While it was not the best in its genre on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the 2010 action RPG Nier had a lot going for it – with several of its interesting concepts surrounding gameplay mechanics and alternate perspectives standing out in my memory for more than half a decade now. Although this was one of the final games developed by the studio Cavia, the Nier franchise has had its development continued by PlatinumGames and Square Enix.
As announced quite some time ago, development has been ongoing for Nier: Automata. This game follows the story of newly introduced androids 2B, 9S and A2 – and covers their battle to reclaim a post-apocalyptic world which has been abandoned by mankind and overrun by powerful weapons known as Machine Lifeforms.
Square Enix have used the recent PlayStation Experience 2016 (PSX) to confirm that Nier: Automata will be available in western markets from March 7th 2017 on the PlayStation 4. This comes only a couple of weeks after the Japanese launch, which is currently listed at February 23rd 2017.
Square Enix have also used the opportunity to announce that a demo will soon be available via the PlayStation Store. This will be available as a free download on December 22nd, and is set within an abandoned factory, where 2B must destroy a massive enemy weapon which lies within.
