The controls are terrible. The combat is super repetitive. You transition between areas very slowly. You can lock yourself out of endings without even intending to. You can accidentally throw yourself into forced events super underleveled. You have to grind like hell for some of the materials. I can go on and on.

"Dogshit" might be a bit hyperbolic, but not by a lot.

Nier: Automata is a good (not great) game from Platinum wrapped in a juicy Nier narrative layer that elevates it to a very good game.

It's not just "not as smooth as Automata", it's bad by the standards of the era it was released into.

It's a 2010 PS3 game with movement and combat and controls that feel like an early PS2 game where they are still figuring out twin stick movement and cameras.