WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the Nier: Automata game and thus will likely contain spoilers for the anime. Nier: Automata is available on PS4, Xbox One, and Steam.
The announcement of a Nier: Automata anime has fans extremely excited. First released in 2017 and created by Yoko Taro, this action-adventure game is widely considered a masterpiece of videogame storytelling. It features a beautifully realized world and a gripping post-apocalyptic plot that twists many standard tropes and turns them into existential questions about the nature of being human. So it is easy to see why fans have high hopes for the anime.
However, game-to-anime adaptations often have to cut things due to time constraints and the vastly different nature of how video games deliver their narrative. This can often lead to writers making tough choices about what gets in and what does not. Of course, this sometimes can lead to fan-favorite moments failing to make the cut. With that in mind, here are five parts of Nier: Automata that should make it into the anime.
5. Multiple Playthroughs
One of the most stunning elements of Nier: Automata was how its plot slowly revealed itself over multiple playthroughs. While the first playthrough leading up to Ending A was fun and intriguing, the second opened up way more of the story and gave you further insight into the game's world, giving several events a whole new meaning.
However, it is your third playthrough where things get interesting. This playthrough gives you control of a new playable character called A2. A2's plot not only further builds on what came before it. But it offers some of the most gut-wrenching moments of the entire narrative as it takes place after the other two playthroughs. However, A2's route only works so well because of the emotional build-up generated during the previous two playthroughs. So hopefully, the anime can capture this element.
4. Simone Fight
Nier: Automata is packed full of fantastic design work, with the entire game being filled with memorable settings and characters. However, one of the most memorable bosses in the whole game is the gigantic opera singer called Simone. Found in the game's Amusement Park area, this behemoth towers over the player characters and even has the bodies of cannibalized robots hanging off her.
The battle itself is suitably epic, forcing you to dodge massive volleys of rockets and energy blasts while the singer flies around, sending up gigantic clouds of dust whenever she lands due to her immense size. This whole battle is topped off with one of the best songs in the game, which blends an opera piece with pounding drums and epic strings. This visual spectacle will be even more stunning when animated. Especially as you can enjoy Simone's dark majesty without having to worry about dodging rockets.
3. The Machine Village
The Machine Village is one of the most effective gut punches in the history of video games. The area is run by the pacifist robot, Pascal. The robots in the village seem to be happy, and several robot children are playing in the area. You'll do various side quests for these robots, including helping a young robot find her sister and building a slide for the children to play on.
However, during your third playthrough, Pascal informs the player that the village is under attack and asks for the player character's help. Once the player has won the fight, they go to the factory where Pascal told the children to hide. However, inside the player discovers that the scared children all killed themselves. Pascal, overcome with grief, asks the player to kill it or erase its memories. No matter the player's choice, this whole segment is intensely harrowing and one of the most effective emotional twists in the entire game.
2. 2B's Death
2B is one of the most iconic characters in Nier: Automata. During your first two playthroughs, players become attached to this combat bot, both through the cutscenes and during their time controlling her. So seeing her rendered powerless in her final moments is a profoundly emotional moment.
After seeing her allies corrupted by a logic virus, 2B tries to flee in a flight unit, only to get shot down. Clambering out of the wreckage, 2B realizes that she too has been infected by the virus and has limited time to reach a safe place. This leads to the formally powerful robot limping through the world as her system slowly grows more damaged and corrupted. However, the player can only push her forward, hoping for rescue as more corrupted robots attack the weakened and helpless 2B.
1. 9S Fights A2
In the final act of the third playthrough, 9S sees A2 kill 2B. While A2 did this out of mercy, 9S doesn't understand and thus promises revenge. However, before he can act, a giant tower appears from the ground, preventing 9S and A2 from fighting. Over the next period, 9S investigates the structure, getting slowly more corrupted by the logic virus as he does. The final battle sees 9S and A2 duel at the top of the tower, with the player choosing who they control.
This fight is an amazingly complex mix of emotions, as both have legitimate reasons to be angry, confused, and upset. It perfectly encapsulates the entirety of Nier: Automata's subtext giving the whole fight a tragic beauty. Hopefully, the anime can capture this intense moment and give it the gravitas it deserves.