Nier Replicant Ver.1.22474487139...

 A remaster of the low-key hit Nier, which proved to be the last game released by cult company Cavia before their closure.  But does Ver 1.22474487139 prove to be a worthy update to the original cult classic, or should fans simply stick to the original?

Cavia as a company was a pretty low-key name for a lot of its existence, mostly known for producing licensed titles and a few originals like Drakengard, which were largely regarded as mediocre save for their grim storylines and twisted themes.  NieR was the last game they released before being absorbed into their parent company (who would later merge with Marvelous Entertainment to become Marvelous AQL), and like many of their original offerings, its reception was muted at first; however, it went on to become a cult classic for its grim, emotional storytelling and innovative narrative design, probably helped in no small part by the runaway success of its sequel, NieR Automata.

NieR's original release was an odd one, though, owing to some regional disparity.  In Japan there were two versions that differed slightly; "NieR Gestalt" was released for the XBox 360 and had the player control Yonah's father, while the Playstation 3 got "NieR Replicant" and instead had them play as Yonah's brother (a much more bishonen design).  However, when the game was localized for other regions, we only got Gestalt's protagonist regardless of platform choice.  The narrative and gameplay was nearly identical regardless, but it seemed that Square was trying to appeal more to a Western audience (whose games, movies, shows etc. generally feature older protagonists) when the game was published outside of Japan.

The 2021 remaster, however, goes in the exact opposite direction, only affording you the opportunity to play as Yonah's brother, with the "dad" protagonist making an appearance in some of the game's added content.  The story has also had some new scenes added - some that were intended for the original game but cut owing to time constraints, and some new scenes that help bridge the story gap between the original NieR and Automata.  They do a surprisingly good job with it too, as it all feels natural and well-integrated; more than I can say for the added content in games like Final Fantasy and some of the more recent Atlus outings.

Another point of criticism for the original NieR was its rather bland visual design; environments were large and empty and combat animation was rather stiff.  This of course gets updated in the remaster too; while the environments' designs don't change in any significant way, they definitely take advantage of the added technological power of modern platforms, with much nicer-looking textures, flora and fauna seeing a new level of detail, and more expressive character animation on the whole.  The overall style also more closely matches Automata's, with a dark-clad protagonist standing out against the lighter washed out environments.  It looks really good for the most part, though some of the more distinct character designs (Grimoire Weiss in particular) don't stand out nearly as much, going from a black-and-gold motif to looking flat gray in most shots.

The voice acting for the remaster was also overhauled, with the protagonist getting two new VO's (Zach Aguilar and Ray Chase); no surprise given the age shift.  Nearly all the dialog in the game is now voiced as well, with many actors from the original reprising their roles - definitely a good thing to most fans, as the voice acting was one of the major highlights of the original NieR.  Liam O'Brien in particular is perfect as the arrogant Grimoire Weiss, while Laura Bailey's Kainé perfectly captures the pain and angst of her character and the tragedy she's endured.

Probably the most significant change overall, though, was the revamped combat system.  While not hugely different from the original NieR, Replicant 1.2's physics and overall feel have received a major overhaul under the supervision of PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura, who also worked on Automata.  The result is certainly evident, too - combat went from being a stiff, tedious affair to feeling much more fluid and satisfying, with every blow feeling significant and affording the player the ability to seamlessly switch from attacking to effectively dodging, parrying and countering enemy blows.  As in any good combat-focused action title, one can also easily switch between ranged attacks and melee owing to the intuitive setup, using the shoulder buttons to govern blocks, parries, ranged projectiles and stronger ones that must be charged up before firing but do significantly more damage.  It's still not on the level of depth as something like, say, Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but I actually ended up looking forward to battles instead of dreading them, so it's still a major improvement over the original.  One can also now access items (both healing and temporary buffers) and change up their special attack selections via a D-pad quick menu, ensuring that the player is never drawn away from the combat for long.

