The Best Games Like NieR:Automata

Games like NieR:Automata at a glance

How these alternatives were selected

A strong NieR:Automata alternative needs more than a ruined city or an android protagonist. This ranking considers the qualities that make the original endure:

• Fast action that rewards movement and timing
• Stories about identity, consciousness, memory or purpose
• Post-apocalyptic or science-fiction worlds
• Multiple protagonists, routes or changing perspectives
• Memorable companions and emotional consequences
• Strong sound and visual direction
• RPG builds without losing direct action
• Availability on PC

The first six provide the closest complete matches. Later recommendations preserve individual strengths, including open-world machine hunting, PlatinumGames shooting and co-op action RPG systems.

1. Stellar Blade

Best overall game like NieR:Automata

Stellar Blade follows EVE, a warrior sent from an off-world Colony to help reclaim Earth from creatures known as the Naytiba. The premise creates an immediate connection to NieR:Automata’s android soldiers and machine-occupied planet.

Combat is more deliberate than 2B’s free-flowing attacks. Parries, evasions and counters reward reading an enemy before committing to a response. Beta and Burst skills provide spectacle without replacing the need for timing.

Ruined cities and surviving settlements create a world caught between abandonment and recovery. The story gradually asks EVE to reconsider what she understands about humanity and the mission that brought her to Earth.

The strongest similarity is not one mechanic but the complete combination of science fiction, swordplay, melancholy exploration and a protagonist confronting the truth behind a seemingly simple war.

Choose Stellar Blade if you want a modern action game that openly shares NieR:Automata’s visual and thematic territory. Its combat is more parry-focused and less experimental with genre changes.

2. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

Best for the closest story connection

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… is an upgraded version of the game whose history leads into NieR:Automata’s distant future.

The protagonist searches for a cure for Yonah with the help of Grimoire Weiss and several companions. What begins as a familiar rescue journey gradually becomes a tragedy shaped by incomplete knowledge.

Combat combines melee weapons, evasive movement and magical projectiles. It is less polished than NieR:Automata, but the upgraded version makes the action faster and more responsive than the original release.

Repeated routes add context to events that initially appear straightforward. Familiar encounters change when another perspective reveals what enemies understood or wanted.

Choose NieR Replicant first if Automata’s story, music and emotional reversals mattered more than mechanical refinement. It is not required to understand Automata, but it provides the clearest thematic and historical companion.

3. Bayonetta

Best for PlatinumGames combat

Bayonetta is the clearest alternative for players who want the combat expertise associated with PlatinumGames.

Perfectly timed dodges activate Witch Time, slowing enemies and creating space for longer attacks. Weapon combinations, aerial strings and ranking systems reward experimentation rather than one safe sequence.

The tone is deliberately extravagant. Angels, demons and enormous set pieces replace Automata’s restrained melancholy, while the protagonist treats increasingly absurd threats with confidence.

Despite that tonal difference, movement and attack animation feel closely related. Both games turn evasion and positioning into part of a flowing offensive rhythm.

Choose Bayonetta when combat expression matters more than philosophy or exploration. Its chapter structure is also better suited to replaying encounters for stronger ranks.

4. Devil May Cry 5

Best for deep character-action combat

Devil May Cry 5 follows three playable fighters with radically different systems.

Nero uses a sword, revolver and replaceable Devil Breaker arms. Dante changes weapons and combat styles during battle, while V commands creatures and finishes weakened enemies himself.

The ranking system rewards variety, control and keeping attacks connected. A player can complete early difficulties with simple moves, but mastering each character creates a much deeper action game.

Multiple protagonists provide different perspectives on one crisis. That structure is less transformative than Automata’s routes, but it prevents the campaign from relying on one moveset or viewpoint.

Choose Devil May Cry 5 when stylish combat was the priority. It offers less exploration and philosophy, but substantially more room for combo mastery.

5. SCARLET NEXUS

Best anime science-fiction alternative

SCARLET NEXUS takes place in a future where psionic soldiers defend society from creatures known as the Others.

Players choose Yuito or Kasane, then experience connected campaigns that reveal different parts of the conflict. Completing both routes provides a fuller understanding of the characters and institutions involved.

Psychokinesis lets the active character throw cars, debris and environmental objects during real-time combat. Party connections temporarily lend additional abilities, including invisibility, duplication and elemental effects.

