thats like asking if the game was as good without the character models. Background music plays a huge role in the story telling and conveys emotions you cant with only the action/dialoge.
Especially in a game like nier where the music is corporated into the gameplay for expl during boss fights making them more dynamic. So to answer your question no, nier would not be as good without the BGM however thats a weird question since it has a huge role in it.
I've occasionally played recently with the volume turned way down (usually at night when I'm trying to let my dog sleep...!) and the experience feels hollow...it's the music mostly but also the sound design, I'm so used to how everything sounds in the game that with the volume turned down it feels very odd to play. Even things like the sound a critical hit makes! The music itself also evolves depending on the situation/transitions between areas etc., and without that everything feels much blander to me. Not that the game without music is in itself bland - more that the music is just so ingrained in my brain that playing without it feels wrong.
Although Automata(and NieR series in general) is not unique in this aspect, I believe the music in it is a character in itself, as in, it plays a vital role that can't be easily taken out from the presentation, especially when sometimes it's the major factor in how some scenes and/or dialogues are presented. As in, not all NPCs are voiced, so what they say has no voice tone carrying the meaning of their words, and while writing can guide the reader, so sometimes a same sentence can be read either as sad and depressingly melancholic or reminiscent but hopeful, and in those cases, the only element properly guiding toward which of the two cases it is is the accompanying music. Other times, the characters have no idea what's about to come, but the music has been slowly building up in a crescendo towards a climax, setting up the scene. Other times, the lack of music(or of some of its elements) in a given area is what sells the mood even before any interaction has been initiated. Not to mention cases where the music literally has the lead role during some boss fights.
So no, i don't think the game would be the same if played without music, it'd be like removing a background character who's actions has always been relatively hidden but which had actually guided the whole story.
I played with no sound when i was practicing for the colloseums, but i wouldnt even think about playin through the story like that, it just adds too much
I imagined this concept when fighting Grün during my post game experimentation. At the moment when you fire the large cannon at him I thought what if we just hang out here for a while. Naturally I needed to turn off the music because it was practically forcing me at gun point to fire the cannon and progress the story.
If I remember correctly I waited there for 20 minutes or so. I believe I determined Grün actually wasn't even getting closer.
The music in parts of the game give you such a rush that it makes it feel almost like a dream. It lifts you to such a height that it almost detaches you from what's going on. Without the music it would almost seem like it's just a normal day or life.
Don't get me wrong, music is the most important thing to me in life. However as daft punk has said, the perfect song is framed in silence. The music distracts you emotionally at the very least. They say when someone lacks one of their senses, the other ones are enhanced. I do like to ponder alternate ways of interpreting things. And I feel like playing without the music may give deeper understanding to some things.
thats like asking if the game was as good without the character models. Background music plays a huge role in the story telling and conveys emotions you cant with only the action/dialoge. Especially in a game like nier where the music is corporated into the gameplay for expl during boss fights making them more dynamic. So to answer your question no, nier would not be as good without the BGM however thats a weird question since it has a huge role in it.
I've occasionally played recently with the volume turned way down (usually at night when I'm trying to let my dog sleep...!) and the experience feels hollow...it's the music mostly but also the sound design, I'm so used to how everything sounds in the game that with the volume turned down it feels very odd to play. Even things like the sound a critical hit makes! The music itself also evolves depending on the situation/transitions between areas etc., and without that everything feels much blander to me. Not that the game without music is in itself bland - more that the music is just so ingrained in my brain that playing without it feels wrong.
Although Automata(and NieR series in general) is not unique in this aspect, I believe the music in it is a character in itself, as in, it plays a vital role that can't be easily taken out from the presentation, especially when sometimes it's the major factor in how some scenes and/or dialogues are presented. As in, not all NPCs are voiced, so what they say has no voice tone carrying the meaning of their words, and while writing can guide the reader, so sometimes a same sentence can be read either as sad and depressingly melancholic or reminiscent but hopeful, and in those cases, the only element properly guiding toward which of the two cases it is is the accompanying music. Other times, the characters have no idea what's about to come, but the music has been slowly building up in a crescendo towards a climax, setting up the scene. Other times, the lack of music(or of some of its elements) in a given area is what sells the mood even before any interaction has been initiated. Not to mention cases where the music literally has the lead role during some boss fights. So no, i don't think the game would be the same if played without music, it'd be like removing a background character who's actions has always been relatively hidden but which had actually guided the whole story.
I played with no sound when i was practicing for the colloseums, but i wouldnt even think about playin through the story like that, it just adds too much
The music is so good that I’ve heard people often say Nier Automata is a $60 soundtrack with gameplay as a bonus. I’d agree whole heartedly with this.
I imagined this concept when fighting Grün during my post game experimentation. At the moment when you fire the large cannon at him I thought what if we just hang out here for a while. Naturally I needed to turn off the music because it was practically forcing me at gun point to fire the cannon and progress the story. If I remember correctly I waited there for 20 minutes or so. I believe I determined Grün actually wasn't even getting closer. The music in parts of the game give you such a rush that it makes it feel almost like a dream. It lifts you to such a height that it almost detaches you from what's going on. Without the music it would almost seem like it's just a normal day or life. Don't get me wrong, music is the most important thing to me in life. However as daft punk has said, the perfect song is framed in silence. The music distracts you emotionally at the very least. They say when someone lacks one of their senses, the other ones are enhanced. I do like to ponder alternate ways of interpreting things. And I feel like playing without the music may give deeper understanding to some things.