Anyone that is familiar with Yoko Taro’s work knows that the eccentric creator is a fan of multiple endings. Starting way back with the Drakengard series (also known as Dragon Dragoon), Taro implemented the concept that a player's actions should matter in how the game is completed and that varied perspectives are the heart of storytelling. Nier Automata comes in with an impressive 26 endings, one for each letter of the alphabet. These range from joke endings to serious world building endings. In the same vein as its predecessor, Nier: Replicant, Automata is a game that needs to be played multiple times to get the full scope of its story. Fret not, the game experience will not be identical as its previous playthrough, so it won’t be a slog to get through.. One has to sit and replay key parts of the story in order to complete the picture of the story being created. Here, we will go over the best and worst endings of Nier: Automata, and how to get them. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

 

[5] Best Endings:

 

[1] Ending A: Flowers for m[A]chines

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This is the first ending in the game, it needs to be completed to get to other endings. The characters defeat Eve and 9S begins to succumb to the logic virus. 2B carries out her design as the executioner, strangling 9S to death, lamenting that the cycle of her killing him never ends. She then sees a machine head begin to light up, enraged, she moves to destroy it with her broken sword. Just before she strikes, she sees that it is a data transmission, as the robot heads begin to blink around her. The large robot rises from the sea of heads, speaking in a familiar voice… 9S. His data now existed in the machine network, a way to preserve himself in his untimely demise. 2B, now questioning how different Androids and machines were, was happy that 9S still existed, regardless of what form he took.

Review:

 For any gamer, completing the game is an accomplishment and seeing the story draw to its true conclusion is a satisfying treat. Nier is known for its bitter sweet endings, and even in the “best” category, the traumatic conclusion between 9S and 2B can feel jarring. In the same span that we have experienced and accomplished success, we suffer an incredible loss. Unlike deaths of the past, such as when we detonated our black boxes, this time felt personal. 9S’s death began and punctuated the game, yet we experience his death more personally by the end of the game. It's truly a testament and examination of how our protagonists see the world around them after all that they have been through, leading the player to begin asking they’re first questions as to…what did we really just play? This is one of the best because it tantalizes the player into seeking more, and this is just the beginning.

How to get this ending:

• Complete the game as 2B, this is the first playthrough.

 

[2] Ending B: or not to [B]e

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This scene plays out almost identically to ending A; you must still defeat Eve. 9S will be hacking, which is an element not present in the ending A playthrough. There’s feelings and thoughts you will hear from Eve you will hear as a hacker that you would not hear playing 2B. This is also where we hear about 9S’s data corruption and how he handles it, intentionally ignoring it to complete his goal. From this perspective, we see the red girls watching as 2B commits her final act on 2B, strangling him to death since he cannot upload his corrupted data to the bunker. We see the story continue, as it would each and every time. History repeating itself.

Review:

    We have now reached the point of seeing there is more to the story than what is presented. Who are these girls? Why are they watching us? What happens now that 9S cannot be uploaded to the bunker? Ultimately, what is next? At this point, the story now feels like it’s worth replaying again; the story beats got shorter and we were going through pertinent information from a hacker’s perspective. 9S fights within the “mind” of his enemies, in the network where everything works. It left me questioning just how much 9S knows about the world around him. Then, in the bunker during the credits scene, he almost lets pertinent information slip, but we as the players now have no idea what it is at this moment. The Nier universe is full of secrets. 

How to get this ending:

• Complete the second playthrough as 9S.
   

[3] Ending C: meaningless [C]ode

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This is the third ending; it continues after completing the base game’s ending. We conclude the battle with Eve and are now on top of a tower. 9S and A2 face off at each other, and the player is prompted to choose whom they would like to play. Choose A2. We then learn information from each player's understanding about what is happening, or their understanding of it. Here, we see the descent of 9S’s sanity. The logic virus that was in 2B’s arm now begins to affect 9S during the battle. A2 hacks into  9S, with the intention of procuring his data. She instructs Pod to take his body, why A2 stays behind to delete the tower in which they were fighting. Destroying the cannon that was instructed to destroy the human database on the moon. We then see her falling to her death as the tower falls apart.

