- Spoiler: show
- Jan 8: Densetsu no Stafy
Jan 10: Parodius 2: Fantastic Journey
Jan 26: Parodius: Non-Sense Fantasy
Jan 28: Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius
Feb 19: Metroid Zero Mission
Feb 21: Kirby’s Dreamland
Mar 6: Yakuza 5
Mar 25: Luigi’s Mansion 2
Mar 30: Kirby’s Dreamland 2
Apr 13: New Super Mario Bros
May 1: Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
Jun 17: Super Bomberman
Jun 24: Mother 3
Jul 12: DoReMi Fantasy: Milon’s Quest
Jul 16: Angry Birds Trilogy
Aug 3: Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
Aug 12: Gunstar Heroes
Aug 13: Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
Having played and adored Nier Automata, I always wanted to try out the original to see how it all began. So I was very happy to hear the original Nier was getting a remake and always had it on my to play list. Having finally finished it I can say that there is a lot of really great things about this game but also some negative aspects that hold it back from being a 10/10 experience.
But first, the good. The combat is pretty much copied form Automata and as a result, it is really fun chopping up enemies, deftly dodging their attacks while spamming magic projectiles at them. I heard one fo the big flaws of the original was that the combat was a bit on the clunky side and detracted from the strengths of the game such as its narrative. The developer Toylogic did a great job emulating what Platinum Games achieved and have really made a satisfying combat system that makes going up against the various creatures and robots in this game a real joy. Related somewhat to the combat are that the bosses were a big highlight for me. Massive spectacles that always seemed to go in perfect sync with the story and music. This seems to be something that the Nier games in particular are great at and has only being enhanced with the refined combat system seen here. Music by Keiichi Okabe is also just as wonderful as it was for Automata. So many of these themes stick with you long after you play them and perfectly capture the brooding, melancholic atmosphere of the Nier series. Okabe is honestly up there with the likes of Uematsu and Kondo when it comes to videogame soundtracks, extraordinarily talented individual.
Another big positive is the main cast of characters. They are all flawed yet easy to empathise with and the chemistry between them is top notch. Nier is a kind hearted guy who deeply cares for his sister and is always willing to help others but carries a genocidal hatred of Shades, the main enemies of the game. When you learn more about what Shades actually are, the player becomes a lot more uncomfortable with how Nier feels about these beings. But given that he can’t understand what they are even saying, he can’t have the opportunity to change his views which is the kind of tragic irony Yoko Taro excels at. Grimoire Weiss is the magical book that serves the same purpose as the pods in Automata, being as he performs ranged attacks. Weiss is an entertaining blend of insufferably pompous and sassy and his quips with other characters definitely provided a lot of the light hearted moments of the game. His relationship with the rest of the party develops in a believable way as well as he genuinely wants to help them out in their struggles while still delivering catty insults at them. Kaine is a ridiculously sexualised swords-woman (her outfit makes 2B look like a nun in comparison, why is there neatly cut holes in her underwear? It is so over the top that it borders on parody) but despite her pretty looks is incredibly foul mouthed, hot tempered and just anti-social in general. However considering her childhood and how she was treated by her home village that is bound to have an effect on how you view other people. However she begins to soften considerably as she interacts with Nier and especially the last member of your party Emil. He is honestly quite opposite to Kaine in that he looks horrific but is one of the sweetest characters in the game. His backstory as a magical weapon is especially tragic and considering how he was treated it is amazing he turned out as good hearted as he did. Overall, this was a very interesting group to play with and marks these characters as one of the most memorable party in an RPG I have ever played as.
Related to the characters is the story itself. It definitely takes a lot of twists and turns and becomes pretty subversive after Route A as you begin to understand more about the Shades and why your actions might have been far more harmful than you intended. It is a story with a lot of gray shades and Route E in particular throws some really wild things your way. It is also brilliant in that if you just finish Route A then it looks like a nice happy ever after ending
- Spoiler: show
- (well other than Weiss and Emil sacrificing themselves that is)
but subsequent playthroughs show that things are a lot more messy than you typically encounter in most RPGs. My only real issue is that the game does not tell you the full story and most of it is revealed in other media such as books. So you have a rough idea of what is going on but it is only through searching for more context in other avenues that you really get the whole picture. For example,
- Spoiler: show
- I did not know that killing the Shadowlord who is the original Gestalt means that the Black Shawl can never be cured in Replicants and thus humanity is irreversibly headed for extinction. Knowing this has even made the more positive ending of Route E that much more bleak.
