The Power of Perspectives: The Journey NieR Takes Me On

This will cover just the NieR games out of Yoko Taro’s gaming career. Reincarnation is awaiting its final chapter before ending service in April, so this will not include it for now.

It is hard to put it into words for newcomers or outsiders on how NieR is to me. On the surface, the NieR series can appear as a weird set of games that are not at the global scale of iconic series like Final Fantasy or Zelda. It has experienced success with 2017’s NieR:Automata where live concerts are performed all over the world. The NieR series had an outlandish start as a spinoff of PlayStation 2’s? Drakengard. In that game, every character is insane from a bloodthirsty Caim to a character that eats children.? The director, Yoko Taro made the game this way as he believed that you would have to be insane to kill, so he made Drakengard’s setting reflect this. It was the game’s fifth ending where Caim goes into real life Tokyo to defeat the Watchers, a god that hates humanity and almost destroyed Caim’s world. Upon killing the Watchers god, it released a magical element called maso into the world, creating a white disease that rampaged the world. Humans developed a project to combat this maso for over a thousand years, leading into NieR:Replicant. So, this is not your typical setting, and it is used by Yoko Taro to explore humanity and why they do awful acts to each other. The games can reflect a journey that explores his thinking over the years, and it was this journey that I fell in love and fascinated me all this time.??

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Route A: NIER/NieR:Replicant?

The beginning of my journey started with NieR:Replicant or NIER back in 2015 where you play as an older father than a younger brother in the states. Replicant, has you play as a brother named Nier who has been caring for his sick sister. The earth reverted into a medieval setting after a thousand years went by. Nier found a magical talking book called Grimoire Weiss that can cure his sister by collecting all the sealed verses from Shades, shadowy monsters that attacks people. During his adventures, he meets and becomes allies with a foul-mouthed intersex woman named Kaine and a child weapon called Emil who can cast magic.?

This sounds like a simple premise, but that is further from the truth. As the game progresses, the situation becomes dire as towns begin to suffer and the game starts showing you various perspectives of said situation in different angles. Replicant operates on the view that one does not have to be insane to kill, you just must be right. Yoko Taro looked at past terrorist attacks like September 11th to showcase this theme in Replicant in the form of multiple endings. You play as the heroes for route A and route B adds to the ability to understand the shades’ language. You still play as those heroes, but you now understand what the shades’ motivations for why they did the things they did. It completely changes how you see everyone and at the same time, one can still see why the heroes commit those actions, despite the perspective change. Kaine is a prime example where she is super violent and dresses very lightly. It is until you play route B that you realize that her character was due to the discrimination, she experienced because of her being intersex and being possessed by a rouge shade that forces her to commit violent acts. It makes sense to why she is what she is. Deep within me, I can relate to Kaine in how she needed to reason to be around, being a sword for her friends.??

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I first played NIER back on PlayStation 3 during the 2014-2015 years and still remember all my reactions. It was eye opening to witness how learning the other side’s perspective it can be and it provided a possibility to me to view the world. It was important as I aged out of the school system at the time, and it made a very strong impression on me. It eventually led to me being gray minded in regards of autism politics as if the game’s situation can be like that, it is possible that other issues in real life can be applied in perspective taking.? To this day, it remains my favorite game of all time because of the strong cast of characters and how the game presents itself as unassuming and then, it drops the bomb on you to decide on your own with its meaning.??

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Route B: NieR:Automata?

Six months after I played the original, a sequel was announced, and it was released in 2017 as NieR:Automata. The game takes place in 19945 where aliens take over the earth by their machine lifeforms. These machines forced mankind to the moon, and they created YoRHa, which sends advanced androids to take back the earth.? The game has you play as two units, 2B who is a battle unit and 9S, a scanner unit to gather intel to create strategies. They work with local android resistances to defeat the machines and figure out their plans. The machines started to mimic specific human-like behaviors that becomes more frequent over the game’s course. Similar to the original NieR, you start understanding the machine perspective to realize there is more going on with the world they are in.??

The main theme in Automata is how people find meaning in their lives and what happens to that meaning when it disappears. You see how both the YoRHa and machine lifeform forces tackle this theme as the game goes on. The characters can be seen in their best selves, their struggles and their lowest points during their search for meaning. The game essentially shows the human condition and the cycle it has in the characters.??

I was halfway into community college during 2017 pursuing an associate degree on disability specialist. The game showed me how struggle was an essential part of the human condition, and it is up to every individual to take charge of their lives. It was rather foreshadowing as it was before I started to learn to drive and having struggles with that milestone. Looking back, I almost had a moment of realizing the dangers of finding meaning disappear as I realized if I do not have my driver license, my degree would be not because of the jobs requiring that license. I thought of Automata’s themes during this period as I worked on the struggle of fulfilling my first professional goals.??

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Route C: Social Fulfillment??

