This review contains spoilers
Nier Replicant is a masterpiece, and one of the greatest games of all time. It's a celebration of video games as a medium, and it explores the unique ways it can tell a story that truly cannot be offered through any other platform.
Nier sets your expectations using well known video game tropes, only to completely flip everything on its head. In many ways, Nier is a deconstruction of popular games that have been central to the industry. It's structured very similarly to Ocarina of Time, in some really interesting ways. You start out as a young boy, set out on a mythical journey to gather the Sealed Verses, which will allow you to confront the antagonist of the story. A clear parallel to Ocarina of Time, where you gather the spiritual stones, only to inadvertently help the main antagonist, Ganondorf, who plunges the world into ruin, and you come back as an adult years later, stronger and more prepared this time, and having to clean up the mess you helped cause. Hell -- story aside, this game even has block puzzles and a big field reminiscent of Hyrule Field. There's also a segment in a forest where your senses are taken away, you're lost and forced to rely on only one visual stimuli to progress. In Ocarina of Time, this was the Lost Woods where you're supposed to navigate by paying attention to sound. In Nier's Forest of Myth, you are instead forced to read rather than listen, and guides will not help you here.
Nier Replicant does something very similar to Ocarina's story, but actually explores it in a more realistic way, and what such a state of affairs would do to the world and the people inhabiting it -- and shows just what other people would think of someone doing all of this. Nier Replicant is filled with grey morality like this. There's no true heroes or villains here, everyone has their own motives, some more admirable than others, and the most evil people in this story are people who are long dead and cannot be stopped, since they set events into motion hundreds of years ago and are not here to see the results of their plans. There are parallels to other games like Resident Evil, but I think the clearest thing here you're supposed to notice is this game's almost parody-like take on Ocarina of Time, and other popular JRPGs like Kingdom Hearts.
One important thing to note here is the gameplay, which is tied very strongly to the narrative. Combat is fast and fluid like Nier Automata, and has modern innovations like a proper lock-on system. However, it's not as deep as something like Devil May Cry, instead relying more on the RPG mechanics -- which is totally okay! Nier suits a large variety of playstyles. You can use item buffs like a standard RPG, you can be slow and methodical like a Souls game, parrying to win, or you can play this like it's a Platinum game and dodge your way to victory. There's also a mechanic called the sidestep, which is like the Reversal from Kingdom Hearts 2 but way cooler. Nier feels more grounded and realistic than Automata, but is still fun to play, which is good. There's a disturbing element to the combat as well, in how well the blood effects are done, the enemies making sounds that almost sound child-like when they die -- plus your magic death book absorbing the blood of your enemies to use spells. It's all very masterfully designed, and in my opinion, an improvement over Automata, which felt much less accessible to multiple playstyles, as it was more like a typical Platinum character action game with tacked-on RPG mechanics that felt redundant. The presentation of Replicant is also very well done, which is a nice cherry on top for the game. On an HDR TV, the game looks hauntingly beautiful. Many of the quirks from the original game like the dramatic bloom is carried over, just executed in a more appetizing way.
Nier is a story of humanity itself, touching on everything good and bad about people and the footprint we've left on this speck of rock in the vast emptiness of space. With the constant reminders of how little about the world is out of our control, it's so easy to experience feelings of nihilism, hopelessness, and impending doom. One day, humanity will probably end -- but what's important in life isn't how your life goes out, but how you lived it, and how you impacted other people's lives. In much of the conversation around these games by Yoko Taro, so much focus is put on the multiple endings, the ultimate fate of the characters, etcetera. Nier Replicant is a reminder of how important the journey through life is -- and how vital it is to learn to understand other people, other cultures, other ways of life, no matter how outlandish other people might seem, even if they speak a different language, or they don't look like us. Human connection is a concept that is constantly played around with, whether it's through the story's exploration of language, the choice to sever your connection with the world, and ultimately your friends by erasing your existence. How far will people go to maintain what gives their life meaning -- and, in the process, lose themselves? So often in media, self sacrifice is painted as a noble, heroic trope, but in Nier Replicant, all of the ugly aspects of sacrifices are shown. By choosing to erase yourself, the remaining cast suffers without you, having constant nightmares, crying when they think about you, even your sister, who you fought so hard to save, weeps over something she doesn't understand in her diary that can be read in the E route's loading screen, because you didn't even allow her the solace of understanding why she's traumatized. Everyone in Nier Replicant is so self absorbed and convicted in their beliefs, that they rarely ever stop to question what they're doing, if there's a better way to go about things, or if they can find a mutual understanding with their enemies. When the protagonist, Nier, spends so much time trying to cure his sister's disease, that he becomes obsessed to the point of risking death, chasing mythological, questionable leads, he forgets that all his sister really wants is to see her brother more, and spend time with the only family she has left. Nier is filled to the brim with tragedy like this, but as you're constantly reminded throughout the game -- it's too late to stop and dwell on your mistakes. Trying to save the world on your own and fight things out of your control can ultimately be fruitless, and filled with nothing but tragedy. However, there's always time to change course and focus on what really matters. Spend time with the people important to you. Try to understand people different from you. Don't allow your preconceived prejudices to cloud your judgment of strangers. Even if the world goes to hell, as long as you have your friends, you can find meaning, and worth, in your life. This is Nier, and it is one of my favorite games of all time.
