[@Fabricant451] Fair enough I suppose. I guess that I just missed some of the stuff about 2B and 9S's relationship in-game, or if I did, it just didn't resonate with me enough to make it sufficiently believable. Yes the characterization is subtle (in the case of A2, subtle enough to make it non-existent), but I thought that the thing that was hidden behind the subtlety just wasn't all that compelling, or not very well written. 9S I do think is a pretty good character and probably the best-written in the whole game, but 2B and 9S just seem so flat to me. I thought Operator had a deeper character than 2B (okay only half-memeing here). In general I just think, subtlety in-and-of-itself is fine--in fact, in most Japanese literature it's the name of the game--but I thought that in Automata it wasn't executed very well. Ending C truly made me re-evaluate my opinion of the game. Like, of course the whole "humans are ded" twist was telegraphed from early on, but like the back-to-back gut punches really, then [url=https://youtu.be/ePKjkPl8jJs] this moment[/url] were really awesome. Maybe I'm so disappointed because endings D and E didn't deliver that much on the promise of ending C...Like it felt like it was building to [i]something[/i], and then you get some really cool stuff in the tower, and 2B's descent into despair, and then it just kind of ends. To be fair I never got ending Y so maybe there's stuff that I've missed. 

I think there's a fine line between subtlety and poor writing, and Automata straddles it. I believe that it could've been an overall better story if there had just been greater focus on the characters. That's my biggest problem with Taro tbh, he has fascinating worldbuilding and great concepts, but some of his writing and characters are just really cliche (NieR is a victim of this too, though I still love that game). I definitely liked the game though and I recognize that I'm probably thinking too much into it, a minority opinion, and maybe a bit "elitist". Not trying to come off that way, and you make some very valid points in your post.