NieR: Automata is PlatinumGames’ latest title and we are pretty sure that by now, most of you are aware of some of its PC technical issues. NieR: Automata is powered by a unique graphics engine Platinum Games has designed just for it and it’s time to see how it performs on the PC platform, even though PlatinumGames has not released any patch in order to address some of its really ridiculous issues.
For this PC Performance Analysis, we used an Intel i7 4930K (turbo boosted at 4.2Ghz) with 8GB RAM, NVIDIA’s GTX980Ti and GTX690, Windows 10 64-bit and the latest WHQL version of the GeForce drivers. NVIDIA has not included any SLI profile for this title in its latest drivers and given the fact that most of PlatinumGames do not support it, we are pretty sure that there this game will not ever support multi-GPUs.
[nextpage title=”Settings, GPU and CPU metrics”]
NieR: Automata comes with a very few graphics settings to tweak. PC gamers will only be able to adjust the quality of anti-aliasing, texture filtering, shadows and effects. PC gamers can also enable or disable blur and ambient occlusion.
At this point, we should note that the ambient occlusion option is also tied to a post-AA setting. Unfortunately, though, the post-AA solution in NieR: Automata is among the blurriest we’ve ever seen. As such, PC gamers will have to use Reshade in order to add a better ambient occlusion solution (and disable the in-game option in order to avoid that blurriness).
NieR: Automata is mostly a GPU-bound title and does not require a high-end CPU in order to be enjoyed. In order to find out how the game performs on a variety of CPUs, we simulated a dual-core and a quad-core CPU. For our test purposes (and since there isn’t any built-in benchmark tool), we measured framerates during the Prologue and the first open-world area. The game is locked at 60fps and as we can see, all of our systems were able to run it without any performance issues at 720p on High settings and without any anti-aliasing (we lowered our resolution and disabled AA in order to avoid any possible GPU bottleneck).
As said, this title is mostly GPU-bound and unfortunately – especially due to the lack of extensive graphics settings – it does not scale well on older graphics cards. Since there isn’t any SLI profile, our GTX690 behaved similarly to a GTX680. And even on Low settings, our GTX690 was unable to offer an optimal gaming experience. On High settings at 1080p, our GTX690 ran the game with 20fps. On Low settings, the GTX690 was able to push 40fps. So yeah, those with really old graphics cards will have trouble playing PlatinumGames’ latest title.
On the other hand, our GTX980Ti was able to run the game with a minimum of 53fps and an average of 58fps on High settings at 1080p. Do note that the High preset enables 8X MSAA; an anti-aliasing setting that is quite demanding. By lowering MSAA to 4X we were able to get a consistent 60fps experience, no matter what was happening on screen.
[nextpage title=”Graphics, Low vs Ultra Comparison Screenshots, Conclusion & Screenshots”]
Visually, NieR: Automata is not looking particularly hot. The game suffers from extreme pop-in issues of objects, the environments look bland, the lighting system lacks modern-day techniques and features, distant enemies or objects lack shadows. Thankfully, the game’s characters are really detailed and PlatinumGames used some high-quality textures (though there are a lot of low-res textures here and there). Honestly, and given its somehow high GPU requirements, we expected better visuals.
PlatinumGames has made it possible to switch quality modes on the fly, without the need of restarting the game. Therefore, you can find below some comparison screenshots between the game’s Low (left) and High settings (right).
As you can see, there are no big differences between these two modes. This is both a good (as Low settings are looking at least good) and a bad thing (as the game does not scale on older GPUs).
NieR: Automata suffers from some other issues that need to be mentioned. From some unknown reason, the game upscales from a lower resolution when played in fullscreen mode. As such, PC gamers will have to download Kaldaien’s fix. Otherwise, they will be forced to play the game in windowed mode.
Moreover, PlatinumGames has really f’ed up the game’s keyboard+mouse control scheme. While that control scheme works perfectly fine in its third-person mode, it is busted during its shoot em up/platformer sequences, mainly due to its awful mouse sensitivity. For some unknown reason, during these sequences, it’s impossible to aim with mouse (too sensitive). PlatinumGames should simply improve mouse controls via a patch. Yes, some will say that this game was built primarily for gamepads. However, third-person games, shoot em ups and action side-scrollers (anyone remember Abuse? You know, that 1996 DOS action side-scroller that features BETTER mouse aiming mechanics than the ones of NieR: Automata?) work wonderfully with keyboard+mouse. So no, there is no excuse for the game’s bad keyboard+mouse controls.
