It's so sad how many ppl never played route B and C. they never found out who simone really was and why her appearance is like that. and imo the "chaos language" is such a great medium to just express the raw emotions of the performer, there is no need for translating cause everyone understands it.
Even before route B and C, the enemy database entries you get pretty heavily hint at who she is and why, so you don't even need to go that far for that either.
the section of the fight where simone is screaming "look at me" and the camera does everything it can to not show her is chefs kiss. YOko Taro and the Nier team dont miss
"He won't look my way" just hits differently and so many people never did Route B to discover who Simone really was and why she was adorned the way she was. Another tragic story for a game full of tragic stories. Also, your discussion at the beginning of the video really hits hard as someone who wanted to go into Opera as a career, but decided not to for a miriad of reasons. One of the main reasons was learning about Jerry Hadley (fellow tenor) and his career downturn. Nier:Automata I think allows us to understand the world of constant pursuit of perfection and beauty for external validation, resulting in a tearing of our psyche. I went through my own journey of having to redefine my identity away from being "a singer" when I left my college choir my senior year. I went to therapy for a couple years in order to break that mentality of perfection that so many singers have ingrained into them. Unlike Simone, I've been able to move on and form a new identity that has a healthier relationship with music now, but Simone's obsession with beauty is a strong parallel to a lot of singer's identities, especially those that pursue it as a career. Lastly, if you're taking any suggestions, I would look into the game Hollow Knight, it is an indie game that really excelled. Made by Team Cherry (3 person team), it really excelled in combat and story, but also has an amazing OST that is largely instrumental. Fairly short pieces, especially the boss ones. I recommend Mantis Lords (boss), Hornet (boss), King Grimm/Nightmare King Grimm (boss), and Greenpath (area music).
One of the greatest travesties is how many people I talk to who refuse to play beyond route A since “it feels too samey” and they didn’t want to play as someone other than 2B
Spoilers starting in the second paragraph. If you know history and modern philosophy you're given enough info that it's obvious who she is even in route A IIRC. There are a lot of Yoko Taro's classic tearjerkers as mini-stories in Automata but the subtext of the main story is entirely concerned with historical philosophers and modern philosophy, with a lot of beats (eg Kant being the slain child-king) that show a remarkably nuanced understanding of that history, where you would usually expect a videogame writer/director/developer to decide to include these subjects because they'd be "cool" and make the game "deep" and then have very hamfisted stories about them based on information you can get from the openings of their wikipedia articles. The fact that Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre have a love story that actually does not reflect their real-life relationship at all is another instance of that, and plays off of Sartre's own philosophy, as it demonstrates active defiance of readily-available facts (which is basically the opposite of simply playing off of whatever information is readily-available to a layperson) while also giving the essence of historical events precedence over their substance or reality. As a side-note, in other parts of the game there are references to ancient Chinese philosophy outside of the usual trichotomy of Confucius, Laotzi and Buddha, which is appreciable in its own right even barring any metaphorical elaboration.
@@onemoregodrejected9369 Many, many people do. Funny thing that many people still love the game after only playing A.... as if they even have a sliver of understanding what Automata is really about xD
In my opinion, I honestly feel it is the opposite: Emi is singing for Simone, the sound is as similar to the sounds you hear Simone make as the fight begins and as it goes on, reflected back by the chorus of YorHa units she has surrounded herself with. It is a softer and beautiful melody to show her anguish in being the one thing she feels she NEEDS to be to become what will achieve the goal of what gives her humanity. Beautiful. J'nique however feels powerful and firm, the narrator of the tale whom tells us more after Simone has sung her part to tell her story. The voice that reveals the dark path this tale has turned and how horrid and tragic it will continue to be as that once innocent and desperate strive to become beautiful has unknowingly and tragically become something terribly wrought.. and will sorrowfully only grow worse..
