General Gaming NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... - Information Thread, update: reviews from OpenCritic posted

[stepee]

41 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Special K mod did help a lot with Automata - to the degree I had a great gaming experience on PC. Perhaps same can happen here? It shouldn't have to be the case, but you work with what ya got.

 

I believe Special K is already working pretty well to make the port fine besides having to cap at 60, he’s already updated it for it.

[best3444]

10 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

I believe Special K is already working pretty well to make the port fine besides having to cap at 60, he’s already updated it for it.

 

If I loved Automata (which you so kindly bought for me) do you think I'd enjoy this?

[Raggit]

57 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Special K mod did help a lot with Automata - to the degree I had a great gaming experience on PC. Perhaps same can happen here? It shouldn't have to be the case, but you work with what ya got.

 

If modders can fix it, why can't the actual devs? Are they simply incapable? Or do they just not care that much?

[Greatoneshere]

1 minute ago, Raggit said:

 

If modders can fix it, why can't the actual devs? Are they simply incapable? Or do they just not care that much?

 

Japanese game developers generally simply don't give PC as much attention in terms of optimization as consoles, has been my experience. The money is there to be made (Atlus' 180 on PC releases indicates as much), they just don't seem either that familiar with PC optimization yet or don't care. 

[Brick]

Wasn't the original Nier with some buff white haired dude? Was that something that was just changed to appeal to Western audiences or something? 

[stepee]

33 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

If I loved Automata (which you so kindly bought for me) do you think I'd enjoy this?

 

 No idea, it just came out and I don’t have it yet! They aren’t helping tempt me either with no native ps5 version (1080p ew) or switch version, and the pc version needing a mod to fix it. Might be a wait in sale game for me because of that.

 

I bet it’s great though.

[Keyser_Soze]

11 hours ago, Brick said:

Wasn't the original Nier with some buff white haired dude? Was that something that was just changed to appeal to Western audiences or something? 

 

Why people love Nier so damn much | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

---

Unpacking the hype around Nier Replicant, Yoko Taro, and his controversial and strange games.

 

Quote

Original Nier was actually split into two separate games that have different protagonists—though the story, gameplay, and everything else is pretty much the same.
 

Nier Gestalt was released globally, but in North America and Europe it was simply called Nier. It featured an older protagonist who was the father of a central character named Yonah. Nier Gestalt released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

 

Nier Replicant was released only in Japan. It featured a younger protagonist who was the brother of Yonah. This is the version that modern remake, ver. 1.22474487139… is based off of.

 

[best3444]

13 hours ago, stepee said:

 

 No idea, it just came out and I don’t have it yet! They aren’t helping tempt me either with no native ps5 version (1080p ew) or switch version, and the pc version needing a mod to fix it. Might be a wait in sale game for me because of that.

 

I bet it’s great though.

 

Well I thought you played the original. I think I'll wait on this, too. I'm guessing it'll run ok on the Xbox one x. Sounds good, though. 

 

Now I'm reading it only released in Japan.  I'm all confused up in hurr. 

[TheLeon]

5 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

Well I thought you played the original. I think I'll wait on this, too. I'm guessing it'll run ok on the Xbox one x. Sounds good, though. 

 

Now I'm reading it only released in Japan.  I'm all confused up in hurr. 

That part has been covered a couple of times. There were two versions of the original game. Only one released outside of Japan back in the day, and starred a father trying to save his daughter. This release is of the other version, which was previously exclusive to Japan. It features a younger man trying to save his sister as the main character, but is largely the same game as what we got. 
 

As for how it compares to Automata, the overall vibe is similar, but the action (based on my hazy memory from playing it 10 years ago) will likely feel like a big step back. Still, I’m looking forward to playing this, once I’m back in a position to play games again. 

[best3444]

Just now, TheLeon said:

That part has been covered a couple of times. There were two versions of the original game. Only one released outside of Japan back in the day, and starred a father trying to save his daughter. This release is of the other version, which was previously exclusive to Japan. It features a younger man trying to save his sister as the main character, but is largely the same game as what we got. 
 

As for how it compares to Automata, the overall vibe is similar, but the action (based on my hazy memory from playing it 10 years ago) will likely feel like a big step back. Still, I’m looking forward to playing this, once I’m back in a position to play games again. 

 

Thank you for explaining this. The combat does have me worried but I know I'll love the story, characters, world, and most importantly, the music. I'm going to have to read up on this to make a decision. 

