NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... - Review

That game consisted of a whole variety of polar and in all respects ambiguous elements: behind the external untidiness, a bizarre structure was hidden, and the seemingly obvious deconstruction of many traditional cliches of Japanese role-playing games was systematically filled with new meanings.

Today, NieR 2010 release can often be found in the lists of the most underrated games of the seventh generation of console systems. Someone will happily mark it with the hackneyed label "hidden pearl", and others in the wake of the success of NieR: Automata will publicly talk about the genius of the face-hiding Yoko Taro.

And if a small, albeit very active group of fans of the original NieR is able to tell you about the intricacies of the device of the world's greatest magical grimoire, along with a lecture on the role of dragons in the Drakengard universe, then for a significant part of the audience until now, the game has remained an intangible mirage. The reasons for this are extremely banal.

First, the classic NieR is forever trapped in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Even if you consider yourself a console retrograde and keep an old piece of hardware on the shelf, trying to buy the coveted game turns into an additional headache – it has never received a digital release, which means you need to hunt for a physical copy.

Secondly, the above-mentioned technical unsightliness of the old NieR can certainly bring down the degree of motivation to get acquainted with the game. Especially if you are interested in it after the beautiful, endearing and responsive Automata.

Of course, the situation was well aware of the management of the publisher Square Enix. Motivated by the success of NieR: Automata and resorting to forbidden magic, as well as the help of the Toylogic team, the world was shown NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... – a reissue of the old NieR, timed exactly to the tenth anniversary of the original release.

For context, it is important to note that the classic NieR Replicant "about brother" is a former exclusive of the Japanese market. The Western audience remembers the game from the publication of NieR Gestalt "about the pope". In fact, omitting the very idea of such atypical regional differences, the content of both versions of the game almost mirrored each other. However, a number of plot details and the overall context could very much influence the perception of the whole story as a whole.

The basis for NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139..., as it follows from the subtitle, was precisely NieR Replicant-that edition of the game, where the role of the central protagonist was played by a young man taking care of his sick sister, and not a skin-clad Neanderthal father, trying with his last strength to brighten up the everyday life of a rapidly weakening daughter.

In the infinitely complex coordinate system for the characteristics of modern reissues and updated versions, NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139 ... perhaps occupies an unexpected position. In terms of content, the new version of NieR carefully takes over all the content of the original release, while managing to present multiple surprises. First, you can focus on the most obvious – the restored visual part.

For NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... the Toylogic team has collected literally thousands of new assets from scratch. The artists ' attention was drawn to both the fundamentally important components of the graphic form, such as character models, environments, and animation systems, as well as the subtle nuances that set the tone, including lighting and color correction of individual segments of the game world.

The adjusted images of the characters, including the protagonist, Emil and Kaina, have retained their identity, remaining true to the original artistic vision, but have dramatically increased in detail – you can now see an abundance of decorative elements and patterns hidden in the textures on the costumes. The same applies to the faces – yes, their overall styling is somewhat different from the previous models, but against the background of the rest of the graphics, the appearance of the characters does not lose any organicity.

Even more changes in NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... have undergone locations. The developers did not touch the topography of the levels in any way, paying all attention to the exterior decoration. The results of their work were transformed landscapes, which are now full of previously absent geometry-mountains and hills have acquired expressive outlines, giving the environment a natural authenticity and mood. The redesigned game space, among other things, also helps the game better to broadcast its setting – in the previously abstract stone spires, quite understandable and familiar architectural solutions suddenly began to be seen, which is great for the layering of the local world order.

But the connecting link of the entire set of visual upgrades NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139..., of course, can be called from scratch written animation system. Instead of the catchy, hypertrophied and even somewhat comical movements, consisting of an extremely limited number of frames in the original NieR, soft and graceful alternatives have come. The main character performs all the actions with proper smoothness and seamless transitions, which is why you can go into a controlled drift on a large black boar with equal pleasure, and enjoy the dance of blades, dealing dozens of blows to discouraged opponents.

Unlike the rebuilt models and geometry, the new animation in ver. 1. 22474487139 ... in many ways ennobles the entire gameplay. The reduced response time, multiplied by a high frame rate, greatly increases the overall dynamics of action episodes. Small but pleasant changes to key gameplay systems also help here. For example, in the new edition of NieR, it is now possible to move freely during the activation of spells, which adds an element of tactical positioning to the battles. In addition, enemies can be taken into focus, reducing the risk of knocking on the gamepad an impressive combo to nowhere. And if you want to take a break from the fights, or if you prefer to devote your time to gardening and fishing, then you can turn on the autoboy mode – in it NieR begins to play itself.

And yet, despite the titanic amount of effort that Toylogic specialists have spent to breathe new life into NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139..., the odes to the outer screen of the iconic creation of game designer Yoko Taro only divert attention from its deliberately unformatted interior.

