10 NieR: Automata Details That Spoil the Plot Early

Even though NieR: Automata has a remarkably deep and engaging story, you’ll likely miss a lot of details if you only play it once.

The story in this game is deeply meaningful and woven into every aspect of the experience – from how it plays to how it looks and sounds. You’ll likely want to play it more than once to truly understand and enjoy everything it has to offer.

You’ll probably have fun playing this game and want to play it again, and it gives you plenty of good reasons to feel that way from the start.

To truly appreciate the amazing story of NieR: Automata, let’s dive into ten hidden details that show just how much depth is cleverly woven throughout the game.

Spoilers ahead for all of NieR: Automata.

10. The Bosses’ Names

The Identity of Society is Reconstructed

Yoko Taro, the creator of Nier, often hides the true nature of his game’s villains by using symbolic names, and this new game continues that tradition with its boss characters.

As you begin to identify characters like Marx, Engels, Simone, Adam, Eve, Hegel, and Auguste, you’ll start to understand not only what will likely happen to them – based on their historical counterparts – but also what role they play within the game’s story.

The bosses are named after important people from history, and they represent the robots as the new beings continuing humanity’s drive to build and advance society – a clear sign that the original humans are gone.

Now that machines have taken on the role traditionally held by living beings, a new kind of intelligence exists on Earth. Their attempts to define themselves and create structure, much like humans do, prove they aren’t fundamentally opposed to us.

9. Access Points and Teleportation

Disposable Avatars of a Greater Goal

A core part of the game’s story focuses on what it means to be truly alive, and this idea is hinted at from the start, even in how you save your progress.

Instead of simply being a game mechanic, NieR: Automata explains the ability to respawn by stating that androids back up their minds to a cloud. This allows them to have their memories and data transferred to a new body after their current one is destroyed.

What appears at first to be a small detail is actually a clear sign of disrespect for consciousness – treating it like something to be bought and sold. This immediately makes us question what YoRHa is really planning.

A group dedicated to safeguarding people shouldn’t be creating even basic consciousness in androids only to treat them as expendable. Because of this, the way the game saves progress isn’t just fitting for the story – it hints at a significant reveal later on.

8. The Animals’ Behavior

An Indifferent Ecosystem

Honestly, one of the coolest things about this game world is that there’s still life – plants and animals are everywhere! You’d think after a massive global war, everything would be dead, but it’s not. It’s a really nice surprise.

It seems like androids and robots are always battling, but it’s strange to think that other life forms have continued living as they always have. Perhaps the conflict we perceive isn’t real after all.

Once you learn that both sides in the conflict are actually being manipulated by humans and aliens who disappeared long ago – leaving very little evidence behind – the war’s seeming complexity starts to feel less profound. It suggests the conflict isn’t as deep or complicated as it appears.

It’s a small thing, but I still remember being completely surprised when I first saw a moose in the game. It startled me so much that I immediately started imagining a hidden story behind it.

7. 2B Only Disregards 9S’ Feelings

An Impossible Distance to Maintain

In the beginning of the game, 2B is very dismissive of 9S’s feelings, repeatedly stating that androids shouldn’t show emotion.

Seeing her interact with characters like 6O – who is lively and expressive without being corrected – makes the way she treats her own partner seem questionable.

It makes sense that 2B would try to distance herself from 9S after he develops feelings for her. Knowing who she really is, she attempts to shut down her emotions and avoid responding to his affection, essentially building an emotional wall around herself.

We all realize she can’t truly succeed, and this is just one example of how 2B initially tries to conceal her deep feelings for 9S.

6. The Androids’ Blindfolds

Turning a Blind Eye to the Truth

Every visual choice in NieR: Automata feels intentional, and that’s especially true of the androids’ signature black visors – a design element that’s consistently used throughout the game.

These devices appear as high-tech displays, but they actually symbolize how the people wearing them are unaware of what’s really happening – they’ve been completely misled by YoRHa.

It’s easy to miss this detail during your first time playing, but on later playthroughs, the symbolism becomes obvious – these blindfolds clearly show the organization is hiding something.

