To be fair, Automata is the pinnacle of a "Came for the butts, stayd for the story" sort of game, so perhaps it could take a (relative) backseat this time around since the fanbase is already there after Automata.
To my recollection, I'm pretty sure this was how it was for me. I think the general flow for me was:
- Learns there is a demo coming to PS4 and sees gameplay gifs. I think it looks pretty fun, main girl's got a nice design, I'll go check it out.
- Plays the demo, likes it, interested to learn more
- Saw the tweet by Taro about the zip of 2B lewds, curious to see what the fuss is all about
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- The game is released, I don't buy it at first, but I do listen to the soundtrack, and I am absolutely blown away
- Sincerely interested in picking up the game, I watch Clemps' videos on the Nier lore to get myself all caught up. I'm suddenly interested even more
- I get the game for my birthday, I play through it over the next couple months, my depression in college makes the story feel even more relevant
- I get to ending E, and lose my goddamn shit (I originally thought a sign of weakness to accept help from others and that I would miss out on something if I didn't gung-ho all the way through. However, I eventually gave in after failing again and again and was deeply touched)
- Game of the year
