NieR Replicant takes the structure of video-games and utterly lampoons it, showing just how much we're willing to take for granted when presented to us in this structure. The protagonist is such a video-game character, willing to do any odd job no matter how menial or violent. The last thing he can do for his sick sister is actually be around more often, because he has a ridiculous quest to go on for a slight chance at curing her, and in video-games we don't stay at home to care for sick relatives, we go on quests.

I have not played Drakengard, but I understand its purpose was to highlight the mass-murderous actions of the typical video-game protagonist, that one would either have to be insane to mindlessly commit such acts or be made insane in the process. Yoko Taro evolved his thinking after 9/11 and subsequently the Iraq War, stating "You just have to think you're right. So that's why I made NieR a game revolving around this concept of "being able to kill others if you think you're right," or "everyone believes that they're in the right"." NieR Replicant is, on the surface, a game about found family, making hope in a dying world, and the virtue of kindness. This is how it feels on an emotional level, and so to an extent it IS about all these things, but when you begin to understand the protagonist's actions in the context of the broader narrative it becomes apparent just how destructive they are.

The combat of Drakengard seems appropriately mindless for the perspective on violence Taro was offering in that game, but with NieR Replicant he had a much tougher job - it had to be enjoyable, but for this enjoyment to transition into mindlessness as the true nature of the protagonist's actions comes into full view. It succeeds, with combat that's good enough but not so complex that it couldn't devolve into mindlessness, genre switching to bring variety, well-executed set-pieces, and JRPG items and weapon upgrade materials which might not be totally useless. When you run through the last few sections over and over for new endings, not only do you do so knowing the consequences of the protagonist's actions, but are also given additional context provided in these playthroughs. It's at this stage that the levelling system has you taking out bosses in a few hits, the genre-switching sections become rote mechanical exercises, the items and upgrades are revealed to be extraneous video-gamey nonsense, and the combat, the whole game even, becomes a mindless exercise in violence. It's a tedious process, but if it weren't would that not defeat the purpose?

Such a difficult game to approach discussing. The experience of it is totally different depending on which level you approach it from. I feel dishonest discussing the actions of the party so negatively, as I truly loved these characters and empathised with them deeply. But I suppose that's the point. They're working with an incomplete picture, with both the player and party making assumptions based on the expectation of what video-games are. Emile and Kainé suffer as the result of Othering, while giving little critical thought to how they may be engaged in the same process; they're just following the player, and the player knows how video-games work.