I think they are playing both the character and the narrator at the same time, like when we act some way externally vs how we feel internally, is Simone's Beauty fake and the truth of her lies within her pain? Is her pain (feeling ugly) fake if she can ignore it to achieve that level of beauty? She feels greatly torn apart, but Simone is both the Beauty and the Pain.
Have you taken a listen to 壊レタ世界ノ歌 (the Japanese version of Weight of the World)? Marina Kawano actually started crying during the recording but kept going which in the end lead to the decision of making this take the official version. Having read up on it again I actually noticed that the different versions of the song (English, Japanese, Chaos Language) are not translations of each other but differ depending on the ending you get. The English version (and its lyrics) is more light hearted which kinda makes sense considering the English title is "The Weight of the World" and the Japanese title translates to "Song of the Broken World".
Each vocalist represents a different character from the game in the song. So their verses in their native language is unique to them (and their character). I believe the Japanese vocalist is singing about 2B
In Nier Automata many of the important characters are named after philosophers, and Simone, the opera singer, is no exception. She is named after Simone de Beauvoir, a feminist philosopher who said "One does not born a woman, but becomes one", referring to the preasure a woman can recieve from society for her to be a "good woman". In the game, Simone incarnates that very theory. She wanted the attention of someone and, in order to get it, she kills other machines and use their pieces to create a "beautiful" body. If you get a closer look, you still can see the original spherical head of Simone, just bellow the fake head (it looks like the head of the regular machines you fight since the beginning of the game).
Fun fact related to the "lyrics" of this song, being the language used in the soundtrack a mix of a lot of European languages (they thought that in a distant future different languages would have mixed together) you can actually hear different tones and sounds from french, spanish, english, italian and so on. During the chorus of this song the song goes with something that can be related to italian and It says "Fa male qui nel cuore" and you can translate It as "It hurts here in the heart" and i think it belongs perfectly with the meaning of the entire song.
thats a really interesting fact, i always felt the nier language was kind of gibberish, just a fictional language to mimic the idea of a dead tongue, lost in time, but what yu said makes a lot of sense
thats why you can pick out bits and pieces that are from different languages, like "minionese" its a blended language of real languages. i can pick out bits of french and german in some of the songs alongside Italian and Spanish.
Came here to see a reaction to a song I like from a classical singer Stayed while crying as he goes over all the insecurities that made me stop trying to become an opera singer myself and not even able to sing anymore now
When I first encountered this boss, the opening hit me like a ton of bricks. It was so memorable and will always be a reason why I love automata’s music specifically. My thoughts at the time were about the boss’s mechanics and how she was putting on a theatrical performance whilst sounding so dreadful like she WANTS to be seen and acknowledged. This boss is acting out of desperation and I’m just beating her down even more after she’s weeping to us about her struggles. I didn’t even know the whole story but I could tell from her entrance and performance. It was so powerful and raw. My heart yearns for her salvation. Thank you for this!
Something interesting about A Beautiful Song that needs a little context, most if not all Tracks in Nier Automata have 3 Versions (1 Instrumental, 1 Vocals, 1 8-Bit) all playing on top of each other in unison but with only 1 hearable at a time, this is how they get such seamless transitions between them as fights progress or you enter Hacking Mode. A Beautiful Song however actually has a 4th Track that is a supped up version of the Instruments with these Phenomenal Bell Chimes, it is Extremely easy to miss and many don't even know it exists because it Only Plays when the Boss uses a particular attack at just the right time to line up with the Track.
In reality the game only has 2 versions, the instrumental one and the vocals. If you try looking for the 8Bit ones through the game files, there's nothing. The geniuses behind the game programmed it in a way where it converts the instrumental version to 8Bit in real time while you're playing. Mad respect to all the producers and developers of NieR!
