The main narrative of NieR: Automata unfolds across three distinct playthroughs. Although the first two share quite a bit of content, the third playthrough reveals that there’s still plenty of story to explore, even after the initial credits have rolled.
There are three primary playthroughs you should aim to finish, but you’ll discover a variety of endings, each with different levels of detail. Some endings will require you to play as a certain character and complete specific tasks. Let’s take a look at the three characters you can play and how to switch between them.
All Playable Characters In NieR: Automata
The narrative of NieR: Automata centers on the characters 2B, 9S, and A2. 2B and 9S work as partners, and depending on your playtime, they might take the spotlight the most during your journey. Each character brings a distinct combat style to the table, ensuring that even with the same plug-in chips across all three playthroughs, each experience feels fresh. While 2B, 9S, and A2 are all playable, switching between them isn’t always a simple task.
How To Switch Characters In NieR: Automata
In your initial run of the game, you won’t have the option to switch characters at will. The character you control in each playthrough is predetermined.
- Playthrough 1 – 2B
- Playthrough 2 – 9S
- Playthrough 3 – 2B/9S/A2, switching between each character as the story dictates.
Once you pick one of the main endings in the game, you’ll gain access to Chapter Select mode, allowing you to choose your character. With this mode, you can revisit any of the 17 chapters at your leisure. In many of these chapters, you’ll notice the numbers on the right side of the screen indicating whether side quests are completed or still pending. If a character has any numbers displayed in that chapter, you can opt to replay it as that character.
In the later chapters, particularly during playthrough 3, you’ll find that you can only play certain chapters with specific characters, and this won’t be altered. You can switch characters anytime through chapter select, but you’ll need to be in a part of the story where that character was available during the main narrative. Just remember to save your progress before moving to a different chapter, as anything you do in chapter select will carry over, allowing you to level up all three characters’ shared levels as you aim for the maximum.
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