After “hundreds of hours of reverse engineering,” a Nier: Automata fan discovers a game break that was hard-coded into the game engine.
As if NieR: Automata wasn’t weird enough, a fan figured out a way to jump into the game’s final scene after defeating the first boss. The “cheat code” was confirmed by both NieR’s director Yoko Taro and NieR’s official Twitter account.
Twitter user Lance McDonald discovered the secret after “hundreds of hours of reverse engineering.” The method requires entering a specific cheat code that was intentionally encoded in the game engine. According to McDonald, reaching the end of NieR Automata using this code still unlocks all the bonus modes that players get by spending dozens of hours completing the game.
Although the details are slight, the jump appears to be triggered by a series of specific inputs that must be activated in succession between two groups of barrels next to the defeated boss. Players interested in replicating the hidden jump will have to wait for the release of McDonald’s “full video”, which it mentioned was coming soon.
NieR series director Yoko Taro retweeted the McDonald’s video along with the text that reads “3 years and 10 months,” in reference to the game’s initial release on February 23, 2017. This may be a reference to the secret of NieR: Automata that developers Yosuke Saito, Takahia Taura, and Yoko Taro hinted at in a Famitsu interview in March 2018. The fact that the secret took almost three years to unravel is quite a feat, especially for such a popular franchise as NieR.
I found a cheat code in NieR Automata that allows you to skip to the last ending immediately after killing the first boss and unlock the bonus modes. I’ll do a full video soon. It’s not a glitch, it’s an actual cheat code hard-coded into the engine. @yokotaro pic.twitter.com/FtuNPovq6F
– Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) January 3, 2021
In addition to deciphering NieR Automata’s oldest secret, McDonald has created its own debug menu for the title and added two new features to the game engine. The debugging wizard created a free camera mode and time stop mode to capture your favorite moments with ease. No wonder you found the hidden game jump.
McDonald was also congratulated by the official Twitter account for the NieR series, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. There are major projects in the works for the franchise, including the launch of its first mobile game, NieR Reincarnation. NieR Reincarnation is a story-based title written by Yoko Taro and Saito Yosuke. Players follow a character named Mama through a world called The Cage, which features the family atmosphere and music that NieR fans are so used to.
Although NieR Reincarnation has no official release date, NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139… will be released earlier this year. The remake of the series’ first entry, NieR Replicant, offered fans an extended look at its game during The Game Awards 2020. Players with a soft spot for physical collectibles can pre-order the game’s “White Snow Edition” exclusively at Square. Enix online store.
Nier: Automata is available now for PC and PlayStation 4.