That was some nice perspective from the opera world, something most of us can only look and wonder how it actually is. About the whole setting of this song, the Boss “Simone” loved another robot called Jean-Paul (the “manager” you mentionted, although not her manager lol). She wanted to be beautiful to gain his affection, although none of her attempts worked out (because Jean-Paul wasnt really into romance and stuff, he was devoted to philosophy, and usually missed out any kind of attempt, not only from her, but from most of his fans as well). Simone despairs into this obsession, trying to be beautiful, putting other machine parts on her own body and even starts to “eat other androids” (because of a rumor) and slowly becames enraged, even to other machines. When you fight her, most of the time, she is crying for someone to look at her, so she can feel beautiful (this is more explicit on Route B, where you can control 9s). Funny enough, their names are based on a real married couple of philosophers. Quick edit: a recent song that reminds me of this one, both in setting and feeling, is La Signora battle theme (all phases) from Genshin Impact.
Fun fact. The song was written in a chaos language. A language that was meant to sound like a language that would naturally evolve from modern day languages. You mentioned that certain part of the song is an outcry. You see lyrics that I and many multilingual people hear in that moment is something akin to "fa male il mio cuore" which means basically "it makes my heart hurt". When you think about what you hear in that song you can reach many interesting points which makes that soundtrack truly special.
I felt like the melody that J'nique Nicole sings before the instrumental bridge in this track sounds more like she is asking questions, perhaps of herself. It's very visceral and powerful though. And after your explanation of your perspective I have found myself listening to it in a different context. Have you heard Somnus from Final Fantasy XV? I feel like it has a similar feel to it.
@@Kazuhiro-i Underrated in terms of Popularity i mean. Outside of the video game community, she really isnt that known and not getting the recognition she deserve.
Hey guys! You should listen to this song in the in-game fight too! As Simone herself sings and laughs with intense emotion in it! Besides the incredible dynamics in the bells and the 8bit version too! Just search for it! also...Oh wow, I didn't expect the discussion about the life of an opera singer, but it was incredibly profound... And it gave so much more meaning to the Simone boss fight... Just, wow, I'll think about this every time I fight her from now on... I love the depth in your videos, Marco!
Simone just wanted Jean-Paul to notice her. The route B backstory is heartbreaking (like most of the game past route A) and helps reinforce the notion that the Machine Lifeforms are no different than the androids and prior humans. She so badly wanted his attention that it drove her away from her people, and they were afraid of her, getting the exact opposite of what she wanted. She didn’t know what to do, she just lashes out in anger against the two androids. “Won’t somebody notice me?”
NieR: Automata Voice of No Return It's my favorite it's a quite romantic mix of languages and the song of popola popola and devola is a la Celtic magic
Faltering Prayer (Dawn Breeze) is also such a good piece from NieR Automata. But Shadowlord from NieR Replicant ver. 1.22… has got to be my favorite in the series
Spoilers for the game . . . . . . I believe the story of Simone was that she was in love with Jean Paul, she consumes Androids and fabricated body parts to appear glamorous and beautiful for Jean Paul. But he wouldn’t love her back, so she felt she wasn’t beautiful enough and kept going until she was basically insane. Hearing what you had to say about opera singers, it’s quite impressive how far into stuff everything links. I would never have assumed that her story would’ve been so closely linked with real life opera. I, and I think this is the point of choosing robots, would never have assumed for it to have such human emotions.
That song to me always asked to be noticed, unlike other NIER songs it's much more violent and visceral in the emotions. It WANTS to be noticed and it lets you know with the beginning word, her second part while beautiful feels melancholic and when you're just about to fall into that feeling she shakes you up once more. Don't focus on your feelings focus on hers. It doesn't ask for your attention it begs and demands it.
This song still hits 5 years later. Keiichi is a godly composer, Emi really knows how to craft song lyrics to incite emotions without actual words, and J'Nique really belted it out. I know this song is about a one sided love in game. Without that context it feels like it's about not being able to get what one wants and lamenting over it. It's generalizes it a bit, but without language it can just fit so many things other than JUST a one sided love song. It has a very "I'm not good enough, and I may NEVER be good enough" vibe to the song, and it resonates with me.
