It was my interpretation at least that the main difference between sparing Shinobu/Holly and not sparing the other women assassins was, in its own twisted way, a lessening of Travis' misogyny after he failed to give Holly the honor of a warrior's death.

rare flower variant

It won't ruin Replicant if you don't, but Automata is a bit more refined as far as combat and spoils a bit of the world building in Replicant (and imo doesn't hit the same extremely high highs as far as character writing). Replicant gets my full endorsement: it's one of the best stories in gaming.

-Celeste and The Messenger were my two favorite games from 2018 so I'll try and elevate those here a bit

-If you haven't played the original Nier (either on 7th gen or as its remaster under Nier Replicant) you owe it to yourself, preferentially before playing Automata