[Agathos]

I played Nier: Automata right after I finished Horizon Zero Dawn back in 2017. They were an interesting study in contrasts. I agree HZD is the better game, and Automata's flaws really wore on me sometimes, but I still liked it on balance. It plays around and gets weird in ways that a bigger-budget release like HZD can't risk. It probably helps that I actually did like the shooter mini-game that this article is about, musical transition and all.