One must keep in mind that the core game is essentially the same despite the remaster, though.  So it's got a lot of the same faults that befell the original - somewhat clunky physics and movement, a lot of rather boring sidequests and sub-missions (many of which just feel like filler meant to make the game longer and add achievements rather than feeling rewarding to do), and a fair bit of tedious farming being required for some things.  That said, one can ignore most of the sub-missions if they wish to and still get the full story experience, so only die-hard completionists need to deal with these.  One must also play through the story a total of four times to see everything; not just the four endings, but several new story elements are also revealed through subsequent playthroughs, with a fifth and new ending added for this version.  So even if you do only bare-basics to complete the main story, it's a fairly time consuming experience if you want to see all NieR's narrative has to offer.

In short, NieR Replicant 1.22474487139... is an excellent remaster, taking a cult classic game, keeping everything that made it such and improving upon several things that drew criticism in the original.  It's still the same game at its core, but with smoother action and combat, nicer visuals on the whole and some very well-integrated new elements, there's a lot here to enjoy for fans of the original and newcomers alike.  If you skipped the original NieR or just found it too clunky to be fun, give the modern remaster a go; you'll see why it's so beloved amongst fans of strong, emotional storytelling in games.

Developer: Toylogic
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Playstation 4, XBox One, PC
Released: 2021
Recommended Version:  The console versions seem to be more or less the same.  However, there are reports among some users that the PC port features bugs and bad optimization as that platform's port of Automata did, so keep that in mind.

NieR: Automata

NieR:Automata marks Yoko Taro's return to the NieR franchise after the closing of Cavia, with development farmed out to highly-acclaimed action game studio PlatinumGames.  But does this blend of character action, RPG and Taro's twisted writing prove to work out for the best, or does it fall short of being anything but a cult classic?

Yoko Taro and Cavia attained a bit of a cult following beginning with the Playstation 2 era, mostly becoming known for the Drakengard series - games known for their dark themes and complex ideas, but relatively lackluster gameplay, being little more than an overly repetitious Dynasty Warriors style beat-em-up at its core.  In 2010, Cavia also released an action-RPG named Nier, released in two versions across the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, which finally gave them some mainstream critical success; unfortunately not enough for them to stay in business, however, as the team was disbanded the same year and absorbed into its parent company, AQ Interactive (now Marvelous AQL).

While set in the same world as the first game, NieR: Automata is not a direct sequel; in fact, it's more of a thematic sequel than anything, carrying on its questions about identity and morality, but in a much different context and against the framing device of a global war against a bizarre alien species.

The original game also clearly had a strong action element, largely taking place in real-time and giving the player a short-ranged weapon and a long-ranged Grimoire that could be used to attack foes from a distance with a rapid-fire barrage of projectile attacks.  The same remains true here, though the gameplay has also been substantially reworked.  It now feels much more like a character action game, giving the player access to a large variety of weapons and basing combat around intricate  combinations of attacks to maximize damage and show off visual flair; knocking enemies back, launching them into the air to put the player in a more advantageous position, and doing last-minute dodges to evade melee attacks being common sights.  Some extra abilities are also present via the Chip system, allowing the player to bolster damage output, gain extra HP, allowing auto-healing when enough damage is taken, and even being able to "parry" enemy attacks with well-timed joystick movements, temporarily putting the enemy off-guard.

One can also customize their secondary weapon (called a "Pod" here) in a variety of ways.  By default it fires a rapid barrage of shots, but it can also launch barrages of missiles that home in on a target, or a constant laser that deals more damage as it stays centered on a target.  Each pod also has a customizable secondary attack, which can be customized in its own right - the default being a heavily-damaging beam that destroys all enemies in a line.  Others include an area-effect hammer, a spinning pod around the player that delivers weak (but rapid) short-ranged attacks, and even a barrier that blocks melee attacks for a short time.  Each has a lengthy cooldown after a use, though its duration can be reduced by certain chips.  Overall, this allows the player to customize the game to their fighting style, or adopt a new strategy for a particularly troublesome enemy.