People are mainly drawn to these designs because they’re visually striking. But beyond that, the stories and ideas they suggest can help you understand things simply by looking at them.

5. 2B’s Reaction to 9S’ Sacrifice

The Frustration of Repetition

Honestly, even from the very beginning of the game, you can really see how much 2B cares about 9S. It’s not just part of her programming or anything – the prologue shows she’s genuinely worried about him, and you can tell it’s real.

When 2B is forced to fight the Goliath, her combat mode activates to protect 9S. She’s clearly frustrated, realizing that 9S is destined to repeat past mistakes.

The main character feels the familiar ache of dealing with androids that inevitably lead to both wonder and loss. She seems aloof, but this is actually just her way of protecting herself from the sadness she knows is coming.

You’ll likely miss this subtle detail when you first play the game, but upon rewatching, it becomes clear how quickly 2B’s feelings for 9S are established.

4. 2B’s Deployment Isn’t a Reconnaissance Mission

But One of Execution

9S questions why 2B, a combat android, was sent on a scouting mission, and this seemingly straightforward question unexpectedly leads to one of the game’s biggest and most important discoveries.

Actually, 2B isn’t meant to scan the area or fight enemies during the initial mission. Her real purpose is to eliminate 9S if he discovers the truth.

The suffering of 2B, 9S’s relentless questioning, and the hidden truths of YoRHa all come together in a seemingly simple question asked right from the start. It’s a clever way to hint at what’s to come.

This dialogue feels like standard small talk, but it subtly introduces the idea that there might be more to 2B’s mission than meets the eye, and raises questions about why the androids are doing what they’re told.

3. The “Nines” Mistake

A Love Hard to Hide

2B gradually becomes more affectionate towards 9S, and while it seems like this is just because they’ve spent so much time together, the truth is far more complex, as the story has shown us many times.

It’s clear when 9S asks 2B to affectionately call him “Nines,” and she eventually gives in to her hidden feelings, almost saying it.

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This moment highlights the complex dynamic between the two characters, hinting at a deeper connection that goes beyond just one person’s feelings. It shows that the explorer’s interest is reciprocated.

The game subtly presents this element, which is a key part of what makes it so effective. It’s presented so directly that it almost blends into the background, but once you become aware of it, it’s impossible to miss.

2. Androids and Machines’ Origins

Same Materials, Same Fate

As the story concludes, we learn that androids and robots actually share a common origin: androids are built using the recycled components from older robots.

It’s a cruel irony that perfectly shows how ridiculous this conflict is. Both species are made of the same stuff and are essentially fighting over the same meaningless issues, just from different perspectives.

Given that both species are susceptible to the logic virus and rely on copying an outside group, and considering the androids’ inner workings aren’t explained until much later in the story, it’s natural to see a connection between them.

The game NieR: Automata presents a tragic irony: characters unknowingly share a common past and fate, highlighting the pointless repetition at the heart of its story.

1. “It Always Ends Like This”

A Tale of Cycles and Death

To illustrate 2B’s love for 9S one final time, I think the line “It always ends like this,” from Route A, perfectly captures the heartbreaking truth at the core of their story.

Her words, filled with the sadness of someone who has caused great pain, capture the feeling of a repeating, never-ending struggle, highlighting that this isn’t the first time this has happened.

Both 9S’s constant need to explore – even when it puts him in danger and changes him for the worse – and 2B’s difficult duty to reset him to an earlier state when he’s corrupted, represent a repeating, heartbreaking pattern.

Honestly, of everything I’ve experienced in NieR: Automata, this part really stood out to me. It just hits differently – suddenly everything starts connecting. You learn so much about the characters and what’s really going on with their mission, and it feels like the story finally kicks into high gear. It’s where the game truly shows what it’s capable of, in my opinion.

This version is far more straightforward than anything before it, and it’s surprising how such a brief statement can so bluntly, yet accurately, capture the terrifying reality of the game’s world.

2026-05-05 23:41