The routes after that are better though, and you get to play another character which plays more similar to 2B. So I'd say at the very least tough through Route B. If you can't make it through the routes after that then I won't judge you for dropping the game and watching some Let's Plays or something to get the story instead.
EDIT: I'll add: yeah the gameplay of Automata is subpar by modern standards. It has a lot of rough, annoying edges like PS1-era games had. And the graphics are "meh". But please don't judge Automata by those metrics. I think it's a mistake to judge fans of Automata as if they don't know that. People praise Automata for its story, storytelling, and creativity. And, unfortunately, you can't judge the story until you've seen it all. And yes, that's very unfortunate, because some will come away from the game without the whole picture and have a dim view of the game and thus its fans.
So I can't judge the story so I'll reserve judgement.
and I can't judge the ps2-era graphics because you say not to, even though people commend that as well.
and I don't find it that creative either, am I supposed to say other fans know that too? There are some compelling parts that I enjoy, I am just miffed how it doesn't really come together or have anything that isn't really expected. There are some sequences (ie. amusement park to village in route A) that are epic, but then it just doesn't do much with it. its like "oh okay, they just explained what was immediately apparent"
alright I'll keep going. I know what Route C is because many others have explained it in other forums, and I'm looking forward to it. There are routes after C though?
It won't.
You even saw it up above with that one person who said that, even though I had played through all routes and didn't enjoy it, must have "written it off and not given it a chance as you played it". As though I don't care for my time.
Maybe teenagers today wouldn't find something "old" like the first FLCL or Evangelion appealing for a variety of reasons (I think those stand the test of time, but you tell me).
But right now I feel this onion-peel story telling for some pretty obvious tropes to be unappealling. There are so many design decisions that fall flat. I like the button mashing combat and fetch quests. I don't like doing it 2.5 times like Groundhog Day. I don't trust Square Enix to do anything right. That's certainly something that younger audiences wouldn't know about since Squaresoft used to be perfect. You know, maybe that hits the nail on the head, most of this is probably me judging Square Enix instead of just enjoying a raw experience. (but I would have the same gripes about this game from any other publisher, just likely giving it even less of a chance)
A great musical score is not news for a Square game. An article about cross fading to a pre-recorded 8-bit version of the same song is nice and interesting to see the behind the scenes, its also like the bare level of dedication I expect from Square.
And then the rest is
"here they go again with these PS2 graphics, come on Square, a lot of gamers in Japan don't even know about your Final Fantasy flagship series so you can at least put some budget to all your other IPs"
"look at that, you can blow off the clothes of the blindfolded lolita sex bots, way to go everyone wtf Square"
"a re-telling of the exact same game for Route B because of some design by committee nonsense, probably the same reason Nomura wound up putting that Kingdom Hearts dementor bullshit in the Final Fantasy VII Remake jfc"
I'm currently trudging through the second play through of the game (Route B) and pretty much hate it, trying to trust everyone that tells me to keep going to get to Route C. It tries to keep you interested in doing the exact same things by adding a cut scene here or there, which you think might be important, or that you think might add to the story, but its just more of this pseudo-deep fan fiction of itself.
Way too repetitive.
The whole thing feels like a pretext for the Amusement Park area, which is the most fantastic, action packed and well rendered part of the game. The rest of the game being basically gray monotone.