NieR: Automata is not a very well-optimized game for PC. It’s very pretty, but requires a ton of power to maintain a decent frame rate, which you absolutely want for a Platinum Games action joint. A modder realized the issue was in NieR: Automata ’s ludicrously intense lighting and was able to create a mod that highly boosts performance without compromising the visuals much.
The issue comes from NieR: Automata ’s “Global Illumination,” which is a lighting technique that works very well, but is set so high by default it makes the game soak up power to an unnecessary degree. Steam member Kaldaien discovered this oversight and released a mod called FAR that lets users tweak the intensity. ( NieR and FAR, get it?)
Once the NieR: Automata mod is installed, you can move the Global Illumination workgroup down from 64, which massively increases the game’s performance ability. Best of all, many users reporting no immediately noticeable differences if they take it down to 16. Taking it all the way down to 0 can improve performance even more, but at this point the lighting is noticeably affected.
Square Enix isn’t exactly known for providing timely fixes for Steam port issues, so this might be the best way for Steam users to play NieR: Automata properly.
Source: Reddit