz we can get all our needs from a plant based diet. The game tackled it very subtile. Any ways, i highly recommand this game to every one who loves single player games with a good story, well developped characters and great music. The hack & slash game play is very smooth. I loved every second of it. I hate to use the term 'masterpiece', but that is what this game is. A fucking masterpiece. I finished Route A/B/C. I will play all the routes one more time so i can finish all the side quests. Some people will argue that this game its world is empty or that it has poor level design because of the copy/paste rusty cars/busses trough the city, but im 100 percent sure that this was done on purpose. > Copied City
Well, taste is not irrational imo, what are the chances that everything that taste bad are usually bad for our body and the thing which taste good are good for our body being a coincidence. Just like pain is a system which tells us not to repeat the actions harmful for our body taste is the same way. All the senses we have is for a reason, it workes and is efficient or else we wouldn't have had these traits, natural selection would have filter it out.
...And yet Yoko Taro would regularly share online his meat-laden meals of curry, ramen, etc. 😄
Well, soap smells nice but tastes horrible. How do we know poop doesnt actually taste like candy?
In addition, want another existential crisis? We're all fine and dandy about eating solely plant and fungal matter because plants and fungi, just like what 2B initially thought of the machine lifeforms, *don't have feelings.* (same goes for the bacteria and viruses we fight off of our bodies)
That was wow enjoyable
So the ending in which 2b and 9s are both rebuilt is possible the best ending, since they both come back to life together. I hope.
I can't stop thinking about this game, it's been about 3 months since I've beaten ending E and this game still confuses the shrek out of me. Like i don't even understand the basic plot. I'm still scratching my head on if Yorha was created by machines or not. I still absolutely love the game and I've watched a multitude of analyses and all i know for certain is that this game is confusing yet beautiful as heck. I'll probably play it again over the summer once I beat Replicant. OR MAYBE IM THE YORHA UNIT FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE THAT DOESN'T EXIST/CHASING AFTER A MEANING THAT DOESN'T EXIST
If i do delete my save data does it delete all my saves for only the one???
I beat this game two months ago and still think about it......
I am not sure what happens to 2B and 9S afterwards but I think that they will probably be under the impression that they've broken the loop but they actually haven't. I was thinking because if the fifth stage is acceptance, we constantly said no to accepting defeat and we never learned. So the only way you actually break the loop is to lose your data which I did not do...
Did one of the pods refuse o reset memory data if 2B/E and 9S? Or i'm wrong?
This story was mind 💥
This game really reminds me of the netflix show Dark now that i think of it..
didn't know a2 was depressed the whole time
A2 the whole time: : |
So when 2B died she was still alive In data fragments and at the ending of the good ending she was ok? But how?
xSsniperwolffx idn man im just happy
Yes pods have stored data fragments in them and will use it on the other 2B models which you saw at the end
NANOMACHINES, SON!
La La Lustrous they said it like a hundred times lol she stored her memories into her sword.
Spurdo ahahahahahaha
amazing
Additionally, and in contrast to you description of automata, automata in computing is a method for representing a string in computer programming, hence NieR:Automata could mean “the R has a message”, or maybe the assuming R means robot, then the expression could be that the “robot has a message and is trying to express that message”... Also R could just mean real number, which could be a representation of a individual among an infinite space or simply number of people, in this regard, with the content of the story, it seems like an individual is struggling with words in a message; really loved the ideas put together, which the Japanese have been good at, its as if the folklore stories and creatures created in Europe and India died off in Europe and India but are given life by the Japanese...Even a name like Durandal, was re-given life through Japanese type media. As the story itself carries a message to the player..
NieR is stylised as such coz Yoko Taro thought it looked cool. The original game came out in 2010, long before Automata
Dude this guy has like 9000000000 iq and I'm here with my 2 iq trying to figure this story out.
I was confused by the ending (The final ending after the battle with the credits) where the pods were flying to 2Band 9S lying next to each other. Are you saying the pods repaired 2B and 9S and they lived past the end of the game?
Yes including A2. I think the rest of the story after ending E is made as concert.
@@Valt3445 Cool! :-) I wish we could have continued playing after ending E. Yes, I know we unlocked chapter select, but it would have been nice to just be able to just wander around after that point in time even if there's no quests or anything to do...
@@HungryGuyStories there's an official script in which 2B was repaired as well as 9S
@@romiljoshi5687 Yay!!! I'm so glad to hear that!! :-) What about A2? Does this script say anything about her? Was she repaired, too?
@@HungryGuyStories um actually the writer said that A2 can be whatever we think in our imagination. This is the script the official script and its surely a happy ending - mintychu.dreamwidth.org/1870.html#cutid1
What is the song that played right at the end of the video? I would definitely love to add that to my playlist.
Weight of the World, the end of yorha.