While 2017 was overall a great year for PC gaming, with lots of games running smoothly on our platform, we also saw some really mediocre PC releases. Therefore, each and every month we’ll be focusing on such a release. We’ll cover games that suffered from numerous PC optimization issues, such as Nier: Automata, as well as titles that performed fine but had noticeable CPU optimization issues (like for example Styx: Shards of Darkness).
So, let’s take a look at NieR: Automata. The game was released in March 2017, a bit over than ten months ago. As we wrote on our PC Performance Analysis, the game suffered from some weird resolution issues, its ambient occlusion option was tied to the post-AA setting, it packed mediocre PC keyboard controls, and some users reported performance issues on mid-tier hardware.
Sadly, nothing has changed as Square Enix has not released any PC patch at all for NieR: Automata. As such, and in its current vanilla version, NieR: Automata is a mess on the PC. Square Enix has abandoned this game right from the get-go and should be ashamed for releasing such a product. And even though there is a mod to improve the overall experience, this should not be used as an excuse for Square Enix’s laziness on this particular matter.
Laziness, yes this word describes perfectly the PC development of NieR: Automata, especially when it comes to its PC controls. As we’ve said numerous times, third-person (and twin-stick shooters) work perfectly fine on the PC. By now most of you are aware of great third-person games that work wonderfully with mouse+keyboard but what about twin-stick shooters? Well, the solution that most indie developers use – and works perfectly on the PC – is using the WASD keys to move a character/ship and using the mouse to shoot your enemies. Hell, even DOS platformers, like Abuse, use this control scheme. However, Square Enix simply ported NieR: Automata’s console controls to the PC.
Now since Dark Souls Remastered releases in a couple of months, this whole thing reminded me of what happened with the PC version of Dark Souls. Some gamers tried to justify its 30fps lock by saying that ‘the game was coded for 30fps’ but here we are with a remastered version that will be running at 60fps. So yeah, FromSoftware was inexperienced and super lazy with Dark Souls PC. Yes, it would require more work in order to make the game run at 60fps – than simply porting everything from consoles – but it would have proper PC controls and smooth framerates, something that the remastered version will feature. In other words, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if the developers could make it happen‘ but rather a matter of ‘if the PC sales would justify spending extra time in order to offer a solid PC product‘.
Before closing, we do have to mention Kaldaien’s FAR mod for NieR: Automata. Kaldaien has done an incredible work, offering better graphics settings, the ability to increase performance by lowering the Global Illumination effects, and native resolution support (as the game, for some unknown reason, upscales from a lower resolution without this mod). This is a must-have mod for NieR: Automata as without it, the game is a mess.
In conclusion, NieR: Automata remains exactly the same with its initial release version. Square Enix has not released a single PC patch for it and has not addressed any of its PC issues. And while Kaldaien’s FAR mod resolves the biggest one (the resolution issue), it does not improve the mediocre PC controls. And that’s a shame because underneath this mess, there is a really interesting game!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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Bought the game two hours ago and I’ve probably played it for about 6hrs or so. Using an XBOX controller and I haven’t noticed any issues. I pretty much only play PC games and rarely use the controller, for a game like this I don’t see why you’d want to use a mouse. Think as usual people like to b*tch.
Bought it 2 hours ago, and i’ve played it 6hours or so.
Am i brainfked or this doesn’t add up 😉
Leave him, he’s special 🙂
probably he means 2 days ago..
People always look for only one solution , another solution would just get a controller and be done with it
another solution is you buy me a controller. will you?
Another solution is to get a job and buy yourself a controller
I paid for the pc version and I should get all the feature for pc. WTF would I use controller in my pc. I love PC and KB+M thats why I play on pc. I have wired and wireless controller but that’s not the point mate. PC game should feature pc specific thing not half-ass port. get your fact right.
K/M > Gamepads in third person games (when properly implemented). And I own an Xbone Elite and a Razer Sabertooth, mostly for couch co-op games.
And even better, a gaming keypad over a normal keyboard.
I dunno. I always play 3rd person games with a gamepad. 1st person, almost always mouse and keyboard.
There are exceptions for me, but I’m generally O.K. with both. It really comes down to implementation and the style of gameplay.
I agree with you man, it comes down to style of gameplay sometimes. I play fighting games with an arcade stick. Well, it’s completely offtopic I guess.
That’s as delusional as a console gamer saying shooters are better with a controller. You’d have to be an extreme PC fanboy to think that games like Nier, Devil May Cry, Bayonetta etc are better on KB/M.
