I had the (un) luck of learn about the NieR saga with a splendid copy of NieR GestalT lent me indefinitely by a dear friend of mine five or six years ago.
I played it during a boring summer, at home, after finishing all my university exams. I played it on a 21.5 inches perched with a makeshift desk, with low audio so as not to wake my parents who were sleeping a couple of rooms away to understand.
I do not have big memories of that playthrough if not a strong sense of estrangement: how could a game so bad from a playful point of view to be considered a hidden gem?
Because yes, when I approached NieR for the first time, AutomatA already talked a little bit, at least at the level of announcements and its predecessor was considered one of those curious recoveries to do if you had a previous generation console.
There was talk of a game capable of bending the player's will among a thousand curious choices, both in terms of gameplay and plot.
Too bad my first run was lethargic, which lasted a month despite twenty hours of gameplay. A insightful story stuck in a old gameplay as well for 2010, studded with side quests from criminal charges in a meager and technically backward game world.
And yet those characters e that music are still remembered today with some force: Keiichi Okabe quickly became one of the top names of some Japanese music, thanks to his test as a total lion with the 43 songs contained in the game.
What about the characters written by Yoko Taro and illustrated by DK? What about Emil, who has become a kind of icon of him despite the bizarre ideas of his creator?
Essentially, Nier had left his mark on me too; maybe not the most positive possible, of course, but it had certainly given me a little more insight into the works of the odd Yoko Taro.
For all these reasons, when they told me that there was a chance to try out the enhanced and improved version of that title, I simply said to myself "it's time to retrace my steps".
Fortunately for me, I did.
Remake, remaster or something in between for Nier Replicant?
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 is a video game developed by the Japanese software house Toylogic with the supervision of Yoko Taro which has only one goal: transporting what was good in the first NieR within a gameplay suitable for these days, satisfying as many players as possible and integrating into the package all the beautiful ideas put together in the ten years that have passed since the first release.
The final result, we say it immediately for the avoidance of doubt, is very positive.
Nier Replicant Ver.1.22474487139 it is an excellent product from practically all points of view. It Migliora almost all downsides that were in the first game, managing to transform them into pleasant or valuable elements.
Those who were the positives were maintained e, whenever possible, emphasize again more thanks to an excellent workmanship; this has certainly left everyone who expected it from amazed Square Enix yet another homework.
The title is a kind of complete edition with technical improvements of what in Japan was known as NieR Replicant and which we English speakers it never came.
Yes, because as if that were not enough, the publication of the original NieR was enough tangled: in Japan exist two versions of NieR, a call NieR Replicant and a Nier shape. In the American and European territory it was only the Gestalt version which, for the occasion, lost the subtitle.
Yet the differences between the two titles were practically miniscule!
Removed the change of a few sentences to adapt to a different protagonist, the big difference between the two titles was represented by a different main character.
In Replicant il protagonist was a sixteen year old teenager while in Gestalt in the hands of the player we had a middle-aged black man. This clearly changed the protagonist's relationship with Yonah, another important character who acts as a cornerstone and engine to the events of history: in Replicant we found ourselves interpreting the part of older brother while in Gestalt we found ourselves interpreting the part of dad.
Now let's skip all the whys and wherefores and move on to what we have today.
By purchasing NieR Replicant, the player will experience the story told from the point of view ofteenage brother of Yonah, a choice which as far as we are concerned it appears winning also in the perspective ofimmersion.
Compared to the original Nier Replicant we find a few slices of bonus plot with all new boss, also quite interesting from the point of view of spectacle.
We can't do many thematic spoilers but we swear to you that the new contents are more than pleasant and let you enjoy even more the great creative flair of Yoko Taro.
In addition to this NieR Replicant Ver: 1.22474487139 contains the DLC del first title called 15 Nightmares which shows backstory related to the protagonist's mother and a lot of new costumes, with lots of winks to those who left their hearts with NieR AutomatA.
This, however, is nothing more than the appetizer compared to what is contained in this version of the title because, as already mentioned in the preview, what Toylogic has put the most effort into is gameplay.
A decisive step forward
The first Nier to play was a half disaster.
The software house Cavia she was never famous to put together interesting combat systems or refined and that game was the perfect demonstration of it.
Nier Replicant Ver.1.22474487139 is a more structured and refined video game, also thanks to the supervision of Takahisa Taura (who worked on and designed the excellent combat system of NieR AutomatA) to the development.
The combat system gains significantly in depth, giving the player a renewed feeling of control of the character between more malleable animations and smarter dodging. The combat system also integrates a defense and parry system that will make happy all those who love high risk high reward strategies.
At the level of possibility the player can do roughly the same things as the original: the protagonist can perform two types of melee attacks e attack from a distance using the powers of Grimoire Weiss.
The latter, exactly like in the original game, are declinable in different forms going from a series of spheres launched continuously as a kind of machine gun to more complex spells such as absorption of the bullets of others, punches capable of stuning opponents, spears capable of throwing the unfortunate into the air and so on.
