I should probably love Automata a lot more than I do, but I have the smol brain and I didn't really catch onto any of its philosophical themes or messages, all I really soaked in was the bleak story and world, and the fun gameplay, which was all great, but I don't prefer it to the first game's more personal and clearer story, and I've never been that big a fan of orchestral soundtracks (though don't get me wrong I did love Automata' soundtrack, but I didn't completely fall in love with it like I would a simpler soundtrack like the first game's), so I pretty much prefer the first game on every non-gameplay front. But that aside objectively speaking I can recognise it as a fucking masterpiece that deserves to go down in history as one of the best games of all time, maybe best things from any medium ever made. And don't misunderstand, I did really like the game. I just feel like I don't like it enough. But personal tastes and all that. And I'm still very happy that it put Nier and Yoko Taro in the spotlight where they deserve to be.