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You could be forgiven for missing NieR the first time around, when it aired on PS3 and Xbox 360 back in 2010. A game that did well in its native Japan, Square Enix’s action-RPG fared less favourably with Western audiences and, tellingly, Western critics.

NieR was a solid game, though – like someone took Kingdom Hearts or The Legend of Zelda and wrapped it in a grim future-Earth setting – and it’s not surprising that Square Enix are giving it another punt with the upcoming sequel, NieR: Automata.

As the name suggests, NieR: Automata is about clockwork-looking robots and even our protagonist is an android, fighting for the dwindling human population against all manner of other robot nasties that have beset the world for some reason or another. It looks fast, it looks fun, but – other than the visuals getting a massive PS4 facelift – it doesn’t look like it’s going to particularly address any of the Western concerns that saw it under-perform outside of Japan.

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