To coincide with the 10th anniversary of NieR Square Enix has announced a remaster of NieR Replicant. Despite the absurd subtitle, NieR Replicant might confuse some fans, as the game wasn’t called that when it originally released in the West.
NieR actually had two different versions in Japan; Replicant which was a PS3 exclusive, and Gestalt which was an Xbox 360 exclusive. In the US, however, only Gestalt was released and it was simply titled NieR.
The upcoming remaster is specifically NeiR Replicant, and it brings together the same team that worked on the critically-acclaimed NieR: Automata. For anyone wondering what the differences in Replicant might be, here’s an explanation of everything.
NieR Replicant and Gestalt Only Have Minor Differences
In all honestly, the differences between NieR Replicant and Gestalt are fairly minor. The main difference has to do with the main character, named NieR, and their relationship with Yonah. In Replicant Nier is a young teenage man and Yonah is his sister, but in Gestalt Nier is am an in his 40s with a daughter named Yonah. The main narrative of the game remains the same, but some dialogue is changed based on the differences between the two Niers. The relationship between Nier and Yonah is totally different, but there aren’t any massive changes.
Outside of the different main characters, the two versions of NieR are practically the same game. The only other difference is that each version has a few unique music tracks, making Replicant’s soundtrack more ambient and ethereal, while Gestalt is more direct.
Why NieR Replicant Never Released in the US Until Now
While both versions of NieR released in Japan, Square Enix opted to just go with the Gestalt version in the US. At the time, Square Enix thought the aesthetics of Gestalt would appeal much more. Western audiences were more likely to take to a father-daughter relationship than a brother-sister one, at least in their minds. This is also represented in the character designs, with Gestalt’s Nier being a hyper-masculine buff hero, while Replicant has an effeminate young man.
Because NieR is a niche JRPG, it simply wasn’t worth bringing another version of the game to the West, when the other was already available. Of course, times have changed and niche JRPGs are more popular than ever. Even NieR’s sequel, Automata, has sold over 4 million copies to date. Now the original NieR Replicant can build off of the success of Automata, and get the chance it didn’t have before.
Next: 24 Awesome Things Hidden In Nier: Automata That Show How Crazy It Is
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