Across the Yoko-Taro-Verse

I knew going into NieR: Automata, last year, that its full story was a multiple-playthroughs affair -- and since I tapped out after one playthrough, I never did get that full story. "Might be better as an anime series," I mused.

And yeah, it is.

Watching through NieR: Automata Ver1.1a doesn't, like, completely make sense; it successfully captures the same feeling of obtuse otherworldliness (a.k.a "unexplained, confusingly weird shit") as the game. But the anime sure is more-sensibly paced, absent the game's chore-like travel requirements.

On top of which, if I understood correctly (though, hey, maybe not) the anime script effectively combines the game's first and second storylines - 2B's and 9S's perspectives - from the start. Way more efficient storytelling.

That said, in the last few episodes it became clear that Automata's "full story" ... was never really here at all.

When the exposition finally does talk about how and why this world is the way that it is, a few suspiciously-specific keywords (particularly Gestalt) are overt enough hints that the foundations of Automata's narrative are in Yoko Taro's other games. So. That's a bit of a let-down.

Regardless: I still got more out of Ver1.1a's linear, non-interactive storytelling than I did from my "meh" experience with the game.