Back when I played the original in late 2019, this game immediately cemented itself as one of my favorites of all time. Now, this remake has only improved it. It fixed my main complaint with the game, that being the lackluster combat that made going through the game a chore sometimes, and added so much more to make it the definitive way to play this game for me. Playing through this story as Brother Nier is what I've always wanted since I played the original and it was great (though ironically now I just want Dad Nier back so hopefully this game sells half as much as Automata so we can bring him home). I'm not gonna write a whole essay on why I love this game so much cause it's been done so many times before so I'll just say that the combined experience of Nier Gestalt and Replicant is probably my favorite game ever made.

It's been a bit since I replayed this game while going through my GhM marathon, and it's given me a lot of time to think about this game. I originally played it around six years ago after playing the original game and back then I really liked it; now I can see that was just me being a stupid kid.

Before going into the stuff I don't like, I'll go over the stuff I actually like. First and probably the best thing about this game, the OST is amazing and every track in this game is stellar, I probably like this more than the original's OST. I also think the game looks nice, especially in places like the first boss fight with the snow falling on Santa Destroy (though this could be because I REALLY love snow aesthetics in games). The port to the Switch is also really nice but that's more so on Engine Software and not the people who made the game. And finally, getting to play as Shinobu and Henry was really awesome even though you had to do shitty platforming as Shinobu and only play as Henry for one boss.

Now that that's out of the way, onto the shit I hate. First, the gameplay is a huge step down from the original's. The combat feels nowhere near as satisfying with it feeling way floatier and the enemies being way more annoying in my opinion. The side jobs are wayyyy worse with barely any of them being fun besides the ones that are basically rip offs of other games. Thank God they're not mandatory, but to me the side jobs in the first game are part of what made it so memorable. Having to work your ass off to get to the next boss fight or get your next beam sword makes it feel more satisfying. Speaking of beam swords, in the first game if you got all of them you unlocked a secret boss who was insanely cool and easily the best fight in the game. In this game there is something similar, but the first is way less cool with the only thing cool about it being the stage which is only somewhat cool, hopefully 3 does something cool with that character. There are also entire 15-20 minute sections just fighting enemies, sometimes in the same room which just isn't fun. Next is the plot, in this game Travis goes on a revenge quest to kill the people who killed his best friend, but the thing is that the people who actually killed him are basically non-existent to the plot and are relegated to optional side missions which start to repeat towards the end. Even Suda himself says that he would go back and change this. Speaking of Suda, him not directing this game is a huge let down. I'm not opposed to people other than Suda directing things at GhM or even in Kill the Past, but I feel like if he did direct this game it would have turned out a lot better. And finally, the final boss. Most of the boss fights in this game range from just okay to kinda bad, but the final boss is probably the worst thing this company has ever put into their games. The first phase isn't really fun and the second phase is one of the most broken bosses I've experienced in a game with moves that can keep you in the corner of the arena for a good while. Also the boss himself isn't a good villain with his only motivation for hating Travis coming from optional side content from the first game. Also this is just a nitpick but I think it's way funnier if Travis is a virgin instead of him actually fucking Sylvia.

In conclusion, this game is kinda a mess with some pretty good elements. I've been thinking a lot of I should recommend people skip this game and go straight to Travis Strikes Again cause it honestly doesn't have any bearing on that game. I guess if you REALLY wanna play it, go for it, it's not the worst game ever and it even has some good bits. But if you have no interest in this game, don't feel like if you need to to understand the later games in the series.

I first played this game around six years ago and I absolutely loved it back then and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it as much as I did after going through so much of Suda's other games. But thankfully, I still love it, hell I think I love it even more.

Now that I'm older I can appreciate a lot of smaller stuff like the great music by Masafumi Takada, the excellent subtle world-building of Santa Destroy, and even models, while not that high-quality though still have a lot of charm. But the thing I appreciated way more this time through was Travis' character. When I was a kid I just saw him as the funny man with beam sword but now I realize there's a lot more to his character than that, and while not as developed as some of Suda's other characters he still have depth that I feel like a lot of people don't realize.

I'm extremely glad this game got ported to Switch so I could re-experience it cause it was really great to play this amazing game again. Bless Suda for he cannot miss.

Really interesting set of stories that don't offer that much substance but they're probably not designed to. This very much feels like a way to introduce some of the new characters and ideas that are going to be explored in No More Heroes 3 in a unique way. The conversion of these stories to the film window style was really cool and it carries on the same awesome style as The 25th Ward. I'm waiting with bated breath to see how the things brought up in these stories factor into Suda and Grasshopper's future games.

This game is such an anomaly. I really have no clue what to say about it. It's so thematically dense that I'm pretty sure I won't be able to understand even half of it what it's trying to say for a while.

While I can't talk much about its story, I can sure talk about how amazing the other aspects of this game are. The presentation is amazing as always and the music is godlike and easily one of my favorite OSTs ever.

I feel like I've said this in every Suda game I've talked about but the way this game tells its story is super unique and I love it. It's split into 3 scenarios with 5-6 chapters each, and each scenario has its own distinct character, artstyle, and even music. I think my favorite is probably Matchmaker (though Correctness is a close second even though I understand like 30% of it) due to me being more invested in the characters and plot, the music being just amazing, and the artstyle being super cool and unique, especially the coloring.

Speaking of the characters, besides the Matchmaker and returning characters, I wasn't really invested in a lot of them. Kuroyanagi and Shiroyabu are the main and outstanding exceptions because they are just a delight to see interact with each other and even do stuff by themselves. But besides these I can't really say I liked all of them that much. I didn't hate them but they just weren't as interesting and developed like the ones in The Silver Case or insanely weird and memorable like the ones in Flower, Sun and Rain.

Anyway, I don't think I can give this game a rating (unless this site makes me) because it is such a weird game that is beyond the concept of a rating. In my opinion, the feelings I got from this experience matter way more than my actual thoughts and rating. So yeah please buy this game I want the 26th Ward in 5 years.

(Edit: after thinking about it for a bit longer yeah I've just decided to give it a 10/10.)

One of the most interesting games I've played in a good while. The way it tells its story and the presentation are really cool, if a bit hard to follow at times. The only real problem I have with this game is that the controls and puzzles aren't that great, though at least the game has a cheat option. The game gives you the option to listen to the original OST composed by Masafumi Takada or a remixed version done by Akira Yamaoka and Erika Ito and both are absolutely fantastic. Even in it's remastered state this game still has the feel of a PS1 game which I really like. Basically this game is awesome and I'd recommend it to anyone honestly.

This is definitely one of the coolest games I've ever played. The more and more I think about the more I realize how amazing this game is. I don't think I've ever seen a game tell its story in such an interesting way before. Everything else in the game is just as amazing. This is probably the most visually striking game I've ever played and the gameplay and music are really great. This is easily one of Suda's finest works and I'm glad we didn't have to wait years to get it in the West like some of his other games.

I really don’t know how to feel about this game. On one hand it has one of the most intriguing and thought-provoking plots (even though it takes a bit to get going) I’ve seen in a game. And then on the other it has some of the most infuriating gameplay I’ve ever had to sit through. But I think that’s the point honestly. I really do think that this game is designed to make you hate it, and in that sense it’s absolutely brilliant. I think my favorite part about this game are the characters and the many themes that the plot explores. I would love to see this game get a remaster one day cause I think this game really deserves it even if it’s insufferable at times.