A remaster of Nier Replicant, the predecessor to the critically acclaimed NieR: Automata, has officially been announced by Square Enix as a part of the franchise’s 10th anniversary. A brief teaser trailer featuring snippets of concept artwork but no actual gameplay was released alongside the announcement, and you can check it out below.
The remaster, officially titled Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139…, reimagines the PlayStation 3 version of the original NieR, a version of the game that only ever saw a release in Japan, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. NieR initially had another version called NieR Gestalt for Xbox 360 starring an older protagonist, and that’s the version of the game that was released internationally. It’s unclear if the remaster will include any content from Gestalt, although it doesn’t seem likely considering it’s sticking with the Replicant name.
In an interview with Famitsu, Nier series producer Yosuke Saito revealed a few details about the game. When asked if the remaster will have a different ending, he simply responded “I don’t even know.” While that doesn’t tell us much, he did reveal that composer Keiichi Okabe has re-recorded the entire soundtrack, including a few new songs just for the remaster. The game is being developed by Toylogic, the team behind the 2012 free-to-play multiplayer title Happy Wars. More recently, though, they aided Square Enix in porting Dragon Quest XI to the Nintendo 3DS.
NieR was originally met with mixed critical reception, praised for its story and characters but criticized for its lack of polish. The game’s sequel, NieR: Automata, fared much better both critically and commercially, exposing the series to a much wider audience. There’s no official release window for Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139… as of right now, and considering the teaser trailer was comprised solely of concept art, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to get our hands on it anytime soon.
