Best RPGs Like NieR Automata

The best rpg games like NieR Automata are NieR Replicant, Drakengard 3 and Undertale. Below are 5, each with the reason it is here — and, at the end, what filtering to rpg costs you.

Why RPG Is a Good Answer for NieR Automata

Filtering to RPG means you want progression — a character to build or a party to grow — layered on top of whatever else you liked.

What you get: A reason to keep going after the novelty wears off. RPGs are the genre that reliably converts hours into feeling more capable.

What made NieR Automata worth playing in the first place is covered on the full list. This page is the rpg part of that answer, and only the rpg part.

5 RPGs Like NieR Automata

  1. 1. NieR Replicant

    The predecessor, and the story it tells makes Automata land harder.

  2. 2. Drakengard 3

    Same writer, same world, and much stranger.

  3. 3. Undertale

    For the way it uses repeat playthroughs as part of the storytelling.

  4. 4. Ghost of Tsushima

    If what you wanted was a beautiful world with excellent combat.

  5. 5. Scarlet Nexus

    Two campaigns that tell one story from opposite sides.

What This Filter Leaves Out

Immediacy. Almost every RPG asks for a slow first few hours, and the systems that make hour forty good are the same ones that make hour one a menu.

Specifically, these are strong answers for NieR Automata that are not rpg games, so they are not on this page:

  • Astral Chain — Platinum combat with the same anime-sincere tone.
  • Bayonetta — If the combat was the hook and you want it deeper.
  • 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim — A story told in fragments across many perspectives, and it earns every twist.

The full list is on games like NieR Automata — 9 picks, no genre filter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best rpg game like NieR Automata?

NieR Replicant. The predecessor, and the story it tells makes Automata land harder.

Are all of these on the PlayStation 4?

No. NieR Automata released on the PlayStation 4, but a recommendation is only useful if you can play it, so the picks above span platforms and eras. What they share is the genre and the reason.

What is the difference between an RPG and an action game with stats?

Whether the stats are the point. In an RPG the build decides what you can do; in an action game with stats the build only decides how fast you do it.

Do I need to like turn-based combat?

No. The picks below span turn-based, real-time and action RPGs, and each one says which it is.

How are these chosen?

By hand. Each pick was written for the full NieR Automata list first, on what the game actually does, and this page is the part of that list that is rpg — never a genre tag lookup, which is how "best racing games like Super Mario 64" used to be a page on this site.

Other Angles on NieR Automata

More RPGs Recommendations

Or read the rpg guide for where to start in the genre generally.