Among the novelties of this new game version we find the possibility of enable quick weapon switching through the press of a single directional button, allowing the player to put together combo of more complex shots by changing the type of weapon on the fly.
This feature gives the combat system even more greater variety e dynamism, switching from slow two-handed weapon attacks to faster sword strikes with the use of a single button. This goes together with a renewed targeting system which allows the player to perform bypassing dodges to directly attack the opponent's shoulders.
Even the moves available to the player have increased, with lots of charged attacks which can act as enabler for any aerial combos whichever weapon you use dozens of. All this good things come enhanced in a decent way battles against medium-sized opponents or against mini bosses.
for main bossfightsinstead, a different speech.
Here the gameplay gives way to a narrative that makes its way suddenly, accomplices cutscenes that are activated when a certain damage threshold is reached. This choice allows players to take a breather between one dodge and another, knowing more about the players and the events.
All this concentrate of blunt thrashing and dodging is chained to a statistics system linked to the weapons used and their level (as well as the level of the protagonist, less important from a purely numerical point of view but still useful for survival purposes).
During the course of the game it will be possible to collect materials to be used inside to upgrade your death tools in a very elementary way, making sense of the drop system and rewarding the player for exploring the dungeons.
Both spells and weapons will then result upgradeable through theequipment of the so-called words of power, literally accessories able to enhance a percentage of parameters such as the basic attack, the damage against armor, the cost in MP or the percentage of items / XP dropped. This duo of RPG elements aren't particularly in-depth or complex but add a bit of variety to what otherwise would have been a purely and uniquely action game.
NieR Replicant Ver: 1.22474487139, exactly like hers illustrious predecessor and his progenitor, does not enjoy being perpetually equal to himself during the course of the game. It is not only a third-person action with a combat system worthy of the name but it is fun to change and mix things, bending the player's expectation to different regime changes.
Exactly how we learned to appreciate in Automata here the camera rotates, moves, looks at us from the other or from a particular angle giving the game a different flavor repeatedly: every now and then we will feel like playing a platform, every now and then to a run & gun. In a specific section the stunning isometric visual it will put us in front of an almost hack and slash section of Blizzardian memory. This will often happen during the course of the title's dungeons which, while avoiding shining for art direction and level design, will be fun and varied at the right point to avoid boredom.
Sometimes, in order to make us change our perspective on what we are playing, the camera will decide to stop working and will leave room for sections fully told by the dialogues, sections that emphasize what is still one of today absolute strengths of the title.
Of puppets, puppeteers, human beings and talking books
If NieR has managed to carve a place in the hearts of the players it is thanks to writing and skilful hand di Yoko Taro, an unruly author capable of giving life to situations, characters and narratives worthy of great attention.
The story of NieR starts with one of the alternative endings of the first Drakengard to build a narrative that crosses the millennia, with upheavals capable of making most people tear their hair. A narrative inhabited by powerful characters, destined to remain in the hearts of the players for a long time.
Wanting to do a summary we can tell you this: the player, in the role of the protagonist of the story will have to explore the world looking of a cure for a disease called Obituary who is slowly killing the only family member left in his life. During the course of this path, it will be helped by a talking magic book, From one girl as violent as she is rude and one young child with the power to petrify what he touches with his eyes. Any of these characters though hides more secrets and traumas than you will want to remember at the end of the plot, giving the motivation to see the flow of the story twist on itself and wander elsewhere, touching difficult emotional chords.
Compared to the average of Japanese video games Nier Replicant Ver.1.22474487139 he does not tell them and immediately puts one on display a certain crudeness in the themes and in their representation.
A clear example for us is represented by subplots of side quests, often very interesting thanks also to often unpredictable plot implications.
People in the world of NieR they die, they suffer, they feel bad and they do nothing to hide it, giving a sense of almost sad realism to the story.
The plot of the title itself touches on an infinity of different themes: from the sense of identity to exclusion, to the pain of self-acceptance passing through the meaning of life, of friendship to the family, touching on very distant themes such as ecology, the apocalypse and so on has more metta. It's hard to talk about all of this without spoiling it but what we can tell you is to buy the title and play it, especially if you are interested in a video game capable of thrilling through a non-trivial writing far from the classic Japanese stylistic features.
Many of the achievements of fiction stem from the quartet of characters on which the events of the title then rotate. If the protagonist is perhaps the least interesting of the group, the other three characters travel on very high levels of characterization with wonderful buildings regarding both Emil and Kainé.
All of the characters, on the occasion of this version of the game, have been dubbed again in a masterly way and are even more able to excite during the numerous cutscenes of which they will be the protagonists, willingly snatching sincere emotions from the player's heart.
The interpretations of Emil, Cain they are often touching while it is impossible not to get a grin on hearing the voice of Grimoire Weiss, with his sardonic way. In general the dubbing of NieR Replicant Ver: 1.22474487139 succeeds in shining, thanks to an apt cast and a capable direction, for a much felt final result emotionally.