All in all, NieR: Automata suffers from a respectable amount of issues. The game is plagued by some awkward upscaling issues in fullscreen mode, has bad keyboard+mouse controls, is locked at 60fps with cut-scenes running at 30fps, does not scale on older graphics cards and does not justify its GPU requirements. We are pretty sure that some of these issues can be addressed via post-release patches, though we don’t know whether PlatinumGames intends to invest time and effort into such a thing.
Enjoy!
Square Enix has provided us with a review code for NieR: Automata
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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Pretty much your everyday console port.
Don’t you mean ‘PC port’? Or do you go around calling Xbox One games ported from PS4 a ‘PS4 port’?
That term never made sense and was always about deflecting blame from where the trouble truly lies: WITH THE PC VERSION.
But here it’s not only a nonsensical use of English, but insccurate too: Remember, the PC’s the lead platform for this game. So not only is the ‘console’ part misleading, the ‘port’ part is actually wrong.
Does the game sit poorly on the PC? Yes. But it was indeed made for it.
It’s not really a “PS4 port” if the Xbox One version has had actual effort put into it to make sure it functions properly on the Xbox One without major issues.
It’s more like, “we developed it on a PS4, & then we moved it all over, patched everything up, & done.” Compared to; “we developed it on a PS4, [moved it all over to the Xbox One,] & then from there, [we moved everything] to the PC, at which point we didn’t bother to fix anything, because we were too busy properly implementing Denuvo, instead, so we ran out of time.”
“Oops.”
‘It’s not really a “PS4 port” if the Xbox One version has had actual effort put into it to make sure it functions properly on the Xbox One without major issues.’
I don’t think your understanding my point. The term that comes before ‘port’ is typically the the name of the platform the game is on. It’s done that way because it’s logical and actually communicates something meaningful.
The PC is the only platform where this is the exception because people decide to own or disown a game depending on the quality of the game’s standing on the platform. But when you get down to it, all games on PC are PC ports, if not PC versions.
The only thing that is a ‘console port’ is a game that is actually on a console. This is what logic and common sense should tell you.
Ah, right.
Well, what can I say. Internet English, it’s a language of its own, really 😛
logic and common sense
Everyone here understands that “console port” means a game made with consoles as the primary target (and often crippled on PC because of those considerations).
Collective delusion can make anything mean anything.
Anyway, the PC VERSION of Nier is troubled, to say the least.
Own it as it is, not when it is convenient for you.
Yeah sure dude. PC was totally the lead platform. That’s why it is locked at 60fps and all of the cut scenes are at 900p (Which is conveniently the resolution the game is on PS4)
Because their primary consideration was consistency on the PS4 version. Simple really.
Lead platform = primary development version of the game, not the primary consideration.
It’s a subtle difference, but not a contradiction. And one backed up by interviews with the developer.
So unless you have some insider information that the dev is lying…
Pretty sure you’re right about the graphics. But the bulk of development being focused on the PC master, whilst said master is aimed at PS4 ultimately makes the PC the lead platform.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it is what it is.
Simply put the terms ‘port’ and ‘lead platform’ are too reductive and lack the nuance of what you’re trying to convey.
But I get it all the same: the PC version of this game AS A PRODUCT feels like it was a secondary consideration for the developer.
And that’s because, while not true from a development perspective, it is from a product launch perspective. But since we only get the end product we base our opinions on that.
I hope this teaches people to be more wary when devs say the PC is the lead platform for their game as the reality of what that means
might not be so pleasing.
Don’t forget the atrocious Keyboard + mouse keymapping.
PC is not the lead platform for this game. This game was almost a PS4 exclusive at one point so tell me how that works.
The devs simply didn’t mention the base PC reason as that announcment was in PR/marketing’s hands.
The dev themselves confirmed the PC was the lead platform in the very same interview where they confirmed the fps lock on PC. Not sure how people missed that as that interview was widely reposted.
