REVIEW: ‘NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a,’ Episode 2 – “city e[S]cape”

Having completed their mission at the abandoned factory in the last episode, 2B and 9S are back at YoRHa’s orbital base, the Bunker. But before they head out on their next mission, NieR: Automata Episode 2 takes a moment to explore a bit of the world around our starring duo and introduces viewers to some new faces.

While the inaugural episode of this series clung tightly to the original opening of the game, this week’s entry detours a bit. While much of NieR: Automata Episode 2 is wholly new, it fits in nicely with the tone and themes of the story. Despite much of what this episode is delivering may not have consequences in the larger story moving forward, it is an excellent way to help viewers that are new to the franchise appreciate one of the subtler aspects of the game within the medium that the story is now being presented in.

Despite the heavy tones and eternal struggles of the androids as they wage their unending war against the machine life forms, NieR: Automata always managed to deliver small moments of softness and beauty throughout its tale. The peaceful tones of the ruined city’s area music coupled with the general lack of threats would often wrap the player in a serenity that gave them a greater desire to continue through the story’s struggles. While simply having 2B and 9S linger in the sun as the music plays would be impractical, NieR: Automata Episode 2 instead follows a lone machine life form as it discovers something beyond the eternal war to pursue. This exploration brings what may be an unexpectedly playful tone to much of this episode. As the machine pursues its new goal, it soon finds others to share its pursuit with, giving these faceless construct a surprisingly human quality. While this mini-story is new, it fits in wonderfully in tone and purpose with other side stories that have been crafted for the NieR world.

This wonderful segway is greatly augmented by how the show presents the sequence visually. The warmth and humor come through wonderfully thanks to the animation, and A-1 Pictures does a great time of synching key moments of the scene with the gorgeous “City Ruins” theme.

NieR: Automata Episode 2  also introduces a cryptic piece of storytelling to the series. Sprinkled in throughout the episode are small cutaway moments of still figures and voiceovers that deliver what feels like lore from the machine lifeforms. While the exact purpose of these entries isn’t one hundred percent clear, I enjoyed seeing this narrative element from the game return and hope that through subsequent episodes, the explanation of their presence will become clearer.

The other major focus of NieR: Automata Episode 2 is introducing some of the faces of the Earthbound android resistance. This is primarily focused on the leader of the group this episode introduced, an android named Lily. Crafted wholly for the show, Lily comes across as a bit of a pessimist and a downer at first. While these feelings are justified, I hope that future episodes will expand upon the character, keeping her from becoming a one-note personality.

I was also thrilled to see this early visit to the resistance forces give us our first look at two other returning characters, Devola and Popula. These twin redheads have only a minor presence here, but I’m excited at the potential to see them more in this series. They first appear later in the game but are two of my favorite support elements of the original tale, so I’m excited at the potential to see them fleshed out even more here.

NieR: Automata Episode 2 crafts an episode that presents the more subtle side of NieR: Automata’s appeal. While often thought of as simply another high-octane Platinum game, NieR always delivered much more thoughtfulness than those not thoroughly familiar with it may realize. While the exact moments this episode uses to deliver these qualities are new, they nevertheless fit perfectly in with what the game has always been.

NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a Episode 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll.