An updated version of my favourite game ever. Despite combat that flows much smoother than the original game and character models that don't all have literally the exact same face, I still prefer the original game. Brother Nier is not a bad protagonist, but ultimately has so much less flavour in his writing compared to Father Nier. The relationship between him and Grimoire Weiss as a sort of struggling father/son dynamic is enjoyable but nowhere near as charming as the married couple bickering of Father Nier and Weiss in the Gestalt version of the original game. Almost all of the annoying elements of the original game (repetitive sidequests, annoying drop rates, overwhelming area reuse) are still present here with nothing really done to remedy them.

But true to the original, even when Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139... shouldn't work, it ends up shining. When the new story content of this release shows up, it shows up in full force. The new characters slip in so seamlessly into the original plot that it's difficult to imagine them not being there. And the games new conclusion hit me so unbelievably hard that I cried. An utterly phenomenal game.