Simones story of her obsession with beauty and mangling other machines to adorn her- it feels like a more tragic and mechanical version of the theme from Repo: the Genetic Opera. The Largo triplets have an addiction to plastic surgery, constantly trying on new faces in order to finally feel attractive.
Thank you so much for being vulnerable and sharing your experiences in talking through this piece. It’s just so valuable to share our stories when we talk about music because it helps us understand why certain pieces affect us so much.
I highly recommend checking out "Copied Factory" from Final Fantasy 14 from the Nier Automata crossover. It takes a very emotional credits track from Automata and turns it a powerful driving piece for a boss battle.
Gonna add the other 2 raids they did as well. The remix of Kaine's Salvation in the final fight is easily one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've heard had the pleasure to find.
Great video as always! Your perspective really elevates this song, which I've always considered as the moment that made me realize that this game was going to be life-changing for me, so thank you for sharing it! I've been wondering, are you familiar with Drakengard's OST? If so, what are your thoughts on it? The first game especially has such a different sound, since Keiichi Okabe and his team weren't working with the series yet and I feel like it actively tries to be as unpleasant as possible. The dissonance and constant deliberate repetition makes it very hypnotic to me.
What a beutiful song. Literally. Felt like I had to say that lol but this game is another one of those games where the music just sticks with you forever.
this song is what made me play Nier Automata-I was listening some game soundtracks while doing chores and youtube randomly played it for me, I was super compelled by it and, I just knew-I have to play this game. One of my favorite games ever, A Beautiful Song is still my favorite in all Nier soundtrack. It speaks to me in a lot of levels, I was raised as a professional ballerina, did it for 15 years. Being “beautiful” is what we all seek to achieve. I eventually decided I didn’t want to do it for a living, it just takes a lot from you and you have to be willing to give it-and I didn’t have it what it wanted me to give by the time I quitted. I eventually pursued a different major in college. This song for me is representative of the stage life and the other side that the audience doesn’t see. Amazing video as always, thank you so much! 💜💕
I was convinced to play Nier Automata just by the soundtrack of this boss fight. the first time I saw Simone open her arms and letting out that high note/scream gave me goosebumps all over when i was searching examples of the gameplay. she's my favorite boss fight ever.
I think your take is rather similar to what Simone's actual backstory is. If you do multiple hackings on 9S's story route, you will find that Simone used to be a rather ordinary machine lifeform who wanted to woo Jean-Paul, another machine lifeform that you later find in Pascal's village who is only interested in philosophy and not in romance at all. She decides that in order win over Jean-Paul, she must become "beautiful", so she starts taking parts from other machines and even androids to augment her own body. But no matter how many parts she takes from other machines, Jean Paul does not care, so she keeps cannibalizing other machines more and more until she turns into what you see in the boss fight.
Her name is Simone and this boss fight is the exact moment I fell in love with this game. The moment you fall into the arena and she does her intro gave me goosebumps. The way she fights with the music. She is in my top 5 boss fight of all time.
i know it's not a videogame, but you should listen to "made in abyss" soundtrack, Kevin Penkin it's amazing ( "hanazeve karadhina" have the biggest impact on me )
Something Nier really showed me is that TRULY excellent music shows you the emotion transcendant of the language. Most of the music isnt in a real world language yet you get it anyway.
Thank you so much for your insights from a professional opera singer's experience that we, Automata fans, may not have been aware of. Despite that, this boss fight is one of the most memorable ever due to being unexpected, unique and emotional - in my 30+ years of gaming.