Review:

    This ending gets to the true in depth story and addresses things we have seen in the game, but don’t have any answers to yet. We begin to see the breakdown of our characters and realize their place, their desires, and their destruction in this world. This ending is in the top 5 because it takes place immediately after the main storyline, and it ends in a new location where the player has to choose their fighter. We’ve gained new information on the story progression and A2 needs to pay for what she did to 2B. Now we have new questions.We need answers, and the story gets more insidious than we imagined. We see a choice play out to prevent the further destruction of what we think the world has left to offer, the human database. As we proceed through the game, A2 died protecting the last vestige of hope, of which her comrades also died protecting, even though she knew better. Her end here is poetically depressing.

How to get this ending:

• Complete endings A & B, defeating Eve as normal. Get to the end of that playthrough and ending C will begin. Select A2 and defeat 9S.

 

[4] Ending D: chil[D]hood’s end

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This ending is the 2nd option to play from another character’s perspective. One should play once as 2A and once as 9S, these illuminate some varied viewpoints on understanding the world. During this playthrough as 9S, we experience his tormented perspective. When A2 was about to strike the final blow, she remembered the request of 2B, to take care of 9S. In her pauses, 9S drives his sword through her stomach. As they fall, 9S impales himself with her sword. We watch as he writhes in pain and eventually perishes. The Pod begins a dialogue explaining that repair would be impossible, and that an emergency evacuation of his memories was in order. Here, we received a dialogue section of 9S’s initial memories of existence, leading to him remembering the red girls as his mind begins to fade. The red girls had orchestrated the cannon destroying the moon base, but changed their mind once they saw the androids, machines, Adam, and Eve. They chose to take the information in the form of an ark instead of an artillery, they chose to send their memories to a new world, in hopes of a new life. Adam and Eve are on the ark, Adam asks if 9S will join them, as 9S’s memories begin to fade. 9s agrees to join them, shooting off into space to potentially wander for an eternity. Pod 153 and 042 begin a dialogue during the credits regarding data deletion. We see that data is leaking for our main characters, and Pod 042 refuses to delete the data despite their programmed instructions.

Review:

    This is where the story takes off in truly making history altering decisions. The feeling of inevitable defeat by divine design sinks in depressingly. Would any of our characters be free of the suffering they were designed to endure? We see that their perceived value from their purpose is self destructive, while their value to those around them is what gives them the love and protection they desire. Their true purpose. A weapon that was created to protect a weapon ordained itself its own freedom to protect in a new way. What we had used mindlessly to fight is now our greatest salvation in the story. Would the humans have felt the same about the androids?

How to get this ending:

• Complete ending C, but instead of A2, play 9S.

 

[5] Ending E: the [E]nd of YoRHa

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Iconically known as a bullet hell level, the player goes through and fights the credits as a hacker. The battle gets notoriously difficult as the pods discuss what they should do from the end of ending D. As “Weight of the World” swells, the player gets overwhelmed by the level. At defeat, the game will ask if you will “give up here.” Saying no will continue the level and the player continues to play the level. With each defeat, quotes pour in of support, then the question is asked, “DO YOU ADMIT THERE IS NO MEANING TO THIS WORLD?” After this, defeats will begin to ask you if you’d accept rescue officer assistance with each “no” you give. Your support begins to grow as you take on the onslaught from the bullet hell, no longer alone, you cut through relying on the network looking out for you. Finally, we are asked if we would like for 2B and 9S to survive; upon answering yes, we see the pods carrying parts of a pod and others carrying pieces of our protagonists.

 “A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself.”

Review:

This is the most hopeful ending. When the player succeeds through the onslaught of failure, when the player accepts their place is not alone in this world, to keep fighting, the game gives us a vision of the beauty that we created. The choice to live as one sees fit, free from the weight of others’ defined purpose and choosing the happiness they had put aside in the name of duty. It was a beautiful and hopeful ending in comparison to its depressing and defeating narratives it starts the game with. We are no longer bound by limitations, ending A was the closest we received to a similar feeling. The future, for once, looked bright. A bittersweet ending for the loss we as the player have incurred. 

How to get this ending:

• Complete ending A, B, C, & D. The story will progress from those completions.

