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Comment by s-lambert | Hacker News Reader

It takes ~30ish hours to get endings A,B,C,D,E; realistically they're 3 story chapters, with the 3rd chapter having 3 different endings. For a typical JRPG that isn't anything out of the norm, I would say the story gets interesting halfway through the first chapter and gets continually better in the 2nd/3rd chapters.

The main theme of the game is one only a game could have and it's nothing boring like "robots have feelings".

>Robots have feelings and souls? Nothing is what it seems? Humans are the bad guys? With a few twists telegraphed two hours before they happen?

These aren't even the twists in Nier Automata, these are surface-level readings of the story from the first few hours of the game. Although, humans are the bad guys isn't even in the game at all, the humans are long dead. Which I thought was one of the more obvious story twists.

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> I would say the story gets interesting halfway through the first chapter and gets continually better in the 2nd/3rd chapters.

Which chapter is robot village and Beuvoir?

> These aren't even the twists in Nier Automata, these are surface-level readings of the story from the first few hours of the game.

So, again, how many hours do I have to sink into the game before it becomes anything but a boring and predictable?

>Which chapter is robot village and Beuvoir?

Chapter 1. Roughly 1 hour into the game, if you play it for the story.

Quitting at that point is like quitting The Fellowship of the Ring because you "predicted" that the Hobbits would leave the Shire.

It definitely took me more than an hour. It's possible I've gotten further? I just don't remember exactly where I left it because there's barely anything there to remember.

Xbox profile tells me I've got 20 hours played, 20% achievements obtained, 7 endings acquired.

To add to that data point, I'm looking at my achievements. Its probably not a great way to measure progress but still:

- Creation and Insurrection. Complete the alien ship. 23,21% players have this achievement

- We Await Your Next Visit. Complete the amusement park ruins. 28,60% players have this achievement

- It's a Healthy Baby Boy! Complete the desert area. 32,26% players have this achievement

- Ruler of the Deep. Complete the flooded city. 18,33% players have this achievement

For a game where "every action and beyond has its meaning", "unique storytelling", "the deepest game in its decade" etc. only perhaps a third of all players achieve even the most basic of objectives and probably give up soon after.

I can't even imagine an actual storytelling game that would fail to present any semblance of an engaging story 20 hours in.

Well, yes, it'll take you longer if you stop to smell the roses.

The stats you cite are not as compelling an argument as you think. They're pretty much in line with what you see for most games. On PSN, Automata has a 30% completion rate, meaning seeing ending E specifically, which is about what you'd expect.

The fact that you weren't engaged by the story might simply have been because you spent the majority of your game time not engaging with it in any way whatsoever. The side quests you must've been doing are there largely to pad game time. Yoko Taro has a tendency to be thrifty in his game design, leading to both at times tedious side quests, and the several endings approach.

> Well, yes, it'll take you longer if you stop to smell the roses.

And at the same time somehow "because you spent the majority of your game time not engaging with it in any way whatsoever."

> The side quests you must've been doing are there largely to pad game time.

Funny that. Elsewhere in this conversation people claim that "side quests, meanwhile, are almost always tied into the main story or its themes - even if you don't realize it at the time you're doing the quest" and "Every action from the first boss and beyond has meaning, and it gets more dramatic onward"

Or perhaps, just perhaps, and hear me out on this: the game is really shit at presenting this "unique storytelling not seen elsewhere"? Perhaps, just perhaps, twenty hours, three (or more?) bosses, and four locations is more than enough to give the player a sense and a feel for this amazing story beyond the absolute boring and predictable?

It's also immensely funny to me that my repeated questions of "when does the actual story start" are met with absolute silence and people either deferring or questioning my abilities.

So? When does this amazing story start? 40 hours in? 60? Ever?

It pretty much starts at 0 seconds in. The first few lines lines of dialogue have more substance than the entire plot of most other games. Not because they're particularly deep, or evocative, but because of how they tie into the themes, story, and gameplay of the game.

In regards to the side quests, I've never looked at them in much detail. The gameplay they put your through is largely the worst you'll find in the game, which is why I said they're there to pad time. Automata is a very short game if you just go from set piece to set piece. Nier: Gestalt/Replicant was the same way.

> It pretty much starts at 0 seconds in. The first few lines lines of dialogue have more substance than the entire plot of most other games.

The question isn't about "most other games". The question is about "this unique game with an amazing story where every action is meaningful" etc.

Most other games don't have a starry-eyed following which can't explain how 20 hours in you can't see even a shred of this story.

> Not because they're particularly deep, or evocative, but because of how they tie into the themes, story, and gameplay of the game.

Not deep or evocative but ties into the themes and story of the game is Game Making 101. Every single game with a semblance of a story line has that.

You clearly are extremely against giving this game a chance, and seem fairly cynical in general. There is this video I always have my friends watch after they finish the game that really ties in what this game is about: https://youtu.be/63PzQIbTrM8

I don't expect you to watch this or change your mind. I do hope though that others who might be reading along will give the video a look. For myself, it made the game into an experience.

For you, OP, I recommend you don't play this game. You are definitely not it's audience. Maybe you'd like another call of duty instead. I heard those have good stories.

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