The NieR: Automata OST always has been able to hit my emotional chords, but i did not understand why, until now. I'm not an aspiring Opera singer, nor a singer at all, even though i'd like to see if i have some sort of "talent" i didn't knew i had, yet, what you explained before diving into the song itself, really hit deep, and now i see why this song resonates with me. Lately, i have struggled with the feelings of being worthless / amounting to nothing, that no matter what i did, i didn't move forward. What Simone felt during her struggle to look beautiful feels like what i've felt, the struggle to feel validated and worthy. I'm getting help as of now, and i have improved, i guess. _Goddamnit Yoko Taro, why do you have to make me cry?_
This game has such an amazing soundtrack that evokes so many emotions when playing. I never understood the meaning behind this song until I started playing route B of the game and saw Simone’s backstory. She wanted this other robot to look at her, so she had to “become more beautiful!” She let this thirst for beauty control her to the point she couldn’t recognize herself anymore. She would do anything for him to just look at her, yet she repeatedly stated, “he won’t look at me.” I never thought I’d get in the feels over a game about robots and androids, but it’s so philosophical. It really makes you think about what it means to be a human. I have yet to get the other endings (B, C, D, and E), but I’m sure they’ll be heart-wrenching nonetheless. Needless to say, this game is amazing and it’s sad it gone under the radar when it comes to publicity/sales.
As somebody who's beaten Automata and has it in my top 5 games forever, you're definitely gonna love what's waiting for you if you do the other endings. The quality of writing never lets up or drops the ball, imo.
@@negativeinfinity4387 having now completed all of the main endings… I can see where you’re coming from. It was a lot to take in and there’s still so much I don’t understand. Needless to say, this game is amazing and I believe it’s a true masterpiece. I’ve never been so captivated by a title in my life, especially since I was so drawn to continue playing.
@@Pompadourius I agree. I just got the main endings today and it put me deep into my feels. The story of this game is so heartbreaking, but I’m glad the ending was hopeful. I can’t believe a game about androids and robots could be so philosophical. I’m gonna go back and try to complete all the side quests so I can get a better idea of the story. I still feel like there’s some missing because I didn’t collect everything.
I studied violin performance at UBC for a year before my dad died and I had to drop out. The hallways were constantly filled with opera warmups coming from the practice rooms. I'd never really put two-and-two together between Simone and opera as a career until you described it that way. Though in retrospect, the problems and conflicts I had at the time were probably similar in a lot of ways.
A song that i would recommend you to listen to is "God slaying sword" from Xenoblade Chronicles. I believe it to be an amazing song with amazing vocals. However, i would recommend the original, since the Definitive edition version had better instrumental, but didn't had the feeling of the vocals that the original one had.
it's interesting you apply that meaning to the song in relation to opera as story says it's because she used to be 'beautiful' to a certain being who has since moved on from her and she's trying to reclaim that desire even as her body continues to break down. this was actually one of the first songs that most appealed to me and drew me to the score of automata. it is powerful and intense.
Interpretation Intro This is not love, this is madness Beautiful rose turned to ashes Please stop Verse Now I’m, filled with all this beauty Surely, now I am worthy Please love me Doing this for you And you still won’t look at me Chorus Born with beauty Love does know you If you would just look inside She’s too far gone She dimmed her light Tearing herself, that’s beauty Verse Now I can see that I destroyed what was, Who i am or who I’ll be ‘S unknown I can’t stop Now I am someone else Thought I could become worthy But you still won’t look at me Please Look!
One of the most emotional original scores I've ever heard in any media. And if you can watch any of the full concert performances of it. It's incredible. There's an amazing Blu-ray.
The take of somebody who knows their stuff about music and the intricacies that go along with it, is an interesting take. For a person who just played the game and didn't know anything about it. Most of the songs where a "Huh, neat, beautiful." But they missed their deeper meanings. The retrospective being guided by a person with actual knowledge is a fresh and interesting take
@@MarcoMeatball A thing i really enjoy about the NieR series, is that a lot of the tracks have different edits that change the thematics of the songs based on the surrounding happenings. Grandma - from NieR Replicant ver 1.224 comes to mind. You've got the track Grandma - Reunion. Where instead of just Emi, It's goes from a personal song, to an orchestral feel. There's a lot of knowledge to unpack that i would've missed otherwise without the knowledge, it's nice to learn more about it then a surface level
@@elementalterror you’re right and each variation is enhanced. It’s hard to discuss all of them in one video. I may go live once I hit 1k subs and schedule an evening to listen and chat about the varying tracks and their changes. They’re fun to listen to.
