NieR: Automata is, as anyone who has played it can attest, a beautiful and oftentimes bizarre experience. More than five years later, the title continues to blow our minds, as the discovery of what was deemed an impossible door has sent shockwaves throughout the community.
The tale begins innocuously enough, with a simple question: How to access the Church? This question was posed by user sadfutago over on the NieR: Automata SubReddit a few months back, and it caused some confusion, as there doesn't seem to be a church in the game.
Sadfutago was asking on behalf of a friend and was confused as to why their friend could not access the same area they had. Redditors initially dismissed the situation, until sadfutago posted a screenshot as evidence of this church a few weeks later, and a short clip of its location.
Other players were unable to replicate this feat, although many tried. Many believed that the entire thing was faked (given the length of time between posts), and some still do, although no one knows how such deception could be implemented.
Yesterday sadfutago posted a clip that kicked the whole situation into overdrive, a full clip of them accessing the door and the church beyond, and it's pretty awesome to behold (you can also see the clip in the Tweet below).
It's important to note that sadfutago is playing on PS4, as it is around this point that modders began to weigh in, stating that the level of access required to pull something like this off in-game is not currently possible even on PC.
Lance McDonald, who himself discovered the supposed "final secret" (amongst others) left in the game as teased by game director Yoko Taro, had the following to say on the matter:
It's an incredible series of events and a testament to NieR: Automata's legacy that the community is still plumbing its depths, still looking to uncover hidden secrets
What do you think of this whole affair? Of the more than six million people who have played NieR: Automata, only one has provided proof of accessing a room even modders can't believe is real.
Happenstance, or an unbelievably elaborate hoax? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source reddit.com, via twitter.com, psu.com]
Comments 43
Wow, this is very interesting. Too much work to be a hoax. Its very strange that no one else was able to recreate this.
If I was a game dev I'd definitely add in a secret stage with a one in a million chance of accessing it. Let the community go nuts.
I platinumed the game not too long ago, crazy how there is still secrets being discovered. Yoko Taro is a ***** madman.
Looks like a section of the game that didn't get finished but got left in there.
Probably one of those weird things, where you have to press several buttons at the same time in the exact sequence and thereby drop into an undeleted section of code that should've been taken out/commented out which allows a door to the unfinished section.
As every game gets patched post-release, I wonder if sadfutago had a particular patch applied or no patch applied that allowed this?
This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me want to play this game.
I have no choice but to try and replicate this. One of my all time favourite games.
@Shepherd_Tallon It's on my backlog too. What keeps putting me off is multiple playthroughs required to complete and it's 40-60 hour playtime to see it all. One day.
So what's the secret? You can access the first door while fighting Adam in the copied city, the door is even wide open during the cutscene after you defeat him!
@Zemo55 I have not played the game (yet) but if it’s so simple, why are people saying they’re unable to replicate it?
@themightyant Same. I'm worried I'll only like it enough for one play through, and if more are needed I'd just be wasting my time.
A friend of mine who swears by this game even gave me a copy to play. I just never installed it.
@themightyant @Shepherd_Tallon worth mentioning that two of the playthroughs, whilst similar, aren't identical and another has some big differences so it's not identical playthroughs to unlock all the story. It's a very weird game, I enjoyed it despite not having any passion for anime but others may not enjoy it. Some fantastic philosophical themes in the game though!
@Voltan come back when you've played the game.
@R1spam Thanks. That does help a little but it's also such a time sink too. I'll get there eventually!
I find this all very hard to believe considering the game has been on PC for years and it’s really hard to just hide a whole area when people can just look through the files and find everything.
@Shepherd_Tallon I really want to play NieR Automata, too. But now that a Switch version has been announced for release in October, I don’t know whether to wait and play it there instead. I know playing on PS5 will be better, but as the game requires multiple playthrough’s, I’m thinking that portability may well be a particular strength on this occasion. What to do? Arrrgh.
Very interesting. Not as interesting as the secret that allows you to beat the game almost right away, but it's up there.
@The_Pixel_King for what it’s worth, this is an action game that requires lots of perfect dodging while the screen fills up with the largest number of projectiles I’ve ever seen in a game. It’s really hard to imagine the Switch port pulling everything off smoothly, but maybe wait for reviews? IMO this is the kind of game you play at 60fps when you have the option.
As others have said, the whole “multiple playthroughs” thing is less onerous than it sounds. Only the first two really overlap heavily, and the second has new mechanics that speed things up as well as added story stuff keeps it interesting.
@R1spam Ah good to know. Thanks!
@The_Pixel_King I think that @turntSNACO has more or less summed up what I was going to say. Good answer.
@themightyant I got through all of the play throughs in about 30-35 hours. I said there was no way I’d play it that much, but I was too in love not to go through all of them. Each play through is quicker than the last and adds enough differences that they are absolutely worth going through.
