NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… Review – What is the square root of 1.5?

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GAME INFO

NieR Replicant version 1.22474487139 …

April 23, 2021

Platform PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher Square Enix
Developer Square Enix, Toylogic

Among the legendary developers who have led projects for Square-Enix over the years is a mystery man with an Emil mask named Yoko Taro. For years, its JRPGs achieved cult status, but without much recognition from the international press. It wasn’t until the release of NieR Automata that Yoko Taro’s eccentricities entered the collective and his catalog of earlier works became more widely recognized. Millenia before the 14th Machine War and Project YoRHa from Automata, there was simply the story of a young father (brother) trying to cure his daughter (sister) disease. This story of family love went by two names, depending on the family dynamic, but generally shared the same storylines. Now, in honor of the 11th anniversary of the original title, that story of brother NieR and sister Yonah has been reworked and released on a new console generation in NieR Replicant version 1.22474487139 ….

Cursed by a mysterious ailment that leaves the host all marked with runes known as the Black Scrawl, the brother (or father in the case of NieR Gestalt) wants to do everything to give his sister / daughter a better chance of life . He doesn’t stop at nothing to find a possible cure, wherever it goes. Along the way, this swordsman and devoted family man will intersect and partner with a swordsman with a more cruel mouth than her knives, a floating grimoire in a similar way to words, and a young boy cursed for being able to petrify anything he watches. The story itself takes place over many years and multiple playthroughs, so steal yourself with a unique story that requires some dedication to get through to the end.

The combat in the original Cavia-developed NieR Gestalt / Replicant, while usable, feels stiff and unintuitive at least a decade after its release. To compensate for this, the Toylogic team has helped to renew the fight to modern standards. Brother NieR’s combat stream still consists of weaving light and heavy weapon attacks along with magic from his floating grimoire partner and dodging / defending / blocking to soften incoming attacks. Combos are easy to link together by alternately tapping or holding the attack button for a more powerful attack. Even in the middle of battle, the player can switch weapons from one-handed swords to two-handed swords and spears (in the second half of the story) with a strange quirk: tapping the d-pad will bring up the weapon menu while holding the direction button does a quick swap instead. It’s very small, but a mechanic I definitely would have swapped around the entrances.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … offers a plethora of new content that was not present in the original PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases that have been faithfully restored from original design documents and the various other media that Yoko Taro has published through the year. During the original release of Gestalt, the town of Seafront didn’t offer much to advance the story, other than a fishing event that was often a source of frustration for players not thinking about going to the * other * beach in town. New in NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 … is a storyline about a young woman named Louise who is trapped on board an abandoned ship that has run aground on Seafront’s western beach. This storyline ties into both chapters of the main character’s journey, tying some loose ends together between NPCs that wouldn’t otherwise have gotten much story focus in the beginning. In the second half of the adventure, venturing into this abandoned ship is a necessary detour before collecting all the important fragments to enter the Shadowlord’s castle.

Beyond the Mermaid chapter and the obvious change of perspective from Yonah’s father to brother, much of the main campaign remains identical to the same story that players first enjoyed a decade ago. If you are not familiar with NieR duology or Yoko Taro’s style, it is important to note that the story from beginning to end just once is not enough to make sense of the whole story. After defeating the Shadowlord and rescuing Yonah, the game fades to credits before the player is rewarded with an Ending A stamp in their notebook. As if that weren’t an obvious indication that there is more to see, the resumption of that serve starts over and players start going back in the second half of the story after timeskip and undergoing the same tasks albeit with minor changes. As you replay the story on your way to a final showdown with the Shadowlord, the most glaring mistake a player can make is skipping the story’s cutscenes. These not only inform the player with an elaborate cut, but occasionally scenes pop up to fill in the story from a different point of view. This is especially important with Mermaid’s storyline as this is something brand new in NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 …

Toylogic has thrown in a pair of red herrings to tease the player as they replay brother NieR’s story for the second or third time. After completing Ending A, players will unlock the option to change the music in NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … but not in the way players would expect. Instead of switching between the original soundtrack and remastered tracks, a number of important music, typically battle tracks, from NieR Automata are included. If you keep a close eye on the credits for clues, you may even notice some interesting names like Kira Buckland in the mix.

Discussing the other important piece of new content in NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … is something I only want to mention in passing to preserve the real revelations for players picking up the title later this week. After all, it’s the possibility of a continuation of the brother’s story that will draw longtime fans of the series back to this improved kind of remaster. Unfortunately, in order to reach the new story content, you’ll need to play through enough NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … to unlock Ending D, a task that is often the last a player will accomplish in their playthrough. One of the main requirements to unlock this ending requires finding each weapon (upgrading them is another matter). However, this task of upgrading each weapon requires a tremendous amount of grinding and often a bit of luck to discover enough eagle eggs or understated bracelets for some of those latest upgrades, a task found in NieR Replicant ver .1.22474487139 … compared to the original release. Fortunately, with the addition of the World of Recycled Vessel DLC built into the main game, the car in the 15 Nightmares provides a good grinding location for the Eagle Eggs and certain other components. During my full review, it easily took another twenty hours after completing Ending C, only to upgrade the last few weapons to fill out the crafting log and wrap up any loose ends before looking for the final ending of NieR .

Without going into details, Ending D remains the last achievement players will want to undertake in their time as brother NieR. After completing this world-changing task, the game will start again, it seems at first glance. It takes a few more hours to go through the movements and travel the world, from a visit to Devola and Popola to the Junk Shop, Aerie and the like. It is during an important cutscene that the story takes a drastically different direction and takes players to a new storyline. All in all, it takes about three hours to complete this new content, a reward that players may or may not find sufficient for the last sixty hours of gameplay. If you’ve watched all of Yoko Taro’s notes and plays over the past decade, the content taking place in the Forest of Myth has been discussed before, but except the most devoted Taro devotees will find this new content surprising in all of the best ways.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … is generally a strange beast in terms of rankings: it’s more than a remaster, but not quite a remake. If anything, it would be best to consider NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … in the same vein as SaGa Frontier Remastered. The graphics and combat are up to modern standards, and content once considered lost helps fill in any gaps in the story of brother NieR and sister Yonah. As the definitive release of the first NieR story, NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … should be a satisfying conclusion for the adventurous players first experienced years ago.

Rated on PlayStation 4 Pro (code provided by the publisher).

Products mentioned in this post

NieR Replicant version 1.22474487139 ...

NieR Replicant version 1.22474487139 …
USD 59.99

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8.4

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 … recovers lost content alongside a brand new ending, but requires players to refresh the same 60+ hours of grind to experience what’s unique about this strangely numbered JRPG.

Benefits

  • Enhanced combat makes killing shades more fun
  • Original English dub alongside new voice lines from Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien and others steal the show
  • The contents of the lost and cutting chamber floor were seamlessly put back into the main campaign
  • Includes previous DLC of recycled barrel and costume
  • The final payout is worth it for dedicated Yoko Taro fans
  • Character models and faces have been greatly improved, although some may be polarized with Kaine’s new look

Cons

  • Extensive grinding required to fully upgrade each weapon, unchanged from the original release
  • No switch for remastered and original soundtrack
  • Elder dad NieR is only playable for the 15 Nightmares side content despite a completely new character model
  • Not much has changed to break the monotony of the latter loops
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