NieR:Automata

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--Disclaimer before getting into the review--

This review is aimed at people who have at least played through the video game Nier: Automata and have gotten through all of the canon endings (A-E), not for people using the books as an introduction into the series. As such, this review will contain information that is learned when playing through the game and will be a spoiler for those who have not. Additionally, the books themselves handle this spoiler information as common knowledge for readers, thus treating them a lot more loosely and effectively minimizing their impact for first time readers. In my opinion, the game is the ... optimal way of getting into the series and should be played first before looking at the extra content.

Play the game first it’s amazing!

Still, if you want to read the novel without playing the game for whatever reason, I'll provide a brief tl;dr without getting into spoilers:

While it does not hit nearly as hard as the game experience does, the Nier: Automata novel does a great job at exploring the inner thoughts of the characters such as 2B, 9S, Adam/Eve, and A2 as the events of the game are told in text. On top of the extra stories and expanded lore provided in the second volume, the Nier: Automata novel provides enough new value to be worth the read for any fan of the series and is a decent, although strongly discouraged, introduction to the series. The only major downside is that some of the retelling of the narrative can be a bit repetitive at times and at others, leave the reader wanting just a little more.

8/10 for readers who have played the game
7/10 as an introduction to the series

--Now for the in-depth review--

It is barely an exaggeration to call Nier: Automata a masterpiece. With its release in 2017, it gained massive popularity for its unique gameplay and story structure, its lovable and deeply emotional cast of characters, and a multitude of themes that all dig into the very essence of what it means to be human; to have a god worth fighting for. So how do the expanded stories compare to the game?


When getting into the first volume titled ‘Long Story Short’, readers will be returned back into the abandoned factory through a briefly narrated prologue before the story takes the point of view of 2B, just as the pair of her and 9S take on their first major mission together in the desert ruins. For the remainder of the first volume, this will be the majority of the experience: the events of the game are retold from 2B’s, and later 9S’s and A2's perspective, in a streamlined experience that primarily includes the main quest and one or two relevant side quests. Through this retelling, the reader is given some more insight into what exactly the main characters were thinking all this time. I personally found this aspect of the retelling to be interesting since after the big reveal that 2B is an executioner type in Route C of the game, I always wondered what 2B was truly feeling as she so often told 9S ‘feelings are prohibited’. The book offers quite a bit of detail regarding that. We see 2B struggle to maintain her composure, her trying her best to keep 9S from ever getting to the point of no return, and her pondering about the feelings of the machines a bit more than she let off during the games. The same can be said once the story begins to pursue A2 and 9S as the lead characters. The description of 9S’s thoughts as he learns about the true purpose of project YoRHa in particular was handled really well and provided valuable insight into his thoughts. For A2 specifically, I always felt that she was underdeveloped in the game. The novel retelling of events partially remedies this.

A noteworthy thing about the novel is that it doesn’t just follow the story of the lead YoRHa androids: there are multiple sections dedicated to the POV of Adam and Eve at pivotal moments of the story, such as when the two are first created as well as Eve’s reaction to Adam’s death. These descriptions offer a lot more than even the bonus cutscenes in the second play through offer and do a great job at turning the two of them into more empathetic characters. Other notable characters that get a bit of extra attention here and there are the Pods and the Commander.

My biggest issue that comes from the first volume of the novel is that as it is a streamlined retelling of the events from the game, a lot of smaller details from the games are not included, mostly from the excluded side quests. This is not a huge deal for readers who have already played through Automata, but for any introductory readers, the numerous little details that are lost in the adaptation definitely add up. And that is saying nothing about the thematic meaning that is lost with some side quests being discarded from the story and the medium being translated from a playable game to text. Additionally, when it got to some scenes from the game, such as the fight with Simone in the Amusement Park theater, I was left a bit disappointed when I saw that barely any additional detail was given regarding how 9S felt about that fight, an area I definitely think that the novel could have done better than the game if it spent more time on it. On the flip-side, there are some parts that feel a bit repetitive for returning viewers as some sections don't add that many new details to engage the reader, yet are still covered in considerable length. This creates the feeling of wanting to just skip over certain sections in order to hopefully get to the scenes that were expanded upon meaningfully. The battle in the flooded city is one notable example. Still, these complaints do not take away too much from the experience. The extra insight into the thoughts of characters adds enough value on its own to make the first volume a solid read. It just isn’t without its flaws.

The second volume on the other hand is a completely different story. It is formatted into multiple short stories and is an all new experience with the exception of two particular side stories, ‘Recollections of Emil’ and ‘YoRHa-Ver. 1.05’ covering the events of the ‘Emil’s Memories’ side quest and the Pearl Harbor archives respectively. Even so, every single one of the stories offers something of value.