Development being partially done or starting on PC and PC being the lead platform are not the same. If PC was indeed the lead platform that’s where it would have originally (or at least concurrently) been released and the main focus in development. This is not the case and it never was. The PC release was an after thought, clearly. If it were anything more it would have been on par with, or better than, the console versions. BTW almost every game these days at least starts it’s life on a PC. Nintendo never made anything with PC as the lead platform but they use them for development as well. So again tell me how that works.
I disagree. What you are calling ‘lead platform’ is really ‘primary consideration’ IMO.
The game wasn’t just started or partially built on PC (I am aware this is common practice however).
An entire working PC build formed the basis and pivot point of development, hence lead platform.
The consideration aspect (and design decisions thereof) is one born out of market demographics and sales, and if those are to be the basis to determine lead platform we end up with a strange problem: it becomes the PR and marketing people who determine lead platform rather than the developer… and that makes no sense.
I’ll explain Nintendo: Nintendo do development of assets and testing on PCs but with a focus on their own hardware (in developmental terms as well as consideration).
The PC ‘builds’ they have can’t evem charitably be called games and probably aren’t playable masters in the sense you are imagining. The PCs are tools to further development, not the site of core development itself.
“it becomes the PR and marketing people who determine lead platform rather than the developer… and that makes no sense.”
Welcome to the Video Game Industry, post-2006.
I hate this industry and everything in it :p
Welcome to my world, post-2006.
😛
Ok I’m seeing what your saying but you’re still incorrect. Neither square or platinum make a practice of using PC as the lead platform. The game was announced for PS4 first then the PC months later. It has clearly been stated, as well, that the PC game is a port and further it was made entirely based on PS4 specs making the lead platform (by your own words lead means the one the devs are most concerned about regardless of PR). This games final iteration was completed and fully tested with Playstation in mind, as that is where this game’s fan base is primarily. The period is in the pudding, the game is great in every technical aspect on the PS4, not so much with the PC PORT. So no matter what they begin development on, if they are always working toward it being perfected and rtg first on PS4 then that is the lead platform. Furthermore I am really interested in where you read that anyone ever said that PC was the lead platform. That just doesn’t line up with either company’s methodology.
Not read, heard. It was during an interview.
The PC RELEASE was indeed an afterthought. I agree.
But it’s role in development was the sustained focal point. Hence why the devs consider it the lead platform.
End of the day, what devs mean by lead platform and what consumers take it to connorte are two different things.
So, I’m going to peg this on the end of this post, because I didn’t want to hitch it onto my above post (nothing personal :P);
Public Service Announcement: Everyone develops on the PC. The Xbox, PlayStation, & Ninturdo SDKs are designed to work on a PC, because everyone develops on a PC. From there, the only question becomes; what SDK is your primary one? For 99% of AAA’s these days, that answer is either A. The PoorStation SDK, or B. The Xblower SDK. Sometimes, you get to go with C. The Ninturdo SDK, but, obviously, regardless, that involves a separate development process than the PS/XBox process, due to the Ninturdo’s different hardware settings as of the last decade +.
Regardless, your choice of “primary SDK” defines your choice of “lead platform”, from which you will eventually port over your work to either the PS SDK, or the Xblow SDK, respectively.
Then, once in a while, you get a project that’s actually been developed first & foremost for the PC, with the PS/Xbox SDKs being either an afterthought, or completely separately handled by another team, like a porting studio, for example. These, however, are the rarest cases these days, unfortunately.
In short; every single asset, every texture, every character’s face, every brick, vehicle, weapon, etc. etc. etc. is designed on the PC, using PC software (Maya, Blender, Sculptris, ZBrush, etc.). From there, it’s merely a question of how you import that into the game engine, & from there, how you choose to use it (i.e. SDK-wise).
I don’t disagree in how the PC is used to design things. I just disagree that the PC was the secondary in development even in SDK terms.
The rather bizarre inclusion of mouse controls on menus is a hint to this.
It tells me the dev spent the bulk of their time on that version (playing with a controller, but adding mouse controls for speedy menu navigation).
