NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... Japanese Box Art English Box Art Overview Japanese: ニーア レプリカント ver.1.22474487139... Rōmaji: Nīa Repurikanto ver.1.22474487139... Genre: Action role-playing Developer: Toylogic Publisher: Square Enix Director: Yoko Taro

Ito Saki (Toylogic)

SteamXbox One

JP April 22 2021WWApril 23 2021Steam:WWApril 24 2021Xbox One:JP April 22 2021WWApril 23 2021

PEGI: 18CERO: D (17+)OLFC: MA 15+

NieR (Alternative)

NieR Re[in]carnation

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... is an enhanced rerelease (termed "version upgrade" by the developers) of the Japanese exclusive Replicant version of NieR for the PlayStation 3.[1] First announced during the NieR 10 Hour 10th Anniversary NicoNico Livestream held on March 29, 2020 along with NieR Re[in]carnation, the game is a collaboration between Toylogic and Square Enix.[2]

The game was released on April 22nd, 2021 in Japan and April 23rd-24th worldwide for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and on Steam, alongside a set of free downloadable content called 4 YoRHa. It marks the first global release of NieR Replicant, with NieR Gestalt (released as NIER worldwide) previously being the only English version made available in 2010.[3]

The story is largely similar to that of NieR Replicant, also introducing new plot elements throughout taken from Grimoire NieR. The game begins in the summer of 2053, where a young man fending off strange monsters at a supermarket in Tokyo finds his sister suddenly suffering from a black illness, afflicted upon her as a result of touching a black book.

1,412 years later, a similar looking young man providing care for his sister Yonah, who is suffering from the Black Scrawl, encounters a powerful arcane tome named Grimoire Weiss. After presenting the white book to Devola and Popola, he learns that Weiss might be able to cure the Black Scrawl and sets off on a quest to retrieve the Sealed Verses, which they believe will help cure Yonah.

The protagonist travels to The Aerie, where he meets the scantily-clad and foul-mouthed swordswoman Kainé. Together, they defeat the Shade Hook, and Kainé agrees to join him in his quest. The party continue searching for the Sealed Verses in such places as the Forest of Myth, the Junk Heap, and even to far-flung places as the Barren Temple. Beckoned by a letter later on, the protagonist travels to a manor in the Southern Plains. There, he meets the manor's owner Emil, a boy that petrifies anything he looks at. After defeating Grimoire Rubrum in the manor's study, they retrieve a page related to curing Emil's eyesight, which is written in an unreadable cipher. Emil's butler, Sebastian, immediately pledges to translate the cipher, and the protagonist returns to his village.

After he gathers vapor moss to make medicine for Yonah, a battered Emil appears at the village's southern gate to warn them of an impending Shade attack. Almost immediately, the village is swarmed by Shades led by the Jack of Hearts. The protagonist and Kainé trap the Jack of Hearts in the basement of the library, only to find that Yonah has been kidnapped by the Shadowlord, accompanied by Grimoire Noir. Kainé asks Emil to petrify her against the basement's door before the Shade can escape, to which Emil reluctantly agrees.

Five years pass and the protagonist, alongside Emil, traverse through the manor's Underground Facility to find a way to undo Kainé's petrification. The party discovers Emil was created as Experimental Weapon Number 7. Traveling deeper into the facility, they encounter Experimental Weapon Number 6, revealed to be Emil’s sister Halua, and that she is the reason the facility was sealed and abandoned. During the encounter, Halua consumes Emil and their bodies fuse together, leaving Emil with not only her powers, but also her skeletal form.

Returning to the library, Emil successfully frees Kainé, while also finally vanquishing the trapped Shade who had survived in the basement for five years. The party begin a hunt to collect all the key fragments required for entry to the Shadowlord's Castle, which they acquire from revisiting the Lost Shrine, the settlements beyond the Northern Plains, and the desert. Barring the key fragment from the Forest of Myth, they find the rest guarded by powerful entities—Wendy at The Aerie, Roc at the desert, and Military Defense System P-33 with Kalil at the Junk Heap, who they all successfully triumph over.

To travel to the Lost Shrine and find the Shadowlord’s castle, use of the canal is required, but the Red-Bag Man in charge of the ferry has gone missing during their search for the missing key fragments. While investigating at Seafront, they find his remains at the hull of a wrecked ship that washed ashore during the timeskip. Venturing further in, the party finds a seemingly young girl known as Louise, who acts very frightened and afraid of them. She is revealed to be a very powerful Shade and battles with the party, but is subsequently cast off as well. Delivering the news to Popola afterwards, she appoints someone else to man the ferry.