The starting point for the drama NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139 ... is the story of a 16-year-old protagonist who takes care of his younger sister. The girl is very ill, and in order to feed herself, the hero takes on a variety of work, simultaneously trying to find at least some clues that will help him cope with his sister's illness.

It doesn't take too long before fate brings the protagonist together with the Grimoire Weiss – an ancient and incredibly powerful intelligent volume of ancient writings and magic. The arrogant book agrees to help the hero in his wanderings, thus starting a whole chain of events that will shed light on a mystery much more catastrophic than the illness of one child.

The best prospect for getting to know NieR is to go through it as blindly as possible. In the absence of pre-formed expectations and preconceptions, the provocatively changing structure and tone of the game turns into a rare emotional attraction. The seemingly overly standard archetypes inherent in many classic JRPGs are first wittily ridiculed, and then deliberately shattered, only to frame them in a new context. But as soon as you start looking at the game as a comical genre deconstruction, it turns everything upside down again, moving to melancholic and even tragic moods, revealing itself from other sides.

Playing with the form and with the form in NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139... is like a separate type of entertainment: the virtual operator changes the camera plans, quoting various genre directions, the presentation of the plot relies on unusual sources, and sometimes the whole action is literally paused to immerse the player in the colors of their own imagination for a whole half hour.

Even the music in NieR is transformed into a separate unique language, a bridge between the game and the player. The legendary duo of composer Keiichi Okabe and vocalist Amy Evans has produced a whole album of soulful compositions, woven from a combination of many artistic trends and styles, where tender lyrics in a non-existent language are combined with a cold melody collected from the library of industrial sounds.

For example, the famous " Song of the Ancients”, which the Deveel sings while sitting by the fountain in the village, has a diegetic sound that is an integral part of the game world. This simple but effective technique instantly gives the simplest scene a tangible depth and mood.

It is noteworthy that for NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... the composer Okabe completely re-recorded all his works, and also gave life to new works. The melody and progression of the classic tracks, with rare exceptions, remained intact, but even in the absence of a good ear, new instruments and sometimes shifted accents are easily guessed in the fresh arrangements.

Another important detail is the ability to pass the new version of NieR in Japanese or English dubbing. In the case of the second, Square Enix almost completely returned the cast of the original 2010 release – the characters speak in familiar voices, voicing barely changed lines of the script. At the same time, some of the scenes were rewritten from scratch, while some were preserved in their original form. Given that in the original edition of the game, many dialogues remained completely "mute", the voice acting ver.1.22474487139... automatically gives them previously absent shades.

In addition to the experimental presentation and magical sound, from the original release in NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139... in full, all the more traditional aspects of game design have been stepped over. So, in between major narrative chapters, you are free to devote your time to a string of optional tasks.

Among these, for example, an avalanche of secondary missions, where almost all of them are traditional quests to find items, characters and other missing items of dubious importance. Ignore them completely, however, still not worth it-sometimes the game can present an unexpected (and unpleasant surprise), or please with a useful gift, such as replenishing the available arsenal of weapons.

Two other “everyday” activities in NieR are fishing and gardening. Catching fish is the most simple process that requires the player to be extremely patient. And with the activity in the garden is still easier – just plant the right seeds and do not forget to return to them in time, so as not to lose a valuable crop.

You can give up unnecessary excursions and follow the strictly plot narrative in NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139... without any problems, however, in order to fully cover what the developers have planned, you will still have to spend several monotonous hours on third-party entertainment.

The overall perception of NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139... is highly dependent on your previous familiarity with this franchise. Fans of the original NieR will clap their hands at the sight of the beautifully adapted graphics (a little scolding the new faces) and for a long time will be stuck in a cyclical delight caused by the crazy surprises that Yoko Taro has prepared for them and which he kept silent until the last moment.

Fans of Android 2B in NieR Replicant ver. 1. 22474487139 ... will be able to see a whole kaleidoscope of bright ideas and concepts that later found their development in NieR: Automata. Not to mention the "backlinks". Independently collecting the chronology of events in such a sequence is an extremely entertaining activity.

And for those who have little understanding of the NieR universe at all, ver. 1. 22474487139 ... risks becoming an unexpected revelation. The proverbial informality of the project is easily able to scare away, but those who find it attractive will certainly fall in love with the game.

In 2010, NieR gained attention, even despite its gaping shortcomings. Against the background of gray colors, a strange game about a flying book and a magical skeleton boy for a dozen years settled in the hearts of caring fans.

And today, NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 ... comes on the scene, which is almost completely devoid of what the original release was criticized for. Behind the gloss of the new graphics hides the whole same game. And this is great, because it has not lost any relevance over the past years.