20 Video Games That LIED (And Got Away With It)

17. NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata is an action RPG from Square Enix set in a post-apocalyptic world where aliens have driven humanity to the brink of extinction. You primarily play as 2B and 9S, androids who are fighting to reclaim the earth from these aliens and restore humanity- or so they think. As the game's layers are peeled back, it turns out that virtually everything you were told at the start was a complete lie.

Humanity was long gone before the game started. The androids are fighting for a cause that has long been redundant, they just don't realize it. Far more importantly than that though, it's discovered later on that 2B is actually an executioner unit, whose purpose is to kill 9S whenever he discovers information that he shouldn't. This is a cycle in which both androids are trapped in, as 9S is restored minus key memories after each execution.

It's a cruel twist on NieR: Automata's primary relationship and it caught players completely off guard when first discovered. The game has a whopping 5 different endings, with a totally different path required to see each one, with the key narrative beats slowly dished out at crucial moments. Over time, it grew a cult following, and is still talked about today, so all of that misdirection clearly paid off.