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NieR Automata PS4 demo available now

UrbanRats

Member
Not that I was complaining, & it's genre isn't RPG, but Metal Gear Solid V was open world at 60 frames per second on console.

For sure MGSV looks better, but it was an engine that took them how many years and resources to build? I'm not here claiming Nier Automata is a technical marvel, but to always expect the top of the industry is absurd, and given the resources they had (likely limited, because Nier is a very niche brand, and Platinum isn't swimming in cash) and having to run at 60fps, i really can't complain with the results.
 

Xevren

Member
Already playing this an unhealthy amount tonight lol. Going bare handed is pretty fun, she even has Cammy's Spiral Arrow. Way too excited for this game.
 
I feel like people aren't doing themselves any favours comparing every aspect of Automata to every aspect of the original. When you played Nier for the first time I doubt you were listening out for every new piece of music and exhaustively comparing them to a different game's soundtrack; you just took it for what it was. I mean, if you don't like it you don't like it, but, like, give the game a chance, y'know?

Someone earlier in the thread was saying the original game played better than this one, which makes me think die-hard fans of the original are going to invent reasons not to like this one if they need to. I watched the same thing happen with Mirror's Edge Catalyst earlier this year; fans of the original not even willing to give the new game the time of day for the most trivial reasons.

For those complaining about the technical aspect, sure it's platinum's engine, which never looked that amazing, but can you really name another big RPG (with open world design) that runs at a decently smooth 60fps on console?

I'm pretty sure there's only one 60FPS open world game on consoles: MGSV. And that game probably had ten times the budget of Automata, spent a hell of a lot longer in development, had the Fox Engine specifically designed for it and who knows what other advantages. I think Automata looks totally considering.
 
Played through it once. The controls are so good, it seems to run at 60fps? Looks great on Pro. The music was incredible and gave me Xenogears/PDS vibes.

This is how you do a demo. Day 1.
 
For sure MGSV looks better, but it was an engine that took them how many years and resources to build? I'm not here claiming Nier Automata is a technical marvel, but to always expect the top of the industry is absurd, and given the resources they had (likely limited, because Nier is a very niche brand, and Platinum isn't swimming in cash) and having to run at 60fps, i really can't complain with the results.

I can forgive technical limitations of the engine. My bigger concern is the drabness and lackluster art direction of the demo area. I haven't seen anything else of the game, so this is my first exposure to the world.
 
Someone said p* just slapped their standard combat onto this... Sorry but this doesn't feel like Bayonetta or MGR. So far this feels super simple compared to those titles. Animations are top notch, controls feel nice, but I miss tinkering around with combos...
I heard there is MGR parry, but I didn't find it. What I found was a counter after android time. I like everything about the game, but combat so far. Which is weird coming from a platinumgames' game. Maybe they should update the demo with more weapons and skills unlocked...
 

UrbanRats

Member
How was this demo open-world?
(Anyway, there's MGS5 and Scholar of the First Sin. Obviously MGS5 had way more budget, though, and its art style isn't that stunning either.)
The full game is supposed to be an open world-ish RPG.
You don't expect them to change their tech for a demo, just because you don't get to experience that, no? Also, Scholar doesn't really look that better at all, and it's not really open world
Already addressed MGSV.

Yeah, that gorgeous mushy brown everywhere with the stunning architecture of grey-and-brown metal walls and stairs.... oh don't forget that beautiful sickly-beige skybox! :)
So this is like the RE4 discussion again, i don't think brown itself, or monochrome itself is a valid criticism point.
But opinions are like assholes, as they say, everybody has one, and everybody thinks everybody else's stinks.
I love the character design (though i already was a fan of Yoshida) i love the Ashley Wood-style robots, and i don't mind monochrome, if it fits the overall package.
I'm not trying to convince you to like it though, i think the art direction in Gears of War is solid, and i can see how someone would like it, but i find it gross.
I think the art direction in many hypercolorful, megapouldron-style fantasy nauseating, but i can why people can like it.
So on ans so forth.

I think this game has a strong visual identity, and it all works together within the limitations of the hardware (and having to hit 60fps).
Beyond that, i don't care if someone likes it or not, and i didn't challenge you on that point for exactly this reason.

I can forgive technical limitations of the engine. My bigger concern is the drabness and lackluster art direction of the demo area. I haven't seen anything else of the game, so this is my first exposure to the world.

