Nier: Automata – The Game That Asks What It Means to Be Human – 2026

Nier: Automata is not a typical video game. Developed by PlatinumGames and directed by Yoko Taro, released in 2017 by Square Enix, it is a game that uses action combat, multiple playthroughs, and a post-apocalyptic science fiction setting to ask some of the most profound questions in philosophy: What is consciousness? What gives life meaning? Can something that was created rather than born truly be alive?

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The World: Earth Abandoned

In the distant future, humanity has been driven from Earth by an alien invasion and the machines they left behind. Humans now live on the Moon, and have sent back Android warriors — YoRHa units — to fight the machine lifeforms and one day reclaim Earth. The war has been going on for thousands of years.

On the surface of Earth, nature has reclaimed civilization. Forests grow through the ruins of cities. Sand dunes swallow amusement parks. In this haunted, beautiful landscape, androids and machines fight endlessly — but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the situation is far more complicated than it appears.

2B: The Most Iconic Android in Fiction

2B — YoRHa No.2 Type B — is the primary protagonist of Nier: Automata and one of the most visually striking characters in gaming history. Dressed in a black gothic dress, blindfolded (a standard feature of YoRHa units), and wielding dual swords with extraordinary grace, 2B embodies a specific contradiction: she is designed to feel nothing, yet everything about her design and movement suggests suppressed emotion.

Her relationship with her partner 9S — a Scanner type android who is curious, enthusiastic, and clearly developing feelings for her — is the emotional core of the game. And the truth about their relationship, revealed across multiple playthroughs, is one of the most devastating reveals in gaming.

The Machines: More Than Enemies

What makes Nier: Automata truly special is how it treats its antagonists. The machine lifeforms, ostensibly mindless enemies, begin to display increasingly human behavior — forming families, falling in love, developing philosophy, even religion. Characters like Pascal (a pacifist machine who leads a village of like-minded machines) and the operators Engels and Adam and Eve force the player to reconsider who the real villains of the story are.

The Anime Adaptation

A anime adaptation titled Nier: Automata Ver1.1a began airing in 2023. Produced by A-1 Pictures, it faithfully adapts the game's story with excellent animation and a thoughtful approach to the source material's philosophical themes.

2B in Gaming and Desk Culture

2B's design has made her one of the most popular characters in gaming merchandise. Her elegant, gothic aesthetic translates beautifully into desk mat art — creating sophisticated, visually striking pieces that feel more like gallery prints than gaming accessories.

🤖 Bring 2B to your workspace. Browse our Nier: Automata desk mats at astro2049.com — elegant, artistic designs featuring 2B in stunning detail.