Five years after its initial 2017 release, Square Enix is bringing Yoko Taro’s seminal open-world action game Nier: Automata to the Nintendo Switch for the first time. The title was announced today as part of Nintendo’s third-party partner Direct, which focused on titles from Nintendo partners like Capcom and Square Enix.
Nier: Automata, which was released right next to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in March of 2017, is considered by many to be one of the best games Square Enix has put out in the last decade. That may be hyperbole by those of us that love the series, but even those who don’t outright hail the game as one of Square Enix’s best have a difficult time denying the unique quality that Nier: Automata possesses.
The open-world action game was developed by PlatinumGames and Takahisa Taura, who later went on to direct Astral Chain. But the story, world, and quests were created by Yoko Taro, the mind behind games like Drakengard and the original Nier. The end result is an action title that also veers heavily into existentialism — a winning combination that won a surprising number of Game Of The Year awards despite being against competition like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Breath of the Wild.
Not to mention the soundtrack, which culminates in one of the most incredible credits sequences of all time.
The Switch version will be the End of YoRHa edition, which features all the previous DLC and costumes that have come out over the years. It will also feature some costumes new and unique to the Switch version. While maybe not the ideal place to play Nier: Automata — which has been released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC over the years — it is finally a chance for a new audience that otherwise might not have gotten a chance to play the game to experience it.
Nier: Automata End of YoRHa is coming to the Switch on October 6.
