PlatinumGames’ Nier: Automata is considered one of the best games of the 2010s, and in the last five years, the love for it has grown as it’s been replayed and expanded to other platforms. (Recent Secret doors also helped.) While it’s not clear if there’ll be a follow up to the game, its upcoming anime can serve as another shot of life to the acclaimed action-RPG.
Revealed during the weekend’s AniPlex Online festival, a pair of teasers for the anime series — now titled Nier: Automata Version 1.1a and developed by A-1 Pictures (Lycoris Recoil, Kaguya-Sama) — was revealed, showing a brief look at the game’s first two protagonists, 2B (Yui Ishikawa) and 9S (Natsuki Hanae). Notably, the teasers don’t feature A2 (Ayaka Suwa), the game’s third protagonist. It’s also worth noting that the anime won’t be a straight adaptation: game director Yoko Taro, who’s co-writing the anime with director Ryouji Masuyama decided that a full retread wouldn’t work, so he opted to change elements of the anime around. Given that the game has over two dozen endings, this is perhaps expected.
Released in 2017, Nier: Automata tells the story (at first) of 2B and 9S, a pair of human-made androids who fight machines from an invading alien force. During their efforts to push back the machines, the duo link up with A2 and learn more about their pre-programmed objective to take back Earth for humanity. The game became a critical darling, with particular praise directed toward its narrative and music. Commercially, the game is said to have exceeded Square Enix’s expectations enough to make it consider turning Nier into a franchise, and allowed PlatinumGames to continue operating as a developer.
Nier: Automata Version 1.1a will release in January 2023.
