Trails in the Sky provides an excellent introduction to the series, effectively building its world from the start. The game presents a rich and detailed environment where every location, character, and story adds to the player's immersion. The narrative isn't rushed, allowing the world to be explored at a leisurely pace, laying a solid foundation for the future events of the franchise.

Although I wanted to explore the game's universe more deeply, the ending surprised me. The fact that I'd messed up my sleep schedule didn't help either. Now, instead of doing something else, I decided to open SC because I just can't wait any longer. Overall, I really enjoyed the game; the ending was so powerful that it motivated me to continue the journey and play the next titles in the franchise. I'm really looking forward to experiencing the SC.

When I was younger, one of my cousins showed me a gameplay of Nier Automata, followed by a gameplay of Final Fantasy XV. He talked about these games with so much excitement, saying how amazing they were, but at the time, I didn’t quite get it. After all, I didn’t know many games, and to be honest, I wasn’t really interested in them. However, as the years passed, I started thinking about Nier Automata again and decided to give it a try. But I stopped shortly after. I just wasn’t feeling excited enough to keep going. Then, some time later, the urge to try it again resurfaced, and in a conversation with friends, I mentioned wanting to play it. That’s when one of them teased me, saying I wanted to start with the last game of the franchise. I asked him to explain why Automata was the last game in the series, and that’s when he told me about Drakengard and Replicant.

(Recently, I was thinking about writing a more objective piece on the game, which isn’t the case here, but as I went through the process, I felt the need to make it something more personal.)

After finishing Drakengard 1 and 3, my friend and I would joke a lot about the gameplay, like how the “bad quality” was part of the concept, and we’d even joke about wanting a remake of the first game with the original gameplay intact. Despite the jokes, I really enjoy both games, and I’m not going to dive deep into them now because I want to focus more on Nier.

Nier, as a sequel to Drakengard, was the next game in the franchise I played, starting with the Gestalt version on PS3. When I played Nier, I was blown away by the cast and the diversity in gameplay, with camera angles and the “gameplay swaps,” something that made the experience so unique. After finishing Gestalt, I moved on to Replicant (a choice that, to me, felt a bit strange), but I didn’t let that discourage me. I finished the game pretty easily, and soon after, it was time for Nier Automata.

Knowing that Automata was the final game in the series, I felt a mix of melancholy and anticipation as I started. I set the game to normal difficulty, and right from the beginning, I noticed a difference in the gameplay—it felt much smoother compared to the previous games (except for the more recent Nier Replicant). Despite its simplicity, the ability to use two weapons and alternate between combos, plus the Pods, which function like Weiss from that game, really drew me in. However, the story didn’t hook me right away—2B, in particular, didn’t impress me. The only characters I really connected with were Pascal and 9S. But as I progressed, I started to feel more and more connected to the game, especially because of the themes that resonated with me more than those in the previous games, and how they were explored. With every new development in the story, the game began to ask questions, not just of the characters, but of the player as well.

As for the bosses in Route A, I can’t say I disliked any of them (except for So-shi from the abandoned factory—I really didn’t like him), but overall, none of them really left a lasting impact. Maybe Simone was the one that impressed me the most, mostly because of the incredible OST and the context behind it. The final boss, on the other hand, was interesting because of the mechanic that limits its functions.

When I got to Route B, my expectations weren’t very high. I knew it would essentially be Route A from 9S’s perspective, with hacking replacing 2B’s extra sword. At first, I didn’t like it much, but as the game progressed and the few differences between the routes started to emerge, I became more interested. I found Route B faster and easier than Route A, probably because 9S felt a bit more overpowered.

Now, Route C was where the game truly won me over. Here, we play as A2, a character who had already appeared in the previous routes but who, now, became my favorite character in the game. In my opinion, this route loses a lot of its impact if you haven’t played Replicant or Gestalt. If I hadn’t played those games, I wouldn’t have been nearly as emotional. Every story beat made me cry more and more, especially when I recognized references to other works of Yoko Taro. When I reached the library, I had to stop for a few minutes to process everything, and I cried a lot.

And then, we reached the ending E... Ah, ending E. I cried for about 20 minutes straight (I’m almost crying just thinking about it). Every time the message “DO YOU REALLY WANT TO GIVE UP?” popped up, I would answer aloud, “no,” as if reassuring myself to keep going. This game took me back to a time when I was more easily moved by things. It touched a very deep part of me, and I can’t even explain how much that means to me.

After all these words practically praising the game, I know that Automata isn’t perfect, but I adore the humanist and existential themes it presents. The way this franchise has touched me is something truly unique. Nier Automata isn’t special just by itself, but because it’s the last game in a journey. Following this journey is what really made me feel so deeply. I believe that if I had only played Nier Automata, without having experienced the previous games, I would have thought the game was really good, but not as impactful as I think it is now. I love its OST, I’m not a huge fan of its overall cast, but I enjoy its bosses, which I find fun, and its simple yet highly functional gameplay. However, its narrative touches me in a very personal way, connecting with me on an absurd level.

Even though it’s not strictly necessary to play the previous games, the experience is so much richer with them. For me, finishing Nier Automata feels like closing a door. But hey, as Pod 153 would say: “Do not feel bad about it, we are alive after all.”