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NieR Automata PS4 demo available now

JBwB

Member
This was fairly fun but the art style and graphics are horrible. This game looks as bad as Metal Gear Rising.

The artstyle is fine.

The graphics though... It literally did feel like I was playing a PS2 / 3 game at times.

I guess it's a trade off you have to make when you're making a game with battles large in scope and at the same time targeting 60fps on console.
 

Ferr986

Member
The environment art is super boring but how can anyone hate the character design by Yoshida?

I'm not much of a fan either, it's a white haired Bayonetta showing thigh. I ever liked old Nier more.

Not a big problem to me though. Still day 1.

I refuse to use healing items in any character action game, but here, even using the auto-heal bullshit (forgot to disable it on my first playthrough of the demo on Hard), I ended up dying. That's something.

Yeah I only did 1 run on Hard but I died before finishing it lol Bullets fucks me up. They spam that shit way more than in Nier 1.
 

Xliskin

Member
The combat really fun to hack your way through the game, some people says that will be skills to unlock in the full release , how that's gonna work with this combat ?!
 

Hektor

Member
uh okay then...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq9sc-XGorQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq3_phBQA_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARHVKZ5K1b0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpCMOqFugi4

It's not like Nier didn't have a couple of songs without voice over either.

Soundtrack of the generation incoming, what is there to be even argued...

I did not argue that the OST is terrible.

But you can't tell me that this demo got as much frontloaded vocals like the dungeons in OG nier had, like Wretched Automatons, Ultimate Weapon, Hills of Radiant Winds or The incomplete Stone.

But whatever the Nier portion of this game is supposed to be, with towns and story and RPG elements equipment and dungeons and shit, we sure haven't seen it so far and the game comes out in two months. Either they're being very secretive about um...the basic game structure...or there might not be much to it then some of y'all think.

Here they showed at least what one "city" would look like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiiMxPFelsc

The combat really fun to hack your way through the game, some people says that will be skills to unlock in the full release , how that's gonna work with this combat ?!

They did a stream on that too

https://youtu.be/SUoZxkH1nKs?t=112
 

Oneself

Member
Holyshit!

Amazing game. I didn't expect this demo to give me such great PS1-2 era vibes. OMFG.
I never played Nier, pre-ordered Automata because of the hype surrounding it (and PG behind it) but hot damn, it delivers.

I'm in awe. The music reminds me of Castlevania's best. The boss battle, the 2D parts. Dayum.
 
Folks talking like this is Shadow of Mordor or some shit.

Aye bruh, Shadow of Mordor has GOTY awards. Nier/Platinum fans don't want that war.

Don't know why that's so surprising. Platinum and Nuer fans are basically polar opposite. One specializes in crafting "the feels" in low budget janky games, the other in complex combat mechanics in high spectacle. There was bound to be a clash in expectations

But whatever the Nier portion of this game is supposed to be, with towns and story and RPG elements equipment and dungeons and shit, we sure haven't seen it so far and the game comes out in two months. Either they're being very secretive about um...the basic game structure...or there might not be much to it then some of y'all think.

Either way, there's gonna be some disappointed people come release time.

Sometimes us Experts™ get things wrong. For some reason I figured Nier's cult status had reached a larger portion of the action game crowd, particularly in the time since Nier: Automata was announced as a Platinum developed title.

I think they've confirmed towns/dungeons/quests/etc. to the point that we can look forward to that side of the game still existing. I'm always wary of taking the "they're just being secretive" approach to hype, but it actually does feel like they're holding things back by focusing SO MUCH on the combat. Even most of of their random streams have been debug combat footage. They know that people aren't coming to NIer for that alone, and it's not where Yoko Taro's strengths are anyway. This is still his ship to steer, ultimately.
 
Loved the demo. Felt good in combat, was just the right amount of difficulty, and everyone was right about the gorgeous animations. I also love the super minimal menu GUI that feels like you're on an old Pocket PC or something.

