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Image Source: Fecomic

There’s been a recent trend of video games making their way onto the small screen, and while live-action adaptations often fall short, animated versions have enjoyed considerable success. From the likes of Arcane (League of Legends) to Castlevania and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (which helped popularize Cyberpunk 2077), we’ve witnessed some remarkable animated adaptations. However, not all game-to-anime transformations have been met with the same success (looking at you, Persona 5: The Animation).

Video games have emerged as another powerful medium for storytelling. In fact, compared to many books published today, the storylines in video games often surpass them in quality and writing. These games offer captivating, hauntingly beautiful, and emotionally moving narratives. One such extraordinary tale is told in NieR: Automata.

With credit to Fecomic

Set in the year 11954 AD, Earth has fallen into the hands of extraterrestrials and is now besieged by a relentless army of sentient machine lifeforms. The remnants of humanity have retreated to the moon, and an elite android force known as YoRHa has been deployed to reclaim Earth. We witness the story unfold through the eyes of three YoRHa androids: 2B, 9S, and A2, as they battle in the 14th Machine War and explore the remnants of their world. Soon, they discover that the situation on Earth is far more complex than it seems from the safety of the YoRHa bunker.

Yet, this mere summary barely scratches the surface of a game that has spawned existential crises, dread, and even depression for many players. NieR: Automata’s true strength lies not only in its exceptional OST, graphics, and character design, but ultimately in its masterful plot. Once you’ve completed the game, you’ll be left with a void as deep and dark as the vastness of space seen from the YoRHa bunker.

Moreover, the game offers a mind-boggling 26 (or 27, including the DLC) different endings, one for each letter of the alphabet. As you replay NieR: Automata multiple times to uncover each ending, you gradually unravel the intricacies of the story. This unique experience can only be fully appreciated through the interactive medium of gaming, where you assume control of the character.

So, when news broke of an anime adaptation of NieR: Automata, the biggest question on everyone’s mind was, “How will they bring this story to life?” There are countless side quests that contribute to the memorable experience of the game, shedding light on the dystopian world and its inhabitants. How would all this translate onto the screen?

The reception of the anime’s first episode has been mixed, to say the least. While the 2D animation is visually striking, the CGI used falls short. It almost feels as though they used the game’s character models but removed the polish, resulting in dull, lifeless, and static visuals. The stark contrast between the CGI and the vibrant 2D environment feels jarring. However, the anime manages to compensate for this by incorporating puppetry at the end of the episode, which adds a touch of humor and further builds the world of NieR: Automata. The cuteness factor of the 9S and 2B puppets truly becomes YoRHa’s most formidable weapon.

The fight scenes in the anime stay true to their game counterparts, capturing the essence of their intensity. Although the prologue delivers one of the toughest battles in the entire game, the anime fails to convey the true struggle faced by the YoRHa androids before the boss fight. As impartial observers in the anime, we cannot fully experience the characters’ emotions as we do when playing the game. Therefore, somewhat underwhelming moments, such as 2B making the prologue fight look like a cakewalk, are inevitable.

A delightful surprise awaits fans of the game in the anime: the return of NieR: Automata’s phenomenal soundtrack. The game’s orchestral soundtrack, featuring lyrics in the fictional Chaos language, played a pivotal role in setting the mood. The anime, however, uses a different opening song called “Escalate” by Japanese singer Aimer, which, while good, doesn’t quite capture the tone and essence of the game’s world as the whimsical, dream-like, and occasionally melancholic Chaos language lyrics do.

The game itself offers three routes: A, B, and C. Route A follows 2B’s perspective, Route B focuses on 9S, and Route C introduces A2 as the main character. The anime’s first episode serves as a near-perfect, faithful adaptation, blending elements of both Routes A and B. It includes even more foreshadowing than the game, which is to be expected, given that a game with 60-80 hours of gameplay needs to be condensed into 24-minute episodes.

But what does an abridged retelling of the game bring to the table? How will it contribute to the lore? And why is it called NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a instead of simply NieR: Automata the animation? According to Yoko Taro, the game’s director and writer, known for creating the Drakengard franchise and its NieR spin-off, “NieR: Automata was a story created specifically for a game. Simply copying it wouldn’t make for an interesting anime story. I wanted to change things up. The original creator wanted to destroy the original story, and the anime staff is desperately trying to prevent that.”

With Yoko Taro’s involvement, it’s highly likely that the anime will deviate from the game’s storyline – hence the Ver. 1.1a in the title. There is still hope for the anime, but it’s too early to tell how the adaptation will ultimately unfold. Nonetheless, it’s recommended to first experience the game and then enjoy the anime. Playing NieR: Automata is an entirely different ball game compared to merely watching it unfold on the screen.

Before we conclude, let’s delve into a couple of intriguing hex string easter eggs discovered by observant androids. Here are the translations:

• [Nier:Automata] 【報告】 アンドロイドは生と死を繰り返す存在である。

• [Nier:Automata] 【Report】 Androids are beings who repeat life and death.

• [Nier:Automata] 【報告】 輪廻の連鎖ぎもたらすのは、救済か、崩壊か。

• [Nier:Automata] 【Report】 Will the chain of samsara be brought about by salvation or collapse?

• [Nier:Automata] ヨルハ

• [Nier:Automata] YoRHa

• [Nier:Automata] レジスタンス

• [Nier:Automata] Resistance

That’s all for now.

Signing off from the bunker.

-2E