did you not see the part where I jump-pounced three times in a row with a huge oversized sword then immediately jumped straight up and air--dashed then activated my other swords that are smaller so I throw them spinning like a wheel?
that's the RPG part right there
also, the game has:
- many towns/villages/hubs
- half the game is focused around extremely large "sandbox areas"
- you have character attributes such as STR, multiple defenses and you gain Levels
- you can recruit party members (I have one following me in the videos)
- the majority of your play-time in Nier Automata is spent doing side-quests such as gathering shit in order to upgrade shit, and/or doing side-missions that (choice and consequences!) alter the game's structure
a) the game has 3 different, completely mutually exclusive (well, the beginning prolog is always the same) "routes" through the game with different content, items, npcs, story cutscenes, dialog, quests, etc
b) the game has a ton of endings. I haven't bothered checking out the requisites for them.
Now, I've already gone on record on this thread and stated that I would not have personally put NIER AUTOMATA on an "RPG of the Year" list, (it's game of the year for me); because I do not consider games such as:
- WITCHER series
- Demon/Dark Souls series
- Nier series (Automata is the latest)
None of those games are real RPGs, or even "fake" RPGs to me, and to anyone with half a brain. They're action-RPGs, no more no less. So in a poll like this I not only would
not include Nier: Aut, I also would never include stuff like Witcher 3 or Dark Souls, so, take my opinion with a grain of salt, since I know a lot of peeps in this site think those games are true-blue RPGs.
TL;DR My personal way of identifying quickly the RPG-ness of a game that has flashy combat and stuff like the above games:
IF THERE IS DODGE-ROLL BUTTON = NOT AN RPG.