at first i thought this game might suck but it doesn't.
it's kind of a slog at points, but with a guide and map you will be able to figure out what to do pretty easily and you'll be able to beat the game in ~8 hours at a normal pace, getting most of the items and everything.
the movement and combat is a bit slow and clunky, but you end up getting used to it pretty quick, and you'll come to enjoy the nonlinear nature of the game. leveling up and obtaining new gear always feels rewarding, as your power level will jump dramatically over time.
king's field is a fun enough game with simple mechanics and an interesting design sense, marred by some performance issues and general clunkiness. it's hard to hate it but it's definitely not perfect, if you really care.
good/10.

this shits kinda goated ngl!
this game starts off WAY more rocky than King's Field 1, you will absolutely feel ten times more confused throughout because not only is the world far more expansive and interconnected, there's also a lot more secrets to find, the game is two or three times as long, and the walkthroughs and online maps are way shittier than they are for King's Field 1.
but once you get used to it and push further into the game, you'll learn to love this game for its new features and changed design style compared to King's Field 1. the run button is a GODSEND, Crystal Flasks are way better than one-time-use consumable recovery items and allow for MP recovery, and NPCs are actual characters with individual stories, relationships, and sometimes even small questlines.
the technical aspects of this game are also very intriguing, the (mostly) seamless world with hidden loading zones leads to a very enjoyable and smooth experience without waiting for loading screens, and the graphical presentation is significantly more impressive across the board compared to KF 1, although it does come at the cost of somewhat poor performance. the game often hangs around the 15 fps mark despite aiming for a locked 30 fps, and the game logic speed is tired to framerate. this makes things pretty choppy often, but you'll get used to it sooner than you'd think. the game runs too fast to play properly at its intended 30 fps anyways, which is probably somewhat intentional as a lot of backtracking through areas without enemies is sped up significantly thanks to the increased speed. enemies and complex geometric objects or large rooms tend to tank the FPS, which are when you most need to be paying attention regardless.
Beyond the technical issues and rocky beginning, the game proves to be really enjoyable throughout!
you'll probably finish after playing for ~20 hours, so it's a pretty beefy game for its type. if you have a week of afternoons to spend playing this game and don't mind backtracking and using a walkthrough being basically mandatory, i'd say you should play this. Try KF 1 first, though, as it's a good 'taste test' to see if you like this kind of game before jumping fully into the much longer and more convoluted King's Field II.

final note: the story and characters in this game are really interesting, there's some intriguing and well-written character dialogue and stuff throughout, but i'm not sure if the English release's translation is any good, since i played it in Japanese. if at all possible, try playing the game in Japanese, since game translations of this era don't always have the best reputations.

have fun if you decide to play!

nier replicant/gestalt is one of my favorite games of all time and despite having played more games since the first time i experienced it, nier still has a special place in my heart for having one of my favorite stories in any piece of media. so it only makes sense that i'd check this remake out and despite being wary initially due to not liking the idea of remakes in general i'm very glad to say that what's presented here is a really solid refresher for returning players and after experiencing everything the game has to offer i'm relieved to say the new content is extremely well integrated.

the first of these changes involves the combat! while still familiar enough for returning fans, a lot of the combat has been retooled and i'm glad to say that the weapons feel unique enough across classes and that the movement during battle feels pretty similar for the most part. there's also a few nice quality of life changes with being able to move while casting spells now and also nerfing the air dash and spear dive (and while i was disappointed initially with its changes, the spear here has been retooled with a lot sleeker of a moveset well that flows well with the pace of the combat here in a way that incentivizes using more of its reworked moves). the original combat in nier was grounded and simplistic and while i don't think a lot of that has changed there's a bit more depth to this new one with letting you spice up your inputs (not that you can't abuse the same few moves like the original which is a welcome sight lol). overall, the combat here doesn't necessarily feel more complex but it feels like an expansion of what the original set out to do for better or worse.

combat, however, isn't the focus here in nier, it's the story but before i get into that i want to address two of the leading forces that drive it forward and create the overall experience: the soundtrack and voice acting!

the original soundtrack of nier is one of my favorites of all time due to how well integrated into the world it was and how it highlighted key story moments. each and every track of the original nier has been embedded into my mind over the years due to multiple replays yearly and it's incredible how much staying power these tracks have had in my life to the point where i've gotten emotional just by hearing it. so needless to say, i had high expectations on how the tracks were handled and the overall musicality of the remaster's soundtrack was under a large amount of scrutiny for me personally. having heard everything by the end of it i'm glad to say that the new original tracks are incredibly solid while the rearrangements range from decent to pretty amazing and on par with the original at times. for the sake of avoiding spoilers, i'm going to say that the entire final area of the game is beautifully reorchestrated with a lot of the rearrangements being on par with the original which should hopefully reassure old fans of the original and hearing it in-game was an absolute pleasure for me. there are a few gripes i have with the treatment of some tracks in particular like "the wretched automatons" and "gods bound by rules" but i think the entire thing is a great effort at putting a new spin on the original's legacy and keiichi okabe's direction on most of the tracks shows with the amount of respect most of them receive.