The Chips menu looked confusing though so I hope there's a tutorial in the full game.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
I'm sure Yoko Taro still has a doozy up his sleeve with this game. I'm half expecting everything they've shown to be frontloaded at the start with that being the only parts platinum made, with the rest being a turn based RPG until the final third where it becomes another text based adventure that eventually wipes out your PS4 harddrive.
 

Heartfyre

Member
My lasting impression is that it felt like Nier in all the best ways, and it felt like a Platinum game in all of the best ways. I didn't expect this. I anticipated it would be imbalanced in favour of the latter.

So I'm all in. Day One.
 

vg260

Member
I had no expectations gong in, but as soon as I saw the chromatic aberration+screen tear effect upon getting hit for the first time, I was "nope." I especially hate chromatic aberration with a passion, and I'm not going to subject myself to that constantly. Developers relying on these effects I hate for style put me off.

Otherwise, it seems like the style of game I would play, although the art style didn't do much for me, and it just felt ok to play. It didn't really click with me. Looks like the boss encounters alone would be worth a rental, though.
 
I'm sure Yoko Taro still has a doozy up his sleeve with this game. I'm half expecting everything they've shown to be frontloaded at the start with that being the only parts platinum made, with the rest being a turn based RPG until the final third where it becomes another text based adventure that eventually wipes out your PS4 harddrive.

NG+++++ ending is forcing you to play FFXV.

2B can't cry, so Yoko Taro will make you cry for her.
 
This was fairly fun but the art style and graphics are horrible. This game looks as bad as Metal Gear Rising.

Game looks nice on the ps4 pro actually. I really like the motion blur, also:

ps3_017dquvk.png

ps3_019.bmphxu9e.jpg

ps3_027pdulc.png
 

Sami+

Member
Christ just watched someone play normal mode, that should probably be labeled easy mode. As long as you lock on, the game will play itself.

Biggest problem with the demo is that dying sends you all the way back the the beginning. I started on Hard because people recommended it, died right before the boss, and had to do the whole thing over. Annoying.
 

nOoblet16

Member
The artstyle is fine.

The graphics though... It literally did feel like I was playing a PS2 / 3 game at times.

I guess it's a trade off you have to make when you're making a game with battles large in scope and at the same time targeting 60fps on console.
How does the game actually perform? Is it proper 60FPS platinum games "60FPS"?

Still the bolded is not a good excuse though because there are games with busy battle scenes and large scale that still run at 60FPS. Think Battlefront, even Infinite Warfare for example does quite large scale spectacles with an awful lot on screen. Something like Doom might not be large scale but it does have a lot going on in screen. MGSV looks a bit dated (as till better than this) but it does open world and large scale and never drops. Wolfenstein as well is capable of large battles and while that too looks dated it atleast still looks like a mid tier current gen game graphically.

Basically it could have looked better, because the polygon complexity, lighting and IQ look below average even for a 60FPS game and if it performs at an unstable 60FPS then you definitely not the consoles and it's something that could have been better.
 

Xliskin

Member
I did not argue that the OST is terrible.

But you can't tell me that this demo got as much frontloaded vocals like the dungeons in OG nier had, like Wretched Automatons, Ultimate Weapon, Hills of Radiant Winds or The incomplete Stone.



Here they showed at least what one "city" would look like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiiMxPFelsc



They did a stream on that too

https://youtu.be/SUoZxkH1nKs?t=112


Oh so these are skills , is the magic something different other all the same ?
 

jayu26

Member
How does the game actually perform? Is it proper 60FPS platinum games "60FPS"?

Still the bolded is not a good excuse though because there are games with busy battle scenes and large scale that still run at 60FPS. Think Battlefront, even Infinite Warfare for example does quite large scale spectacles with an awful lot on screen. Something like Doom might not be large scale but it does have a lot going on in screen. MGSV looks a bit dated (as till better than this) but it does open world and large scale and never drops. Wolfenstein as well is capable of large battles and while that too looks dated it atleast still looks like a mid tier current gen game graphically.

