9 Mediocre Video Games Made Awesome By Twists

Nier: Automata received high praise when it launched in 2017 but back in 2010, its prequel Nier didn’t fare as well. A spinoff of Yoko Taro’s Drakengard series, Nier followed Drakengard’s fifth ending, seeing the Earth fall to decay, and Nier takes place one thousand years later.

It received mixed reviews, many criticising its gameplay systems but Nier’s story is its highlight, requiring multiple playthroughs to reach the true ending, an approach utilised within its sequel as well.

Playing the titular character, Nier focused on his attempts to locate a cure for the Black Scrawl, an illness his daughter Yonah is succumbing to. Joined by Kainé and Emil, Earth is plagued by aggressive monsters called Shades, which are led by the Shadowlord. Setting out to defeat him, they encounter Popola and Devola, who reveal the truth of this world.

Trying to save themselves from the Black Scrawl, Humanity separated its souls from their bodies, looking to fuse them inside disease-resistant clones, known as Replicants. What they didn’t anticipate however was that Replicants would develop their own consciousness, leaving their original humans without physical form.

Becoming resentful, humanity’s aggression manifested into Shades and upon defeating the Shadowlord, yet another twist unfolds. He reveals himself as the original Nier, confirming you’ve been playing a replicant this whole time.

For those who can forgive its gameplay, it’s a story that more than makes up for it, presenting an engaging adventure worth seeing through.