Nier Automata is still regarded as one of the most story-rich RPGs ever created and as a game you need to beat multiple times to even get the full story, it is an RPG you can get lost in for awhile.
Alternative Titles:
- NieR:Automata Ver1.1a
Year Anime Premiered: 2023
Animation Studio: A-1 Pictures
Number of Seasons: 1
Source Material Country of Origin: Japan
Source Material Available: Game
Entry Last Updated: October 8th, 2024 – Updated for Second cour
Nier is also an RPG story that could really benefit from being told more cohesively in anime form. However, the Nier Automata anime is similar to the Nier Automata game, telling the same story, but definitely not telling it the exactly the same.
The full title of the Nier anime is Nier Automata Ver1.1a, which is extremely fitting because there are a lot of moments from the Nier Automata game in the anime, but they do change how and when events are told, with the changes growing even larger in the second half of the first season.
Some of the differences are the kind that you would expect. Changes made because an anime is not a game, so thus it does not need to do things specifically to keep a story/gameplay balance.
The story that the Nier anime is telling is the same story from the game. In fact, the way it has been organized actually helps the story make a little more sense. In the game, the story is fed to you in somewhat out of order pieces. You have to beat the game three times to even get the full tale.
That said, some of the changes are curiously arbitrary, like switching Adam with Eve and the final form of that fight, even though that smacks of “budget-saving” measures. In the second cour of the anime that premiered in 2024, the anime skipped a lot of the small discoveries you make in “the second playthrough” of the Nier game where you play as 9S. Instead, it feeds you the important ones during what would be the more interesting “third playthrough.” The second cour also cuts out a few major events that would have threw off the pacing, but it still at least kept the heart-break of Pascal even if those events were done differently in the game.
In my personal opinion, if you watched some of the Nier anime or even have a interest in the story, you should go play the game. The anime, because it does change some things, is an interesting treat for people who have played the game, but it is ultimately spoiling an interesting story – and one told to you in an interesting way. The way the game delivers the story is much more impactful, and that is lessened if you know the basic events.
Essentially, if you want to play the game ever, probably don’t watch the anime until after.
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