Nier: Automata's self destruct command doesn't do what you think it would

One of the things that Nier creator Taro Yoko is most famous for are the weird and often wonderful touches in his games. Things like that are arguably what made the original Nier such a cult hit, and while Nier: Automata is a way, way better game than its predecessor, it's still full of such crazy touches. One such touch is the self destruct mechanism built into the game.

Chances are you're well aware of the stir that Automata lead character 2B's rear caused when players first got their hands on the Automata demo. In an interview with us last month Yoko described 2B's design as being that way simply because it was his taste - and we can see now he clearly wanted people to have a good look.

Self Destruct in this game doesn't actually kill the robotic 2B, you see. It does an enormous amount of damage to her, but what it actually does is... blow her skirt off. So in truth it really self-destructs the skirt rather than the robot lead character, when you think about it. More skirt destruct than self destruct. This is just one example of Automata's quirk, talked about in detail in our review. Naturally, this has proved popular on YouTube...

To self destruct all you need to do is hold down L3 and R3. Doing so will actually award you a trophy titled "What are you doing?" - and once you see the end result of the self destruct you'll probably be asking yourself that question for real, too.

If you fast travel, her skirt reappears. Just in case you want to return to normal in a hurry.

In an interesting touch, we can confirm that a self destruct in the right place will lead to some of the game's short, jokey alternate endings... but we'll leave where for you to figure out. Look out for Nier: Automata guides on the site in the coming days.