It seems rather odd to add that to a game that is controller based unless the amount of time they spent with it would warrant the quality of life improvement during development.
Hm.
I think it’s most accurate to say those games aren’t ports at all.
A port is something adapted from one platform for the other. Whereas Those two games are built ground up from the PC. The PC ‘version’ then, isn’t a port at all, while the console versions are. If that makes sense.
“If PC was indeed the lead platform that’s where it would have originally (or at least concurrently) been released”
Debatable. After all, at the end of the day, it’s still a Japanese titled being released by Square F*cktards. You can never tell in such cases what their marketing department might asspull in order to “maximise sales profits” or whatever-the-f*ck.
That’s where you’re wrong, yet you get all the upvotes eh. It was ported to PS4 from the base PC version. The producer Saito said that much in an interview with RPGsite. Optimization is bad on all platforms btw.
WHELP. guess im gonna skip it and wait for denuvo to be cracked on it then. disgusting. a shame i loved he original nier, but i cant stand playing on consoles anymore unless its a exclusive. even then its almost takes all the fun away playing.
Why not hire western employees for their console ports? Japs have proven time after time that they do not understand the pc platform. I cant blame them, between their 16 hours a day working schedules, and small homes, they have neither time nor space to have a proper gaming machine. Playing those crappy visual novels in their subway commute is enough for them.
Weebs come at me.
Steam is basically home to the weebs, who forgo any and all standards and just lap up whatever Japanese game comes their way.
Except those “weebs” are the reason so many Japanese games are releasing on PC these days. If it were for folks like you, we’d probably not have a PC version of Nier today. Remember that.
I don’t need to remember anything as I buy Japanese games that actually work well on my system.
I watch anime and read manga, but I’m not die hard loyal to the point where I would drop my standards, but I guess dropping your standards>having any is the defacto thing to think about these days.
You one of those dweebs that just follows the popular shtick, or do you actually watch anime? 😛
nah, I’m more into those types like Cowboy Bebop, Hellsing Ultimate, GITS, sci fi/fantasy anime that tends to have a deep plot or has interesting characters.
I used to love slice of life, but then Clannad came along, oh boy, never again lol (I lie, I made the one exception with Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid).
Latest one I’m watching atm is Saga of Tanya the Evil.
I can’t stand the overly popular types like precure or Sword Art online etc. Only thing I’ll watch from the old days that’s still around is DBZ.
Would love to see some of those Gundam games coming over to PC tho someday, especially Gundam Wing.
Damn, good choices.
Ha! ANPAN! Whatever you do, don’t watch School Days. I saw it once, long ago, never again. If you ever want to get back into Slice of Life, though, Kimi No Na Wa is coming out on Blu-Ray soon, & it’s extremely highly rated.
Haven’t heard of that one O.o
Sword Art Online – LOL. Talk about horrorshows. DBZ Super? Any good? Heard mixed things.
F*ck yeah, Gundam. Though, I’m more of a Evangelion bloke myself, to be fair 😛
???????
Total Biscuit said this was a rather good port… hell one of Platinum’s best ports… I’m confused.
More like Metal Gear R was
Even that game ran pretty good on a low to mid range PC back in the day.
Here, let me point out the problem to you;
TotalBiscuit.
😛
I like the guy sometimes, but this is one of those times where he dun goofed.
Transformers Devastation was actually a pretty good port… and an awesome game. 🙂
People who test game on their 10000 € PC are great source to tell you how well game runs
Enthusiasts that are really investing into their PCs (notice the enthusiast word, not some kid with too much money) are in fact a good source because they are pushing things to the limits and have very high standards and generally they can very easily notice and name issues. Especially with PC ports where expensive hardware won’t give you much, if port is bad then it runs bad on every PC and high-end ones are especially below their normal capabilities in such situation. They also understand graphics settings and can see what is going on on the screen. As long as you are dealing with actual enthusiast, he is the first to ask about the state of a game. Average player on average PC has no knowledge about those things and won’t give you any reliable information.
BS. Testing game on one pc is bs.
No difference except shadow resolution and inclusion of aa… .. wow, that is just poor.
Can’t these people give to the company Capcom gives for their ports? Those guys are awesome.
