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=== Gameplay mechanics ===
When encountered in the game world, Machines differ wildly in combat capabilities and aggression. Some Machines, such as the standard Multi-tier Type, are completely unable to attack,<ref name=":1" group="q" /> others use weaponry,<ref name=":0" group="q" /> while more complex models employ [[Electromagnetism|electromagnetic]] shields that stun the player on contact.<ref group="q">Units equipped with electromagnetic shields are immune to a Pod's projectile attacks, and also damage all who come into contact with its shield. Extreme care is recommended. (Intel, Electromagnetic)</ref> It is common for machines to use guns as weapons, which fire energy bullets in large quantities.<ref group="q">This unusual type of machine utilizes various types of both firearm and body units. When attacking, it scatters great quantities of energy bullets across the battlefield. (Intel, Gun-equipped Multi-tier Type)</ref> Boss Machines, or Goliaths, have unique and powerful methods of attacking that include melee attacks and filling the arena with enough energy bullets to resemble a [[bullet hell]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Katy |date=2016-06-20 |title=NieR: Automata's new footage is all bullet hell and deadly androids |url=https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/nier-automatas-new-footage-bullet-hell-deadly-androids/ |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=Kill Screen - Previously |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823104636/https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/nier-automatas-new-footage-bullet-hell-deadly-androids/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At their very extreme, Goliaths like Grün are so large as to be completely invincible without external assistance.<ref name=":2" group="q" />
== Background ==
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== Development ==
The game's [[mecha]] designs, including the Machines, were created by Hisayoshi Kijima, also the game's [[UI designer]]. He was commanded by Yoko Taro to make the Machines "cute" in appearance so that they would have a wide appeal, as well as "a little unbalanced" and "rough, [[Retro style|retro]] and a little dirty" to add character to their design. They were meant to be modular so that they would believably be part of the same [[Mass production|mass-produced]] force. Ultimately, while Taro did not want him to focus too much on designs from the original ''Nier'', he was nevertheless inspired by the trademark spherical head of Emil in making something distinctly fitting to the franchise. From a lore standpoint, their shape was meant to indicate a form of [[convergent evolution]] - since Emil represented the "[[Doomsday device|ultimate weapon]]" in the ''Nier'' [[fictional universe]], attempts to make the most powerful weapon possible would naturally lead to a similar shape no matter who made it. Kijima also came up with ideas on how the Machines would move and be put together.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Kijima |first=Hisayoshi |date=2018-08-03 |title=Designing NieR:Automata's Machine Lifeforms |url=https://www.platinumgames.com/official-blog/article/9863 |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=PlatinumGames Official Blog |language= |archive-date=2023-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205034952/https://www.platinumgames.com/official-blog/article/9863 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Afterwards, the design of the Machines was polished, while retaining simple silhouettes that "even a kid could draw", and were easy to understand. Subtractive design principles were applied to make them as simple as possible, while allowing their personalities to stand out. These were also applied when the user interface was designed. Kijima was told by Taro to avoid building the Machines out of parts that curved along three axes in order to make them look more retro, though Kijima feared it would result in "bland shapes" and believed it to be unreasonable. He described the requirement as "easily the hardest part" of designing the Machines, but was ultimately satisfied with the results. He added "connector covers" where parts could be added to their bodies such as arms and weapons, making it a trademark symbol of the Machines. In designing the Machines' weapons, Kijima made them look significantly more detailed, in order to add visual dissonance and a "fearsome", "off-putting" appearance.<ref name=":1" />
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== Reception ==
The appearance of the Machines was described by critics as simple, yet endearing. Nic Reuben of ''[[Rock Paper Shotgun]]'' called the robots' faces "hardly expressive, but somehow all the more poignant for it".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Reuben |first=Nic |date=2018-11-14 |title=We don't deserve this planet, the robots of Nier: Automata do |language=en |work=[[Rock Paper Shotgun]] |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-robots-of-nier-automata-deserve-our-planet |access-date=2023-02-13 |archive-date=2022-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207172747/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-robots-of-nier-automata-deserve-our-planet |url-status=live }}</ref> Celia Lewis of ''[[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]]'' said that their designs created "a menacing image" of "a machine designed for combat", but that they also convey "a dual perspective" when machines such as Simone try to reject their nature as a "war bot" and attempt to be beautiful, rather than functional. She observed that Machines repurposing their weaponry for peaceful purposes subverts the player's expectations, and their "expendable", "foreign" appearance compared to the YoRHa androids plays to natural biases about what a monstrous character should look like.