Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 made an appearance at The Game Awards on Thursday, delighting me, Polygon’s resident obsessive Nier fan, and presumably a few thousand folks who share my affliction.
Replicant builds off the popularity of Nier: Automata, which appeared in 2017 and reminded the world that video games are in fact good.
Automata did it all: served as history lesson and critique of video games; blended a century of sci-fi tropes into a unique smoothie; and made countless snobby references to literature and philosophy while androids and robots murdered one another with big-ass swords. But for all its bold ideas, the game had plenty of precedent with its predecessors Nier Replicant/Gestalt and the Drakengard series.
I will spare you the specifics of these narrative prequels because neither of us has a week to review all the twist and turns, but here’s what you should know: These games were rough. Like, rough. Their look and feel kept a bunch of potential fans out of the Nier universe. This remake of Replicant seeks to bust that barrier with a more visually extravagant and mechanically welcoming experience. Going off this trailer, the developers are making positive strides toward that goal.
Nier Replicant is scheduled for release on April 23, 2021 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One.