You mean QLOC? They preaty much ports every console game from Capcom including Dragons Dogma.
Loving the game on PS4 Pro. Can you believe that there are 26 endings!
Welp… 24 to go!
I played dark souls 1 on pc. Definitely not gonna have problems with this.
But still it’s sad to see the state of pc games these days. If not for sheer power of hardware most of these games today would have been unplayable. We need optimisation. Shadow of mordor level optimisation.
Well, yes & no; two of those you mentioned are Platinum titles, which still have very limited PC experience, & Dark Souls was made in the cheapest manner possible on purpose, since Capcom didn’t believe they’d make much money off of it.
Japanese games can be ported well (see: Dragon’s Dogma, etc.), it just takes more effort on behalf of the publisher, which most aren’t interested in doing, “because PC.” Especially so when that publisher is a f*cking pr*ck, like Square Turds.
Speaking of crappy ports of Japanese games… anyone remember the PC port of Devil May Cry 3? It was so bad, so fundamentally broken to the core, that the unfixed PC version of Dark Souls is nothing by comparison.
How bad is it? If you plug a controller to play DMC3, the axis are reversed, missing graphical effects compared to the PS2 and best of all, the framerate dropped to 30 whenever the battle music kicked in. And the Steam version of the game still isn’t fix, but thank God for the community. Oh did I mention, that DMC3, a Capcom game, was actually ported by… wait for it… f@cking Ubisoft. I’m not joking. How did it even happen?
Well, Capcom was so ashamed of the PC version of DMC3, that DMC4 on PC was the definitive edition of the game, featuring both Turbo mode and Legendary Dark Knight difficulty, a feature lacking in the console versions, until the Special Edition rolled out in 2015. At least something good came out of it. 🙂
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GOOD POINT!
Sadly, DMC3’s the one with the good story, even though DMC4’s got the best gameplay.
Oh I agree, just wanted to point out the irony of DMC4 having the best gameplay in the series, but with a terribly weak story, while DMC3, which has hands down the best story in the series, has the second-best gameplay model.
Based on gameplay alone, I prefer DMC4, but yeah, DMC3’s story is still great, even today.
The pacing in DMC3’s story is just perfect. Not to mention the memorable dialogue, memorable characters and over-the-top setpieces, everything just clicks.
Spot on, except that it was Bamco that published Dark Souls, not Capcom. Actually, Capcom’s ports are usually pretty good, most of them even support 120/144hz monitors (I struggle to think of any other Japanese games that can claim that).
Oh, f*ck. My bad.
Though I find Capcom to be a bit of a hit-&-miss historically, I do have to admit, they’ve really shaped up in the last few years, yeah. My bad, I got them confused…… LOL.
Seems to be worth a punt once the price has dropped significantly.
I don’t understand how twin stick shooting controls could ever work on the mouse when a mouse can’t flick back to a neutral state like a stick can. You’d have to change the underlying mechanics to use a pointer system of some kind, but the point with Nier is that shooting direction is relative to you, not the camera (which is why it can do all its camera angle changing stuff).
This article mentions another game but does it really work the same way?
Alternatively you could do it so each time the mouse cursor leaves a central box on screen it fires in that direction (essentially turning the entire screen into a virtual stick). If you remove the need for a fire button that could work.
Woulda rather they delayed it a couple months to fix these issues.
Don’t see a single reason why it should be as demanding as it doesn’t look that good. It only uses two colors gray and green. I have a feeling that Dmc: Devil may Cry looks, plays, and performs better.
Colours have nothing to do with how demanding a game can be lmao.
Install FAR (FixAutomataRes)
Use a controller
And you’ll have a great time. It’s a fantastic game.
FAR? FARC?
THIS GUY’S A COMMIE!
IT’S A CONSPIRACY, I TELL YOU!
Was that meant to be funny?
Yes 🙁
They should contact QLOC to do the job. Platinum are lazy as hell.
Wow, it looks as bad as it is optimized.
Careful there, fanboys are lurking
Oh boy.
LOL ^^
I’m hoping, but yeah, I’m not entirely sure how EVA 4.0 is going to end up either.
Denuvo
Locked 60fps
Other issues….
Easy pass