You can really hear and feel the pain that the singers want to get across to you. You can feel and almost touch the pain Simone is feeling as 2b and 9s fight her. The grief and suffering is tangible and it makes you feel bad for fighting her, and makes you feel like what you are doing is wrong and it makes you want to help her.
On your topic of fictional language, it is really interesting because of course, it is fictional, it's chaos language. And yet, I've listened to these scores SO MANY times that i can sing along every single piece. A Beautiful Song is for the longest time in the top 5 of fav nier tracks and i am loving this series!
Your insight on the whole opera scene made me like this piece of music even more. I can relate to the desire to make something out of yourself and getting noticed by others to feel accomplished. When I had to leave school as a 16 year old due to psychological reasons I feared for many years that I'll never make it to something and I'm still not entirely over it. That all these emotions are entailed in this piece of music shows how human the whole story of NieR Automata actually is despite humanity being extinct by the time the game takes place. It's just an amazing piece and I'm glad you gave your side of view to this by actually explaining the side of Simone in this music
There are 2 main vocals in this piece and I think it represents 2 different personalities or 2 sides of the same characters. From 6:08 to 6:34, the vocal sounds pure, innocent, and sincere as if representing a pure pursuit of beauty. But from 8:33 on, the vocal is done by a different singer. The voice from this point has turned into something wild, painful, and almost sinister, as if desire has turned into frustration, confidence turned into fear, love twisted into pain. This contrast repetition in the song, together with the intense background, highlights that constant battle happening inside the character. What an incredible piece of art. I really wonder what was going through Keigo Hoashi's mind when he was composing this piece...
Thank you for your continued insight to these amazing songs. My favorite place from Neir Replicant is The Ultimate Weapon. I would love to see your reaction that piece.
I literally just saw your other video on kainè salvation and one of the comments was this song, I go to your channel and this was the first thing posted 21 hours ago, perfect timing i guess
This was so interesting hearing about this song from the perspective of an opera singer. It adds a whole other layer to something I felt intrinsically but couldn't quite put into words.
(SPOILER ALER) Hi, also I like to point out that when Simeone Talk to another robot on the 9s route that robot is Jean Paul, Both Simeone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre were philosophers on the XX century and they had a open relationship but Sartre was jealous of Simeone's lovers and he used to try to mesa with them. That dinamic was portraited on the game by those interactions we see on the flashbacks during her fight, also Simeone's philosophy is portraited on her fight and how she was basically the mother of second wave feminism. This Game sure is on abother level. (Sorry for bad english)
In game, this song is about the need to be beautiful. The boss which this song is played, was a machine that fell in love with an effing philosopher of all machines. The thing question everything and never stop asking. So much so that the girl who fell for him tried their most insane to be beautiful, and he kept asking what it is to be beautiful. This boss went insane. She went around finding beautiful things and decorate herself with those items, including other machines. So much as she went full on cannibal to be beautiful for him and the dude just kept asking what it meant to be beautiful. So yes, it's about identity...but for me it's a lesson to not fall for a philosopher, ever. And yes I wanted to bomb the dude real bad.
Your analysis hit me like a truck... I've almost completely given up on being an opera singer- at least in the traditional sense. I hadn't even stepped foot within the industry out of intense anxiety and fear, and not long after HS I realized it just wasn't something that I could do. But I still have the ability to sing, and while the operatic stage is outside of reach due to insecurity and health issues, I choose to keep singing at least for my own enjoyment and to share my adoration for music in general. It took some time to be content with this, but I think I'm okay now.