I'm not used to writing reviews like this, so this might be all over the place, but I just wanted to let my thoughts spill out, because I had a lot of them after finishing the game. :)
Nier sets your expectations using well known video game tropes, only to completely flip everything on its head. In many ways, Nier is a deconstruction of popular games that have been central to the industry. It's structured very similarly to Ocarina of Time, in some really interesting ways. You start out as a young boy, set out on a mythical journey to gather the Sealed Verses, which will allow you to confront the antagonist of the story. A clear parallel to Ocarina of Time, where you gather the spiritual stones, only to inadvertently help the main antagonist, Ganondorf, who plunges the world into ruin, and you come back as an adult years later, stronger and more prepared this time, and having to clean up the mess you helped cause. Hell -- story aside, this game even has block puzzles and a big field reminiscent of Hyrule Field. There's also a segment in a forest where your senses are taken away, you're lost and forced to rely on only one visual stimuli to progress. In Ocarina of Time, this was the Lost Woods where you're supposed to navigate by paying attention to sound. In Nier's Forest of Myth, you are instead forced to read rather than listen, and guides will not help you here.
Nier Replicant does something very similar to Ocarina's story, but actually explores it in a more realistic way, and what such a state of affairs would do to the world and the people inhabiting it -- and shows just what other people would think of someone doing all of this. Nier Replicant is filled with grey morality like this. There's no true heroes or villains here, everyone has their own motives, some more admirable than others, and the most evil people in this story are people who are long dead and cannot be stopped, since they set events into motion hundreds of years ago and are not here to see the results of their plans. There are parallels to other games like Resident Evil, but I think the clearest thing here you're supposed to notice is this game's almost parody-like take on Ocarina of Time, and other popular JRPGs like Kingdom Hearts.
One important thing to note here is the gameplay, which is tied very strongly to the narrative. Combat is fast and fluid like Nier Automata, and has modern innovations like a proper lock-on system. However, it's not as deep as something like Devil May Cry, instead relying more on the RPG mechanics -- which is totally okay! Nier suits a large variety of playstyles. You can use item buffs like a standard RPG, you can be slow and methodical like a Souls game, parrying to win, or you can play this like it's a Platinum game and dodge your way to victory. There's also a mechanic called the sidestep, which is like the Reversal from Kingdom Hearts 2 but way cooler. Nier feels more grounded and realistic than Automata, but is still fun to play, which is good. There's a disturbing element to the combat as well, in how well the blood effects are done, the enemies making sounds that almost sound child-like when they die -- plus your magic death book absorbing the blood of your enemies to use spells. It's all very masterfully designed, and in my opinion, an improvement over Automata, which felt much less accessible to multiple playstyles, as it was more like a typical Platinum character action game with tacked-on RPG mechanics that felt redundant. The presentation of Replicant is also very well done, which is a nice cherry on top for the game. On an HDR TV, the game looks hauntingly beautiful. Many of the quirks from the original game like the dramatic bloom is carried over, just executed in a more appetizing way.
Nier is a story of humanity itself, touching on everything good and bad about people and the footprint we've left on this speck of rock in the vast emptiness of space. With the constant reminders of how little about the world is out of our control, it's so easy to experience feelings of nihilism, hopelessness, and impending doom. One day, humanity will probably end -- but what's important in life isn't how your life goes out, but how you lived it, and how you impacted other people's lives. In much of the conversation around these games by Yoko Taro, so much focus is put on the multiple endings, the ultimate fate of the characters, etcetera. Nier Replicant is a reminder of how important the journey through life is -- and how vital it is to learn to understand other people, other cultures, other ways of life, no matter how outlandish other people might seem, even if they speak a different language, or they don't look like us. Human connection is a concept that is constantly played around with, whether it's through the story's exploration of language, the choice to sever your connection with the world, and ultimately your friends by erasing your existence. How far will people go to maintain what gives their life meaning -- and, in the process, lose themselves? So often in media, self sacrifice is painted as a noble, heroic trope, but in Nier Replicant, all of the ugly aspects of sacrifices are shown. By choosing to erase yourself, the remaining cast suffers without you, having constant nightmares, crying when they think about you, even your sister, who you fought so hard to save, weeps over something she doesn't understand in her diary that can be read in the E route's loading screen, because you didn't even allow her the solace of understanding why she's traumatized. Everyone in Nier Replicant is so self absorbed and convicted in their beliefs, that they rarely ever stop to question what they're doing, if there's a better way to go about things, or if they can find a mutual understanding with their enemies. When the protagonist, Nier, spends so much time trying to cure his sister's disease, that he becomes obsessed to the point of risking death, chasing mythological, questionable leads, he forgets that all his sister really wants is to see her brother more, and spend time with the only family she has left. Nier is filled to the brim with tragedy like this, but as you're constantly reminded throughout the game -- it's too late to stop and dwell on your mistakes. Trying to save the world on your own and fight things out of your control can ultimately be fruitless, and filled with nothing but tragedy. However, there's always time to change course and focus on what really matters. Spend time with the people important to you. Try to understand people different from you. Don't allow your preconceived prejudices to cloud your judgment of strangers. Even if the world goes to hell, as long as you have your friends, you can find meaning, and worth, in your life. This is Nier, and it is one of my favorite games of all time.
I'm not used to writing reviews like this, so this might be all over the place, but I just wanted to let my thoughts spill out, because I had a lot of them after finishing the game. :)