NieR: Automata Part #16 - Episode XV: This Cannot Continue

Part 16: Episode XV: This Cannot Continue

Episode XV: This Cannot Continue

What’s that?

Analysis: It is the ruin of a former human residential area. Large numbers of humans resided in such concrete and metal shelters. The structures were referred to by names such as “apartment complex.”

New Music: Memories of Dust (Vocal)

Alright, let’s continue leading our advanced war machines down an oil pipeline to the ruins of a desert city filled with what we’re told are faceless brown savages who may be more than what they seem. Nothing to read into there, I’m sure. Also a mail notification, which will gladly interrupt that previous dialog of 2B goes for a talk and slide. It better be good.

The next Save Terminal is just inside the boundary of the residential ruins. I’m pointing out where the terminals are as they will be where we will be teleporting to once Fast Travel eventually gets unlocked. Just so you have a bit of a sense of place when following along. Let’s check on that email notification.

That’s neat... 6O. We’ll get right on that next time we’re out of the middle of a wasteland. So did the humans program this generation of androids as gossiping teenagers or did it just happen naturally?

Despite the vast vista depicted on the approach, the Desert Housing is a tiny linear road stretching through the middle of the set piece. The only optional bit is this playground the next block over from the save terminal. Playground equipment surviving 10,000+ years is a stretch. That shit was already rusting twisted metal between when it was installed in the ‘70s and when I was a kid decade or two later.

Continuing down the path, we find our targeted fleeing machine lifeform. I’m not sure why 2B and 9S have it out for this particular machine. Indeed, if we were to go straight to the target point where we encountered this particular robot, all the other hotspots back in the desert would get cancelled in favor of tracking down and killing this particular unit.

Oh, you know. I’m doing OK. Work’s been annoying. Saber rattling with looming wars and all. Little bit stressful situation. Yourselves?

Eh, I dunno. It’s a bit humid for my tastes. I don’t remember the last time it even rained. It’s so frikkin’ dry out. Err... wait. What am I talking about? It doesn’t rain anymore...

Other than raining streams of plasma energy right into your machine grill. Ha! How are you doing now, idiot?

Dealing with the chatty machines, there is an item of note in this first stretch past the playground/save streets. See that fire escape?

If we take a brief jog to the top of that, we find a chest containing a brand new weapon: Fang of the Twins! Let’s take a closer look.

Fang of the Twins, despite being more of an oversized halberd, is classified as a Large Sword and has its move-set. Its special abilities include Critical + (greater chance of critical hits) at Level 2 and Bullet Detonation (Gatling bullets explode on impact) at max level. This one is a pretty nice middle ground between Beastlord’s reach and Virtuous Treaty’s speed, leaning more towards the former’s damage. I’ll probably be using it for a bit.

This is the first returning weapon. This one has been around since all the way back in the original Drakengard. It also made an appearance in the original NieR as well (though it sat out Drakengard 3.) Let’s see what its Weapon History is this time around...

Fang of the Twins posted:

Twin souls were sacrificed to twin gods and bound to an unbreakable dual-bladed axe. Whenever nicked or damaged, it would instantly repair itself. The two blades would never part. They would be together for the rest of time.

The souls in the blade yearned to be as one. To grow old as one. To fall in love as one. It is why we both love the same person.

I am myself. I am myself!
Look at me. Look at me!
Give me love. Give me love!
Stop copying me. I'm not!

We are together. We are one. Life or death. Even if we kill our foes. Even if we kill each other. Our two bodies will be as one for all time. Someone separate us. Oh god please someone help m

Nothing like a nightmare existence trapped in a soul prison with a shitty sibling for eternity. It’s still a pretty cool ~~halberd~~ ~~axe~~ large sword. Let’s add it to our arsenal and get back to work, eh?

As I said earlier, the path through these ruins are very linear. Usually, you can poke around corners and behind wreckage to find a hidden material spawn point or maybe a chest. But nothing of particular note. And anything that looks remotely like an invisible wall boundary probably is an invisible wall boundary. But we’re kept on track by finding new friends along the way...

Scary. So...kill.

You heard that. They’re trying to kill us. This is just self-defense, even if their words were anything beyond nonsense regurgitation of something they heard online or however machines look up human history.

Err... 9S... Are... are we the baddies...? Between this and those skull mugs YoRHa was fixing to roll out next month to the Operator staff, I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with this.

You. Are. False.

You. Will. Break.

A new challenger has arrived: the Goliath Biped. This is not a mini-boss by any means. It’s just a real big common boy we’ll be seeing occasionally. From afar, it will spew two varieties of energy orbs. A concentrated, slow moving blob of destroyable pink orbs.

Or it’ll turn around and fart out a chaotic co-mingling of pink and purple orbs randomly in 2B’s direction. That’s a problem up close. One that can be mitigated by hanging back, which won’t get us anywhere. Or the tried and true circle strafing until the attack ends. The Goliath will track 2B as it literally is a 360 degree rotating Lazy Susan torso. But not nearly as fast as 2B can dash.

The Goliath is equipped with a rocket pack with very limited flight capabilities and it does have unreasonably long arms. It can combine these two into a ridiculous helicopter technique. 2B will get greatly damaged if she falls within the err... like 10 feet it advances. But this is evaded by just kind of walking away at a semi-hurried pace.

