NieR: Automata Celebrates One Year Anniversary With Large Discount and a Message From Yoko Taro

In celebration of NieR: Automata's one year anniversary, publisher Square Enix has released a special video message from none other than the game's wonderful and quirky developer, Yoko Taro.

In addition to the new video, Square Enix is also chopping the game's price in half for a limited time, which means you can grab one of last year's best games digitally for $29.99 USD both on PlayStation 4 and PC, via the PlayStation Store and Steam respectively. The discount will run until March 20th on the PlayStation Store, and until March 14th on Steam.

As for the video, it's classic Yoko Taro, which is to say awesome. The director begins the video by crashing into the scene (with his signature Emil mask), before thanking everyone for all the support in the last year, and reading a message of gratitude (which he points out the PR team told him to read).

Yoko Taro also reveals that to celebrate the anniversary, Square Enix will also be hosting fan events across both North America and Europe. Unfortunately, the director didn't provide any further details on what these fan events will entail.

NieR: Automata is available on PlayStation 4 and PC. As my personal favorite game of last year, and perhaps one of my favorite games of all-time, I can't recommend it enough.

More on NieR: Automata below:

NieR: Automata tells the story of androids 2B, 9S and A2 and their battle to reclaim the machine-driven dystopia overrun by powerful machines.

Humanity has been driven from the Earth by mechanical beings from another world. In a final effort to take back the planet, the human resistance sends a force of android soldiers to destroy the invaders. Now, a war between machines and androids rages on... A war that could soon unveil a long-forgotten truth of the world.

Key Features:

• Action-Packed Battles – Players will switch between using melee and ranged attacks in battle against hordes of enemies and challenging bosses across a variety of open field maps. The tight controls and incredibly fluid combat are simple to learn for newcomers while offering plenty of depth for more experienced action gamers. Players can perform high-speed battle actions—combining light and heavy attacks—and switch through an arsenal of weaponry while evading enemies with speed and style.

• Beautifully Desolate Open-World – The game seamlessly joins together hauntingly beautiful vistas and locations with no area loading. The environments are rendered in 60fps and contain a wealth of sub-events in addition to the main storyline.

• Masterfully Crafted Story and Characters – NieR: Automata tells the story of androids 2B, 9S and A2 and their ferocious battle to reclaim a machine-driven dystopia overrun by powerful weapons known as machine lifeforms.

• Elements of an RPG – Players will obtain a variety of weapon types, level up in battle, learn new combat skills, and customise a loadout that caters to their playstyle.

• Utilise the Pod Support System to Assist In and Outside of Battle – Pods can attack the enemy in both manual and lock-on modes. They can also assist outside of battle, such as allowing the player to glide through the air. Pods can be enhanced throughout the game, with upgrades including new attack methods and variations.

• "Auto Mode" Available for Beginners – Novice players can elect "Auto Mode" for easy attacks and evasions.