Basically it could have looked better, because the polygon complexity, lighting and IQ look below average even for a 60FPS game and if it performs at an unstable 60FPS then you definitely not the consoles and it's something that could have been better.
I said this before. I tried it on both OG PS4 and Pro. Pro never dropped any frames, while OG might have dropped to 55 couple of times (nothing too major). But it might have been placebo effect though. I can usually tell when a game drops frames but always cannot tell exactly how much.
 

NeoRaider

Member
I like what i saw, it plays like what i expected.
But honestly i am so disappointed with the graphics, i don't even know what to say.

It looks little better on PS4 Pro, but still... it's very ugly game overall. I like the art style and that's the most important thing for me but how can it technically be so bad?? I feel like this game deserves better.

Let's hope that there will be some improvements for the PC version.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
How does the game actually perform? Is it proper 60FPS platinum games "60FPS"?

Still the bolded is not a good excuse though because there are games with busy battle scenes and large scale that still run at 60FPS. Think Battlefront, even Infinite Warfare for example does quite large scale spectacles with an awful lot on screen. Something like Doom might not be large scale but it does have a lot going on in screen. MGSV looks a bit dated (as till better than this) but it does open world and large scale and never drops. Wolfenstein as well is capable of large battles and while that too looks dated it atleast still looks like a mid tier current gen game graphically.

Basically it could have looked better, because the polygon complexity, lighting and IQ look below average even for a 60FPS game and if it performs at an unstable 60FPS then you definitely not the consoles and it's something that could have been better.

Automata is not in the same budgetary class as those games, so you need to be realistic. That it exists in the first-place is something of miracle.

Its a cult game, which means that it has a hardcore fanbase that will pay for special editions, soundtracks, guide-books etc. which helps to justify the investment. However it sure as hell doesn't mitigate the risk of a full-blown AAA budget!

Xliskin said:
Oh so these are skills , is the magic something different other all the same ?

The pod skills are essentially replacements/reskins for the original Nier's "sealed verse" magic abilities. They are functionally equivalent.
 

JMZ555

Member
Tried the demo but the game is not for me. Combat seems smooth and decent as expected but visually i find it uninteresting, not a fan of the robot enemies and the setting.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Here they showed at least what one "city" would look like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiiMxPFelsc

They clearly have to fight hard with hardware limitations (plus platinum is always garbage when it comes to backgrounds, except for a couple of exceptions) but i think the vastness here is playing against them.
Again i think it's meant to sell the large scale of everything, and i think it works in the demo area, but here it ends up looking empty and unfinished, especially in the market zone, where you're supposed to feel overwhelmed by objects and people in a merketplace.
There is just too much space between one element and the other, and i'm not sure if the gameplay will need that sort of scale (like the plains in Darksiders 2, there the big space made sense, for example).

We'll see how that turns out.
 

Gbraga

Member
I like what i saw, it plays like what i expected.
But honestly i am so disappointed with the graphics, i don't even know what to say.

It looks little better on PS4 Pro, but still... it's very ugly game overall. I like the art style and that's the most important thing for me but how can it technically be so bad?? I feel like this game deserves better.

Let's hope that there will be some improvements for the PC version.

I honestly think it looks amazing. Even surprised me on Base PS4, I was expecting a lot worse given the resolution.

This game with downsampling will be incredible.
 
played the demo. i will buy this and soundtrack day one just to support it. the demo alone is a masterpiece. i can't wait to see what the full game will be like. this shit is the reason why i'm gaming.
 
Seriously this demo is impressive. Love the combat system and the ending was just perfect. Hoping we get a scenario where they don't die in the actual game.
 

convo

Member
But whatever the Nier portion of this game is supposed to be, with towns and story and RPG elements equipment and dungeons and shit, we sure haven't seen it so far and the game comes out in two months. Either they're being very secretive about um...the basic game structure...or there might not be much to it then some of y'all think.

Well they showed of the hub that's a small town like thing. Weapon lore is prominent in the demo and so will upgrades. Special skills that resemble the magic lances in the first game were shown in streams too. Riding driftable animals are also in the game which is worth a cheer. Sooooooo you can just look up the recent streams if you are complaining about the lack of Nier structure. I think people are being aggressively narrow-minded about the resemblance to the first nier.
 

hampig

Member
Am I the only one who didn't even think twice about the graphics? Looked good to me.

