Receiving an announcement earlier this year, NieR Replicant looks to be a celebratory remaster of the first game in the NieR series, releasing alongside the 10th anniversary of the franchise. It'll bring the slightly altered Japanese version of the game to the west for the first time, alongside some enhancements to the visuals, fully voiced dialogue, and reworked combat.
To show off the improvements to the new game, Square Enix has released some screenshots on the NieR Twitter account in an effort to highlight the visual changes to the game. These mostly showcase Replicant's beautiful environments, displaying how modern technology can give the world of the original NieR more life than before.
The screenshots capture four different areas of the barren world NieR Replicant takes place in, with the promo images highlighting large empty fields and the city ruins the player embarks through during the game's first act. It looks like there's far more detail in the world than before, with better textures and a more distinctive look. Seeing as the original NieR first hit consoles back in 2010, this new remaster definitely gives it a decent facelift, welcoming fans back to a version of the world that's slightly more in keeping with modern visuals. It'll be interesting to see how they hold up in gameplay when Replicant releases next April.
For those unsure whether to grab themselves a copy of the upcoming remaster, it looks to be a pretty essential purchase for Western fans of the game. When NieR Replicant released in Japan, it was split into two versions: NieR Gestalt and the PlayStation 3 exclusive NieR Replicant. The two are very similar except for the main character, with Gestalt seeing players take the role of Yonah's father and Replicant seeing them take the role of her brother. Unfortunately for players in the US and Europe, NieR Gestalt was the only version of the game to release, meaning fans never got to experience the story through the eyes of Replicant's protagonist. The PC, PS4, and Xbox One remaster will finally be their chance to experience the alternate take on the story.
As for what else is coming to the NieR franchise, the series will be getting a mobile spin-off title NieR Reincarnation. The title will be a turn-based, narrative-driven new entry in the story, which will definitely appeal to NieR diehards looking to get a new helping of the game's world. The game is currently in development for mobile devices, so fans will have to wait a little longer to find out when they can finally play it.
NieR Replicant will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 22, 2021.