However, the mod community has implemented a hybrid mode. You can toggle between "Immersion Mode" (first-person exploration) and "Tactical Mode" (a floating third-person camera that kicks in during heavy combat).

The machines are roughly the size of small cars. You walk up to a peaceful machine child. It looks up at you. You are eye-level with its single glowing optic. It beeps a happy tune.

But if you are a fan of Nier as literature—as a philosophical text disguised as a video game—this mod is essential.

Ironically, this bug becomes a feature. During story beats, you are in the android's head. During fights, you pull back to a tactical overview. It mimics the disassociation of combat trauma. When the bullets stop flying and you toggle back to first-person to loot a dead machine’s oil? That is when the existential dread sets in. We all know about Ending E. The final battle against the credits. The chorus of voices deleting their save files to help you.

VR strips away the last barrier between the player and the protagonist. You are no longer piloting 2B. You are standing in her boots on a ruined Earth, realizing that the machines are crying, the gods are dead, and the only thing keeping you going is a floating box with a flashlight for a face.

You look up. You see the broken Ferris wheel silhouetted against a perpetual sunset. You look down. You see the waterlogged tickets floating in the gutter.