[Greatoneshere]

I think what throws people off about the original release of Nier is that the original version was released exclusively on a specific platform in Japan, but the rest of the world got one version, but on both platforms (PS3 and Xbox 360). 

 

In Japan, Nier Gestalt (with the father) was only released on the Xbox 360 in Japan. This version was released on both consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360) in the rest of the world. 

 

In Japan, Nier Replicant (with the older brother) was only released on the PS3 in Japan (so the rare Japanese Xbox 360 owner missed out and just played Nier Gestalt or had to own a PS3). This version of the game never released outside of Japan. The version on PS3 in the rest of the world is of Nier Gestalt, not Nier Replicant.

 

So what the rest of the world is finally getting is the Japan exclusive, only on PS3 exclusive, Nier Replicant (with the older brother). It's a big remaster, but not a remake. It is part of the Drakengard/Nier universe, and is a direct prequel to Nier: Automata (in subtler ways). They've kept the English voice cast from the original release but re-recorded the dialogue (just changing the father's voice into an older brother's, I imagine, I remember the original dub being good I think). The differences between Nier Gestalt and Nier Replicant are minor so this is essentially the same game I played all those years ago. But the remaster aspect is very enticing. I hope this cleared some things up for people.

[Keyser_Soze]

2 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

I think what throws people off about the original release of Nier is that the original version was released exclusively on a specific platform in Japan, but the rest of the world got one version, but on both platforms (PS3 and Xbox 360).

 

Yes. If only someone could clear this up I think we'd all feel a lot more comfortable.

[TwinIon]

Automata has been one of those games that I've never gotten around to. It was one of the first games I installed on my PC last time I upgraded 18 months ago, and I even found all the mods and what not before getting started, but somehow I forgot about it and played other things. With Replicant coming out, I decided I'd give that a shot first, so this game has been my first interaction with any of the Nier games.

 

I read and watched some reviews, so I didn't go in blind, and I have been willing to put up with a lot that I wouldn't normally, somehow feeling a certain sense of sunk cost to a series that I've never played.

 

Overall, I'd say Replicant is a poor game with some interesting ideas that lack the game to back them up. It's an interesting, if frustrating exercise in storytelling, but more than anything it's about 8-10 hours of game stretched out to 30+. As someone that never really gets deep into combat systems, I actually like what I found in Replicant. It's simple, but responsive, and thankfully pretty fast paced. Unfortunately, the enemy variety and overall difficulty is really lacking, which is especially notable after you've powered up a decent weapon. Also disappointing is how your companions work in and out of combat. Per the story and in cutscenes they should be quite capable, but they hardly seem to make any real difference in combat. I guess you can give them orders, but I never saw the point.

 

There are all sorts of questionable choices made that seem to be that way only to pad the length. Fetch quests are everywhere, and it's never clear if they'll be worthwhile. Thankfully, nearly all side quests can be ignored completely, even if you want to see all the endings. In the story missions themselves, there is a whole lot of running back and forth between the same locations. In one particularly egregious case one of your companions mention it, so clearly the developers were aware of the monotony, but just didn't care or have any better ideas. Simple things like being able to save anywhere or fast travel are effectively absent. (There is technically fast travel, but it's only sporadically available in the second half of the game and it doesn't save you much time anyways.) Even the towns feel like they were designed specifically to take longer to traverse.

 

I enjoyed having multiple weapon types available after a certain point, but the upgrade system is terrible. For many weapons there will be one or two materials you need to upgrade that only exist in one place in the entire game, so the only way to get them is to load an area, search for it, and then leave and re-load. Finding enough material to upgrade one weapon might take 30min to an hour of reloading an entirely empty area or town. I grinded out the mats for two upgrades and was done with the system forever.

 

Turns out it didn't matter anyways, because even though the game encourages multiple playthroughs, it doesn't become any more difficult or interesting to play. So if you max out a good weapon in your first go, all combat becomes trivial.

 

Speaking of the multiple playthroughs (vague descriptions of the mechanics, but no specific story spoilers follow)

Spoiler

The game was clearly designed to be played multiple times, but the additional playthroughs feel so shallow. I put 18 hours into my first clear, was at 25 after my second, and have put a few hours into my third. Some additional story has been added, but a lot of it is simply backstory that was implied in the first, shown through text, so it didn't feel like it added anything. I was really hoping that major events would play out differently, but that's really not the case. It feels like there are significant areas where a second or third go could have felt different, but instead it's just the same thing as before. At this point I think I might just youtube the other endings.