 

[5] Worst endings

 

[1] Ending F: mission [F]ailed

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In the very beginning of the game, 2B is set to fight a goliath machine. When 9S intervenes and is knocked out of the sky, he lands atop the machine. 9S using his strongest skill, hacking, to enter into the machine.

Review:

    An easy mistake to make by being away from your controller, there are certain conditions that need to be met to elicit a “joke ending.” Nothing of note happened nor was done intentionally through typical gaming habits, like exploration. This lands it in the list for worst endings. There’s invisible time limits and zones that can unintentionally lead to joke endings. It’s almost an allegory for dallying around in life, if you don’t end your story, someone or something else will. It’s a lesson in proactivity. 

In the very beginning of the game, 2B is set to fight a colossal machine. When 9S intervenes and is knocked out of the sky, he lands atop the machine. 9S using his strongest skill, hacking, to enter into the machine. However, if the time runs out, this will be an automatic loss, and 9S 

dies there concluding his part of the story.

How to get this ending:

• Hack into the goliath machine at the beginning of the game and fail to complete the minigame in 2 minutes.

 

[2] Ending H: a mountain too [H]igh

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The goliath machine has begun to attack the city. 9S and 2B are tasked in defeating the machine before it wreaks havoc on the city and Resistance Camp. Our main characters choose to explore another location far from battle, which triggers this ending.

Review:

    When gamer impulses to explore take over, it's easy to end up with a joke ending in Automata. A dialogue appears talking about how 9S abandoned the mission, leaving the city and Resistance Camp to be destroyed. This can happen if you go anywhere in the game if it is not the city, so some missions are indeed time sensitive, even if not indicated as so. This ranks on the worst endings because it's a lesson that needs to be learned from the game's storytelling standpoint. Albeit, an inconvenient one.

How to get this ending:

• Go anywhere other than to the goliath machine in the city.

 

[3] Ending K: aji wo [K]uttta

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2B receives an email from Jackass requesting her to fish for a mackerel fish. She had mentioned a curiosity about how certain oils and objects affect an android's operating system. Upon fishing for the item, you will find it in your inventory. Click on it and select “use” to eat it. After which, the androids' functions cease to operate and the character fades from consciousness. It was tasty though.

Review: 

A very “find out” type of situation, a player's curiosity can get them into trouble with this one. There are a few hints of what will happen when the fish is consumed, but a completionist would do this to get all endings. It is quite silly though, charming even. Even life for an android is fragile.

How to get this ending:

• Read the email from Jackass
• Go fishing
• Eat the mackerel from your inventory.

 

[4] End M: break ti[M]e

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A2 receives a transmission from Pascal; his village is in danger and under attack from machines. He asks for your help and A2 decides to go and find out what is going on. But instead of going to help, A2 decides to “take a stroll” elsewhere; leaving Pascal’s village to ruin.

Review:

    This ending can happen if the player goes anywhere even remotely not in the direction of Pascal’s village; even deeper into the resistance camp is a “no no.” This is a highly sensitive matter with very specific parameters. The player can find themselves both easily and unintentionally at this ending screen.

How to get this ending:

• Guide A2 in any direction or location other than Pascal’s village.

 

[5] Ending P: Corru[P]tion

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2B is experiencing corruption and is surrounded by enemies. She must make it back to the city but has difficulty walking and fighting. While avoiding attacks and strategizing movements to not waste time, 2B succumbs to her corruption meeting her demise.

Review:

On my playthrough, this one was particularly tough for me. First time I played, I had no idea that there was an ending that was so time sensitive. I struggled to protect 2B and get to my goal marked on the map. After my defeat, I replayed it, trying to waste as little time as possible, this also meant taking hits sometimes. Watching 2B essentially die felt hopeless and every bit a struggle as I watched the screen corrupt and become unreadable. It was a plot through desperation. This is simultaneously the worst and the best ending. It’s in the worst category because it was difficult to endure.

How to get this ending:

As the corruption takes over, continue moving 2B to her designated location. The virus picks up pace as you get closer to your goal. Stop when you reach the bridge and your vision turns to black and white. This is right next to where you need to be to progress the story. Simply wait here.

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