New Nier: Automata Videos Show Slick Combat, Mysterious Characters

On April 16 Square Enix hosted 'NieR Music Concert & Talk Live,' an event celebrating the game's sixth anniversary. Among the festivities was a new look at Nier: Automata, the upcoming sequel.

The video above focuses on a couple of characters from the game, one of which is 2B, the previously revealed android with a "cold and level headed personality." The video features Japanese voiceover and some flavour text, so if you're not familiar with the language you may not get much out of it. Still, it's worth watching for the melodrama and cool robot.

The second video, which is placed further down, is focused on the gameplay. We're given a look at the two characters wandering through a destroyed world, before engaging in some combat.

Nier: Automata was announced at E3 2015, where Bayonetta studio Platinum Games was also confirmed as developer. As expected from a Platinum title, the combat the game looks fluid and has a high level of energy to it.

"Earth has suddenly been invaded by beings from another planet and mechanical life forms with overwhelming power were used as weapons of war which forced mankind to flee to the moon. In order to take back the earth, a resistance force of android warriors has been created by humanity to fight these invaders," Square Enix previously revealed about the time.

"The world that you see in Nier: Automata is one where androids and mechanised weapons clash in ferocious combat in a barren and deserted wasteland. It's set after the original game but the story is written in a way which means you don’t have to have played the first one."

Discussing the game after its reveal, producer Yosuke Saito said "Nier struck a chord with many passionate gamers. It was something so special that we felt compelled to heed the fans’ call for a follow-up ... To create the ultimate action-RPG, it dawned on me that a collaboration between Platinum Games and Square Enix would be a dream come true."

Nier: Automata is expect to launch on PS4 in 2016.