I do love a good hidden secret in video games, however, the issue I had with this game, and anime style games in general, is the over-sexualisation of its characters. I found the gratuitous upskirts of 2b climbing ladders incredibly uncomfortable and incredibly unnecessary. They'd even gone to the trouble of making her wear a thong so you really could see it all, AND awarded you a TROPHY called "What are you doing!" for taking a peek. She is a robot. Why does she need a thong and why do you need to see her bare bottom?!
I absolutely loved anime as a kid and was kind of oblivious to how bad this stuff was/is, but at 36 years old this really turns me away from many games and shows. I am obviously a prude in my older age.
Anyway, I have somewhat diverged from the topic at hand. More secret rooms, less bare bums. Say it with me now:
More secret rooms, less bare bums
More secret rooms, less bare bums...
I seriously didn't understand why squareenix didn't immidiately make nier automata 2 with yoko taro and platinum games, rather they ordered platinum games to make a live service game and yoko taro to make a card game 😕
@Ward_ting Do you also feels uncomfortable killing human enemies in games? That's pretty fu***d up if you feels uncomfortable seeing woman in light clothing (don't go to the beach 😂) but didn't have problems killing peoples lol.
@Odium Thanks for the insight. Though I'm always slow compared to HLTB and others. I feel compelled to "check my corners" Captain Price would be proud
@Ward_ting I wasn’t a fan of how gratuitous it was either. It’s one of my favorite games of all time, but I could have done without the over the top over-sexualization of the characters. I even deleted the demo just because of the really odd shot of her butt that left nothing to the imagination. I almost didn’t even play the game, though I’m glad I did.
Did they forget all the textures in that map?
Anyone discussing the "downside" of multiple playthroughs of NA clearly has no clue what they're talking about.
@Odium So sad this world.
@The_Pixel_King It's a beautiful game with amazing music and everything. I would play it where you can get the best audio visual experience vs portability. It is not the kind of game I would play on the go anyway.
@wiiware Come on now, that is hardly comparable and a bit of a reach. The issue here is these are characters created by men to be sexy, and it serves no purpose to the story whatsoever. The only purpose is to make predominantly male members of the gaming community salivate and it's all a bit lame and childish.
Comparing being forced to look up the skirt of a computer generated robot every time she goes up a ladder is nothing like seeing a real-life woman on a beach in swimwear and you know it.
@Odium I'm glad somebody gets it. It is a decent game and I enjoyed it, but that was the real let down for me.
@themightyant It's really not multiple playthroughs, and I hate how the game has been described this way, because it misleads people, like in your case. Okay, there are sort of two playthroughs, but they're very unique. After those two are done, it's all new content from there.
Must be a drakengard 3 reference
@Ward_ting I wouldn't say you are a prude at all. I am over 40 now and find that sort of stuff uncomfortable a lot of the time. I would also be embarrassed if my kids or wife walked in at the wrong moment 😂
I thought we were Nier to discovering all this game's secrets.
Please don't give me an excuse to replay this masterpiece
I love this kind of stuff. Please keep us posted Pushsquare!
@Ward_ting I don't understand why people didn't have problem with seeing real woman with light clothing but have problems with 2D woman in games, games are art and the makers of the games can do what they want with their game's design (there's esrb for the games rating afterall).
Also I'm sure as heck nier automata won't be as famous (and sells millions) as is it now if the protagonist is just generic buff males or worse, the protagonist designed like in the new saint row.
Maybe the censored mode option like in bayonetta 3 is the best solutions (naive mode), normal gamers can play it normally, and those weird people on twitter won't cry about the game. They're (twitter insane people) are not the one buying the game though, they just like to be angry for everythings.
@themightyant pah 40-60 hours is nothing..i'm still playing valhalla and i'm about 85 hours in and still have a lot...a hell of a lot to do...i might give this game a go one day considering its rather short campaign lol...
I think it's real but honestly it doesn't matter in the end, as long as people are having fun!
@Ward_ting i'm turning 50 this year and i've always found the japanese over sexualisation of teenage/young women in their anime and video games a tad disturbing..even some of their jrpg's that are aimed at the younger gamers always seem to squeeze in cleavage or a bit of bum...i've nothing against real women showing a bit of flesh off,i am a man after all but cartoon or video game soft porn just creeps me out...so yeah i'm with you on this..
@Northern_munkey that’s true there are lots of games I’ve put 80+ hours into and a few 200+. Still 40 plus is an undertaking for me nowadays, I’m not a teenager anymore with time to burn 😂
@Ward_ting from what I hear about this game I would love to play it. But yeah, I cant really picture myself playing this with my kid in the background and my wife on the couch asking me wtf Im playing...
@Flurpsel exactly this. My girlfriend walked in on me playing it a number of times and we both just looked at each other and exchanged knowing looks about how ridiculous it was 😂
If I had a kid I think I’d definitely have to play it during their bed time, or at least not play as 2b!
@Grimwood Definitely!
For anyone wondering where this went, it is not an undiscovered secret in the game. It's a mod that someone developed.
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