It wasn't long before it hit me just how insane, cool, stylish and smart NieR: Automata really is. I shan't ruin it for you, but you're barely past the beginning credits before you're so taken

Intelligent; engaging story; Fluid combat; Magnificent score; Smart customisation

Open world is a bit bare; Weak; uninformative tutorial

On the surface, it can be easy to assume that Nier: Automata is more of a Platinum Games product than a Yoko Taro game. Do not be mistaken - this game is definitely pure Yoko Taro at his most Taro-iest, but with the deft polish that one could expect from a game developed by Platinum Games.

There's a choice you can make during the playable credits sequence of NieR Automata 's fifth and narratively conclusive ending: whether or not to make the ultimate in gaming sacrifices by helping a stranger, who you will never know or meet, with the game's final challenge.

Buy NieR: Automata Created by eccentric director Yoko Taro, Drakengard and its spinoff Nier are greater than the sum of their parts. The strange world and characters carry gameplay that varies from bad to average. Perhaps that is why Nier: Automata works as well as it does.

"It's been a while since a game shattered my expectations to the extent that NieR: Automata has." ? 2017 Square Enix, PlatinumGames. All rights reserved.

Enthralling narrative; varied gameplay; oozes with originality

Bugs that clearly should've been ironed out for the PC release; too obscure at times

A hallmark of excellence. It may have some flaws, but they are negligible to what is otherwise a supreme title.

Aliens attacked earth and left robots to deal with the remains, we sent robots to deal with their robots.

After 50+ hours, I have finally finished Nier: Automata and have seen all of the true endings in the game. This is one of those games that when you finish it, you immediately go to Reddit, Facebook, Youtube, anywhere you can to have an official discussion about the game with other people who have...

While I strongly feel it was a crime both NieR and Drakengard 3 were grossly overlooked by the media and blatantly judged only by their flaws, it was about time Yoko Taro's genius got the deserving attention and praise in the form of NieR: Automata .

After trading fisticuffs with a Transformer, cartwheeling around a bullet-spewing tank controlled by evil clowns, and using a moose to buck my way through killer robots, it's safe to say that there are very few games – if any – quite like Nier: Automata .