Review — NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Yoko Taro’s cult classic makes a much deserved and updated return.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… is an action-RPG developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix. The game is a remaster of the Japan-exclusive PS3 game Nier Replicant. Never before released outside it’s native country, it was announced to be released as a PS4 remaster alongside NieR Reincarnation, a free-to-play mobile game. Both games were announced in 2020 during a livestream, as part of a project celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the NieR series. The first installment — simply named NieR — was released in April 2010, and was split up into two versions: NieR Replicant for the PS3 and NieR Gestalt for the Xbox 360. Outside of Japan, only Gestalt was released and simply named NieR. NieR in itself is a spin-off of the Drakengard series, which was first released in 2003. Both NieR games take off at one of the original Drakengard’s ending, where the Earth is left in a state of disarray. NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139… is thus a remaster of the original NieR Replicant.
The End is only the Beginning
As mentioned in the introduction, NieR Relicant takes off where the original Drakengard ended, or at least one of the endings. Both the Drakengard and the NieR series are known for having different endings, some of which are obvious to trigger, whereas others are more secretive (or can be found by accident as happened with me when I player NieR: Automata a few years back…). The game puts you in the shoes of a young boy who is taking care of his sister Yonah. She is suffering from a disease called the “Black Scrawl”, which manifests in strange black ink-like scribbles on the skin of the patient and is life-threatening. In his search for a cure, the protagonist (for who the player can choose a name themselves) discovers a powerful talking book (or “tome”, rather), named Grimoire Weiss, and who might just be able to help find a cure. You set out to find the “Sealed Verses”, and during their travels to the various cities and areas surrounding the central village where the protagonist lives, they encounter Kainé and Emil, who both join the player’s party. Both characters have their own reasons for doing so, and over the course of the game you come to learn of the past and their intentions.
The wonderfully written story and the main characters’ arcs are the game’s strongest points, especially now that all dialogues are voiced (in contrast to the original unvoiced game). These aren’t your typical RPG heroes. The protagonist, a calm and collected young boy, is driven by his love for his sister, and will do whatever it takes to find a cure. Weiss, the floating tome, on the contrary is a wise-cracking and often condescending narrator, commenting on everything that transpires in its wonderfully British accent. Kainé couldn’t be more different: she lets out curse words left, right and center and has an insanely short fuse, while you won’t find a kinder soul than Emil. Especially entertaining is listening to the characters bickering with each other, often providing me with a laugh.
All the characters have their own history and reasons for joining the protagonist on his quest, and learning about them as you progress give the story all the more depth. This is not your typical “go and defeat the ultimate bad guy to save the world” story, but rather a tale of troubled souls and uncertain outcomes. For those who have played NieR Automata before NieR Replicant, you know that not everything is as it seems, and the game keeps you constantly on your toes. At one point you are fighting various enemies across a vast grasslands, the other moment the camera shifts to a top-down isometric view and it feels like you are playing a classic Diablo game. The game even turns briefly into a text-adventure game during one of the main quests, which sees the protagonist and its companion Weiss entering people’s dreamworlds, having you solve riddles in order to escape from their cursed slumber. That NieR Replicant does not always follow classic game conventions also shows in the fact that fast-travel only becomes available halfway through the first playthrough. This will have you running around from place to place at first, and it almost feels like the game rewards your patience for making it as far. This can be felt in the game’s many sidequests, which are for the most part quite boring… Most of them have you run around delivering packages, and the rewards are often not great. Finally, the game urges you to continue playing after the end, in order to unlock all the various endings. This will have you progress though much of the same game, but is certainly rewarding if you persist.
Hacking and Slashing
The combat mechanics are fairly simple, which does not mean that all fights are a breeze. As with most hack-and-slash style RPGs, you have a main attack and a heavy attack, and the game offers the option to dodge away from enemy attacks, or to block them. There is a variety of weapons to choose from, which you can either find spread around the world, or by buying them in a shop. Once you encounter Weiss, you will have the option to perform magical attacks, with are slotted into one of four buttons. Interestingly, you can opt to forgo your ability to evade or block, as you can replace these with magic attacks. As you progress through the game you learn different styles of magic, be it a powerful and continuous blast of magic missiles, or an array of blades swinging wildly around you. To top it off, defeated enemies sometimes drop “words”, which act as enhancements for your weapons, magic or acrobatics, adding for example extra attack or magic power, or an increase in item drop rate. Items help you during combat by allowing you to heal, or to power up your attacks.
Combat does feel fluid, and being able to dodge around and even behind enemies makes for fast-paced battles. Especially because the game enabmesyou to perform physical attacks at the same time as magic attacks. This allows you to wield you choice of katanas, spears or large swords while simultaneously blasting your enemies with magic particles or setting up defensive walls. Nevertheless, while it sounds like there would be a lot of variety in combat, there really isn’t. Most enemies, with the exception of bosses, tend to be very similar, and not particularly challenging. Some enemies are immune to either physical or magical attacks, but that’s where the variety end. Luckily, the game makes up for it by providing you with interesting and larger-than-life boss fights. The game will often have you progress through a dungeon, solving mechanical puzzles and cuting thought rank-and-file enemies, with a boss fight at the end.
The Verdict
As is fit for a remaster, the game has received upgraded graphics, although it still feels lackluster. The game certainly looks nice, but it seems only minor attention has been given to upgrading the NPCs and environments. Everything still feels rather PS3-era like… The mayor improvement is the addition of voice acting. The original version had no spoken words, which would certainly have been a big miss if this was not added to the remaster, but also in this regard it seems like they only paid much attention to the main characters. While the game clearly has received many upgrades, it feels a bit lackluster still.
Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139… is a good, but certainly not perfect upgrade of a true classic. I can only applaud Square Enix for getting this game out there for the whole world to enjoy (again). The game feels a little dated due to its simple combat and unvaried roster of enemies. But the upgraded graphics and the addition of voice acting certainly makes up for a lot. In true NieR fashion, the game keeps you constantly on your toes, and the story writing is wonderful. The story is certainly the main selling point of the game, and what makes it stand out even today.
3,5/5
Reviewed on PlayStation 4
Downloadcode provided by the publisher.
