NIER AT HAND

NIER REPLICANT is a welcome second chance for a singular action-RPG.

- Julie Muncy

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A full remaster of a beloved and strange action JRPG

EXPECT TO PAY £50

DEVELOPER In-house, Toylogic Inc

PUBLISHER Square Enix

REVIEWED ON Windows 10, Intel Core i7-8750H, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

MULTIPLAYER No

LINK nier.square-enixgames.com/en-us

If you didn’t know that Nier was the final game from studio Cavia Games, you might be able to tell from playing it. The action RPG feels like a final act: a swing for the fences characterised by anger, tragedy, and a desperate sense of sincerity. And like most desperate swings, it failed at the time: sales were poor, Cavia Games was absorbed into its parent company, and Nier’s creative director, Yoko Taro, moved on to ply his craft elsewhere.

If Nier was characterised by desperation, Nier Replicant (technically named Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139… but that’s just silly) is an act of love. Created by developer Toylogic and publisher Square Enix with the direct involvement of Taro and his regular band of collaborators, this remaster feels like an attempt to make good on the ideas and promises of that original game. After its sequel Nier Automata became an unlikely hit in 2017, the team is betting that now is the right time to reintroduce broader audiences to the charms of the original game. Maybe this time they’ll be more receptive.