Exhausted from Election Day? I’m not even in the continental 48 and I couldn’t be more exhausted…among a plethora of other emotions that I will not bring to this blog. But, for those looking for a slight distraction, maybe this will help…

There was a new, official NA press release yesterday (I’m in Japan, yo!) that made public a couple new images that we haven’t seen before for NieR:Automata. The majority seem familiar, so I’m pretty sure they’ve been released in such things like Famitsu and Dengeki PlayStation magazines among other official websites, but there’s one photo in this bunch that struck my interest. There are 18 total photos, which I will post them all here, but just for fun…see if you can guess which photo I’m talking about.

  #1

 #2

 #3

 #4

 #5

 #6

 #7

 #8

 #9

 #10

 #11

 #12

 #13

 #14

 #15

 #16

 #17

 #18

Okay! Any idea which photo makes me the most excited and tingly all over? Well, not that tingly but maybe just a little.

Need a second yet? Okay, I’ll wait.

What? The last one? Really!? What by chance gave THAT away!?

Maybe this?

Yay! You guessed right!!  25 points for you!!!

But why is this potentially very significant? Oh, well… it’s just the specially designed insignia that appears on the cover of the Black Box Edition, as you can see below, as well as the individually packaged NieR Music Concert & Talk Live Soundtrack CD.

I don’t have much speculation on the meaning of this insignia besides this…

1. It appears to be a vital part of the game.
2. If an android within the Resistance Camp bears this insignia, I’d like to believe this is some sort of “religious” symbol…
3. Maybe the androids themselves need something to believe in beyond their suffering and battle against the Bio-machines.
4. Maybe this is a new insignia not unlike the three-eyed Gemini that stood for the Church of Angels aka the Cult of Watchers.
5. Maybe this is merely a call-back to the Flower of DOD3 and how it is still very much alive in the present predicament.
6. …if that’s the case, then perhaps these “religious folk” have some connection to Adam & Eve? Maybe those twins believe and follow the teachings of the Flower… the teachings of the Church of Angels aka the Cult of Watchers… Maybe THEY will become the new mouthpieces of the Bio-machine onslaught against humanity?!

Yeah… pretty out there, I know… But still!!! The meaning and significance of this symbol is only now coming to light… Just imagine what horrible wonders could be revealed within the narrative of the actual game.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with an interesting perspective on the scope of the game… Take a look at this image as you can see it on the official PSN website:

Hmm… Nothing seems out of the ordinary. This is just what you’d typically see on any game’s page on PSN. What gives?

First of all, this was originally brought to my attention by Extrain on GameFAQs in reference to another user’s tweet regarding the details listed on the NieR:Automata site on PSN. The tweet specifically pointed out a part of the Japanese page that mentioned…

If you’d like to play multiplayer, you need to sign up for PlayStation Plus.

… … …What? Wait a minute. Did I read that right?

Multiplayer?!

Yes, you did indeed read that correctly; however, exactly what that means is currently unknown.

But if you take for example an already known multiplayer RPG from Square Enix… what comes to mind… … …?

Oh, well, sure!! FFXV, right!?

Yes, that’s right. We know that FFXV will be some sort of multiplayer. I haven’t personally followed the whole FFXV hype (I *know*!!!! Sue me!!), but… this is the same exact text that is displayed in the description for the Japanese FFXV Digital Premium Edition.

There has been no word on whether or not NieR:Automata will be multiplayer. But, given the coincidence between these two series… the possibility has grown exponentially.

Should the game be an online, multiplayer game… I can’t fathom exactly what that would be like!? How would they involve that into the narrative of the game?! The questions over way the answers we currently have. But the prospect of an online, multiplayer mode is extremely invigorating, whether it’s accurate or not!! Here’s to dreaming, yeah?

＊ Note: Yes, this line mentioning online multiplayer is a default statement, but it may also be important to note that this text is *not* listed on every game page, which is why I looked at games that we know utilize online connectivity.

Whether or not this suggests an MMORPG level of online multiplayer gameplay has yet to be proved. It could, however, suggest an entirely different method of connectivity between players.

Other RPGs in which this text is *not* listed include the following:

• Persona 5
• Tales of Berseria
• Ys VIII
• Star Ocean 5
• I am Setsuna
• Exist Archive
• Tokyo Xanadu

Other RPGs that *do* list this include the following:

• FFXV
• Sword Art Online: Game Director’s Edition
• Bloodborne: The Old Hunters Edition
• Gravity Daze 2

Please note that Gematsu also posted the same images that you see on this page; however, they FAILED to state where the images came from, which was from the official NA NieR:Automata PR department. How hard is it to state this? I honestly do not understand. This news is not thanks to Gematsu, but rather to the NieR:Automata PR team. Thanks, guys!!