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Celia |date=2020-04-24 |title=NieR: Automata Challenges Our Ideas of Morality with Its Character Design |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/nier-automata-art-design-philosophy-androids-machine-lifeforms/ |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=[[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]] |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015202411/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/nier-automata-art-design-philosophy-androids-machine-lifeforms/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Javy Gwaltney of ''[[Game Informer]]'' praised the Machines as "exud[ing] humanity more than most human characters in games", noting the destruction of Pascal's village as one of the game's most devastating moments. Saying that the game constantly reinforced how "pathetic" the "supposedly evil" Machines were, he gave the example of a group of robots attempting to raise a child, only to realize it could not age, as showing that they "will never feel human, no matter how hard they try".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Gwaltney |first=Javy |date=2017-04-05 |title=The Virtual Life – Carrying The Weight Of The World In Nier: Automata |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/04/05/the-virtual-life-carrying-the-weight-of-the-world-in-nier-automata.aspx |access-date=2023-02-13 |magazine=[[Game Informer]] |language=en |archive-date=2023-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213102443/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/04/05/the-virtual-life-carrying-the-weight-of-the-world-in-nier-automata.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Patrick Klepek of ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]'' stated that he had been meaning to send "a snarky [[Tweet (social media)|Tweet]]" once he reached a scene with Machines attempting to simulate sex, but could only find it sad once he saw the context, "a desperate attempt to grasp humanity". He professed that ''Nier: Automata'' asked the player "to directly reckon with the notion of being a machine".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Klepek |first=Patrick |date=2017-03-21 |title=The Uncomfortable Humanity of the Robots That Inhabit 'Nier: Automata' |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/vvjq8d/the-uncomfortable-humanity-of-the-robots-that-inhabit-nier-automata |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |language=en |archive-date=2023-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213102439/https://www.vice.com/en/article/vvjq8d/the-uncomfortable-humanity-of-the-robots-that-inhabit-nier-automata |url-status=live }}</ref>
Peter Tieryas of ''[[Kotaku]]'' wrote that he was "disturbed" and "deeply upset" by [[sidequests]] involving the Machines, calling them "tragic". He noted the particular example of the "Lost Girl" sidequest, in which the player must help an elder sister find her younger sister, who was lost in the desert finding a replacement part. While the player reunites the sisters in the end, they later perish in each other's arms when the village is stricken by a virus that makes the Machines go berserk, despite his hopes that they would survive. An even more poignant example is when Pascal attempts to protect the village's children, only to have them commit suicide out of fear. Describing the choice between killing Pascal and wiping his memory as a "choice between two evils", Tieryas calls the result of inducing amnesia "even more disturbing", as Pascal returns to the village to unknowingly sell scrap metal that was once the Machine children. Wondering whether the principal cause of the suffering was "humanity and their desire to survive and propagate", he stated that he was "still thinking about those questions thanks to the [[NPCs]]".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tieryas |first=Peter |date=2017-12-30 |title=The Tragic Sidequests From Nier Automata's Machine Village |url=https://kotaku.com/the-tragic-sidequests-from-nier-automata-s-machine-vill-1821606653 |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=[[Kotaku]] |language=en |archive-date=2023-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213102439/https://kotaku.com/the-tragic-sidequests-from-nier-automata-s-machine-vill-1821606653 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Reuben ultimately described the game's message about artificial intelligence as a hopeful one, running in contrast to stories like ''[[The Matrix]]'' or ''[[I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream]]'', saying that it asked why humanity thought they were more than machines because they felt pain, love or empathy, and that the game expressed the belief that the future would be "fine without us".<ref name=":0" />
While discussing the Machine character Simone, Austin Wood of ''[[GamesRadar+]]'' called her boss fight the most memorable in the game, describing her in-game backstory as "arguably the best illustration of the tragedy behind the game's machine life forms". Summing it up as a "sad, angry mess", he noted that he remembered it with "rare clarity and fondness". He praised the expansion of her backstory in the anime, including the information that she was a "mother figure" to the amusement park's Machines, and noted that her fight was adapted extremely accurately, with some one-to-one shot recreations "hit[ting] even harder" in the show than in the game.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wood |first=Austin |date=2023-02-22 |title=The Nier: Automata anime is back and episode 4 nailed the best boss in the game |language=en |work=[[GamesRadar+]] |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/the-nier-automata-anime-is-back-and-episode-4-nailed-the-best-boss-in-the-game/ |access-date=2023-08-21 |archive-date=2023-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821085116/https://www.gamesradar.com/the-nier-automata-anime-is-back-and-episode-4-nailed-the-best-boss-in-the-game/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
== References ==
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