Before I had full awareness, the NieR series was a gate into new social interactions I never expected. I started to develop friendships both in-person and online spaces due to the series’ lore. It didn’t truly take off until my trip to Boston to attend the PAX East 2018 event to witness the NieR panel with Yoko Taro. I was able to get a pass online because I wanted to get into that panel. The panel also had a chance of being invited into the post-panel to see Yoko Taro and others in-person for autographs. I managed to get into Boston with the help of friends and waited for the panel. During the line, I met a group of strangers that knew how limited events like this worked and helped me get the VIP ticket for the post-panel. I wish I remembered their names as they were the true heroes of that day. I had a blast with the panel with Yoko Taro’s humor shining throughout and I rushed to get a NieR item to be autographed. I was face to face with Yoko Taro and after telling me I talked too much, he signed one of my items and said, thank you in English. The trip was crazy as I did not drive at the time.

NieR was having me embrace more social interactions and I even did a cosplay of the 9S character during a 2019 ConnectiCon event. Even at one of my previous work settings, my passion of the games was being seen by co-workers and employers alike. One employer had everyone take a day off because of Replicant 1.22's release day on April 21st, 2021. Even received a bonus with the actual numbers from that game's numbers in the title, which is a neat touch. While this was before that work placement fell apart, I always appreciate it.

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Route D: COVID Era, Replicant 1.22, and Renewal??

COVID came into the world and brought many changes. I changed from an optimistic person eager to start his professional path to someone who masked all their struggles during this time. I had several job changes, multiple dental trips, and family trouble that marked this era for me. Friends changing overtime and one of my closest friends leaving the Internet for a while and returning later. One thing that came from a past time was Replicant 1.22, a remake of the original NieR with updated visuals and gameplay system. Ironically, Replicant’s plot was made more relevant to the pandemic due to the themes of perspective taking and being in the right. Seeing people, I knew in real life turned into an uglier form in their pursuit of being right and shutting down others. It fell more into my face and reinforced my gray stance for my professional life. It did get challenged when several autism controversies came by, and it was hard to manage my emotions. Especially when knowing the truth about the NEXT for Autism one and witnessing?the frontside of internet reactions. It almost had me swear off of autism advocacy publicly. ??

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The main addition that this remake added was an adapted version of route E, which originally came from a lore book called Grimoire NieR. I was shocked that they added it, and it was everything I wanted. It also provided me with some emotional comfort that lasted into the years 2022 and 2023. That comfort being that I can get back that I lost from pre-covid. Route E focused on Kaine and her pain after losing someone very special to her. Spending over three years having the same dream of grabbing the person she lost, but always getting nothing. I suppose her struggles represent me losing sight of what’s important in my life. I almost lost the reason why I worked in the autism community and got sucked into something that was not me. What struck me was how Kaine kept fighting and once she realized that she could get her friend back, she took charge of her life. She realized that despite the world being uncaring, she didn’t care about that and just wanted to be in the world with the people she cared. It reassured me that I can get back my true self for my professional life and I did just that. My “sword” was to improve outcomes for autistic young adults in my community and co-exist with parents and professionals. This quote of Kaine represented my battle cry against the COVID cycle:?

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“I already made up my mind! Nobody tells me what to do! I swore I would be a sword! I swore that I would be YOUR sword! Do you hear me!? So I am going to get you back, and I don’t care what it takes! Who the F*** do you think you are to just up and disappear like that, huh? I’M the one who gets to decide what my life means to me! It’s MY life, and I’ll do whatever I want with it! So quit wasting time like a brainless F***wit and GET YOUR A** BACK HERE NOW!” -Kaine??

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Just like that, I work now in settings I not only love, but they continue to inspire me daily. Inspired by Kaine, I took back control of my life, no matter how the world may shut me down for it. Autism community, regular community or not, it shall not stop me from emerging out victorious. I embraced my public speaking, taking a piece I always loved doing from my Driving with Autism days and making it into a service I provide for the east coast/virtually to share my boundless experiences. I spoke to many organizations like Autism Connections (keynote), Autism New Jersey, and Northeast Arc. Finally, I am close to obtaining my bachelor's degree in psychology by the end of the year.???

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Route E: NieR Concert??

The series continued to give me another unexpected journey, over to Los Angeles to attend the latest NieR concert, NieR:Orchestra Concert 12024 [ the end of data ]. I always wanted to attend a NieR Concert to hear the music in that setting. At first, I worried that the locations would be too far away from me. I did not want to let this opportunity go away. A small chance came in the form of friends I made from being invested in this series for so long. The group can cover together the costs of sharing a hotel room and other expenses for the Los Angeles showing on January 27th, 2024. It was a very risky trip to do to a state I had never been to, and my family thought I was nuts to pull this. I felt something into me that told me to do this, and I listened to my inner voice. I was able to arrive to Los Angeles safely and managed to get to Peacock Theater without issues. I got my merchandise there and spoke to many NieR fans as I waited for the doors to open. The concert managed to start, and my dream finally came true.

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Route F: My Next Journey and Closing?

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Attending the concert made me realized how far I went from playing the original game in 2015 to this current year. Like the characters in the games, I obtained meaning in my life, lost it briefly and reobtained it during my struggles. The series displayed a layer for me to reflect the world around me. I am at a turning point in my life as I am near my completion of college and having that degree will open various doors for me like obtaining full-time work and moving out. What I want is something that the concert’s story concluded with one single line.?

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“A journey... to embrace this world.”??

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I am near the point of truly living my life. I love to travel, being the “sword” for my professional work, and being my best self. Past mistakes and deceptions from anyone will not judge my judgement. I will truly live!?

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Thank you NieR series and Yoko Taro!?