as for the voice work, i think it's really solid for the most part! as someone whose first experience was with the japanese release of nier replicant for the ps3, i was really glad to hear the japanese voice cast again with their performances rendered pretty faithful to the original and the voice direction in some scenes, in particular, is absolutely a joy to listen to! the overall cast reprises their roles here really well and devola and popola's voice actress shiraishi ryoko absolutely nails the scenes they're in with the main cast doing a perfect job as well. as for the english cast, which i was familiar with due to having also played the original nier gestalt, i'm glad to say that the new voices are great and the returning cast members do really well here despite some performances reflecting their age a bit. i won't name names but to old fans of the original it's pretty obvious and while the delivery of those important lines are great it's a bit of shame to admit it's a bit distracting at times. i'd also like to mention that weiss's voice actor absolutely kills it AGAIN with liam o'brien doing a great job as well with some extremely quote-worthy lines.

now for what we've all been waiting for, the story! the story here is adapted pretty faithful to the original with the slight addition of new content here and there to make it rewarding for returning fans to experience. one change, in particular, i really liked was the addition of a multitude of new scenes to the additional routes as the original felt repetitive to many due to how subsequent routes felt samey. however, the new scenes in this remaster handle this by consistently spoon-feeding the player new scenes that really help to spice up an otherwise repetitive structure while also helping to incentivize exploration and overall game progression. as for the endings, i won't go into detail about them as i wouldn't want to spoil the story for anyone who might be going into it for the first time but fear not original nier fans, these endings still hit like a TRUCK lol and i often found myself eliciting similar emotions to my first playthrough despite knowing exactly what would happen. i probably cried too many times to count throughout my playthrough but i'm glad to say none of those tears were from frustration.

as this review comes to a close i'd like to address that despite a large portion of contention for me with this remaster in general was largely with the addition of new content, i feel like it's been handled tastefully and while the original was a result of a rushed production schedule (which still accomplished what it set out to do, might i add) the new content here definitely feels like remnants of their original plans but fully expanded upon. to put it simply, it's good and i think most returning fans will find a lot of enjoyment in the new stuff. sure some of its fanservice is definitely for those who played it initially, yet i can't imagine some of the same emotions i felt being replicated within those who are making this their first experience with the game. nier replicant remaster for better or worse feels like a love letter to those who loved the original and will continue to do so and as someone that loved nier from the first time i played it, i'm glad to say that this remake served as a great reminder of one of my favorite experiences of all time. while i don't think older fans are missing out much by skipping this remake despite it being a great source of fanservice, i understand there's a great poignancy in the original's final ending and i can respect the choice to leave things as they are. the new stuff is good but the original remains near and dear to my heart and this remaster is merely a reminder of that! so all in all, did i love it? absolutely. is it a good substitute for the original? i'd still recommend playing the original so you can experience how older fans felt back then and how they'd feel now but i'm not your mother lol do what your heart tells you to! nier replicant remaster had a lot riding on it for me personally and i'm glad to say it delivered in full and then a bit more! yoko taro might be one of the most divisive people in terms of output but i'm glad to say he did a great job directing and respecting the older fans while bridging the gap between those who never experienced the original. i never thought that a remake of all things would come to be one of my favorite things this year but i'm really happy it was ! here's to looking forward to more things in the future! i love nier and i liked this remaster! there's really not much more i can say :) kainé / 10 ~!

hello, welcome to makura-soft, what do you want?

"EOP JOP EOP JOP EOP JOP"

uhh, do you want sakura no uta or something?

"MTL LOOOL GOOD LUCK COPE EOP JOP EOP"

This is probably one of the best looking games on the PS1 on a technical level, and aesthetically one of the best looking I've ever played. Akihiko Yoshida's art is already great, but the way his designs were adapted into the game's character models is seriously impressive. They used every trick they could think of to make the characters as expressive as possible, while using half the polygon count that FF7 and 8 did, and it's especially impressive considering the team had never worked with 3D graphics before this.

I hyped this game up for myself for a long time just based on the art style, but I had no idea how it actually played until I started. Surprisingly, the combat was also pretty great. Most of the "hard" part of the game is just being prepared, and having the right weapons for any given situation. The attribute system is cool in that it allows you to specialize and customize your weapons for use against specific enemies. I didn't mess with the crafting very much, but I imagine there's even more depth and weapon customization to be found there. The actual combat is engaging on its own, but if you're doing things right, boss fights and encounters shouldn't take very long, especially if you make use of everything you have available to you.

The story is interesting, fairly straightforward but there's a lot of things that aren't explained outright, or that are left for you to think about. Still, I wouldn't say it was hard to follow despite that, and the cutscene direction and aesthetics were strong enough that it didn't bother me.

Overall, really great game. It has a lot of unique aspects that I think it pulls off really well, and the total package isn't quite like anything I've played before.

TLDR: Sydney Losstarot is literally me 10/10