To celebrate the 10th anniversary for the original Nier, Square-Enix held a 10-hour livestream which included a concert performance and a chat with the game’s creative leads. During that conversation, the surprise announcement was made, via a beautiful, but vague trailer, that the original Nier will be re-released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139.
That title’s a bit of a mouthful, but there’s pretty good reason for that. The Replicant part isn’t actually new. When the original game was released in the west, it was simply called Nier, and was a stand alone game. In Japan, it was actually two titles: Nier Gestalt, which released on the Xbox 360, was the Western release, in which the protagonist is a middle-aged man in the distant future attempting to cure his daughter of a deadly illness. Nier Replicant, on the other hand, was exclusive to the PS3, and featured a much younger protagonist trying to cure his younger sister instead. As such, this new release is essentially the first time Nier Replicant has ever been released outside Japan.
As for the version number, it simply seems more appropriate, considering the developers were hesitant during their conversation to call the new release a remaster or remake, but more of a rebuild. There will be numerous updates to elements of the game, including a re-recorded score, including completely new tracks from Keiichi Okabe, re-recorded voice acting, a new character, and possibly a brand-new ending. In addition to the re-release, another project titled Nier Reincarnation, was also announced for iOS and Android. Though no details about the game have emerged about the project, it debuted with a similarly vague trailer that showed brief glimpses of a decaying world–similar to previous games.
The original release of Nier wasn’t exactly a rousing success, in the West or Japan, but it did gain a sizable cult following in the years following its release. The game’s sequel, Nier Automata, was a smash hit, however, having sold almost five million copies since its release in 2017. No release date has been announced just yet for either Nier Replicant or Nier Reincarnation, however, the developers are aiming for 2020, in keeping with the 10th Anniversary.
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