 

I honestly can't explain why I felt compelled to spend as much time as I did with Replicant. I guess I was just curious as to why I was seeing so much hype. I am interested in moving on and finally playing Automata, but I think I'll wait for the steam upgrade.

[Keyser_Soze]

1 minute ago, TwinIon said:

Turns out it didn't matter anyways, because even though the game encourages multiple playthroughs, it doesn't become any more difficult or interesting to play. So if you max out a good weapon in your first go, all combat becomes trivial.

 

Speaking of the multiple playthroughs (vague descriptions of the mechanics, but no specific story spoilers follow)

  Reveal hidden contents

The game was clearly designed to be played multiple times, but the additional playthroughs feel so shallow. I put 18 hours into my first clear, was at 25 after my second, and have put a few hours into my third. Some additional story has been added, but a lot of it is simply backstory that was implied in the first, shown through text, so it didn't feel like it added anything. I was really hoping that major events would play out differently, but that's really not the case. It feels like there are significant areas where a second or third go could have felt different, but instead it's just the same thing as before. At this point I think I might just youtube the other endings.

 

I honestly can't explain why I felt compelled to spend as much time as I did with Replicant. I guess I was just curious as to why I was seeing so much hype. I am interested in moving on and finally playing Automata, but I think I'll wait for the steam upgrade.

 

I think I watched someone get the C or D ending I think you can save scum the last two endings.

 

Doesn't look like you'll even get that far though.

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, TwinIon said:

Automata has been one of those games that I've never gotten around to. It was one of the first games I installed on my PC last time I upgraded 18 months ago, and I even found all the mods and what not before getting started, but somehow I forgot about it and played other things. With Replicant coming out, I decided I'd give that a shot first, so this game has been my first interaction with any of the Nier games.

 

I loved Nier Replicant (when it was Nier Gestalt) when it came out - I played it back then and it is what made me interested in Nier: Automata when it was first announced. But your criticisms are fair and on point. It's really the barren beauty of the visuals and the soundtrack and the story that kept me coming back. I definitely think at this point you should do all the playthroughs, it is worth it if you've gotten this far.

 

However, with all that said, Nier: Automata is on a different level - a true masterpiece I thought. Nier Replicant you can see Yoko Taro take all the good from that game and expand on it for Automata while ditching what didn't work and having a much bigger budget to work with. I highly suggest you play it. 

[TwinIon]

2 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

I loved Nier Replicant (when it was Nier Gestalt) when it came out - I played it back then and it is what made me interested in Nier: Automata when it was first announced. But your criticisms are fair and on point. It's really the barren beauty of the visuals and the soundtrack and the story that kept me coming back. I definitely think at this point you should do all the playthroughs, it is worth it if you've gotten this far.

 

However, with all that said, Nier: Automata is on a different level - a true masterpiece I thought. Nier Replicant you can see Yoko Taro take all the good from that game and expand on it for Automata while ditching what didn't work and having a much bigger budget to work with. I highly suggest you play it. 

I might have been a little consumed by some of the negatives while typing that up, because I do agree that it's pretty enough, I'm interested in the story and do want to see more, and the soundtrack is great. I might finish the other playthroughs if I find the time.

[Nokt]

6 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I might have been a little consumed by some of the negatives while typing that up, because I do agree that it's pretty enough, I'm interested in the story and do want to see more, and the soundtrack is great. I might finish the other playthroughs if I find the time.

They are valid complaints. I think reviewers really hit the nail on the head with that despite the changes that were made to combat and the graphical overhaul it still is very much a game of its time. They definitely could have cut a lot of the fetch quests out and vastly speed up the fishing and farming. After I finished the first fishing quest and I was asked to catch 10 more fish I noped out of that quest.

 

I do agree with Greatoneshere though in that Automata is on a completely different level than Replicant.

[Greatoneshere]

18 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I might have been a little consumed by some of the negatives while typing that up, because I do agree that it's pretty enough, I'm interested in the story and do want to see more, and the soundtrack is great. I might finish the other playthroughs if I find the time.

 

Also, I think it helps to know that Nier is:

 

Spoiler

the sequel to Drakengard 1's secret "E" ending (or fifth ending) which helps explain a lot of the oftentimes esoteric plot. Also, while Automata takes place thousands of years in the future, it is a direct sequel to Nier in a lot of ways.

 

[best3444]

Automata is imo, a masterpiece. From the combat, characters, story/stories, game world, and soundtrack. It took me a while to get myself acclimated with it but after I understood the game I was hooked. I beat every playthrough. 