Also in its arsenal is just a good, old-fashion uppercut. A classic.

As well as a ground pound with accompanying shockwave. You cannot have an enemy with arms that bulky and not give it a ground pound/shockwave attack. Even extraterrestrial machines adhere to that fundamental rule governing the universe.

Lastly, the Goliath will rarely perform a powerful punch to the ground that will produce a serious of explosions outward towards 2B’s position. Again, it’s evaded by just kind of... stepping to the left. Dashing in a pinch. Goliaths are big and nasty looking, but they’re not the biggest of threats once all their pesky minions are dealt with beforehand.

As far as dealing with this jerk goes, the Goliath is bulletproof and ignores missiles. Unlike earlier machines we’ve encountered, we can strip the armor and functionality off individual parts of the Goliath Biped. Namely, both its arms.

As well as its jetpack. Taking those out will let projectiles damage the weaker undercarriage as well as disable certain attacks (shockwave punch for arms and the helicopter for the jetpack.)

The ground pound is one attack that the Biggun Bot will never let go. This one leaves its head, one of its key weak points, vulnerable. The other weak point is its crotch. There’s a robot head down there too! This is actually a bunch of machines glued together (the arms and jetpacks had robot heads as well.)

Eventually, the mighty machine lifeform sinks to its knees and explodes into a shower of metal and bolts as our androids showboat and upload the footage to YoRHaTube. 6O is already pounding the Like button as we speak.

With that sorted out, we can now continue our pursuit of...

*bolts in the opposite direction*

I wonder what makes them choose these words...

I couldn’t tell you, 9S. Maybe if we continue pursing it down this increasingly ominous back alley, we’ll get some answ—

Hypothesis: They were killed by local machine lifeforms.

What are they doing here?

Unknown.

It’s like they were gathered here.

I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation for all of this. Maybe they all just were having a party that went terribly wrong and the machines just shoved them out of the way to make room. These things happen... Some machines are very strong. That’s why a few android corpses have made their way impaled on lamp posts. Nothing to worry about...

Music: Ends

They don’t give up! Run! Run! Must! Run!

Well, you do that, little buddy. We’re gonna catch you eventually. Terminators were androids, don’t ya know?

There seems to be a gathering of machines down at the bottom of this structure. They’d better not all try to high tail outta here too...

But what’s with these android bodies...?

Stay focused.

Yeah, 9S. It’s just a hundred or so corpses of our comrades. Chill it. Let’s just be reasonable and make our wa—

AH FUCK!

...Okay. More android corpses. A lot more android corpses. Time for some payback against these lousy...

...machines! Err... The HELL is all of this...?

What IS this?

My. Love. My. Love.

Don’t listen to them, 2B.

Music: Memories of Dust (Vocal)

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... 9S. 9S, is my mind in the gutter or are these robots trying to bone...?

Carry. Me. Carryyyy.

They don’t have any feelings. They’re just imitating human speech. Let’s take them out.

Love. Love. Love. Love.

Oh... it’s you... Huh. So umm... we’re just gonna go, if that’s cool with you...? You all uhh... you all seem to have a whole THING going on here and err... well... this ain’t android business, is that I’m saying...

Oh, thank goodness. Everyone stops simulating sex, being a baby and child care and decides to get back to fightin’. That’s something I can understand. Let’s do this thing!

Everyone attacks at once. The machine we’d been pursing across the Desert Housing unceremoniously is destroyed in the fray. That’s it exploding right there. RIP, speedy little guy late for the err... robo-orgy... There’s an infinite amount of machines pouring into this arena for the duration of this fight. It can get to be a complete chaotic clusterfuck of destruction and emotions. Wait...

Kill! Destroy!

I love you! Kill!

Hatred! Pain!

Slaughter!

This. Cannot. Continue.

This. Cannot. Continue.

Music: Ends.

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Umm...?

Guys, get down from there! You’re gonna hurt yourselves! What are you even trying to do?

...No, serious. What the FUCK are you doing? Hmm... Well, ya know... Looking at it. I’m sorta getting like an uhh... a real endgame Parasite Eve vibe from this whole pulsating gooey mass... thing... So umm... wait... is this a...?

...

...

...Well that’s just lewd looking. But surely, this isn’t a r—

...OK. Yeah. That was a giant robot womb that just opened a giant robot vagina and plopped out a naked man. I... Yeah... I... Okay... So... _{_{_Drakengard!}}

No! This... this is a machine!

Bet you didn’t think this desert investigation would end in a robot orgy resulting in the birth of a dickless nude Sephiroth, now did ya? I sure as SHIT didn’t!

Tune in next time in which we do have a chat with Adam the Machine Man. I'm sure it'll be a civil discussion of the geopolitical proxy war follies of the conflict between between humanity and the aliens.

Video: Episode 15 Highlight Reel (You should watch this.)
NOTE: 100% at least watch this part!

Desert Residence Concept Art – One of the first pieces of concept art released for the game. Admittedly, it’s a pretty cool shot.

The Let's Play Archive

NieR: Automata

by The Dark Id

Part 16: Episode XV: This Cannot Continue

Fang of the Twins posted: