This game is amazing (10/10) for a single playthrough. Sadly, poorly designed New Game+ mode leaves no replay value. The game also has a few minor design flaws (or maybe just bugs).
Story: 10/10 (and it's still an understatement)
So first of all, I'm usually not a person to care for story, because in most modern games narrative and stories, in general, are generic and predictable. This is not the case with Nier Automata as the game took me on an emotional rollercoaster: constantly building on the dramatic moments or twisting the narrative completely and blowing my mind. My words cannot express how pleasantly surprised I was when I played a game, couldn't predict the story and in the end, the story actually ended up good.
Basically, if you like dark or unpredictable stories - you will probably love this one.
Atmosphere: 10/10
Atmosphere is another thing I never rate in games, because (apart from few gems) it is usually bland unless you really read into generic dialogues. Again, not the case with this game! With simple tools such as color scheme ofthe game, (voice-acted) dialogs, side quests (again voice-acted) and even enemy conversations this game paints a depressing atmosphere to the point where I actually feel sad for allies and enemies alike.
How many games like that can you think of? Anyways, the game's atmosphere and story actually synergize with each other, making both more impactful. That is why i said 10/10 for story is an understatement.
Music: 9/10
Yet another thing I rarely rate in games, because it gets old VERY fast and I generally don't like it. I'm not going into detail in this one, but you should know that music contributes to atmosphere and you'll hear different variations of music (for instance with vocals fading in/out or music turning into 8-bit version). My only complaint is there aren't that you'll be hearing the same songs most of time.
World: 10/10
As you may know it's an open world game. While the world is not huge, it's big enoug to keep it interesting throughout the game. Also, some areas in game evolve throughout the game.
Gameplay: 9.5/10
It's not something I can write much about, because the game uses very simple, but successful features.
Combat is very fluid and both defensive and aggressive play-styles feel rewarding. Exploration also feels rewarding, as you get exclusive items hidden among trash basically. Throughout my 60+ hours of play I never once felt bored and always wanted more.
Problems (if not for these I would score the game 10/10)
This is nitpicking, really, but it does affect overall experience.
- New game+ is useless. By the time you finish the game you'll probably be level 60 and most only go up to level 60. You can start use New Game+ to start from the start, but you will be 1-3 hit killing everything for most of the game. Basically, this leaves you unable to enjoy combat in New Game+. About the only use for this is feature is chapter select to experience all endings.
- Few hours of mandatory tedious grind for platinum trophy. There are a few rare enemies that you will have to keep reloading the game to "find" (in worst cases it took me well over an hour to get 1 enemy to spawn).
- Several minor design flaws:
- Cosmetic item setup is not saved and has to be re-equipped each time character or (post-game) chapter is changed.
- (some) Side quest progress don't does not persist through playthroughs or chapter select. A few of the quests can be partially completed and if the game happens to end after the next boss you fight... though luck, turns out you have to do it again.
- (Rare) Areas don't load, which might make you fall through floor, crash your game and lose you any unsaved progress.