E3 only saw proof, a rudimentary concept of the vision, but Paris Games Week saw a full-fat trailer of NieR: Automata, the follow-up to the 2010 action-role playing game Nier.
Square Enix has turned to PlatinumGames to develop the NieR: Automata, since Nier developer Cavia went under the year the first game was released. But the new NieR will have some of the same talent that speckled the first game with bright spots.
Nier composer Keiichi Okabe has returned to score the latest game and Yoko Taro is back in the director's seat. With the band leaders back in place, PlatinumGames will deliver the 'instrumentation' and lay down the game's core.
PlatinumGames has a heritage of hack-n-slash gameplay that could see the sequel rise above the first game. The studio brought the gaming world the gems of Wonderful 101, Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
"NieR: Automata is a new third-person action RPG, follow-up to the 2010 cult hit Nier," says Square Enix. "Now in development in collaboration with PlatinumGames Inc., the new trailer showcases the character 2B, and gives a first-look at NieR: Automata's gameplay which features PlatinumGames' signature action-oriented combat."
Though Nier is now a PlayStation exclusive, the first game was available for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was consistently rated around the low 70s.
A combination of current-gen horsepower and PlatinumGames' satisfying gameplay could be the combo Nier needs. Despite having some enjoyable moments, the first Nier had glaring issues, pointed out Ryan Clements in his review of the game for IGN.
"Nier is ugly and it can get really repetitive, forcing players to backtrack multiple times across familiar locations," wrote Clements. "But for every frustration I encountered in Nier, there were surprising gameplay twists, unsettling aesthetics and intriguing characters to meet. The ideas that Nier was built on are extremely solid -- the execution just falls short."
Well thanks to the trailer below, we know NieR: Automata is at least not ugly (That's supposed to be a compliment).