[stepee]

15 minutes ago, best3444 said:

Automata is imo, a masterpiece. From the combat, characters, story/stories, game world, and soundtrack. It took me a while to get myself acclimated with it but after I understood the game I was hooked. I beat every playthrough. 

 
Didn’t you not like it the first time you tried playing it? I thought I remembered you trying again and that’s when you loved it. Either way glad you loved it, it’s a classic for SURE.

 

You also might be in good shape with this one. Xbox One X runs it at 1440p/60 apparently which since there is no ps5/xsx version, is the best you can play it on a console so it’s perfect for right now!

 

 

[best3444]

1 minute ago, stepee said:

 
Didn’t you not like it the first time you tried playing it? I thought I remembered you trying again and that’s when you loved it. Either way glad you loved it, it’s a classic for SURE.

 

You also might be in good shape with this one. Xbox One X runs it at 1440p/60 apparently which since there is no ps5/xsx version, is the best you can play it on a console so it’s perfect for right now!

 

 

 

Yes, I dropped it 4 hours in and started up other games. Then I hit a drought and decided to give it another shot. Plus I felt guilty you bought me the game and I only gave it 4 hours of play time. But yes, my second time playing it I let everything sink in and I was patient with it. Then I learned how great it was. 

[Xbob42]

I really love Automata, I think it's a great game. But I think people oversell it a little bit which could lead to some disappointment. For one, it's still got a lot of Yoko Taro's... uhh... shall we say "design decisions," that are definitely considered flaws with Replicant. For example, the environments all look like low budget PS3 games. Yes, yes, they have a barren beauty to them, but they still kinda look like shit.

 

Beyond that, the mandatory second playthrough feels almost identical to the first playthrough, which is really, really annoying. They finally change things up in the third, but if they can't come up with new and novel concepts for multiple playthroughs, then they really need to stop doing multiple playthroughs. The little minigame they added for playthrough 2 was nowhere near enough.

The combat still isn't great. It's better than Replicant's, but it's a far cry from Platinum's best. The lack of the ability to save anywhere, while it is tied into the story somewhat, is still disappointing and often times frustrating if you've got shit to do outside of the game. Been having this issue again with Kingdom Hearts 3 of all things, sometimes the save points are like 28 cutscenes and 14 several minute long battles apart.

 

Still a great game that people should definitely check out, but it's not perfect. I look forward to Yoko Taro's next game where hopefully these sorts of things can be resolved. I'd be totally happy with multiple playthroughs if they were significantly different from each other and in much better looking environments. I feel like the FFXIV versions of all the Nier environments were more interesting to look at, and that's just a crossover!

[best3444]

I agree about the second playthrough being nearly identical to the first. You make solid points above. 

[Greatoneshere]

3 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

I really love Automata, I think it's a great game. But I think people oversell it a little bit which could lead to some disappointment. For one, it's still got a lot of Yoko Taro's... uhh... shall we say "design decisions," that are definitely considered flaws with Replicant. For example, the environments all look like low budget PS3 games. Yes, yes, they have a barren beauty to them, but they still kinda look like shit.

 

Beyond that, the mandatory second playthrough feels almost identical to the first playthrough, which is really, really annoying. They finally change things up in the third, but if they can't come up with new and novel concepts for multiple playthroughs, then they really need to stop doing multiple playthroughs. The little minigame they added for playthrough 2 was nowhere near enough.

The combat still isn't great. It's better than Replicant's, but it's a far cry from Platinum's best. The lack of the ability to save anywhere, while it is tied into the story somewhat, is still disappointing and often times frustrating if you've got shit to do outside of the game. Been having this issue again with Kingdom Hearts 3 of all things, sometimes the save points are like 28 cutscenes and 14 several minute long battles apart.

 

Still a great game that people should definitely check out, but it's not perfect. I look forward to Yoko Taro's next game where hopefully these sorts of things can be resolved. I'd be totally happy with multiple playthroughs if they were significantly different from each other and in much better looking environments. I feel like the FFXIV versions of all the Nier environments were more interesting to look at, and that's just a crossover!

 

All your points are accurate . . . and yet it is a great game. But you are right.

[Massdriver]

3 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

All your points are accurate . . . and yet it is a great game. But you are right.

I agree. I would say all his points are correct; it’s clunky as shit in some respects  (dear lord the map). Yet it’s still a masterpiece. Its shortcomings are more than made up for in other ways. I’m trying to think of a movie that would be the equivalent and I almost said the original blade runner, but I wouldn’t consider that a masterpiece, just a great film. 
 

I’ll get around to Replicant soon enough, but I know it won’t be as good.