Ever since the release of , has never been more popular as a creator. He’s always had his niche in the video game industry, but Automata’s surprise success has garnered him a reputation on the same scale as Suda 51 or Hideo Kojima. While Yoko Taro’s games may be imperfect and at times unrefined, h🔯e has an eye for direction that brings out the best in the medium.
All the same, Yoko Taro’s games are an acquired taste that most audiences won’t connect with right away – a fact that’s ofꦜten been reflected in the reviews for Taro’s titles. and both released to critical acclaim, but Metacritic hasn’t always been so kind to Yoko Taro’s ludography.
6 SINoAlice (58)
With a single positive review to its name, SINoAlice is Yoko Taro’s worst reviewed game on Metacritic. An RPG released for Android and iOS, SINoAlice was praised for its score 💛and general sense of style, but not much else.
The gameplay in particular was criticized for being undercooked and failing to match the rest of the game. Like most of Yoko Taro’s games, SINoAlice’s greatest 🍌strength was its story. The game itself consists of short stories that play into fairy tales thematically (not too unlike Nier Replicant), but the combat ultimately leaves much to be ꧂desired.
5 Drakengard 3 (61)
Chances are Drakengard 3 would have rel🐬eased to some level of critical acclaim if it weren’t a co꧟mplete and utter technical disaster. Drakengard 3 has a pathetically low frame rate, awful audio mixing, and combat that just doesn’t offer enough depth.
At the same time, the story is captivating, the gameplay loop is simple but addictive, and the music is fa🍨ntastic. With some actual polish, Drakengard 3 wouldn’t have bombed critically. The game emulates shockingly well, but actually playing Drakengar♚d 3 on a PlayStation 3 is an exercise in futility. Few modern action RPGs have frame rate problems this bad.
4 Drakengard (63)
The original Drakengard released to most♓ly mixed reviews, with critics not quite understanding what Yoko Taro was going for. While Drakengard’s core gameplay was rightfully bemoaned for being repetitive and ultimately derivative of better titles, the story, characters, and soundtrack went slightly underappreciated.
It’s important to remember that Drakengard released at a time when western games criticism was extre♏mely superficial, mainly focusing on graphics and controls without going too in-depth. It’s also worth pointing out that Drakengard’s score is quite generous given how many otherwise negative reviews settled on 7s.
3 Nier (68)
The original Nier releas♏ed at a time where western games journalism turned a xenophobic eye towards Japanese games. Reviews of the era are very casual in how they dismiss Japan’s role in the video game industry, resulting in several RPGs garnering low scores. Nier re🤡ceived a particularly bad review circuit, with most critics taking a purely surface level analysis to the game.
Nier’s influences and homages were taken at face value, the co𝕴mbat was decried for being too simplistic but not a single review goes into the depth found in the Word Edit system, and it’s clear several publications never played past Route A. Nier is an acquired taste, but it was always built on a stronger foundation than it was ever given credit for.
2 Nier Replicant (84)
Which is exactly why Nier Replicant has෴ released to critical acclaim. Replicant i♋s a phenomenal remake that fixes most of Nier’s issues, but the fact of the matter is that the remake doesn’t tweak much. The combat’s been revamped to better match Automata, but that’s really it outside of some graphical changes.
Nier Replicant is getting the praise Nier always deserved and exposing audiences to a masterclass of ꩵgame design. More importantly, the remake has helped shine a light on Nier’s actual issues: Side Quests, pacing, and difficulty. While Replicant’s Metacritic score is noticeably higher than Nier’s, it doesn’t quite match Automata.
1 Nier: Automata (88)
Nier: Automata was such a leap in quality from the original Nier that it’s no surprise the game released to critical acclaim. With Platinum taking control of the combat design, Automata’s action was praised across the board along with its music and story. Nier: Automata’s main🍎 criticisms stem from it paces its Routes and level design, but the game is a clear improvement from the original Nier on virtually every front – something reviewers recognized.