NieR: Automata's 'Final Secret' Has Been Found After Almost Four Years

NieR: Automata's "final secret" has been discovered after nearly four years, and it allows you to skip the entire game. As reported by Kotaku, modder and dataminer Lance McDonald discovered this cheat code that allows players to go straight to the end of NieR: Automata after only defeating the first boss. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/03/06/nier-automata-review"] NieR: Automata, which was released in 2017, has multiple endings that require players to replay the game numerous times to truly complete the story. This cheat code, however, allows you to simply go right to the last ending. Spoilers ahead for NieR: Automata. Once you have unlocked Ending E, players must make it through a challenging arcade shooter that has your attempting to destroy the game's credits. Once finished, you are given the option to sacrifice you save data to assist others in that task. If accepted, you will actually lose your save file. This cheat code, however, lets you get to that ending to help others without completing the game and having to give up your hard earned save data. McDonald discovered that this is not a glitch, but an actual cheat code that is programmed into NieR: Automata. According to him, it took "hundreds of hours of reverse engineering" to figure this out.

I found a cheat code in NieR Automata that allows you to skip to the last ending immediately after killing the first boss and unlock the bonus modes. I'll do a full video soon. It's not a glitch, it's an actual cheat code hard-coded into the engine. @yokotaro pic.twitter.com/FtuNPovq6F

— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) January 3, 2021

As of this writing, McDonald hasn't fully revealed what the inputs are to activate the cheat code, but the video above shows him doing so near some barrels after defeating the aforementioned first boss. The screen fades to black, and he is then able to sacrifice his save data. Following this discovery, NieR: Automata's director Yoko Taro Quote Tweeted McDonald's video and appeared to confirm the discovery by saying "3 years 10 months.（◎血◎）" The Japanese NieR Twitter also acknowledged the find, saying (via Google Translate), "It seems that the last secret has been discovered." McDonald has said he will be releasing a full video of the game-skipping cheat code soon, but be sure to let us know if you figure it out before then! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/10/nier-replicant-ver-122474487139-world-premiere-trailer"] This "final secret" arrives just a few months before Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139 will be released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on April 23, 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.