Trusted hacker Lance McDonald – yes, that’s the same Lance McDonald who was behind those extraordinary PT hacks – has uncovered the final secret of Nier: Automata.

After “hundreds of hours or reverse engineering“, McDonald found a complex cheat code that enables the player to jump straight to the last of the game’s many endings right after killing the first boss.

As McDonald takes pains to explain, no, it’s not an exploit or a cheese – it’s “an actual cheat code” intentionally coded into the game.

“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,” McDonald tweeted earlier today (thanks, PC Gamer). “I’ll do a full video soon. It’s not a glitch, it’s an actual cheat code hard-coded into the engine.”

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After copying in director Yoko Taro to flag his attention, both he and the game’s official Twitter account acknowledged McDonald’s accomplishment with a response, with the former tweeting: “3 years 10 months. (◎血◎）” in reference to how long it’s taken for the secret to have been discovered.

Nier: Automata received an impressive 4.5 stars out of 5 in the GamesRadar+ review. We said that “while it’s certainly not perfect, Nier: Automata is nonetheless a breath of fresh air that will challenge your thumbs as well as your thinking – a game with hydrocarbon heart and silicon soul that will stay with you long after you’ve set the controller down”.

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