Differences Between Game and Anime in Part 2

Key Takeaways

• Part 2 of NieR Automata anime greatly deviates from the game story, expanding on original events.
• The anime introduces new scenes and reveals more about characters like 2B, 9S, and A2.
• The final episode differs with A2 instead of 9S hacking, plus a fully shown Pod battle scene.

The NieR Automata ver1.1a adapted the original game masterpiece with great care to the source material. But while Part 1 didn’t stray too far from the original story, Part 2 greatly deviates in important ways while still keeping the true narrative of the game. Many original anime scenes further expand the roles of the main characters and the resistance. And while many events keep their original outcomes, the way they happen is completely different.

Part two further proves that this anime adaptation isn’t a replacement for the game, but rather a complement to the overall experience. Here are all the major changes in the story of NieR Automata in the anime part two.

Route C changes, expanding on the original story

2B and 9S Relationship

2B and 9S are assigned to a scouting mission in an anime-only scene. This gets them involved in the game’s Amnesia side quest. Through this brief storyline, 2B’s true role is revealed much earlier than in the game. The anime shows the full extent of her secret mission of killing the 9S units every time he gets near the truth behind YoRHa. This revelation emphasizes the darkness behind the relationship even more.

YoRHa Assault And Destruction

The assault on the machine life forms is further expanded and somewhat different in the anime. 9S is in command of a group of other Scanner units in a coordinated hacking attack on the machines. These Scanner units are also expanded upon showing them in close relationships with their partnered Battler units. The anime also showcases the resistance members assisting in the battle. When 2B and 9S return to the Bunker to save the commander, an infected 6O attacks them while serving as the spokesperson for the Red Girls. While 6O is skilled off-screen in the game, in the anime she’s killed by Commander White after the operator speaks ill of the commander, showing closeness between her and her superior. After the destruction of the YoRHa, 2B and 9S land in different spots than in the game. 2B lands in the City Ruins instead of the Flooded City, while 9S lands in this desert where he encounters a Hegel machine, similar to A2’s first battle on Route C.

9S and The Resource Units

9S finds operator 21O outside The Tower instead of inside the God Box like in the game. Furthermore, instead of being killed by A2, she impales herself to protect 9S while admitting to her parental love towards him. When 9S reaches the Meat Box, he finds only non-hostile machine lifeforms inside instead of the numerous hostile enemies in the game. When he reaches the last box, he finds no hostile enemies and instead finds 2B’s flight unit, with numerous monitors showing memories of her. And there he hears her last message like in the game, whereas he hears her last message in an optional scene in the Flooded City.

A2 and Pascal, The Greatest Deviation

After A2 kills 2B, she awakens in Pascal’s Village instead of the Desert. She spends a lot of time there where the pacifist machines, especially the children, develop great affection for her. Instead of the zombie virus turning the inhabitants of the village berserk, they are instead attacked by other hostile machine lifeforms. Pascal and the other inhabitants of the village defend the village from the invaders and while they succeed at first, more machines arrive and then destroy the village. Pascal takes the surviving children to the Resistance Camp instead of the Abandoned Factory like in the game. One of the children infected many of the resistance members with a zombie-like virus, making Lily kill many of her allies and then being mercy killed by A2. Pascal’s children originally take their own lives from fear in the original game. In the anime, the infected child eats the others to save them from fear. Pascal then self-destructs, taking the child and the Resistance Camp with him. In the game, Pascal requests A2 to erase his memories after the death of the children and the destruction of his village.

The Final Episode, An Anime Original Ending

The final battle between A2 and 9S is different in the anime. Here, 9S hacks into A2, attacking her with a psychological attack. She resists him and shuts him down. She encounters the remnants of the machine network as they offer her to join them in the Ark. In the game, 9S is the one to be offered to join the Ark by Adam and Eve. Like in the game, The Tower collapses and A2 dies. Similar to Ending E, the credits for the anime roll only to be interrupted by the Pods. The anime then shows the Pods battling hundreds of other Pods to save the three Androids’ data. While this is implied in the game, it is fully shown in the anime. Once the androids are revived like in the game, they wake up and greet each other. While A2 is repaired by Accord.

Devola and Popola’s Fates

Just like in the game, Devola and Popola assist 9S in entering The Tower by fighting the machine lifeforms outside it. In the game, the backstory is told through text while the anime fully shows their life together. While in the game, the twins die from their injuries after the battle with the machines. Here, Popola dies while her sister is infected with the virus, and mercy killed by A2.

A2’s Extended Role

A2’s involvement in the story is further expanded in the anime. Part two shows the rest of her backstory after the Pearl Harbor Descent, adding Captain Rose giving her and the other androids names based on flowers. A2 is given the name Freesia, which she reveals to Lily right before her death. The anime also reveals that she had been spied on for years by YoRHa. In the game, she battles a Hegel Machine in the desert. This is where she first uses her Berserk Mode. In the anime, she instead wakes up in Pascal’s Village before reuniting with Lily. Instead, she uses her Berserk Mode to defend Pascal and the Resistance. Berserk Mode is also seemingly much more powerful in the anime.

Other Various Changes

Operator 21O is reassigned to the Battler type during the assault. The locations of the resource units are all changed in the anime. In an anime-only scene, 9S encounters a past version of himself that reveals to him the fates of the past units and 2B’s true mission. In episode 22, Nier was confirmed to be canon in the anime.

These are all the major changes in part two of the NieR Automata ver1.1a anime. While the story deviates from the game in many ways, the overall narrative is kept mostly intact, and it even expands on the famous ending of the game.