Well, I guess I’m a PC fanboy. I had my first computer in 1991. I was 11 years old.
But, leaving that aside, the fact that you have to lock on a target, use aim assist, spend a century turning 180 degrees, can’t snap manually from one target to another quickly, select your items/weapons with the Dpad and not any item/weapon with a single press of a hotkey makes K/M superior.
Competitive gaming is played with K/M for a reason.
“Well, I guess I’m a PC fanboy. I had my first computer in 1991. I was 11 years old.”
What’s the point of that? I’ve been playing on PC since I was 5. There’s really no purpose in such a statement.
“But, leaving that aside, the fact that you have to lock on a target, use aim assist, spend a century turning 180 degrees, can’t snap manually from one target to another quickly, select your items/weapons with the Dpad and not any item/weapon with a single press of a hotkey makes K/M superior.”
I appreciate you trying to justify your preference but sorry that’s just a poor arguement. Although, I’m just going to go ahead and assume you are talking about games such as the FPS genre. As I was saying before, games like Nier, Devil May cry, Bayonetta etc are better on the controller. The argument you used makes no sense because what you mentioned doesn’t apply to those games. For starters, in those type of games, the camera isn’t fully dependant on the user. It’s usually fixed or dynamic. Secondly, these games tend to not require much mapping as most are only switching between a few weapons.
The arguments you are making doesn’t really make sense because the Hack’n’Slash genre is already designed to make up for those shortcomings you mentioned. And by H&S, I’m referring to games such as Bayonetta, DMC, etc NOT games like Diablo.
That being said, you are probably referring to a different genre.
Whoa. Your parents didn’t do you any favors by letting you game in such an early age mate.
That’s offtopic. But you must be very young to call games such a DMC or Bayonetta Hack n’ Slash titles. Those are, I don’t know, brainless button bashers. Modern beat ’em ups. I consider HnS games the Torchlight series, Titan Quest, Grim Dawn, Path of Exile, etc. Though now they’re called ARPGs. The old man in me disagrees 😛
When I talked about the advantages of K&M in third person games I was talking about the genre in general. Any game where you have to aim manually and need awareness of the surroundings. The Suffering saga for example. Even in the Dark Souls saga I found K&M superior, you have a better vision of what’s going on around you and you can manually aim and shoot arrows much faster.
Thing is… a lot of games could be much better gameplay wise if they just weren’t simplified… I mean optimized for controllers.
Nah I’ve played many hack and slash titles such as Torchlight, Titan Quest etc. I even specifically said I’m not talking about traditional hack n slash titles and more modern ones. if you think Devil May Cry (original games) is a button masher then sorry but you just don’t know how to play the game.
Also, you are basing your entire argument mostly on camera movement. I will admit that KB/M is superior but in certain genres, it’s not a definitive win regardless of advantage. Because just like you say the camera movement in Dark Souls is better with a mouse, I can also say the button mappings feel more natural. Honestly, I just hate this whole “IM A PC GAMER AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS SACRILEGE!!!!!” mentality. I mean sure, if you prefer KB/M, that’s cool and all but a lot of people prefer controller as well.
Oh and idc that I played games since I was young. I love gaming.
Ten months is enough time to buy a controller.
What’s next? Complain with publisher because a game requires a graphics card to run?
TYPICAL LOSERS ON THIS SITE
ten month is enough time to make a patch. What next? kill yourself?
You new here? This community is 99% complaining. That’s why I rarely comment here and I used to be here with this site since the early days. To be fair though, it’s ridiculous that Nier still hasn’t received any patch whatsoever so I understand the specific complaints directed to the game. The community itself however, is just whiny in general.
I agree Platinum should have released a patch already, since the game clearly has bugs.
I criticize the sense of entitlement many users here have. It’s ridiculous.
THE GAME IS ADVERTISED AS MAIN CONTROLS KEYBOARD WITH PARTIAL CONTROLLER SUPPORT. IDIOT. THE CONTROLLER IS EMULATED TO MOUSE AND KEYBOARDS, WHY WOULD I BUY ANOTHER CONTROLLER THAT DOES THE SAME THING? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT RAW INPUT IS OR EVEN WHAT PART OF YOUR ARGUMENT IS ABOUT?
My, my… look at this ranting child, the likes that make PC gamers look like entitled retards.
Well, so far, I’ve played over 40 hours (didn’t even felt it passing, this game is so good!), WITH a Xbox One controller, and I have nothing to complain, it’s been a ball. Just install FAR Mod and you’re good to go.