The song describes the boss being fought by the player, she was abandoned by her partner, she kept saying I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful, honestly when I fought her I cried, but she had to be killed to continue the game
I’d like to hear more about your own story with opera and why you decided to leave the scene. I felt like that a lot later when I was trying to do musical theater professionally but gave it up to do something totally unrelated to music or creativity, and while I miss it a lot, it’s very painful to think back on what it was like for me, especially after a traumatic event where I was cut from the lead role in one show because they thought I wasn’t good enough and had someone better
ugh. Stings. I'm sorry that happened. I will find a video where i can somehow correlate my history to it. I was considering reacting....to myself. So, that might be a good place.
@@MarcoMeatball I think a self reaction video would be really interesting to see, I’ve only seen the snippets you show in your intros but your voice is so amazing I’d love to see a full aria and I imagine a lot of other viewers would to. And yeah I’m fine now, I think it’s just important to realize how important singing/music was to me and that even though I couldn’t make it professionally it still made me into the person I am today and no casting director can ever take that away from me!
Something worth mentioning here is that this story happens absurdly far in the future (11 thousand years iirc) and these robots have been on Earth for pretty much that entire period as well. Simone (the opera robot) could pretty much have been suffering for well over 5-10 thousand years with undying and unrelenting pain.
Another point to add, this song amazingly fits in with the existential philosophy tied to the game, the boss is called Simone, which refers to Simone de Beauvoir and one of her main ideas was how femininity was something you act out as if your on stage filled with costumes and make up to attract attention from the opposite sex. And in the game the character has done exactly that to try to attract someone. In the boss fight too, there's a part where she yells for you to look at her, but the camera locks making it impossible to do so.
I played it like before in 2018 but it fell off so I left it. Then I feel like what if I missed a good game, I did give New Vegas and some others old games a chance, why not Nier. Nier Automata was my first Nier series. Finally beat the game. I just feel lazy after I finish the A route...I kind of like ouh, light heart ending. But I heard it was supposed to have a lot of endings, so I decided to Google to find out that we will play as 2B on the second playthrough. After I finished it, I was crying not because it was sad but because all the story came to pieces It was genius and of course still a bit similar to route A. I'm still on Route C playthrough but man what a start. 😢 I just cannot stop crying so I had to save and take a break. I don't know who to pick but I go with 9s rather than A2 because I do not know about her so much but I will on the next playthrough.
I didn't buy into Nier Automata till this boss fight. After it I knew I had to beat the game. In ending A I was like this is an awesome boss fight to play, it felt so good the music got me so pumped. In ending B I was on the verge of crying during the fight. It was very special.
It's still a tragedy that Simone's own warm-up vocals from the in-game start of the song aren't part of soundtrack, because so many covers or analyses of the song use the OST as a basis and may not even know that intro is supposed to be there. Sure it's just three notes we end up missing out on, but IMO for some reason the beginning of the song just feels a bit weaker without them.
Simone (the opera singer) wanted be accepted and adored by Jean-Paul, that bot with a top hat that you meet later in the machine village as well. He is... quite the ass ^^; Treating most of his fans/followers like trash (as you can see it in the questline). Simone's story really gets deeper when you play the route B. Her desperation and feeling lost cames through hard in the story. Also, this song really kicks in when you listen to the actual opening fight cinematic. Her anguished scream at the beginning that meshes perfectly with the start of the OST is just so spot on.
A multiple murder machine that yearned for her unrequited love to be returned. A synthetic entity incomplete in her comprehension of beauty as the one she pined for had an incomplete philosophical grasp, she would rip apart her victims, splaying their form on her like links of chain around her form as she took more and more metal into herself making herself impossible not to be noticed but the one who's optical sensors she was vying for never took note of her efforts. One translation I caught had one of the screams, "What would you have me say?! How many lives should I shut down(?)! They will suffer until I'm... Beautiful!" comprehending that beauty draws the eye and a war between androids and machines her own existence would be threatened time and time again so every foe she outlasted, another corpse to the crowd to witness her or another body to adorn her, to add to her show in a desperate hope to be beautiful enough to draw the machine of her dreams away from his own obsessions and to make her his new one. A tragic monster killed because she was another significant machine presence in a needless war between androids and machines. Just so much of the game is the human condition expressed through created beings and the madness of war. Died crying out for a love that was always one direction.