Again, there's little to say if you don't like the art direction, i think it works wonderfully within its limitations (of course i would love for it to have better draw distance and more object on screen, etc etc), and i actually like it a lot.
 

silva1991

Member
image.php


Just gonna say I can't trust your judgement on this one :p

I loved the demo, but he is right. Aside from the music there is nothing good to say about the boss.
 

J-Skee

Member
Someone said p* just slapped their standard combat onto this... Sorry but this doesn't feel like Bayonetta or MGR. So far this feels super simple compared to those titles. Animations are top notch, controls feel nice, but I miss tinkering around with combos...
I heard there is MGR parry, but I didn't find it. What I found was a counter after android time. I like everything about the game, but combat so far. Which is weird coming from a platinumgames' game. Maybe they should update the demo with more weapons and skills unlocked...

I've seen this said in the thread a few times now & it has concerned me. I've only played the first few levels of Revengeance, but Automata feels a lot deeper to me. Have I played MGR wrong or something? I felt like all Raiden could do was parry & have flashy quick time events. When it came to actual combat, it didn't feel as satisfying. Maybe it's just been a while for me.
 

UrbanRats

Member
I loved the demo, but he is right. Aside from the music there is nothing good to say about the boss.

It's flashy and cool looking.
I agree it's not very challenging at all, but i assume it's because it was a demo/first look.
It did feel like a lite version of something you see in Bayonetta and DMC, especially Bayonetta, with all the gimmick phases (saying this in a positive way, i think they're fantastic).
 
Again, there's little to say if you don't like the art direction, i think it works wonderfully within its limitations (of course i would love for it to have better draw distance and more object on screen, etc etc), and i actually like it a lot.

While I think we've had quite enough of stoic, muted palettes last generation, sure we can disagree on that. But I think the architecture and boss design is uninspired, and the enemies tend to blend into the background, which hurts the gameplay a bit. So that's what I'm speaking of in terms of art direction, putting color palette aside.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
The full game is supposed to be an open world-ish RPG.
You don't expect them to change their tech for a demo, just because you don't get to experience that, no? Also, Scholar doesn't really look that better at all, and it's not really open world
Okay, but yes, Scholar does look way better overall. This demo looked even worse than Scholar's worst areas, and Scholar's worst areas honestly looked pretty bad.

So this is like the RE4 discussion again, i don't think brown itself, or monochrome itself is a valid criticism point.
There's no reason for everything to be that brown in this game. Also, I can appreciate monochrome palettes too; I love Bloodborne's art for instance. For a 60 fps game, Nioh looked better, with more details in the environment, more diversity of terrain, architecture, environmental and lighting effects, etc.

Again, there's little to say if you don't like the art direction, i think it works wonderfully, and i actually like it a lot.
I just fail to see what there is to like here. It's all so very drab. Mushy brown walls everywhere, no cool lighting effects, no intricate details in the architecture, nothing. Eh, you do you, but I am honestly baffled that anyone would think this demo looks good. Hopefully the final game will have better environments, but this demo isn't showcasing anything good.
 
Again, there's little to say if you don't like the art direction, i think it works wonderfully within its limitations (of course i would love for it to have better draw distance and more object on screen, etc etc), and i actually like it a lot.

The abandoned factory level looks like what you would expect. Worn down dilapidated buildings and machinery lying around. I did like the middle part when you go inside and the molten metal stuff is flowing throughout the place. And the somewhat foggy sea area when you get to the end.

From all the footage I've seen plus the demo I think they've done a good job with the environments.
 

UrbanRats

Member
I just fail to see what there is to like here. It's all so very drab. Mushy brown walls everywhere, no cool lighting effects, no intricate details in the architecture, nothing. Eh, you do you, but I am honestly baffled that anyone would think this demo looks good. Hopefully the final game will have better environments, but this demo isn't showcasing anything good.

The character design, the robot design, and how they come together with the environmental industrial plant.
I don't think the environments look good in and out of themselves, but they're just a part of the whole package.
The criticism i'd move to it, is that they could've handled spaces better, but i think they wanted to convey a big sense of scale, which works well enough (but in turn makes everything feel too empty).
I mean if you compare it to something like Niho (of which i don't like the art direction, btw, but for different reasons) they're trying to go for very different vibes, and Nier seems to aim at making everything feel massive.

