NieR: Automata is basically a standalone game in the Drakengard and NieR series, which takes place in an apocalyptic world that is overrun by machines. The main characters 2B and 9S are androids, designed to protect humanity and ultimately fight against the machines, which seek the destruction of humanity. Humans no longer live on Earth, because of a disease caused by events that took place in the beginning of NieR. A god, referred to as "The Giant" was fighting a dragon in the world of Drakengard and somehow was transported to the world of NieR, the death of "The Giant" caused a disease to spread and due to a series of events, we end up in the world of NieR: Automata.

Honestly, if you don't care about the events of the previous games, you loose nothing. This is probably one of the best standalone titles in any game series. While it still does have references to older games and the world is the same, there has been so much story told between the games that the previous title NieR: Gestalt doesn't even matter. The events of the previous games shaped the world, but they do not affect the events of NieR: Automata. If you get interested, you can simply read about the events of the previous games to learn more. There are pieces of lore that explain the events that matter to the world of NieR: Automata, which are kind of fun to google and learn more about.

My favorite game of all times is The Witcher 3, with it's expansions. After playing NieR: Automata, I can't tell if it has taken hold of the #2 spot. The story in comparison to Final Fantasy 15 and The Witcher 3 is rather weak, but the lore and other elements of the game are fan-fucking-tastic. The gameplay is really fluid and fun, the crafting and the way you power-up your character is really intuitive in comparison to many other game titles, also the difficulty of the game is challenging, but not frustrating. Oh, and also the game has 28 different endings. Out of which 5 are "good endings" and 23 are "bad endings" or "joke endings". Ending E is the true ending of the game, but to reach it you have to finish endings A, B, C and D.

Really what it comes down to is that NieR: Automata is a fantastic action-packed RPG that has a heavy emphasis on psychology and philosophy. The game seeks answers to questions like "What is the meaning of life?" and "What does it mean to be human?". Literally everybody that enjoys well made RPGs should play this game. It's amazing. Pretty much my only complaints are that the game doesn't really have a story, which can be argued to be a part of the lore of the world, and that the world and the stories told are REALLY DEPRESSING. Like, literally nothing good EVER happens in the 50+ hours of gameplay this game has to offer. I enjoy sad stories and depressing topics, but it was getting ever-so-slightly annoying towards the end of the game. Or more like, I have read and watched so many stories that I'm accustomed to have good and bad things occur during a story, but when you expect something good to happen for 40+ hours, it's basically like an itch that never gets scratched. There are no ups and downs, there are only downs.

tl;dr
Play this game. It's fucking awesome.
Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion is a mecha-anime with a heavy emphasis on psychological and philosophical aspects of life. Really, the game and the show couldn't be similar.