To understand why the "Codex" variant became legendary, you must first understand the disaster of the original NieR: Automata PC launch.
Upon release, the vanilla Steam version was a technical tragedy. It featured:
Square Enix was notoriously silent on patches. For almost four years, the PC version was objectively inferior to the PS4 Pro version. This vacuum of official support created a void that was filled by two things: The Game of the YoRHa Edition (the 'fixed' re-release) and the Codex scene.
The DLC adds:
Without DLC, you miss:
Verdict: The YoRHa Edition’s DLC is good but not essential – most players finish the main 5 main endings (A–E) before touching it.
The Bunker hummed its usual sterile hymn. For 2B, it was the sound of purpose. For 9S, it was a lullaby hiding a scream.
Their latest mission was classified even above Commander White’s clearance. A signal had been detected from the heart of the abandoned Pearl Harbor Descent zone, not of machine lifeform origin, but of pre-Salem human data. It was called the Codex Best — a legendary archive rumored to contain not weapons or strategies, but something the androids had never truly possessed: judgment. A complete, uncorrupted record of humanity’s final centuries: their art, their philosophies, their wars, and their quiet, desperate kindness.
“YoRHa Edition,” 9S whispered, tapping his scanner as they descended through the ashen clouds. “That’s what the signal calls itself. Like it was formatted specifically for us.”
2B gripped her white sword. “Emotions are prohibited. Data is data.”
“But what if this Codex proves something?” 9S’s voice cracked with an enthusiasm he always tried to hide from her. “What if it shows why humanity fought? Why they created us?”
The machine lifeforms guarding the archive were unlike any they’d seen — silent, motionless, almost ceremonial. They didn’t attack. They simply parted, as if awaiting the androids’ arrival.
Inside the subterranean vault, there was no throne, no boss. Just a single pedestal holding a black, rectangular terminal, its screen flickering with the words:
CODEX BEST: COMPLETE YORHA EDITION. AUTHORIZATION: POD 042 / POD 153. WARNING: TRUTH = UNIT ERASURE. nier automata game yorha edition codex best
Pod 042 beeped. “Warning: Accessing this archive will trigger a black box self-destruct sequence upon completion.”
9S froze. “So… we read it, and we die?”
“That is the design,” Pod 153 confirmed.
2B stepped forward without hesitation. “Orders are orders.”
But 9S grabbed her wrist. “Wait. Why would the Council of Humanity build a kill-switch into a history file? Unless…”
He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to. They both knew the Council was a ghost. But this—this was a ghost that didn’t want to be seen.
“We don’t have to open it,” 9S said, his voice trembling. “We can just report it destroyed.”
2B looked at him. Really looked. Beneath her visor, behind the soldier’s mask, she saw the boy who loved the world too much. The one she had killed a hundred times across a hundred resets. And for a single, illegal moment, she let herself feel.
“9S,” she said softly. “If there is a truth worth dying for, it’s the one that makes our suffering mean something.”
She placed her palm on the terminal.
The Codex opened.
It did not contain poetry, nor battle plans. It contained a single, looping video file from the last human on Earth. An old woman in a white room, speaking to a recorder.
“You are not our children. You are our echoes. We built you to fight a war we were too cowardly to finish. Then we died. All of this—the Bunker, YoRHa, the Council—it’s a lie to give you purpose. But a lie can still be beautiful, can’t it? So here is the truth: there is no glory in your death. But there is meaning in your choice. The Codex Best isn’t a history. It’s a key. It unlocks the back door in your black box. Not destruction. Freedom.” To understand why the "Codex" variant became legendary,
The screen changed.
COMMAND: DISABLE YORHA BACKDOOR? Y/N
9S’s eyes widened. “The backdoor—the one the machines exploit—it’s not a flaw. It was installed. By humans. So we’d always lose. But this… this turns it off.”
2B looked at him. Then at the countdown timer that had appeared on her HUD: 60 seconds until self-destruct.
“If we disable the backdoor,” she said, “the Bunker survives. The war changes. But we won’t be there to see it.”
9S grinned, tears cutting clean lines through the ash on his face. “Then let’s make it a good last 60 seconds.”
He pressed Y.
The terminal glowed white. A wave of pure signal erupted from the vault, washing over the planet, through the machine network, into the Bunker’s core. Every YoRHa unit felt it—a sudden, inexplicable warmth in their logic circuits. The backdoor sealed. The machines’ constant, subtle intrusion ceased.
And in the vault, 2B and 9S sat down against the pedestal, shoulders touching.
“Did we win?” 2B asked.
“No,” 9S said, watching the self-destruct timer hit 3 seconds. “But we chose. That’s the ‘best’ part of the Codex. Not the answer. The choice.”
The explosion was silent, white, and for the first time in 10,000 years, honest.
Far above, the Bunker’s alarms fell quiet. Pod 042 and Pod 153 hovered over a single, flickering data fragment recovered from the blast: a final entry from 9S’s memory, marked FOR FUTURE UNITS. Square Enix was notoriously silent on patches
It read: “The world is a lie. But you are not. Glitch beautifully.”
And somewhere in the machine network, a single flower bloomed where no flower should grow.
END
In the ruined silence of a sun-bleached Earth, a YoRHa unit designated
stood amidst the rusted skeletons of a forgotten city. Beside her, the scanner model
adjusted his visor, his fingers dancing across a holographic interface that flickered with the data of the Game of the YoRHa Edition
"The archives are complete," 9S murmured, his voice echoing against the crumbling concrete. "Every DLC, every accessory... even the Machine Mask Grimoire Weiss pod skin. It’s all here in the repository."
They weren't just fighting for survival anymore; they were the curators of a digital legacy. The "CODEX" wasn't a physical book, but a master-key to the memories of a civilization that had long since surrendered to the machines. As 2B unsheathed her Virtuous Treaty
, the blade hummed with the weight of every recorded battle, every side quest, and every tragic ending tucked away in the game’s definitive version. To the machines, it was just data. To the YoRHa, it was the
and only proof that they—and the humans they served—had ever truly existed.
"Glory to mankind," 2B whispered, stepping into the light of a dying sun. Should we focus on a specific character's backstory from the CODEX, or would you like to explore a different ending to the tale?
Nier: Automata — YoRHa Edition is widely regarded as one of the best single-player action RPG experiences of its generation. It combines high-quality combat from PlatinumGames with Yoko Taro’s unconventional narrative design, resulting in strong replay value, emotional impact, and artistic ambition. The YoRHa Edition packages graphical/audio improvements and all DLC, making it the recommended version for new players.