For example, the pair of stories ‘Memory Cage’ and ‘Memory Thorn’ look into one of my biggest questions regarding the typical experience 2B was used to having performing her designated role as an E type. Since the game never actually showed us 2B carrying out an execution order on 9S, the pair of stories offered some much needed insight into that process. They did a really good job at not only diving into 2B’s but also 9S’s reaction to the whole unfortunate series of events and are some of my favorite stories from the novel.

Another major standout is the retelling of the Pearl Harbor Archives in ‘YorHa-Ver. 1.05’. Where the additional perspectives of A2 during the first volume partially remedied her lack of development, the Pearl Harbor story told in this volume did a wonderful job at making her almost a good a character as the other YoRHa androids (2B & 9S will always be my favorites). It was a great read that also featured the rest of the descent team and Anemone’s crew, all of which are developed meaningfully in their brief presence.

There are also many moments within the story that further get into what life was like for the androids and how they felt. Why some of them did what they did or why some had fears while others were fearless. How they felt about their connection and similarity to the human species. Other short stories such as ‘The Flame of Prometheus’, which features P-33, a machine originally from the first Nier and is also referenced in the first Automata picture book, and the story ‘Small Flowers’ look into unique perspectives of the machines while also carrying some strong messages. A notable one being the idea of finding common ground between enemies in a time of war and putting down arms against one another to sing about life. Another story, ‘A Much Too Silent Sea’ offers a chance to look into the life of a completely different YoRHa android as she has her own ‘Yoko Taro experience’. All of the additional side stories of the second volume are really where the novel is at its best by providing new experiences to either give us a new perspective into established characters or reinforce the themes of the games. Where the first volume had its flaws, the second volume more than delivered.

Some additional things I’d like to discuss are the artwork and the interesting use of writing style. As this is a novel and not a manga, there are not many illustrations. However, each chapter is represented with drawings that are all pretty well made and help to visualize certain scenes/feelings, supplementing the reader's mental picture from the game in another outlet. For the writing style, most of the stories revolving machines have unique text with numbers replacing letters ‘1ik3 th1s’. It is nothing major, but it adds to the immersion of the stories and can also give an indication if an android is infected with a logic virus when all of a sudden it starts speaking in numbers.

Wow, that was a long review. But I guess that should be an indication of just how passionate I am about the series. While it may not match the experience I had with the game, the novel for Automata delivers some great new details regarding the lives and thoughts of all of our favorite androids and some new characters. However, it is not without its share of flaws mostly regarding the retelling of the events in the game. But all in all, the Nier: Automata novel is still very much a story worth reading, if nothing else then for the additional side stories that come with volume two. It gets a solid recommendation for fans of the game.

Lastly, if any have not already seen the music concert script, I recommend reading that in some form as well. Much like the second volume, it offers additional stories that help develop characters and the world, including an epilogue to the events of ending E.

--
Thank you for reading!

The Nier Automata concept, it's lore, history and the depth of the characters is immense. Being retold from game form, to light novel, to anime each medium seems to have it's advantages, so I thoroughly recommend all (apart from Short Story Long)

Ideally, play the game first. The deepest meaning, the most intense battles. You feel it more. However both the LN and the anime series are great for when you have the hole left by completing the game and it's multiple endings.

Short Story Long, if I'm honest, feels superfluous and experimental. A series of short tales surrounding the main characters. They don't get enough time ... to develop before moving on.

Long Story Short and the anime version, go hand in hand. Great storytelling, cutting to the core of the game's story whilst leaning into the strengths of written and animated mediums

I was going to a play the game before picking up the book. Then I’ve said to myself, “wait, if I read the book first I could offer a unique view of someone who haven’t played the game judging the novel, that could be interesting”. Not the best decision I’ve made reader experience-wise, but here it goes. So, keep in mind this review is from the point of view of someone who barely knows anything about the world of Nier;Automata.

Right from the start I should say that this anthology is not newcomer friendly. It’s not where you should start your journey with the franchise. ... While you’re offered a brief introduction to the world at start, I also feel like I got spoiled some major plot points along the way. Well, currently I have no way of knowing how canon are the events of this novel and how relevant to plot of the game they are, but it certainly felt like some truth bombs were mentioned quite casually, the author assuming you are already familiar with these facts.

About the content, the stories are quite usual kind of “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” kind, more or less with similar quality among them, though I do have my favourite chapter (“A much too silent sea”). A lot of them felt like just a middle part of the story, without much introduction and most importantly, without much conclusion. I imagine with context of having played the game, the introduction might not be necessary, and the conclusion might also be deductionable. Alas, that was not my case. Additionally, I didn’t feel like the stories did much above average for these kind of stories “Uuuh robots have feeling too and shit, man”, but that too maybe could have been more enjoyable if I was already familiar with the world setting.

As I’ve already mentioned, this doesn’t seem to me to be the kind of book enjoyable on its own. Maybe once I play the game I could update this review on how my view changed, though even then I wouldn’t expect my score to raise above 7/10.