NieR: Automata

About

NieR: Automata is an action RPG developed by Platinum Games and produced by Square Enix.^[1] The prequel, Nier, is a spinoff of the Drakengard series and was intended by Square Enix to be an RPG for an older audience. Though the original game received mixed-poor reviews upon its release in 2010, the game developed a cult following in the following years, leading Square Enix to produce a sequel, Nier: Automata, developed by Platinum Games and set for release in 2017.

History

Nier was released in 2010 by Square Enix. It was initially planned as an entry into the Drakengard series, but was released as its own spinoff. Director Yoko Taro had high creative control over his game, and as a result, the game blends multiple styles and genres. Yoko stated the game was inspired by the events of September 11th, 2001 and that he wanted to show how in conflict, both sides believe they are doing the right thing. Thus, Nier features multiple perspectives on the events of its plot, revealed through multiple playthroughs. In Japan, the game was released as Nier: Gestalt and an alternate version, Nier: Replicant was released and featured a younger main character.

The story takes place in the distant future. The middle-aged titular character Nier (whose name can be changed in game) embarks on a quest to save his daughter Yonah from an illness known as "the black scrawl." Along the way, he meets a snarky book named Grimoire Weiss and social outcasts Kainé and Emil (cast shown below). The game's main enemies are creatures known as Shades and the villain is a shadow version of the title character who wants to kidnap Yonah.

Reception

Nier received mixed reviews from critics, earning a score of 68 on Metacritic.^[2] Reviewers were critical of its graphics, but praised the voice acting and soundtrack. They were more divided on the the effectiveness of the game's mix of styles and the sidequests were almost universally derided. In his review, Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation gave tepid praise to the story but criticized the game's sidequests and repetitive structure (shown below, left).

In the years following the commercial and critically tepid response to Nier, it developed a cult following. In 2015, Eurogamer^[3] called it "the rare game that gets better with age," with critic Jeffrey Matulef attributing its cult following to the "sense of wonder" produced by the game's cryptic storytelling, downbeat atmosphere and mashup of genres. In 2016, Pat and Liam of Super Best Friends Play played the game on their channel (shown above, right). They received it very positively, and noted that flaws in the 2010 title would likely be addressed by Platinum Games in the the upcoming sequel, Nier: Automata.

Nier: Automata

In 2014, production began on Nier: Automata, a sequel to Nier, with Yoko returning as director. The team's intent was to stay true to the spirit of the original while creating better action gameplay. Nier: Automata takes place after the events of Nier and features androids fighting a proxy war on Earth for humans who have fled to the Moon to escape Earth invaders. The main protagonist is YoRHa No. 2 Model B, or "2B" for short. She is a female-model android whose main traits are being calm and composed. On December 22nd, 2016, Playstation released the Nier: Automata demo to the Playstation store.^[4] Critics were impressed by the gameplay mechanics and the emotional heft of the 30 minute demo's story.^[5]

Butt Controversy

Following the release of the demo, many players began to take note of 2B's outfit, which features a short black skirt with a cut in the side; alongside the acrobatic movements in gameplay, the frequent showing of 2B's butt left little to player's imagination. Members of Twitter also began talking about a screenshot^[6] of the butt in which it is possible to see her anus beneath her underwear. The image generated interest in the game, as fans praised the "lovingly rendered butthole" and created fan art of the character. However, some people insist the screenshot is fake. While it is possible to see an upskirt image of 2B, it appears as though the popular "butthole" photo was photoshopped.^[7][8][15]

The controversy surrounding the screenshot of the butthole, regardless of it being real or fake, managed to gather an explosive amount of attention for 2B's assets. As of January 31st, 2017, fanart on the Japanese image sharing website Pixiv for 2B contains over 1,500 images,^[9] which is even more than the amount of fanart tagged with "NieR: Automata" at 1,300 images,^[10] with many prominently featuring her posterior. The fanart and the discusion about 2B's butthole didn't go unnoticed to the game's creator, Yoko Taro, who quickly followed with a reply to the topic. However, as is known by fans of Taro to be fitting for him, his reply to the controversy didn't reference the butthole but instead asked for his followers to send him the art of 2B's butt in a ZIP file (shown below, left). ^[11] To his suprise, the exposure the tweet received resulted in fans actually collecting fanart of 2B and sending it to him (shown below, right),^[12] including the most notable tweet containing a ZIP file with nearly 1,000 images (including duplicates).^[13]

“Due to the 2B butt controversy, many outrageous drawings are being made. Collecting them to share individually is a pain. It would be great if we can group them together to make it easier to distribute them every week.”

“When I said that I wanted people to gather images of 2B and put them in a zip file for me, the tweet got all kinds of exposure. Now people are actually collecting them. The internet is amazing.”

The controversy surrounding the butthole, the explosive amount of fanart, and the reaction by Yako Toro, of course didn't go unnoticed to various video game news outlets, who quickly followed with articles about the events. These include the Daily Dot,^[14][15] Kotaku,^[16] DualShockers,^[17] Niche Gamer,^[18] and various YouTube channels (shown below).

Search Interest

External References