Environments are probably the weakest element of it, something i actually commented on in past months, but when i look at the whole package, i think it works well enough, and the rest of the elements are good enough to prop that one up and make me like it.
So that's where i'm coming from.

Of course if you don't like the character design, and don't like the robot design, i don't expect you to change you mind when it comes to the environments, which are clearly the most mundane part of it.
 

Zakard

Member
WOW! Never pre-ordered a game quicker after playing a demo. My god. Platinum is killing it. I loved everything about this demo. Looked into the Black Box Edition but I think its quite pricy for its content. Still going to get the game Day 1!
 
I've seen this said in the thread a few times now & it has concerned me. I've only played the first few levels of Revengeance, but Automata feels a lot deeper to me. Have I played MGR wrong or something? I felt like all Raiden could do was parry & have flashy quick time events. When it came to actual combat, it didn't feel as satisfying. Maybe it's just been a while for me.

You have moves like the stinger from DMC or every P* game, blade canceling, dodge offset (you start a combo like say ppk, you can press pp then hold your dodge and press k after the dodge to complete it rather than to have start new) and so on in MGR. So far there is nothing like that in NieR, but maybe it's too early to make a final judgment on this.
Maybe I'm too picky on this, expecting a full blown character action title while it really is an action-rpg with smooth combat. Too be fair MGR's option grew with more weapons and skills unlocked, so maybe this is the case for NieR as well.
 
Okay, but yes, Scholar does look way better overall. This demo looked even worse than Scholar's worst areas, and Scholar's worst areas honestly looked pretty bad.


There's no reason for everything to be that brown in this game. Also, I can appreciate monochrome palettes too; I love Bloodborne's art for instance. For a 60 fps game, Nioh looked better, with more details in the environment, more diversity of terrain, architecture, environmental and lighting effects, etc.


I just fail to see what there is to like here. It's all so very drab. Mushy brown walls everywhere, no cool lighting effects, no intricate details in the architecture, nothing. Eh, you do you, but I am honestly baffled that anyone would think this demo looks good. Hopefully the final game will have better environments, but this demo isn't showcasing anything good.

Yeah, Platinum's titles tend to have really flat, bland, artistically uninteresting levels. I was hoping for something better this time, but thus far, it looks quite underwhelming. And yes, absolutely, Scholar blows away what we've seen of the world.
 
You have moves like the stinger from DMC or every P* game, blade canceling, dodge offset (you start a combo like say ppk, you can press pp then hold your dodge and press k after the dodge to complete it rather than to have start new) and so on in MGR. So far there is nothing like that in NieR, but maybe it's too early to make a final judgment on this.
Maybe I'm too picky on this, expecting a full blown character action title while it really is an action-rpg with smooth combat.
With weapon set 2, Stinger is just hold heavy , or "perfect" dodge then heavy.
Pretty much everything cancels in a ton of ways, but there's no dodge offset ):
 

KORNdoggy

Member
i think this game looks really nice. not "top tier PS4 game nice" but still really nice. technically the only real negative i can put towards it is the major lack of AF which i would hope would be fixed at least in the PRO version. but artistically it's gorgeous and incredibly consistent. definitely better then the first game in that regard.

honestly this is the first time a platinum game has made me really want it. i've played all of their other offerings (since i feel you need to play a game to know if you like it or not), but they never clicked... this one i'm loving though and will be buying day 1.
 
You have moves like the stinger from DMC or every P* game, blade canceling, dodge offset (you start a combo like say ppk, you can press pp then hold your dodge and press k after the dodge to complete it rather than to have start new) and so on in MGR. So far there is nothing like that in NieR, but maybe it's too early to make a final judgment on this.
Maybe I'm too picky on this, expecting a full blown character action title while it really is an action-rpg with smooth combat. Too be fair MGR's option grew with more weapons and skills unlocked, so maybe this is the case for NieR as well.

Yeah, I think nobody should expect character action levels of depth in an RPG. At least this is far smoother and more involving than the usual jank that plagues the genre. Curious to see how far PG takes it.
 

sanstesy

Member
Gotta add that the boss fight was a whole lot of nothing. Looks like a flashy Platinum boss fight but plays nothing like it - devoid of any substance and challenge.
 
With weapon set 2, Stinger is just hold heavy , or "perfect" dodge then heavy.
Pretty much everything cancels in a ton of ways, but there's no dodge offset ):
Yeah I found those options, still feels simpler. But more weapons and skills might bring more options to play around with. It's just the first impressions I had, already starting to think about this and try more later.
 
if there's one thing Platinum Games are known for besides their action gameplay, is drab boring stage/background design.