Really was blown away by the final boss, can't wait for this game. I never got good at fighting the average enemy, at least not enough to do cool looking things. : ( I expect that to come with time. The characters were pretty cheesy, but this is already looking to be much better then Drakengard 3. While the voice acting was not the best, it felt about in line with what I expected.
 

Gbraga

Member
Am I the only one who didn't even think twice about the graphics? Looked good to me.

Really was blown away by the final boss, can't wait for this game. I never got good at fighting the average enemy, at least not enough to do cool looking things. : ( I expect that to come with time. The characters were pretty cheesy, but this is already looking to be much better then Drakengard 3. While the voice acting was not the best, it felt about in line with what I expected.

The final cutscene was so good. I hope this is the game's opening, followed by 2B waking up in that monocromatic base they showed.
 
Oh wow, i just noticed that the HUD elements occupy chip space. So they figured out a way to actually reward playing with less HUD elements, what the hell. Pretty ingenious and a really good bit of world building.
 

Brix

Member
Man Horizon zero dawn was my most anticipated game next year, but after playing this demo Nier Automata is #1. This game is going to be amazing! Hurry up March 7th.
 

velociraptor

Junior Member
The artstyle is fine.

The graphics though... It literally did feel like I was playing a PS2 / 3 game at times.

I guess it's a trade off you have to make when you're making a game with battles large in scope and at the same time targeting 60fps on console.

Mate the environments look shit. The art is awful. Nothing but dreary looking warehouses and concrete.
 

convo

Member
They clearly have to fight hard with hardware limitations (plus platinum is always garbage when it comes to backgrounds, except for a couple of exceptions) but i think the vastness here is playing against them.
Again i think it's meant to sell the large scale of everything, and i think it works in the demo area, but here it ends up looking empty and unfinished, especially in the market zone, where you're supposed to feel overwhelmed by objects and people in a merketplace.
There is just too much space between one element and the other, and i'm not sure if the gameplay will need that sort of scale (like the plains in Darksiders 2, there the big space made sense, for example).

We'll see how that turns out.

From my perspective the resemblance to the aesthetic of the first game is uncanny. It's not like it's the usual platinum sparseness but "Nier-sparseness". Nier is weird game with a weird look and they somehow decided it's worth keeping.We'll have to see what they can put into that world to engage people into exploring it.
 

Gbraga

Member
From my perspective the resemblance to the aesthetic of the first game is uncanny. It's not like it's the usual platinum sparseness but "Nier-sparseness". Nier is weird game with a weird look and they somehow decided it's worth keeping.We'll have to see what they can put into that world to engage people into exploring it.

Even with the weird letterboxing coming back, you can see that Inaba wasn't just saying it to please fans when he mentioned that the younger staff at Platinum were fans of the first game, and that's why they decided to put them on the team. Before, it could sound like just him making damage control for the lack of any of the big names at Platinum working on it, but with them showing more and now the demo, I think it's pretty clear it was true.

And it's also great that they're giving not-as-known devs their chance to shine. Saito is now very respected among Platinum's fanbase, even though everyone was worried back in the "who's directing MGR?" time. And I'm thinking Taura will earn similar respect for his work on this game.
 
Am I the only one who didn't even think twice about the graphics? Looked good to me.

Really was blown away by the final boss, can't wait for this game. I never got good at fighting the average enemy, at least not enough to do cool looking things. : ( I expect that to come with time. The characters were pretty cheesy, but this is already looking to be much better then Drakengard 3. While the voice acting was not the best, it felt about in line with what I expected.

I love the graphics and designs.
 

HeelPower

Member
The game looks great & runs incredibly well.I actually Expected it to look worse.Its probably the best looking title platinum has ever made.

LOL @ Battlefield 1 comparison.Do some people expect Nier to recieve the same amount of funding as a Battlefield title ?

The attention to detail particularly in terms of animations is actually at the very high end of the industry.
 
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