Reddit’s Nier: Automata church mod had us all scrambling to solve a viral video mystery, and now you can explore the player-made level for yourself. Creators DevolasRevenge, Woeful_Wolf, and RaiderB have made The Nier Automata Church mod publically available, and this version includes a few changes from the original.
Half of us assumed it was a mod, and half thought Square Enix was pulling a viral marketing trick. But, as it turns out, the Nier church was the former. The original live stream footage wasn’t very long and still showcased feats some modders believed weren’t possible. The team behind the project has uploaded their work to Nexus Mods, and this version tweaks the ending.
A full playthrough of the Automata mod lets you explore a fake Copied City secret as A2 and 9S. The version shared back in July ended with a mini 9S boss rush, but today’s build leaves us with an emotional farewell. For those unfamiliar, it’s a reference to Drakengard. If you don’t have access to the PC version of Automata, a full run is up on YouTube.
The ending to the church is different than what we showed in the livestream. I was going to make a video for those who can't play the mod but a few people already did. Here is one of them https://t.co/TB8LLSC0e1
— DevolasRevenge (@DevolasRevenge) September 8, 2022
In the team’s Nexus Mods upload as SadFutago, the modders note more improvements and changes may come in the future. For now, I’m happy enough with this, the damn Drakengard 3 stuff has me weirdly emotional. Here’s to hoping this project piques a little more interest in that rough PlayStation 3 game.
If you missed July’s mystery, a group of modders pulled off an elaborate Reddit ruse that left Nier‘s community stumped. After posing as a young player confused by their discovery of a church in Nier: Automata and met with a subsequent “but wait, there is no church” commenters, we learned the church was indeed a clever, entertaining fake.
The ordeal even gained Nier producer Yosuke Saito’s attention, who joked it was “something Yoko Taro would do.” And later, Taro himself even acknowledged the project but played coy when asked if this was official. Knowing Taro’s sense of humor and style, I certainly believed this was something the creator would do. Garnering attention for a mod in other games probably wouldn’t work in the same ways, but with Nier, it checks.