Definitely was the only thing that brought it down on my end. Thought the gameplay was rock solid, the actual size and scope/spectacle of the boss was visually impressive but in terms of actual environment, the area in the demo at least was really repeatitive and not great looking. Suppose it is what it is, they were only ever going to be given so much time and money for the project. Hoping the story pulls the experience together ebcause I didn't relaly have any expectations for the game and came away much more impressed than I thought I would be.
 
It's a weird demo because combat wise it's clearly below the likes of bayo or mgr, but they also can't display any of the RPG adventure elements that are supposed to make up for that like towns and npcs and side quests and dungeons and story, etc. so all you got is this sub MGR gameplay in these drab barren environments against enemies that aren't particularly interesting or challenging
 
We finally get a rpg with awesome combat and people complain it's not as good as the top tier character action games. Figures.
It's such a tremendous upgrade over the first game but I guess people are never happy.
 

Floex

Member
Heard about Nier over the years and never really thought more of it as your standard JRPG. Looking at a gameplay trailer, it's like an action brawler... i thought it was turn based! I genuinely thought this new game was a spin off made into an action brawler.. the more you know.

And now I'm hearing this game is going to be an open world-ish experience from Platinum? Hmm, this may have made day 1 purchase...
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I thought Platinum only does the combat, the Square team would do most of everything else?

Platinum makes the whole game. There is no 'square team'. Yoko Taro is in charge of the project and the director collaborates with him. The bravely default illustrator does character designs. Its platinum who illustrates backround art and such according to Taro's specifications, and even if its good, its them who has to put it into 3 dimensions.
 
Platinum makes the whole game. There is no 'square team'. Yoko Taro is in charge of the project and the director collaborates with him. The bravely default illustrator does character designs. Its platinum who illustrates backround art and such according to Taro's specifications, and even if its good, its them who has to put it into 3 dimensions.

So it's an MGR kind of deal?
 

JBwB

Member
This game is releasing simultaneously on both PC & PS4 right? Has there been any news saying otherwise?

I really don't want to have to wait to get this on PC.
 

UrbanRats

Member
I'm so sorry that I expect top tier character action from P*.

If you expected the level of depth of a dedicated character action game, yes, you should be sorry.
What's there is good, if they can implement tougher enemies and more complex scenarios in the full game (and varied equipment) i really can't see how you could complain about that.

But then again, i really disliked the cutting gimmicks in MGR, and some people really loved that.
 
This game is releasing simultaneously on both PC & PS4 right? Has there been any news saying otherwise?

I really don't want to have to wait to get this on PC.

Messaging has been confusing, first it was, now it's not.

The Square Enix rep who confirmed the PC release date would fall on the same day as the PS4 version in the West was unfortunately misinformed: officially, there's not yet a release date for Nier: Automata on PC, though it's definitely coming some time next year.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1322690&highlight=nier
 

FiraB

Banned
Best demo I've played in a long time, stellar combat and that fluidity. Wasn't sold on it until the demo but day it's on pc it's bought.
 

Nightfall

Member
Gotta add that the boss fight was a whole lot of nothing. Looks like a flashy Platinum boss fight but plays nothing like it - devoid of any substance and challenge.

As much as I love the demo, the design, the combat and the fluidity of it all, I have to agree.
The boss fight is no challenge at all. Just a bit of dodging left and right and constant shooting. It looks cool, but doesn't have too much substance.

Though I'm confident they'll be better in the full game.
 

Coda

Member
If you compare it to other Platinum titles then yes, so far this isn't their top tier of combat complexity. But when you compare the combat of Nier Automata to practically any other game out there (not made by Platinum themselves) it still blows them all out of the water.
 
If you expected the level of depth of a dedicated character action game, yes, you should be sorry.
What's there is good, if they can implement tougher enemies and more complex scenarios in the full game (and varied equipment) i really can't see how you could complain about that.

But then again, i really disliked the cutting gimmicks in MGR, and some people really loved that.

Well, when I read this http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1297632 [There are no complex strings of combo attacks; instead, your attack will continue as it registers additional button inputs...], I was ready for disappointment. But people said it's gonna be ok, just like MGR, they said. As I said I might be too picky, still disappointed.
 
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