I understand you people raging about poor kb + m support, it’s your right. If they will bring a game to pc, they gotta support it right.
But… games like these are developed with a gamepad as primary input. So, I prefer having kb + m and gamepads so I choose the best option depending on each game.
Get a life, man. It’s not a big deal, your life doesn’t depend on it.
F*** square enix
This game is really something special, so it’s a shame that the port has so many problems. I guess they’re holding a patch so that they can make money selling a ‘remastered’ version in five years or so instead.
I hear this character has a booty?
Like gold and treasure? I don’t understand what you’re getting at.
This game was originally going to PC exclusive so it makes this port more of a joke
Isn’t This game was originally going to PC exclusive?
SE really f*****d up and made this a shity pc port instead -_-
To be honest I get these kind of games on PS4 for a reason. Works great on there.
900p with framerate drops on PS4, it’s not any worse on PC
I actually bought this on the PS4 pro after reading the PC port posts coming in. I didn’t have a single problem and it was obviously the way to go.
If more people did this and their sales tanked, they may have put some effort into fixing it.
If you can sell trash, you sell trash I guess.
I cry a little bit inside when I see these articles.
Please patch the damn game Square Enix/ Platinum Games you f*cking idiots.
Considering the buggy state the game is and still selling close to 700k, that’s really impressive… Seriously, it pains my heart because I want to buy this game.. but I can’t because of intrusive DRM that I want no part of. I refuse to buy the game on PC based off of my principle alone.
Really though, NieR Automatoes is a good game. :3
The game also could have sold a lot more if Square Enix didn’t screw over Chinese gamers with the pricing on it several of their other games.
>Really though, NieR Automatoes is a good game. :3
Now I want a racing game where you race tomatoes around a track.
This is sad, because this shows companies don’t need to patch games and people will still buy it.
The only reason we get ports like this is because people don’t speak out against them, or even worse go out of their way to defend them.
I dunno, SE has some games with great M+K support such as Tomb Raider. Although SE was only the publisher the devs for NIER could have utilized their connections for better implementation. This is pure laziness and lack of direction.
While SE was only the publisher they still had a lot of influence over the development of the game since after all they’re funding it. They made Platinum Games make a PS4 version and they heavily marketed that version of the game instead. So its obvious they made PG focus more on the PS4 version than the PC version.
Ultimately SE is to blame for this, this seems a little misdirected. We should be holding Platinum Games accountable since they’re the actual NIER devs. Surprisngly some of their other ports have better M+K support. Vanquish is one of them.
Exactly. You can’t make a buggy mess and then complain PC gamers aren’t buying it. I remember hearing about bugs and deciding to wait to buy it. I never ended up buying it and I really wanted to.
The PC version is officially abandoned.
I wonder why this neglect.
Let’s just hope the sales push them to put a little more effort into the sequel. Many companies look to the past to plan for the present, and this might be that situation?
Months ago I saw an article that claimed it had sold over 2 million copies combined console and PC sales and I just looked at SteamSpy and they say around 670,000 on PC from them alone. I think the game has been profitable and there just isn’t any excuse for them to have not patched this game. It probably has cost them more in lost sales than it would have cost them to patch the game. At least I hope it did cost them lost sales. I don’t want to be mean but there has to be consequences for laziness. It’s bad enough that so many Developers push games out the door that badly need to be patched and polished first but then they pull this kind of sh*t.
fanboys be like : they cant improve perfection
“Some SHILLS tried to justify its 30fps lock by saying that ‘the game was coded for 30fps’ but here we are with a remastered version that will be running at 60fps. ”
Fixed, and also, the previous version could be modded to 60 fps thanks to a mod. If you see someone saying they don’t care about fps, or kb+mouse controls, etc, you are dealing with a shill
So Sgt Buzzy Bean is a shill. I knew it!
Still beat the game on 100% I had no worries at all :’D
? okay wow a happy controller user? screw everyone else =D weeee hehehehe 8===D …. (you’re terrrible)
I didn’t find particular problems with my GTX 1070, anyway the SQARE-ENIX behaviour with this game is very irritating
THE ARTICLE IS ABOUT CONTROLS, WHAT DOES A GTX 1070 HAVE TO DO WITH THE CONTROL PROBLEMS?
Strange, never recall I encounter any of the so called weird problem on my gaming laptop. The game plays out nicely and buttery smooth with consistence 60fps max setting@1920 x1080.
