Welcome to our preview of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139, a game with the most intriguing title to date in the Nier franchise.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… is an updated version of NieR Replicant, previously only released in Japan. Discover the one-of-a-kind prequel of the critically-acclaimed masterpiece NieR:Automata. Now with a modern upgrade, experience masterfully revived visuals, a fascinating storyline and more! The protagonist is a kind young man living in a remote village. In order to save his sister Yonah, who fell terminally ill to the Black Scrawl, he sets out with Grimoire Weiss, a strange talking tome, to search for the “Sealed verses.” In this distant, distant future, humanity is on the brink of extinction.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 is coming out in nearly a month and GamingBoulevard was lucky enough to get a thorough preview in for this game. As this is an updated version of a Japan-only game, it does come with quite the pedigree behind it. The Nier series is easily one of the more important franchises coming out of Japan and I personally had a blast playing Nier Automata in the past.
Now with me never wanting to really spoil a story, especially this far ahead of release, I decided to single out a specific part of the game I played so far and go into detail specifically for the part of the game called the Junk Heap, a place that is what it sounds like, a junk heap. In this mission, you are still following the main storyline, namely trying to cure Yonah.
The story has led me into the place called Junk heap and you encounter two brothers, the younger one worrying over his missing mother. I obviously accepted the mission and went deep into Junk Heap trying to find her. After numerous battles and a most unusual approach to fighting, but more on this in my full review, I mean really, you got a flying book called a Grimoire helping out…
I finally make it to the big boss of the area.
A magnificent battle awaited me and once I got the better of him, he did put up quite the fight and I had to use all my available attacks to best him. Once he did go down, I was able to find out the mother had died together with her lover. A tough job awaited me to inform the brothers. Grimoire Weiss basically gave me two options, either lie or tell the truth. I ended up telling the truth and it triggered quite the teamwork of the youngest brother.
While this part of the game was just a minor part in the game, I just loved the atmosphere so far and despite its sometimes very old fashioned RPG mechanics, like having to run across a desert, talk to someone, and then having to run all the way back, it only bothered me the later it was in the evening. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 does many things right and I look forward to finishing the game.
At the time of writing this preview, I am about 8 hours into the game and it just feels like I barely scratched the surface of this game so far, I hope you will join us towards the release date when I can do my full-blown review and at that time, hopefully with its endgame behind me!