NieR:Automata: Long Story Short

If you played the game, all of this book will be familiar to you. It follows the storyline perfectly, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The book toys with philosophical questions like the meaning of life and human nature. An overall great read.

This book essentially recaps the events of the game (Endings A-E) and puts aside side quests and specific events of the story for the sake of book-adaptation. There are some dialogue changes, but nothing out of character. If you know what you're getting (like I did), it's great! There are fantastic sketches of the characters for every chapter page, which I like a lot. They even provided a bit more context for the events surrounding the story. Though the scenes are shifted a little bit for reading purposes, I thought they did a good job adapting it for a book (Not to mention, it came well packaged. No damage present at all. The cover feels nice too). No, there are no additional lore bits to the story, which can be a make or break for you. In that case, simply don't get it. Just know that this is a recap of the game and decide on that. Keep in mind that there are small changes in how the story is told too. I loved this however! Having one of my favorite stories ever told put into THE story telling medium makes me so happy. Yes, it's pointless and is certainly not the best way to tell the story, but if video games ever became illegal, I could still relive the moments of this game if I ever lost Nier: Automata. Overall, I'm happy as can be!

Seller was super communicative when there was a delay, and worked hard to make sure I received a high quality product! Thank you for the book!

Arrived in near perfect condition a week earlier than the estimated delivery date. I do wish it had a bit better packaging for having to pay $4 shipping. Very minor bending but I've gotten books much worse.

I am 90% through the book and I think I am in a position to give the bottom line about a potential purchase. I experienced the story via the video game and loved it. In fact, it is now the best game I have ever played. Therefore it was basically a reflex action to pre-order. The main story line is there and given the inherent benefits of written literature I was able to glean some more details in specific areas of the story. For example, in some parts of the book the writer would explain what was going on in 9S' or 2B's mind. I thought this added to my understanding behind their motivations and gave another layer of enjoyment. I became more connected to their causes and motivations. Overall this facilitated a greater connection to the characters. A connection which I think one may not attain if they did not play the game. This brings me to the flaws in the book. I agree with my fellow amazon reviewers who stated that the book was poorly written. I do not speak nor can I read Japanese but it is clear that some parts of the book were not written using traditional English literature tools. As a result I got the impression that some of the content was lifted from the original Japanese. It was a bit distracting at times but not overwhelming to the point where I lost immersion. Simple misspelling and the use of words and phrases not indigenous to the game was a bit distracting. One major example of this was on page 22 where the Machines recited the phrase "this is no good". To anyone playing the game it was obvious that the phrase should have been "this cannot continue". In fact, one of the popular songs from the game goes by the same name as the Machines recite the mantra over a wonderfully rendered track. It was disappointing to see this but it did not take away from the fact that as a fan I was reliving the story again. So the bottom line. If you've played NieR Automata, loved the story and want to consume every ounce of this experience, then you're probably willing to overlook the aforementioned flaws. If you are new to the NieR franchise then entering with this book will likely devalue your experience and interpretation of what is otherwise one of the best video games of this generation.

A collectors item and any huge fan of NieR:Automata should get it! It’s not perfect but I still love having it and getting to read the story a little more in depth of the playthrough. It retells what you played from route A-E. Nothing more until they release “NieR:Automata Short Story Long” which I cant wait. My only nicpick is I’m really stingy with my books being in PERFECT condition and I always examine them before buying but since this is online I took that chance. It’s slightly torn on the bind but I’ll live with it since I love the series a lot. It’s not too much to bother me but still a bit disappointing. Either way, great buy.

Bought it for a Christmas gift

I adore Nier: Automata and have cleared the game to Ending E. Reading this book brings back a lot of nostalgia for the game and the lessons and experiences the game gave me. I appreciate learning more about the characters, I've loved for so long. If you've played Nier Automata and want to revisit that world, this is a great way and is much more portable than a gaming set up.

Livré dans les temps c’était un cadeau !!

Gostei muito livro explicando os acontecimentos que não são mostrado no jogo, assim se expandindo muito mais do que eu esperava, ainda vou comprar os outros livros para explorar

Love it

Para quien pueda preocuparle, no requiere un gran nivel de inglés para entenderlo. La narración se asemeja a las conversaciones entre Pods que hay en el videojuego, por lo que son frases directas y cortas. Sobre el libro en sí, es una excelente forma de explorar los eventos de NieR: Automata y descubrir nuevos matices sobre los personajes que quizá quedaron fuera de guión por los límites del medio. Muy recomendable, nunca había comprado una novelización de un videojuego y me alegro de haber empezado por esta basada en la obra de Yoko Tar.

Long Story Short was an excellent book and really helped me understand the story a lot. The novel retells the story of the game, though there are several details which were much more easily grasped through the book, in my opinion, which is why I'm giving it a complete rating of 5 stars. Be warned though, you pretty need to have played the game. The novel throws you directly into the story and progresses extremely fast through the initial segments of the games, which will leave anyone who hasn't played confused for sure. It goes without saying that this book is mostly reserved for fans of NieR Automata. If you haven't played, or if you didn't like the game, don't bother with it. If, like me, you still talk of the game on a daily basis years after its release, then this book is a must in your collection.