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Over the weekend, Square Enix announced that they are bringing a remastered release of the classic NieR Replicant to the West for the first time ever. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... is being "rebuilt" for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.
The original release came out only in Japan back in 2010. In NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... players will play as a brother who is on a quest to cure his dying sister. This remaster is being developed alongside Toylogic. It also includes director Yoko Taro, composer Keiichi Okabe, and producer Yosuke Saito. All three of them have also worked on the very highly acclaimed NieR: Automata.
Speaking of NieR: Automata, it has now surpassed over 4.5 million copies both shipped and sold digitally. NieR: Automata first came out in 2017. If you're on the Xbox platform, NieR: Automata is coming to Xbox Game Pass starting April 2. You should definitely give it a few playthroughs if you are a Game Pass subscriber. And yes, I do mean a few playthroughs as once is most certainly not enough.
Back in 2010, a game with the NieR name did actually come out in North America. It was called NieR Gestalt and it was largely the same as the Japanese PS3 exclusive NieR Replicant. The key difference is the fact that instead of playing as the brother, you play as the father of the family. This also includes a few changes to the main character's appearance, attitude, and the year in which the game takes place. Apparently the belief was that an older protagonist would appeal more to Western markets.
It is not yet known just how much will be changed or upgraded for this remaster. The biggest hope among fans is that they will at least try to improve the combat system that was, even at the time of its initial release, the game's weakest element. For now, check out the announcement trailer and enjoy the music because that's all we have to go on right now.
