Its a shame that Automata is probably the weakest game in the series in every way besides the combat itself, which is mostly just passable compared to prior games boring to outright bad. And I guess fanservice, though Drakengard 3 has plenty of that in hilariously in your face ways.

Its also the first time in the series where it feels distinctly Japanese, as both Drakengard (literally using a map of Europe for the world map) and Nier Gestalt were very much medieval Europe fairy tale like. And, thanks to being made by a Japanese mad man, they don't shy away from the worst aspects those stories could reach like a Western dev would, like child soldiers, familial sacrifice, and actually difficult moral questions.

Heck Gestalt/Replicant is probably one of the rare cases where self-censorship not only improved a game, but is a direct example of the problem being talked about here.

For those that don't know, the original Nier game was made with "teenage pretty boy" MC going on a journey to save his little sister. It was very cliche Japan in every way. At some point in development, Squeenix said it wouldn't appeal to the Western audiences, so they created a different version of the game with a 40 something year old as the MC instead trying to save his daughter. And while both versions would be released in Japan (one for 360, the other for PS3), the rest of us would only get dad version.

And dad version is way fucking better. All the emotional beats hit better with a world weary older man instead of a sarcastic, sassy teenager, the story works better (such as you just getting a job fighting to make money, instead of needing an edgy "sold his body to older men" plotpoint), and the only loss is the removal of a gay ship with Emil wanting to fuck the MC because he was nice to him. And it continued the trend of the series of getting to play unique characters, from Caim the bloodthirsty monster to now the middle aged crag of a man and how the world reacts differently to those types of people instead.

So its a series that hits every part of this debate. Drakengard was famous for its MC being so distinctly not like every other Japanese game at the time, Nier showing them chasing both rabbits at once, and then Automata going back to fully Japanese. And Drakengard 3 exists as well doing whatever it does.