Gaming Reference & Reviews

NieR Replicant tells a story unlike any other

Square Enix struck gold in 2010 thanks to the talents of the now defunct Cavia & their infamous director Yoko Taro of Drakenguard & later NieR Automata fame. NieR Replicant & Gestalt both made waves on their original platforms & did a much better job of putting Taro’s work on the map than Drakenguard did upon its release. With such a beloved cult classic back on the assembly line for a remaster, it’s understandable that fans would be uneasy about the quality & faithfulness of such a project in another studio’s hands. Thankfully, Toylogic has handled its modern day remaster with great care. While it foregoes the alternate Gestalt version of the original release, the differences between the two versions were not nearly enough to discourage anyone from trying the shiny new definitive version. The game has always been a rather niche experience, & since the remaster is so faithful to the source material it remains difficult to recommend to a mainstream audience. For those who take the plunge, however, they will be met with an unforgettable experience only a twisted mind like Yoko Taro can bring to life.

NieR Replicant’s story & world are obviously its biggest assets, boasting a fantastically tragic theme along with equally tragic & rich characters. There isn’t a single weak link among the starring cast from the vulgar yet deeply loyal Kaine, to the kindhearted disaster of science Emil & even the pompous companion to the protagonist Grimoire Weiss. Every character is outfitted with excellent voice acting & dialogue, & the same treatment is given to even the side characters from the different regions of the game. On the note of those regions, NieR Replicant’s locales are all chock full of bizarre identity & personality. Throughout the game you will visit villages built on the walls of an unfathomably deep canyon, robotic junkyards, tribal desert kingdoms, colour-drained desolate mansions & more. No location in NieR Replicant’s world passes you by without leaving an impression.

The soundtrack is also nothing short of incredible, with a full emotional suite of tracks that can effortlessly pull your heartstrings in whatever direction best fits the scene. Certain songs also have one or sometimes more variations that are used to brilliant thematic effect during the course of the game, with Song of the Ancients being one of the all star standouts of the OST.

Almost every game has a weakness, & for NieR Replicant that weakness is the gameplay. The combat is serviceable, but ultimately too basic & repetitive to really keep the player engaged the whole way through. Fighting consists of light & heavy attacks with some slight weapon type variation, with easily the most fun part coming from the blood red magic the protagonist can use thanks to the ever illustrious Grimoire Weiss. The overworld can also grow rather repetitive, requiring the player to backtrack multiple times across the same open & empty hub zone reminiscent of hyrule field from Ocarina of Time. Sidequests also have a similarly aged design of going to point a, accomplishing a simple task & returning to point b, but on the bright side many otherwise bland sidequests are made memorable by the often heart wrenching conclusions one can come to expect from games helmed by Yoko Taro.

The game can be completed semi-casually in about 50 hours, which is a longer run time than the original release thanks to some meaningful additions from Toylogic that improve the remaster & solidify it as the definitive version of the game. Replayability is difficult to gauge with Yoko Taro projects, as they almost always feature multiple endings that must all be reached to get the full experience. NieR Replicant features 5 endings, besting the original game’s 4 endings thanks to an additional ending allowing you to play as Kaine in the remaster. While some of these endings make you play the same sections of the game again, each one always contains some amount of new content that further deepens the player’s understanding of the full scope of the game’s plot. So while you may be able to play through sections of the game multiple times, once you reach the 5th ending the game has no more content left to show you, leaving the replayability somewhat low. NieR Replicant is also a full price AAA title at $80 CAD & rarely goes on sale. That combined with its aforementioned niche appeal leaves the game unfitting for a broad audience, but those who enjoy projects from Yoko Taro can be fully assured that NieR Replicant features some of the best writing from any of his games.

Since assigning a numerical value to art seems somewhat pointless to me, instead included below is a handy list of pros & cons to help you come to your own conclusion

Pros	Cons
A fantastic story unlike any other	Bland, repetitive action gameplay
Excellent character writing & design	Dated sidequest structure & backtracking
Visually distinct & interesting locations	Lacking replayability after all 5 endings are achieved
Powerful soundtrack that is guaranteed to stick with you	Difficult to get into due to a high price point & niche appeal