NieR Replicant Coming to the West, and more!

It's finally happened! Today was the 10th Anniversary special for the NieR series, and along with the event came some very exciting news for fans. For the first time ever, NieR Replicant will finally be released world wide in it's remastered form titled "NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139." So while details are still pretty limited, it has been confirmed that it is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and that this is an "enhanced" version with a rerecorded OST, and new voice acting (featuring returning voice actors from NieR Automata) as well. But what is Replicant exactly? Well to put it simply...

NieR Replicant is one of the two versions of the original NieR that was released exclusively in Japan. While NieR Gestalt was released in the West, it is a slightly different game than Replicant. The main differences between the two come from who NieR actually is. In Gestalt we saw an older NieR trying to help his daughter who is suffering from a great illness that is sweeping the world. This NieR is rougher than most JRPG protagonists, and was thought to be more appealing to the Western audience. Meanwhile the NeiR of Replicant is a young man who is taking care of his sister, rather than his daughter, with some other differences being seen throughout the game. While the story is largely the same, "Young NeiR" is actually the character most of the series as a whole follows, with most promotional material and short stories focusing on him rather than the "Adult NeiR" we got here in the west. So in a way Replicant can be considered the "canon" version of the game, but even that is incorrect to say. This series as a whole isn't as black and white as that. That being said, it's really nice that we'll finally get to play this version of the game here in the West, and it'll also give fans of NieR
Automata to finally get to see the original story... Or rather, the start of the NieR story arc.

So, for those of you who haven't followed NeiR or played Automata... What is NeiR? Well that's a difficult question to answer.

(This amazing art comes from "Short Story Long")

NieR is a follow up series to the original Drakengard games that came out back during the PS2 days (with a sequel also being released on PS3). It's a massive series filled with short stories, manga, and novels, and it's something that continues to expand even to this day. NeiR was the next main chapter in this series, and because of that it too has spun off a large amount of side content to continue expanding the world. More short stories, more novels, stage plays, lore books, etc... It's a massive universe filled with stories that most developers would shy away from. It's a series that isn't afraid to look into the darker side of things, and cover topics that some might be considered taboo. It's a series that can take moments pulled out of your deepest, darkest, nightmares and turn them into touching scenes that will make you want to cry instead. It's something special, and each entry in the series continues to do the unexpected. The original NieR was no different. In fact, one might argue it and it's supporting side content are some of the best stories in the entire series. That's what NeiR is. Telling anymore would ruin it. It's a series you need to experience for yourself to understand what it's actually about.

That being said, NeiR does take place many MANY years before Automata, but that doesn't mean Automata players won't recognize at least some things about it. Automata's world is actually built on top of the ruins of NeiR's world, and because of that you will still see some familiar things. Plot points in Automata will also become clearer when you come back to this one, so fans have that to look forward to as well.

For a glimpse at what is to come, check out the new teaser trailer:


On top of this a mobile game titled "NieR Re[in]carnation" was also announced, but not much is known about this other than the fact that it'll feature the returning character Kaine (but as a little girl). You can check out it's trailer as well below:


In OTHER NieR related news, SINoALICE is finally coming to the West as well! This Yoko Taro game was set to launch last year with a NieR Automata collaboration as it's first event, but then the project went silent. Well last week the US team finally confirmed that the title will launch this July instead. The game uses Yoko Taro's signature "darker" style, and features characters based off of fairy tales fighting for their lives, as well as characters from the NieR and Drakengard series. For more information, check out the official webpage, and check out the Ownership Transfer Notice for details on SINoALICE's departure from Nexon.