NieR: Automata was a gem of a game when it was released back in 2017. It’s definitely remembered for its cast of characters, PlatinumGames’ brand of hack and slash gameplay, hauntingly amazing soundtrack, and a story with deep philosophical overtones.

It was also a very demanding game, with a total of 26 possible endings to get that involved multiple playthroughs, and 5 of which are the main endings. No spoilers here, but those of you who managed to make it through to the end will know how grueling a journey it was to get to that final true ending. You’d think that was it but almost four years after its release, who would have thought that NieR: Automata still had one more surprise up its sleeve that just beckons you to come back one more time.

As noted in Weekly Famitsu 1527 back in 2018, NieR: Automata director Yoko Taro hinted of a secret in the game that no player has yet to discover. Fast forward to 2021 and a video game modder named Lance McDonald has done it and unearthed the game’s best kept secret: A cheat code that lets you skip to the game’s last ending and unlock all of NieR: Automata’s Bonus Modes.

In a tweet by Lance, it took hundreds of hours of reverse engineering but there is a way to go straight to the game’s last ending after just beating NieR: Automata’s first boss. What’s even more amazing is that it’s not a glitch or mod of NieR: Automata but an actual cheat code, a plain and simple cheat code purposely built into the game. Talk about a classic video game feature that you don’t see often these days.

It also doesn’t feel like a hoax because NieR: Automata’s director himself, Yoko Taro, retweeted this, acknowledging that NieR: Automata’s secret that he hinted on back in 2018 has finally been discovered after 3 years and 10 months.

Need more proof of legitimacy? NieR: Automata’s official Japanese twitter also chimed in, which roughly translates to “#NieR Automata It seems that the last secret has been discovered. Since it includes spoilers, please be careful on SNS, etc. if you have not played.”

So how is it done, exactly? Well let’s take a look at a video from Lance himself as he explains the “cheat”, which coincidentally, is the same cheat that is also available in Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101.

What a way to hype up the eventual release of Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139 on April 23, 2021.