NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... Xbox Series X Review

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... isn't a remake, but instead an update of the original game with small improvements, new content, and rehauled visuals. Showcasing how the original game's narrative still holds up today and gives those who experienced NieR Automata a chance to experience the tale before 9S, 2B, and A2. There are some archaic elements that rely on tedious traveling and item collecting but despite this NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... has the same emotionally charged elements that made NieR Automata such a monumental game. 

NieR Replicant ver.1.22 stars the protagonist, a custom named character that is seeking to save his sister from a deadly plague called The Black Scrawl. Despite no cure existing the protagonist refuses to give up, gaining access to a sentient book called Grimoire Weiss who can conjure magical spells. The protagonist must attempt to locate Sealed Verses in hopes of finding a cure while battling deadly monsters called Shades.

Players will encounter a decent array of characters, with some serving as active allies in this adventure. Kaine is a foul-mouth warrior who wears lingerie and Emil is an isolated child stricken with a curse. Grimoire Weiss serves as your constant partner in both battle and companionship. The back and forth between him and the protagonist offers some incredible moments with bickering, exchanging stories, and supporting one another. None of the characters feel like filler and play a vital role in this dangerous journey, even the secondary characters have a significant impact on the narrative. 

This being a NieR game expect multiple endings, with 1 being canon. This requires multiple playthroughs and specific requirements to unlock. The most significant being collecting weapons, which are sold and found in the environment. Each weapon has a story behind it and can be upgraded using found materials. This does require a significant amount of grinding as materials are governed by RNG and money is only earned through side missions and selling items. Most of which are needed for crafting so expect to enter and leave an area multiple times as they reset during each level transition.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22 world is moderately big with some large open areas. Most house specific enemies and wildlife but expect to go back and forth a lot. The game's side missions require significant backtracking and the fast travel system is very limited. You get access to it halfway through the game but the options are limited to just general areas and it's often taken away from you. Even the game makes fun of this and explains why teleporting is risky, Apparently, it's possible but unless you have a clear path to your goal colliding with anything will turn your body into pulp. There are specific situations where the game transitions from 1 area to the next but these are limited.

What about combat, it plays great. The options are tied to both Grimore Weiss and your current weapon. Since the protagonist can only use 1 weapon at a time you'll need to manual switch if you want another, no quick switching is available. Weiss has a collection of spells that range from machine-gun fire, spears, walls, and more that can be charged and are limited by a rechargeable mana meter. Using spells does come at risk as the protagonist's movement is reduced when doing so. The weapons range from light, moderate, and heavy with each option have strengths are weaknesses such as light being quick but can only break guards with charged strikes and heavy being slow but can pierce guarding enemies with basic attacks. It can get annoying during specific levels that require the player to move at a jogging pace and lose access to their evade. If anything needed to change it was this.

The combo variety is basic and not as quick as NieR Automata but that's expected. This isn't a new combat system and you're not a powerful Android with limitless stamina. Instead of that incredibly dodge fans of NieR Automata know well you have a basic evade and can parry targets which opens up enemies to massive return damage. You can upgrade this variety of weapons and spells further with words learned from killing Shades but customization is limited, just pick the best option for everything. Leveling is also basic and you can only level from killing Shades but the game encourages you to fight everything as the non-Shade enemies provide the best resources.

Enemy variety is healthy with an array of powerful enemies slowly being introduced. Some enemies are recycled but have new defenses to encourage weapon switching. Boss fights are amazing and they test everything you've learned during the adventure. Whether it's a puzzle used in the last area or looking for weak points based on enemy attacks. You'll have help but your allies serve more as distractions as they barely do any damage.

The biggest change to NieR Replicant ver.1.22 is definitely the technical quality. The visuals are beautiful and the voice-acting is terrific, with every character being voiced including the minor NPCs. It's strange that an auto-scrolling option isn't available since everyone is voiced though. In terms of environmental variety, there's a good selection but the game keeps its themes grounded, so don't expect large lava or snow areas.

You're probably wondering about the music as NieR Automata's soundtrack is legendary and you'll be happy to hear that's also true here. NieR Replicant ver.1.22's musical score is brilliant and well used here.

I do have to give the developers credit for creating a stable game. While expected we live in a gaming industry where many AAA games exercise the motto "Release it now and fix it later" as some sort of medal, that's not true here. The game is stable and I never experienced a crash, which is a rare treat. It shows the developers took this seriously and cared to release a finished product at launch. It's also relieving knowing despite the game's heavy grinding goals that no microtransactions were put into the game. No Time Savers here, you want that powerful weapon you're going to have to work for it.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22 doesn't attempt to rewrite itself, instead provides a modern experience of this title while remaining loyal to its core concepts. Aspects such as backtracking and heavy grinding highlight archaic elements that most developers have moved past from. Despite this, the outstanding story, music, and overall adventure mostly overshadow these elements. I did wish they went a little further in modernizing certain gameplay elements but it was likely to keep with the game's vision seeing this is an update. Even with the use of old concepts NieR Replicant ver.1.22 shows that incredible storytelling can endure the test of time.
 

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
Twitter | YouTube | Facebook