Great dialogue writing is a reflection of Yoko Taro's incredible ability to communicate with strength and power worlds as terrible as they are bizarre, impregnated with a filthy and terribly real humanity. This can be seen in all those surrounding dialogues that are present within the narrative, capable of putting on paper feelings such as fear, hope, innocence or the simple ignorance of the human being. All without even having to bother with the main storyline.
Exotic locations in NieR Replicant they are equally interesting thanks to a worldbuilding that takes advantage of clever ideas and that everyone agrees, also thanks to a extremely functional art direction for the purpose of the story.
A separate discussion should then be made for the weapon stories, that is, the lore segments that are included in each weapon and that are discovered along with the weapon level increase. These were added within the title, taking up the path carried out by the author since the first Drakengard. They push the player interested in dissecting its contents to deepen the mechanics related to the grinding and drop of objects, all to reward him with other stories, other narrative segments, other emotional peaks.
Satisfied yes, but sparingly
NieR Replicant is (presumably, there aren't many official statements about it) a very faithful porting of the contents of the first game within the development framework that Platinum put together for NieR AutomatA.
This allowed a clear enhancement of the gameplay and brought on the stage a visually interesting video game, which seems almost recent despite a base that is about ten years old.
Compared to the original the improvements are obvious from multiple points of view: even on the now obsolete Playstation 4 base polygonal models are nice, the settings despite their rarefied nature have a certain charisma and special effects during the fighting they are not missing. The animation sector is of good quality, ensuring spectacular moves and an excellent feeling of the various moves that can be used by the player in practically any context. Sure, we are far from levels of excellence or even just avant-garde but basically we avoid complaining too much: the final atmosphere is able to improve the player's experience.
The only one Negative point that we would like to report is from find yourself in the framerate, a bit' unstable in very agitated situations like some bossfight. The game remains stable on 60 FPS to then collapse towards the winds in very sparse but, alas, existing situations; nothing that can't be fixed with a pass of the patch, anyway. Furthermore, this problem may well not exist on mid-gen or next-generation consoles.
We have only applause, however, for the music sector that offers one re-orchestrated and rearranged version of some of the original tracks adding them to the 43 tracks of that masterpiece which was the original OST.
These rearrangements made with the support of Keiichi Okabe are precious, able to give new brilliance memorable melodies of songs like Kainé, Emil and the splendid Song Of Ancients, by virtue of instruments e timbres absent in the original versions.
Conclusions
So far we have spent over two thousand five hundred words to praise this game which, if not understood, we liked it and not a little.
Unfortunately, as every rose has its thorns, not everything went the right way and a little something about this production must be recriminated.
From NieR originally Yoko Taro & associates had the unhealthy idea of taking with them what was perhaps themost unbearable element e tedious: the side quests.
Here, although we have spent nice words to talk about the narrative behind these elements, we assure you that the same it cannot be done for the recreational sector.
Because yes, Nier Replicant's quests are practically all collect x items, eliminate x monsters, go from point y to point x and nothing more: they are all, cursed, fetch quests.
None of these things have a playful quality to entice the player to complete them, so much so that we are sure that many will not platinum the game for the hatred they end up trying for this kind of mission, whose general quality at the end of the speech is unlike those that were present in NieR AutomatA.
The only ones that, in our opinion, are saved are those made within the forest of myths that they directly bypass the gameplay of the title to bring to the heart of the player some stories told as a kind visual novel; we assure you that they work much better than slaughtering 2000 shadows in the hopes of dropping 10 items of a kind. Even the whole storyline relating to the lighthouse keeper is to be considered as emotionally insightful.
The same could be said for the minigames in the title: fishing and farming is not particularly fun but oh well, let's get over it.
Another criticism could be made instead of the choice of soften the features of Kainé, making her feel much more feminine than she originally was.
This process is very similar to the one that led Aerith's polygonal model in Final Fantasy 7 Remake to be modified in favor of a less elongated face but which, in this case, also given the nature of the character (rest assured that we will not spoil anything) leaves a little stunned.
Also Emil he has seen his face lose something in terms of expressiveness, although we still have to be satisfied with it in our opinion.
For the rest?
For the rest we are talking about a video game that perhaps, technically, could do more at least on the new generation or midgen consoles. We feel quite sad that a video game released this far in the production cycle of a console has such a mediocre level of detail from a graphic point of view but who knows, maybe there is always time to review this title coming out once again on Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X / S.
Nier Replicant Ver.1.22474487139 is a very interesting video game that we would like to recommend dispassionately to all those who do not only look at the graphics sector in a video game.
Yoko Taro and Toylogic have created a work of great quality, renewing a stale gameplay in almost every part and marking even more the trait on the strong points of the production. The end result is an incredibly commendable video game, capable of thrilling a lot thanks to a writing of great quality and characters of undoubted strength.
If you have appreciated NieR AutomatA, the purchase of Replicant is almost mandatory, you will hardly regret it.
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