Confronting violence in Nier

I’ve killed a lot of people in video games. There weren’t many games that chastised me for killing until Nier, though. Shadow of the Colossus certainly tried, but it’s difficult to feel guilty when you can unlock power ups via

Retelling Nier Replicant into Nier Refrain

  (Warning: complete Nier spoiler, head to toe.)   NieR isn’t particularly well liked by the critics. This commercial failure also didn’t manage to save the studio from dissolving, and the game is likely to be forgotten. For good reasons