The party are finally able to travel to the Lost Shrine and onto the Shadowlord’s castle. Fighting their way inside, they encounter Devola and Popola, who attempt to stop them from looking for Yonah. Devola dies in the ensuing battle, causing an enraged Popola to go berserk, and Emil sacrifices himself in order to subdue Popola. As the remaining members of the group proceed to the castle's chamber, they find Yonah in stasis, and are interrupted by the Shadowlord emerging from the ground. After a battle with Grimoire Noir and the Shadowlord, the protagonist manages to defeat them and is reunited with Yonah.

Up to five endings are now displayed upon the Shadowlord's defeat, versus the original's four:

Yosuke Saito, the series producer, clarified in the earliest introduction that this game "is not a remake or a remaster. It's a version up," hence the new subtitle. According to his remarks in the May 21 Dengeki Online interview, Yoko Taro claimed to not remember why they chose the subtitle. The chains around Grimoire Weiss within the logo represents the curses within the NieR universe that "remain even a decade later."

ver.1.22... was made to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary. Toylogic was approached due to Saito's experience working with them on Dragon Quest X and Dragon Quest XI. Many developers of those teams formerly worked on NieR Replicant, so Saito asked them to join its version up.

Takahisa Taura from PlatinumGames remarked that he considered himself more of an advisor to the development process. It's an ongoing joke in interviews that Yoko disdains "good looking, popular guys" like Taura and finds it impossible to get along with them. Saito clarifies that Taura's involvement is an effort to bring new talent to the table.

Yoko commented that the game's battle system "must appeal to Automata fans", while also stating that he doesn't want to lose Replicant's charm either. His goal was for a revised take that will appeal to fans of both titles.

Kazuma Koda, who has previously done key visuals for the series, including the YoRHa stage play, created concept art for this version up. He was nervous to have his artwork being used in a main entry within the series since his previous experience was for promotional media. He tried his best to preserve the original title's mood and tones while updating them to follow modern conventions. He is relieved and grateful to read fans' positive online reactions to his artwork.

Original character designer D.K. did not return to the project due to returning to his home country, although he cheered for the version up on social media. No direct answers were given when asked if new characters will be introduced. Since D.K did not return, the artwork for the main characters have been redrawn by Akihiko Yoshida and Kimihiko Fujisaka for ver.1.22....

When asked if "version up" means that there another ending will be added to the original game's scenario, Saito claimed to not know on the spot. Yoko stated that he didn't want to betray fans' expectations with any confirmation and had wanted to keep it free to interpretation.

In a later interview with PlayStation Japan, Yoko Taro clarified that when he penned the Mermaid story, it was with the full expectation that it would remain in Grimoire NieR. Development for this subplot had been declined in early production. He didn't actively contribute much to the version up's development, commenting that he ate snacks and slept while Director Ito struggled with converting his original story for a video game setting.

Yoko also stated that the other short stories found in Grimoire NieR were never meant to be developed into a video game form either. The Lost World story, which would be the basis for Ending E, was originally pushed by Square-Enix as far back as the original game as a counterproposal to erasing the player's save data. Since ver.1.22... is for fans, Saito suggested that it be made to service them. This time around, Yoko agreed to let it happen because he's "a capitalist slave."

When Yoko was asked about the game's new music, he confessed that his requests to the composers were blunt "something like this" recommendations from YouTube videos.

In another PlayStation Japan interview Okabe remarked that the emphasis on a consistent melody was done in the spirit of older films. He's aware that vocals in background music run the danger of overpowering spoken dialogue, and he initially wished to avoid it. Yoko insisted upon them being within the soundtrack, so Okabe asked Emi Evans to emphasize her breaths and be light with her vocals. Although Okabe remarks that he avoided giving Yoko the evil eye for that, they're college friends who easily understand one another. Whenever he had questions or comments, he was free to share them.

When Okabe first composed music for Nier, much of the game was still being developed. He wrote a careful balance between whatever Yoko requested and Okabe's own musical preferences. Each piece was gradually composed and completed as the game neared its final stages. Yoko asked him to be directly involved with the game's development, which led to the multiple musical variations within the soundtrack catering to specific conditions. For instance, Song of the Ancients's vocal version would only occur if the protagonist was close enough to hear the character singing it.

For ver.1.22... specifically he aspired to present an extravagant experience compared to the original. He hopes fans enjoy the changes in the version up's orchestral battle themes.