Nier Automata Should Be Taught At Universities

There is no hierarchy of art. No artistic medium is inherently capable of producing an experience that can be considered “better” than another. Film is not “better” than literature, paintings are not “better” than drawings, and so on. I’ve stated this before in previous pieces, but felt it necessary to lead with on this occasion. In my opinion, no art form is more difficult to make, in general and relative to quality, as the medium of video games. Not only are there potentially so many elements to keep track of on the project, there is the highest degree of variability of experience due to the inputs the player can take. And when viewed through a critical lens, video games are often nitpicked and dissected unlike any other medium, making the window of high quality artistic experiences video games can produce feel that much smaller. 

But due to the relative youth of the medium of video games, something that I believe video games are unfairly criticized for is their propensity for utilizing other mediums, such as cinema and literature, rather than their own to convey their themes and narratives. Regardless of my belief when it pertains to a video game’s quality of artistry, fair or unfair, this cannot be denied. Cutscenes are often utilized as a way of delivering visuals incapable of being effectively woven into the gameplay. Cinema. Text is often utilized as a way of providing extra flavor to the world that is trying to immerse you. Literature.

When we look at a game like Nier Automata. At first glance it certainly would seem to fall into this category of imitating other mediums. However upon closer examination we are able to see that not only does it use it’s content from the mediums extremely intelligently through naturalistic diegesis, but the unique language of video gaming, that can only be conveyed through the medium of games all converges to make as cohesively and transgressively one of the finest examples of a comprehensive game to have yet been created.

Yoko Taro, the games director and writer, is no stranger to the art of gaming. The longtime creator of the Drakengarde universe is noted for his technique of “backwards scripting” which is the process of creating the ending of narrative first and working your way back through the uncreated story that has technically already ended. Which is even more understandable when you realize that his games have so many different “endings” although many of the main story endings feel more like episodic endings than fully comprehensive “the end.”

The narrative take so many twists and turns to sum it up with a simple synopsis feels disingenuous, however it is a good way to at the very least outline what is going on within the game space. Long after our time, over 9000 (*Vegeta crushes power level scouter*) years in the future, earth has long been abandoned, inhabited by the robotic servants of the alien race who sent them there. The council of humanity enlists YoRHa, a military of weaponized and hacking androids to assist with reclaiming earth for the “glory to mankind” from the insurgent robots. As we see the conflict through the eyes of combat unit android “2B” and hacking unit android “9S.”

While the narrative itself is brilliantly paced, it is also given time to breathe when necessary, focusing on what “life” on earth has become from the androids, robots, and fauna perspectives. Each side activity being  meditative vignettes on how to find purpose in a world without seemingly any. And the characterization of our main characters is brilliantly reactive and naturally fleshed as each twist and turn takes place. Slowly but surely unraveling what it all means, if it does in fact, mean anything at all. (As with any good art, that’s up for you to decide.)

The devil is truly in the details, as high quality as the writing is, the cerebral, existential and subversive lens through which it views past life and what “life” itself would be come in a world dominated by synthetic life. It’s brilliant by itself, but when viewed through the context of a game, when each piece of visual, audio, and gameplay is polished to such excellence on a purely form level, it’s particularly endearing when you realize what all of this is and what it means.

Diegesis is “a style of fiction storytelling which presents an interior view of a world in which the narrator presents the actions (and sometimes thoughts) of the characters to the readers or audience.)” To use a more digestible example, when Ganondorf is playing his classic theme in the The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of time, not only is Link able to hear it, so are we. It is naturally woven between experiences of the characters in the story and us the viewer/player/listener/etc. However the ways through which Nier Automata plays this trick is more seamlessly integrated into its overall experience. When 9S hacks enemies the shoot-em-up mini game isn’t just for our benefit, this is what 9S sees. When we pull up the menus, sure it benefits us, but it is also what 2B/9S are seeing too. When we integrate plug in chips you find throughout the game world and dropped by enemies into 2B or 9S’ motherboard, it benefits their fighting style and abilities. The deliberately slow scrolling text to convey personal history, allegory, it is the characters seeing this on their screen. I’ve given a few examples without spoiling any important details. Taro and his team are able to provide even more clever uses of diegesis later in the game in certain situations to convey narrative detail, theme, and characterization that could only be done through the medium of video games. And it is the devotion to that comprehensive attention that allows Nier Automata to stand above its peers for that integration into almost every aspect.

Nier Automata clearly values and understands the history of the medium of gaming. Paying homage to every genre unique to games, from shoot-em-ups to text adventures, to 2D platforming/metroidvanias, over to top down twin-stick shooters and back. It’s not only a crash course in early video game history, it makes for a damn fine gameplay experience too. The perspective changes are natural, never felt jarring and keeps the player on their toes throughout each scripted combat sequence. 

And while most of it is not diegetic, I must give a special mention to the orchestrated score. Not only is it of the highest compositional quality, with beautifully varied instrumentation and congruent theming throughout all of its fantastic songs. In an era where so many soundtracks, even those of the highest quality have a tendency to blend together, the work don there is extremely distinct in its sound and style. The trio of composers who worked on the music, Keiichi Okabe, Keigo Hoashi, and Kuniyuki Takahashi did a remarkable job.

To condense Nier Automata down into a single artistic interpretation feels impossible, but that’s what we do here, so I’m going to try my very best. 

The search for meaning is something that all sentient beings will ultimately have to embark on. Whether human or yet undiscovered or unknown to us humans. That is a “sacrifice” we make to become sentient in the first place. The self-actualization that entails can be back-breaking, physically painful to go along with our fortunate emotional pain that we are allowed to feel through that sentience. And sentient beings will always strive to find or create these values, meanings, and purposes that we live for. Being on earth it would only make sense that the synthetic life that is grappling with this newfound meaning and purpose would take inspiration from the ones who essentially created the very concept of sentience and who dominated the planet for millennia. After all, somewhere in their lineage, there was a human behind the creation of an ancestor. We are the arbiters of our own meanings, purpose, and values, and there is a freedom in knowing that.

Are video games silly little things?

[Yes/No]