The brain-punk setting combines clean urban technology with grotesque enemies and questions about memory, control and the body.

Choose SCARLET NEXUS if anime presentation, multiple protagonists and supernatural science fiction were central to Automata’s appeal. Its structure is more conventional, but the two routes make it a natural recommendation.

6. Lies of P

Best for machines, humanity and difficult action

Lies of P reimagines Pinocchio inside Krat, a city damaged by mechanical violence and a mysterious disease.

Combat relies on guarding, precise defensive timing and learning enemy patterns. Weapon blades and handles can be combined, allowing attack styles and statistics to be adjusted without finding one complete replacement.

The story repeatedly returns to truth, obedience and the question of what separates a person from a created being. Those ideas directly overlap with Automata’s interest in machines developing identity beyond their intended function.

Krat’s Belle Époque architecture gives the game a different visual language from Automata’s abandoned modern cities, but both use beautiful ruins to support stories about creation and purpose.

Choose Lies of P for a more demanding and deliberate action game. It is single-player and less interested in genre experimentation, but its themes make it one of the strongest narrative matches.

7. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

Best for emotional choices and consequences

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden follows Red and Antea, partners whose work as ghost hunters becomes complicated by death and an impossible promise.

Players investigate hauntings, speak with the living and the dead, then decide how each case should end. Those decisions contribute to the direction of the main relationship.

Combat switches between Red’s physical attacks and Antea’s supernatural abilities. The dual-character design is less acrobatic than Automata, but it keeps both protagonists mechanically present.

The strongest similarity is the willingness to make love, grief and duty part of an action RPG rather than leaving those themes outside combat.

Choose Banishers when Automata’s emotional consequences mattered more than its speed. The game is grounded in historical supernatural fiction rather than futuristic science fiction.

8. Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition

Best open-world post-apocalyptic alternative

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition follows Aloy into new regions filled with machine creatures, damaged ecosystems and the remains of an advanced civilization.

Combat turns each machine into a tactical target. Components can be removed, elemental weaknesses exploited and traps prepared before initiating a difficult encounter.

The open world is larger and more structured than Automata’s connected environments. Settlements, side quests and equipment progression create a broad action RPG rather than one concentrated philosophical journey.

Both games place advanced machines inside a ruined Earth and follow protagonists trying to understand the choices made by earlier civilizations.

The Complete Edition includes the Burning Shores expansion. Choose it for machine hunting, detailed exploration and a large post-apocalyptic world rather than PlatinumGames-style combos.

9. Vanquish

Best high-speed science-fiction shooter

Vanquish is another PlatinumGames production, but swords and RPG systems are replaced by firearms and powered armor.

The Augmented Reaction Suit allows rapid slides across the battlefield. Slow-motion aiming and boost management turn cover-based encounters into constant movement rather than cautious waiting.

Mechanical enemies and futuristic battlefields create a familiar visual connection to Automata. The story is more direct and action-focused, leaving little room for philosophical routes or large exploration zones.

Its greatest similarity is motion. Both games use speed, animation and sudden changes in perspective to make combat feel theatrical without removing player control.

Choose Vanquish when spectacle and movement mattered more than character progression. It is compact, replayable and built around improving combat performance.

10. Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition

Best for deep builds and repeated mastery

Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition combines fast melee combat, extensive equipment and a dark fantasy version of Japan’s Sengoku period.

Weapons have multiple stances, and the Ki Pulse rewards timing after attacks. Yokai abilities and transformations add another layer of offense, defense and recovery.

Loot provides constant opportunities to adjust statistics or pursue a specialized build. The result is much more equipment-heavy than NieR:Automata.

The campaign can be played alone, while online cooperative features provide an option for players who do not want every difficult mission to remain solo.

Choose Nioh 2 when combat systems and long-term build development matter more than philosophical storytelling. The Complete Edition includes the additional content attached to this PC release.

11. CODE VEIN

Best anime post-apocalyptic action RPG

CODE VEIN takes place in a ruined world inhabited by Revenants who depend on blood and risk becoming dangerous creatures.

Blood Codes allow the protagonist to change classes without creating another character. Weapons, Gifts and passive abilities can be rearranged to support melee, casting, defense or hybrid approaches.

AI companions accompany the player and provide combat support. Online co-op is also listed for players who want help from another participant.