The game have a bug when it requests the output resolution, so if u are not using the mod from the community that fixes a lot of things sorry to say that you are not even playing at 1080p.
Nope. Go check up my steamid chtan69. I have clocked 30mins with this game without any issue. May be I am not too deep into the game yet. Due to too much backlog that I have.
Dude you didn’t understand what i meant, if you are not playing the game in windowed mode or using a 3RD party software to play the game bordless at 1080p (something i do not recomend since the game already have a decent amout of problems) then u are not playing at that resolution it’s actually 1600×900 stretched. The game does not render 1080p native by itself it’s a know bug and this was never patched.
Now you mentioned it, no wonder the graphics seems a bit blur. Ok. But besides that, I don’t have any problem at all with the game. I re-tested it just now. Still plays out flawlessly beside the blurry graphics.
Don’t care. Still the best game I’ve played in many years. Would’ve used a controller even if the mouse and keyboard controls didn’t suck but I can understand the frustration of those who have a stick up their butt regarding controllers and think mouse and keyboard is the only way to play.
While i do agree that the game is great, i’m for one will never buy it (on PC at least). Buying a game that is broken to many that were only “patched” to add DLC and know problems were never adressed just send a bad message to the publisher.
..The game is advertised as “partial controller support” for controls on the steam store page. So I was very upset to get lied to that keyboard/mouse are primary controls to find out it was emulated controller. The game has FPS mechanics and you lose precision with analog input instead of raw, especially since you must engage in melee at the same time. Lock on targeting would not be needed. How is it so hard to understand this IS the only way to play.
Admit that you use a controller because you’re a lazy console peon instead of ignoring FACTS. hold to move VS. dpi, you absolutley have nothing to argue against… like what is wrong with people?! WAKE UP ! theres no “those that think” about it, learn to learn. Think BEFORE you DO.
An insane ammount of people like you post for no reason when their controls they use aren’t effected HEY I DON”T CARE IT”S FINE HA.
It’s like HEY THIS IS THE WAY TO GO they are dumb and put things in their butt I understand they are.
It tells developers most people who bought it are dumb so why fix it
WHY BE SUCH CANCER to an entire group of control typoe…? WHY even appear anywhere at all?
And let’s not forget that this game is not working on GeForce 7xx series
why not? works on 660ti sli I have in my bedroom game rig!
Mb because you have 6xx series?
600 and 700 are both Kepler based cards. I do not know any specific reasons one would work or not work in any given situation concerning both lines of GPUs. I’ll look into though you have my curiosity peaked!
Devs said that’s the problem in NVidia drivers. And nothing. No patches for the game and no driver fix from Green Company. Every user of 7xx is left behind. I’ve bought game on start, and stil waiting. Nothing. And thanks to that, I’m not buying any more any game from Square. Only pirate.
PCMasterbat… oh wait 😀
This is probably just the usual case of the Japanese not being in touch with the rest of the world.
Wow, you complain way to much.
It’s actually not a complaint. I’m trying to give a defense from the Japanese pov. The country tends to remain in it’s own bubble.
its up to the publishers to fund, the developers just do what they are paid to do. Anyway, the issues with nier are quite minor and the game has sold well while also being received well.
Yes pay them million dollars to change 1 ****ing line for the resolution fix
and another to change to raw input.
Yes seeing and moving is not important, very minor; what are you on? Resolution and controls should be established before any other development begins, I don’t care if you enjoy low resolution, or if you use mods and don’t need to alt/tab because you have no life, I don’t care go away. I don’t have a fetish for torture like you do. I can’t believe you share this freak information.
Why do you have to go out of your way to say there’s nothing wrong when there is. Lets go back in time 15 years ago to an angel of darkness forum saying everything is fine, everybody bought it; You are that troll or have the worst logical thinking ability possible.
This game has the most problems EVER witnessed and they are BASIC PRIMARY elements, the required fixes would be minor not the issues. Do you have any idea what year it is, 15 year old console/pc games like Bloodrayne WinXP put this trash to shame.
lol…all these pc bastards. spending £10000 just for a game with piece of sh* controls:P
I really don’t know what the problem is. I have this on PC and it runs completely fine. I am playing it with a controller though, because let’s just face it, a third-person hack-n-slash/platformer/shooter was pretty much made for it.
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say in my entire life.
I was just sittin here bored looking at the title screen wishing I could play my game and found this article.
