Nier: Automata's high-res texture pack is looking swish
2B, or not HD - that is the question
The ruins and couture of Nier: Automata are looking mighty swish in a high-resolution texture pack mod, and without losing their character. I tend not to use 'HD texture packs', partially because so many are oversharp messes or wildly change the tone and partially because I've become a hoary purist who insists that Quake should be played without texture smoothing, but this looks pretty deece. If you are the sort of person who'd rather play Platinum's action-RPG retouched, creator "GPUnity" released a big new version yesterday, bringing it a lot closer to done. Here, check out this original/new comparison video.
Like the remarkable Resident Evil 4 HD Project, GPUnity's pack tries to replace Nier's blurrier textures with new ones that look like more-detail versions of the same surface. Concrete has the same cracks in the same places, the same rust patterns splatter metal, but there's more fine detail.
"My goal is to provide a natural restoration to the low-res textures, maintaining the intended look," GPUnity says.
The added detail and contrast does still make it look difference but if you don't mind that and want a relatively pure yet crisper look, this seems a good'un.
The latest version includes a makeover for 2B. Not in the Fakefactory way. Though I suppose everyone's fightbot sweetheart is already meant to be the Fakefactory version of a human.
If you're interested, head over here for download links and an installation guide. You'll also need Kaldaien's FAR (Fix Automata Resolution) mod but I'd recommend that anyway to fix the game's shonky forced low resolution (and help a little with performance, if you need that).
It's frustrating when such a good game has technical problems. Nier: Automata isn't nearly as wonked as Deadly Premonition (one of the other best games) but I still append a mention of FAR to recommendations. It's still galling that publishers Square Enix abandoned PC updates even before releasing DLC.
Nic Reuben wrote a lovely bit about Nier and humanity last month, by the way. Do read if you haven't. Me, I finally broke my carefully silence to just shout spoiler-y cool things I was sick of keeping quiet about.
A fancier version of 2B is also coming to Soulcalibur VI as DLC.