Memory, sacrifice and identity shape the story, while the anime presentation and character creator provide a different visual approach to the post-apocalypse.

Choose CODE VEIN for flexible builds and companionship. Its combat follows a Soulslike structure more closely than Automata’s character action, but its emotional science-fantasy setting makes the comparison useful.

12. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

Best for fast party combat and a lost civilization

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA begins after Adol is shipwrecked on the Isle of Seiren. Survivors build a village while exploring ruins, rescuing missing passengers and uncovering the island’s history.

Combat is fast and party-based. Characters can be switched to answer different enemy weaknesses, while defensive timing can trigger Flash Guard or Flash Move effects.

The story connects Adol’s exploration with Dana’s experiences, gradually bringing two perspectives and time periods together.

Its colorful island is far less desolate than Automata’s Earth, but both games combine responsive action with a mystery involving a lost civilization and the repetition of destruction.

Choose Ys VIII when party combat and exploration are more important than science-fiction aesthetics. Cooperative features are also listed, although the narrative remains structured around a single-player campaign.

Which NieR:Automata alternative should you play first?

Match the recommendation to the part of NieR:Automata you want to preserve:

• Closest overall alternative: Stellar Blade
• Closest story connection: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
• PlatinumGames combat: Bayonetta
• Deep combo expression: Devil May Cry 5
• Anime science fiction: SCARLET NEXUS
• Machines and humanity: Lies of P
• Emotional choices: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
• Open-world post-apocalypse: Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition
• High-speed science-fiction shooting: Vanquish
• Build depth and challenge: Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition
• Anime Soulslike with companions: CODE VEIN
• Party combat and lost civilization: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

Stellar Blade is the safest first recommendation because it shares the largest number of visible and thematic qualities. NieR Replicant is more important for the series story, while Bayonetta provides the closest connection to PlatinumGames action design.

Games with stylish combat like NieR:Automata

Bayonetta and Devil May Cry 5 are the strongest picks for players who want expressive combos, dodge timing and combat performance that improves with practice.

Stellar Blade places more emphasis on parries and enemy patterns. Lies of P and Nioh 2 are more demanding, with defensive timing, stamina-like resource management and punishment for careless attacks.

Vanquish changes genre entirely, but preserves PlatinumGames’ commitment to movement and spectacle. It is the best choice when fast shooting sounds more appealing than another sword-based action RPG.

Games with philosophical or emotional stories

NieR Replicant is the clearest choice because its events and themes directly inform the wider NieR setting. Repeated routes change the player’s understanding of familiar encounters.

Lies of P asks whether identity can develop beyond intended programming. Banishers places love and duty in direct conflict, while SCARLET NEXUS reveals one crisis through two protagonists.

These alternatives approach philosophy through different structures. None duplicates Automata’s route changes, genre shifts and final relationship with the player, but each uses action to support a larger question.

Best post-apocalyptic worlds

Stellar Blade and Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition provide the broadest ruined-Earth alternatives. Both place advanced technology and machine enemies inside landscapes shaped by humanity’s absence or decline.

CODE VEIN offers a smaller and darker anime apocalypse, while SCARLET NEXUS presents a functioning futuristic society threatened by creatures and political control.

The scale of the world should guide the choice. Horizon suits players who want long exploration, while Stellar Blade creates a more directed action adventure.

Story-focused games versus combat-focused alternatives

NieR:Automata succeeds because neither half feels optional. The story reinterprets combat, and changes in play style support changes in perspective.

NieR Replicant, SCARLET NEXUS and Banishers are the strongest story-first recommendations. Bayonetta, Devil May Cry 5, Vanquish and Nioh 2 place greater emphasis on combat mastery.

Stellar Blade and Lies of P occupy the middle. Both tell substantial stories while asking the player to understand increasingly demanding enemies.

Final recommendations

Stellar Blade is the best overall game like NieR:Automata. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… provides the closest narrative connection, Bayonetta offers the strongest PlatinumGames combat link, and SCARLET NEXUS is the best anime science-fiction alternative.

Choose Lies of P for difficult combat and machine identity, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden for emotional choices, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition for open-world machine hunting, or Vanquish for concentrated science-fiction action.

The right follow-up depends on what remains after Automata’s final route: the movement, the music, the ruined Earth or the question of whether created beings can choose a purpose of their own.