Nier: Automata | New Info: Quests, Customization and Weapons

Nier: Automata Quests, Customization and Weapons are shown in the second official Live Gameplay Broadcast. Five participants were in this livestream: Producer Yosuke Saito, Creative Director Taro Yoko, Game Designer Takahisa Taura and Isao Negishi (Platinum Games), and Keiko Isobe (voice of Operator 60). It might be an hour and a half long, but it shows some of the new features. We like the weapons best.

At the start of the gameplay part of the video (the 15-minute mark), you can see something that is easy to miss. It shows the depth of the seemingly bland design, which even surprised me, as I remember going through this part and not even paying notice to the fact that you can perform moves like this one.

You can see how the quest system works at around 24:25 in the video. It shows us that by accepting this quest, you’ll unlock many other quests that were previously unavailable. The color of the quest may indicate that this is a part of the main story.

The core of the customization in Nier: Automata revolves around the Plug-in Chip system. Something that players who play Free Demo are also familiar with at some level. You can see it in the Demo, but you can’t play with it to the full extent. In the video shown above, around the 38:47 mark, the hosts show how it actually works. By the looks of it, it seems simple; you just have to find all those upgrade elements – Plug-in Chips hidden around the map. Plug-in Chips can be even bought from the vendors.

Later on, we can also see the Cypress Stick weapons. The Cypress Stick was shown in the latest Nier: Automata Trailer. This is a returning weapon from Dragon Quest, another popular JRPG from Square Enix. It is now confirmed that, indeed, the Cypress Stick turns chests into Dragon-Quest-looking ones. They are by far much easier to spot than the regular ones. For someone who is into gathering everything on the map, this will come in handy.

This is not the last of the surprises. At the mark 55:37 mark, you can see the Engine Blade. Another returning weapon, this time from Final Fantasy XV. This special weapon gives a warp-effect evasion. You can see Noctis, the true bearer of Engine Blade, use this a lot. Does this mean that we can expect the same with other unique in-game weapons? I sure hope so.

Near the end of the video, you can see the game merchandise. Take a look at the Nier: Automata pillow, phone case, frame printed cover, mini table and even cookies!

Nier: Automata will come out on February 23rd in Japan, March 7th in North America, and March 10th in Europe. These are release dates for the PS4. PC players will get their hands of the game in early 2017, while XBOX users can play something else.