NieR Replicant

(Played on PC through Steam with a controller in Japanese, both text and voice.)

(Minor spoilers for both NieR Replicant and NieR Automata)

By the time I felt satisfied with playing NieR Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139..., the save file told me that I had put more than 50 hours into it. The first 39 or so of those were spent on reaching the end credits for the first time while completing all the side quests of various quality. The next 8 were spent on playing the game’s home stretch twice and the final dungeon three times to get the original final ending. In the final hours, I got to play the beginning of this game again to reach the new real ending this rerelease had in store.

As someone encountering NieR series through 2017’s critically acclaimed Automata, Replicant does not hit as hard as it shouldhave. Type of story and repetition being the 2 main factors. Still, the chance to play this cult classic is not to be missed, and I’m very glad that I took it.

Man searching for a community

In the not-so-distant future of 2050s, mankind dies out due to a disease while black monsters known as Shades roaming the planet. Then, in the distant future of 3460s, pockets of human civilization manage to rebuild with Shades still being a threat. A young boy and his ill sister move to a small town. From there, the boy will embark a journey to cure her sister while help the town folks on the side.

Replicant tells a very different story than Automata. The 2010 cult hit models itself after Dragon Quest style orthodox JRPG and post Link to the Past Zelda games, while its 2017 loose sequel starts as one of those Aliens Wannabes, not unsimilar to Halo or Mass Effect. Replicant contains a lot of tragedies but they are mostly found in the back half of the game. On the other hand, Automata puts its sad killers up and front.

NieR series has the reputation of be uniquely tragic, with which I disagree. I am no expert on JRPG in terms of playing those myself, but more than 6 years of listening to Retronauts tells me that Replicant’s tragedy is not uncommon compared to many other JRPGs. It’s just that by the year 2010, not many tragedies were told through the genre.

Replicant overall does not feel as sad as Automata. The fall of Bunker in Automata feels like a lose of identity to both grew-attached-the-abuser 9S and self-exiled A2, while losing his sister, Yonah to the Shadow Lord in Replicant sets the player character free. After that point, he whose name the player can put in becomes a free agent, bonding with town folks and town exiles alike.

The two companion characters are the strong suit of Replicant. The first being Kaine, a foul-mouthed softy raised by a quietly foul-mouthed and kind hearted Grandma. Her censored lines in Japanese sounds like she threats to cut the dicks and balls of every man she encounters. Then there is Emil, a kind boy turned super weapon. While Emil returns as a comedy relief in Automata, his profound tragedy in Replicant is something done better than Pascal’s in the sequel.

The additional story bit of Ver.1.22474487139… is a story called Mermaid peppered into the final segment of the game. It’s the part where every playthrough towards all ends would add something new. Though overall this story feels bit too similar to the opera singer boss in the park bit of Automata. The new final ending shines real bright by comparison since the Ending D of Replicant is nowhere near as cathartic as Automata’s Ending E. Even though it requires more repetition, I find it worthy.

Killer and Handyman

NieR Replicant is an action role-playing game. Even though the player does not control companions in any meaningful way, “’so and so’ had joined your party” would display to add the JRPG flavor. The action does not contain the Platinum flavor of Automata, but it’s functional button mashing action. One just chooses the weapon with the highest attack number and sticks to it. The ability to shoot with Grimoire Weiss while hack-and-slash is a brand of the series.

NieR Replicant is more of genre blender than its sequel, with one of its major dungeons being a pure text-based adventure while another being a fixed camera horror homage. Camera angle change between a 3D action and 2D shumup is something the sequel inherits.

Side quests of this game for me offer incentives to engage other parts of the game than combat. There is a quest line for fishing. A quest about some flower seeds is the reason why I ever bothered to grow anything in the game, since the gardening feels tedious in this post Stardew Valley world. Some needs to click on a tile, select from a menu at least twice to plant a seed then gingerly move to another tile and repeat. Thankfully, all side quests in Replicant can be completed in the first playthrough, there is no additional side quests on one’s road to other endings.

Replicant is very much a cut scene game similar to those branded “Hideo Kojima Game”. It took me 6 hours to play through the home stretch the second time, where there are new cut scenes with more insights. It only took 2 hours the third time around, because I skipped all the cut scenes.

Ultimately, one of the reasons why Replicant’s original ending does not feel as cathartic is its repetition. Compared to Automata’s chapter select for you to replay the final chapter/boss fight to get its final 2 endings, replaying the getting half dozen key pieces for the final dungeon bit three times is a lot to ask.

Conclusion

NieR Replicant could be considered a blast from the past in 2010, as its sorrowful and effective story was few and far between at the time of launch. 11 years later, it certainly benefits from the fact that the 2010s does not invent anything new in terms of video game genres. After the decade when everything old become new again, Replicant certainly feels fresher than ever in its rerelease. If you have more than 50 hours to spare, NieR Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139... is a rabbit hole worth going down into.