Further adding to the game's variety, some story segments also play out like an overhead shoot-em-up, either flying straight ahead or giving the player freedom to move in one direction and fire in another a la Robotron 2084.  These are generally rather short, but no less impressive on a visual front, making them a nice break from the main combat engine and open-world format of the game.

Of course, there are plenty of traditional RPG elements as well.  In addition to the main storyline, the game presents numerous sub-quests to complete, which expand upon the game's lore and often grant useful rewards - cash, new chips, and rare and powerful weapons being rewards for some.  A crafting system is present as well, allowing the player to refine obsolete chips into more powerful and useful ones and upgrade the various weapons they find by scavenging materials from the world and defeated enemies.  Oddly, the latter also ties into the lore element of the game as well; each unique weapon has a small "story" associated with it, and more of it is revealed as the weapon gets upgraded.  There are also numerous story paths and endings depending upon the player's choices, which gives it some significant replay value.

NieR: Automata also contains a death mechanic somewhat similar to the Dark Souls games; upon death, the player drops all of their equipped chips and loses some experience, and must travel back to where they died and touch their body to recover them; however, if you die again before recovering your body, that experience and all the chips you had equipped when you originally died are lost for good.  The player also has the option to revive their old body as a temporary ally, which will help them fight for a short time and may give them the edge they need to defeat whatever foe killed them in the first place; however, there is also a small chance that your revived body will actually turn against you, requiring you to fight it instead.  If network mode is enabled, the player can also find the bodies of other players in the locations where they died in their game, and can in turn revive them, recover items from them or "pray" to heal them in real-time in their game.  Thankfully, there is no option for other players to "invade" your game and hinder your progress beyond the small chance that a revived body may be hostile, and if you don't like this feature, you can turn it off at any time so that only your own character's body will appear.

Of course, no review of NieR: Automata can go without mentioning its aesthetics.  Simply put, Automata is a game that draws you in with a brilliantly realized post-apocalyptic setting and a haunting and beautiful atmosphere in its combination of familiar and alien elements.  The soundtrack by Keiichi Okabe and Keigo Hoashi is utterly amazing, complementing the mood of the game perfectly and lending a grandiose feel to its action and scale.  Even more impressively, the audio is designed in such a way that music tracks seamlessly transition into one another, meaning a calm track from a serene ruined city can quickly give way to a hard-driving, choir-backed epic feel when one gets into a fight against a particularly strong foe.  Equally impressive is its voice cast, with Kira Buckland as 2B and Kyle McCarley as 9S doing an incredible job of bringing their characters to life and making the player truly take the journey with them.

In short, NieR: Automata is a very enjoyable game, polishing up the lacking elements of its predecessor while losing none of its intelligent themes or heavy mood in the process.  Its blend of intense action, amazing aesthetics, credible characters and a truly surreal atmosphere and environment to explore make it a game that is not just a joy to play, but an interactive experience that quickly captivates the player's imagination and takes them for a ride.  The more I played it, the more I got enthralled in its world, and while it is a bit grindy and frustrating at times, it is nevertheless a very captivating journey.  Highly recommended.

Developer: PlatinumGames
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Playstation 4, XBox One, PC
Released: 2017, 2019
Recommended version: The PC version of the game does have prominent issues in some areas, with the game occasionally slowing to a crawl in sparsely-populated areas and reported freezes, crashes and other general issues.  Square Enix themselves have not issued any kind of patch to fix this, though there is a fan mod called "FAR" that addresses some major bugs and allows greater customization of the game for a smoother experience (though I still hit major slowdown at times even with it).  Those without a beefy PC or a taste for tweaking can just as easily stick to the PS4 or XBox One versions, however, which provide a generally smoother experience.