I paid 60$ for this Nier automata (retarded controls) and 60$ for the evil within 2 (no walk button)
I have such a headache trying to use python scripts for nier, and cheat engine if I want to access a controls not even ported for the evil within 2..
What is wrong with the world and why aren’t ALL gamers backing us up on core things like this? Both game have positive reviews, unbelievable.
No opinions have been stated and you cannot change reality by using ghetto talk.
Advertised full keyboard (fact):
http://store.steampowered.com/app/524220/NieRAutomata/
Here is a game made and advertised that it was made for controller:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/491040/
Your initial post is insulting, the camera is not smooth enough for full precision. Locking on target while you have melee and shooting mechanics simultaneously is not optimizing the full potential of the players actions, visibility. (fact)
Caps is an very clear indication that you are being yelled at since 1940. (fact)
An example of looking like a re**rd would be telling someone to install a graphics mod while not aware what they are abbreviating (Fix Automata Resolution) when they were talking about control issues to begin with. (fact)
The only current way to make modifications to controls are with vJoy, x360ce, and FreePIE; which is not solution as it is tweaking emulation of the controller, not giving things like raw input. (fact)
EVERYONE OWNS A CONTROLLER:
Everything you say is about controller as if no one is aware that is the only way to comfortably play the game since keybinds for dodge is hardcoded to double taps. (fact)
THIS ARTICLE is complaining about PC KEYBOARD and MOUSE controls:
Your initial post is a direct insult to the article itself and anyone who got clickbaited into it looking for solutions. (fact)
Acting childish is when you have no problems and nothing to contribute to society other than talking trash, you only came to show off your controller like it’s special and cost millions of dollars, only YOU have one. (fact)
Why on earth do you feel the need to preach about a controller on an thread about keyboard and mouse issues, yet you are suprised someone let you know how offensive it was and yelled at you? (fact)
“No opinions have been stated and you cannot change reality by using ghetto talk”
Trash talked with you because of your caps.
“Advertised full keyboard (fact):”
They should have advertised Full Controller Support instead, since this game can be played with a controller from menu to the ending.
“Locking on target while you have melee and shooting mechanics simultaneously is not optimizing the full potential of the players actions, visibility. (fact)”
You’re right. This problem worsens if you play in Hard or Very Hard, since there is no lock on in these modes.
“An example of looking like a re**rd would be telling someone to install a graphics mod while not aware what they are abbreviating (Fix Automata Resolution) when they were talking about control issues to begin with. (fact)”
I cited FAR mod because of the resolution issue, nothing more. And the article mentions this mod in the sixth paragraph.
“you only came to show off your controller like it’s special and cost millions of dollars, only YOU have one. (fact)
Acting childish is when you have no problems and nothing to contribute to society other than talking trash, you only came to show off your controller like it’s special and cost millions of dollars, only YOU have one. (fact)”
Wrong. I don’t need to brag about my stuff, I don’t need people envying me. If I wanted to show off I would just post my entire rig specs, resolution and framerate, just like many pc gamers do.
But, my point is: if keyboard controls are bad implemented, why not use a controller? Ok, you stated your facts above, and I understand that most of you prefer keyboard, it’s your right to demand this from Platinum Games.
“Why on earth do you feel the need to preach about a controller on an thread about keyboard and mouse issues, yet you are suprised someone let you know how offensive it was and yelled at you? (fact)”
Because is an ALTERNATIVE (not yelling). One of the best things about PC is to have options.
I was able to resolve all mouse issues:
The mod you suggested has a raw input option;
To gain full free look, in game/settings/camera parameters must be set to the following:
Zoom Speed 0
Vertical Auto Adjust 0
Horizontal Auto Adjust 0
Free Enemy Tracking 0
Pursuit Speed 20
Locked Enemy Tracking 0
SQEENIX = (???) ports
FFS. I just bought the game on Steam, played for 15 minutes and I’m done. Too many bugs, even with the fullscreen mod, and stuttering on a high-end machine with a 1080Ti. I wish I would have read this before I purchased.
I was really looking forward to playing this and just installed it from Steam.
What a disappointment. It’s completely unplayable. I’m not one of those who’s arsed about 60fps and maxed out graphics or sh*t, but the mouse and keyboard controls alone are beyond bad, no mouse control binding or sensitivity controls.
Some of the movement keys even stop working after a while and the game eventually just crashes entirely. I have a GTX1070 so it isn’t like my system isn’t capable of running games decently.
First time I’ve ever had to ask for a refund form Steam ever I think.
Sure as hell won’t be buying anything made by Platinum Games again.