I understand not wanting to spoonfeed the player everything but a few more hints of the bigger picture might have been nice.
So those were the positives and there were very big positives indeed. However, this game also has some flaws that made my time with it less than ideal. So after you finish Ending A, you start at the midpoint of the game and continue on until you get to the final boss again. You do Routes B and C and each time you do you gain further context behind the story and the character’s actions. All great, same as what was done with Route B in Nier Automata. However, unlike Automata where the game significantly changes as you start Route C, in Replicant Route C has you replaying the same sections again. I got so sick of the Lost Shrine by the end of Route C that I never want to set foot in it again. Unfortunately you do have to replay that blasted section again when you aim for Route E so yeah in order to get all endings you are playing through the Lost Shrine NINE times. I am quite frankly really sick of games demanding I do the same thing again and again in order to finish the game properly. Seriously Automata did a much better job of avoiding this level of repetition and is one reason why I will put it over Replicant as my favourite of the two.
Another big sin is that to get Endings C and D you have to collect all 33 weapons in the game. I was lucky in that I had 27 weapons by the time I started Route C so I did not have to collect too many in order to progress. If it was the case that I missed out on some weapons that you can only get in the early part of the game then I honestly would have quit it there and then. Thankfully that was not the case and I just had to finish a few sidequests and grind a lot of money in order to buy them. Seriously this game is strangely stingy with money and the only way to really start raking in the dough requires you to finish sidequests. But even if it was not too bad gathering all the weapons, I despise when developers insist you have to collect every single one of a particular doodad in order to even finish the base game. It was shit having to rescue all the Electoons to finish the original Rayman and it is shit here too. Please developers stop doing this kind of thing. Collecting everything should result in a bonus reward, not be mandatory to finish the game.
Since I mentioned sidequests already, that is my other main complaint with this game. They are really bad. Automata did not have great sidequests either but at least some of them tried to explain the lore of the world you are in. Replicant to my knowledge has only a few sidequests like that and even with them it was pretty meh. But the vast majority of sidequests are: (1) NPC needs something; (2) in order to get this item they need several materials; (3) getting materials either involves shopping around with the limited amount of money you have or going to a certain area and just grinding until you get everything you need. And your reward is typically some money, non essential items or occasionally a weapon. So to finish the game properly you have to engage with some of these absolute borefests of sidequests. I am not joking when I say these fetch quests make up most of the side quests. Developers, please I am begging you, if you want me to spend time in the lovely world you have developed make sidequests actually interesting. From now on I will not do any sidequests unless there is a compelling reason to do them. Fight hidden bosses, explore new areas, expand the lore and story of the game. This busywork of gathering 50 berries, 40 bags of sugar and 25 cups of flour to make a strawberry cake shite I am officially never doing again. This game really is the epitome of rubbish sidequests and I have reached breaking point with this time wasting nonsense.
Whew, sorry that went on a fair bit didn't it? This game is one of the most interesting ones I ever had to engage with and it is full of so many highs and lows that I felt it necessary to expand why I like this game and rant on its shortcomings. At its best, Nier Replicant is a really fascinating, complex story with compelling characters, great combat and excellent music. But to really experience these highs you have to trudge through a lot of repetition to get there. If you can forgive those faults, I say give it a whirl as at its best, it gives Automata a run for its money. If it was not home to some of my biggest pet peeves with game design I would heartily recommend it. As it is, I can only do so with some caveats. Still all in all, interesting game that I am glad I played.
Other than that though, really solid title and one that is deserving of the praise it gets. Treasure really are an excellent development team, should look into more of their back catalogue.