When I first heard this song, it felt like an internal struggle to want to BE better, based on *negative external perception of yourself* and the reality how lonely you can feel and how you get wrapped up on the obsession to be perfect and end up wanting this ‘perfectionist’ reality, without realizing how mentally you’re so disconnected with your own reality because you want something so bad… it just, kills you.
This song slaps but you know what also slaps? My overoptimized mellebuild with max offensive chips. The song didnt make it out of the setupphase. Woops
Dude.... you can't get any more beautiful than this. Seriously, you get better and better looking by each video. Just kidding, I got your feeling towards this but I wanted to compliment u anyway.
I so greatly appreciate the perspective you provide, the layers within the "performer" persona alone... while not even delving into the feminist Identity of this character. Obviously there is overlap between the "performance" and the "gender construct" with this boss, but these two concepts can stand alone simultaneously. Easily one of the best bosses in gaming history to where it transcends the label of just being another boss for me.
every time I hear this song, I keep thinking "Jean Paul ain't sh**". I felt so sad for that machine life form. It reflected one of the many human behaviors that shows how we tend to rely on something, whether it's a something or someone, to give us a feeling of purpose.
That is accurate. Actually, this is not a battle story. In the game, the machine doll boss is presumed to be a soprano, and its past is about losing a relationship with someone who looked at one's identity and later lost it. The machine doll loses its lover and goes crazy, and the player takes on the machine doll. In addition, the battle map design was an opera theater, so the atmosphere was crazy.
The real story is that she was madly in love with Jean Paul a robot don juan philosopher, this love was one-way and to please him she tried to be even more beautiful so that he noticed her and always wanted to be more beautiful she ended up sinking into madness.
The in game version hits different with the large bell they incorporate that syncs with not only the music but each of the bosses attacks. dodging said attacks really makes you feel the weight of the song :')
The best part of this fight is the music is in sync with her attacks so it ends up becoming a literal “dance with death”. Also my fav song from this game has gotta be “Kaine: Salvation” to me it feels like a heartache
Since you decided to review music without context, then I can freely recommend Okabe's previous work in the game of Yoko Taro - Drakengard 3 OSTs: - This Silence is Mine - Fallen God - Empty Song - Final Song - Black Song - The Rising Full / Battlefield - Comrade's Song / Battlefield
honestly one of the most powerful songs in the game easily, makes u feel like ur fighting a grand final boss when its actually nowhere close in the game.
First of all, I would like to point out that I really enjoy and appreciate everyone's perspectives to this piece, and also wanted to share a bit of my own thoughts as well. I always thought this song sounded like an invitation to the player, as if she wanted you (or anyone) to experience her magnum opus. She wants to bathe and relish in what she has cultivated and questions if you, the player, has what it takes to match her in this endeavor. I think your point in this song being a cry for validation plays into that a bit, as if saying "surely you can't compare to all that I have achieved!" and as the fight progresses you experience that desperate plea grow into that primal fear of not being good enough.
I'm still on Ending A and have yet to see this play out in other endings, but this was such a powerful boss fight! I loved it a lot. This song is so incredible.
6:50 omg you explained basically the whole plot (reason for her strife) of that boss fight using your own words and analogies, through the opening sequence alone.. wow you are amazing! That's talent! edit: 13:02 you have done it again! You've explained the boss' whole motive from the music alone.
I love your videos man, keep up the great content!!! I would love to see you take a look at the drakengard 3 ost, which is the prequel to the nier series, such as the song “kuroi uta”. It utilizes the same singer (emi evans) that you hear a lot in nier gestalt and nier automata. It is just an amazing piece to listen to. :>
