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Comment by eropple | Hacker News Reader

NieR: Automata calls them "endings", but the critical-path "endings", of which there are five, are actually chapters. You aren't playing to get collectibles or anything, it's a new experience along the way.

The game isn't over until the end of Ending E, and I think it is incredibly worth it.

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This is what happens if you get cute with the naming. Just call them chapters.

Since it's an old-ish game now, i will write something here that might spoil it;

The endings are endings, because of the game's idea of cyclic nature of events. It's hinted that the events of the game aren't happening for the first time, but in fact, are a repeat of history.

That is, you are replaying the game as part of that cyclic nature. It's perfectly fine to stop the game at the first "ending" - but you will miss the total message of the game imho.

I get the idea. However, "ending" is not just a story trope but a gameplay element. Games end at their ending. Conversely, you are absolutely allowed to call timeloops or recurring events chapters.

The problem is that they aren't really, as you're playing in few of them in parallel to the story, with different character. "Chapter 2C" would be just as confusing...

I disagree, insofar as this is a Yoko Taro game, and that is a sub-genre unto itself. NieR: Automata first-time players are coming into this in medias res, and the expectations were made quite a long time ago for folks like, well, me.

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