Nier: Automata is an absolute masterclass in game design. It surpasses expectations time and time again resulting in an experience not to be missed by fans of action titles.

Put simply, NieR: Automata is the greatest game ever made. It’s not just that it is the deepest and most narratively potent game ever developed - and it is a truly deep narrative experience - but more than that, Yoko Taro has finally found perhaps the developer on the planet capable of doing his visionary work justice. This game is a true, genuine work of art, and anyone who wants to prove that gaming does possess an equivalent to the greatest novels, operas, theatre plays, or paintings, now has that very game to point to. Yoko Taro is gaming’s Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Welles, all rolled into one.

Yoko Taro and Platinum Games form an alliance that elevates the NieR franchise where probably no one expected it to be years ago. Automata is a great action extravaganza with so much love for the games as a medium as we, the players, should have for it.

Thanks to Platinum Games' knack for riveting and gratifying combat, Automata is Yoko Taro's most exciting game to date. The combat mechanics click after hurdling a low learning curve, and the end result is a skillful dance where balletic dodges complement wushu-inspired aggression. Moreover, this multi-ending trip is generously peppered with surprises and revelations, as well as easter eggs that call back to the first game and the Drakengard series from which Nier spun off. It's a meaty, often exhilarating trek that showcases Platinum Games' and Yoko Taro's unique blend of genius.

NieR: Automata mixes many genres while it tells a mature, complex story, and it does it all in an impeccable way. It has some minor flaws (secondary missions, average graphics), but it is overall a game you should not miss.

Nier: Automata is one of the most original, surprising and brilliant games of this generation. Not perfect, but unmissable.

Loads of interesting ideas and plenty of good intentions, but nothing sticks. It’s like it was made by a team of people with super short attention spans. They’d come up with a good idea, carry it half way, then get distracted by another thought, and do it all over again until ending up with an unfocused, unsatisfying, incomplete product.