NieR (Series) | NieR 3 Teased?

[Moonface]

In celebration of NieR's 10th Anniversary, Square Enix has announced that NieR Replicant is being remastered:

The game is being developed by Toylogic, and the voice actors for Automata's 9S and 2B have confirmed they have roles in this game. The version number shown in the trailer is also the square root of 1.5.

[Dragon Lord]

Should be noted that this really isn't a remaster of Replicant and more of a remake. It's been stated that there will be multiple additions to the game, and that there's a good chance that multiple new endings will also be added.

Pretty nice news to see when I woke up today. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about this being more of a remake than just a remaster of Replicant, since we never got the original Replicant in the west, but after a bit I realized that this is actually a good thing. The story differences between Replicant and Gestalt, from what I've heard, are very minimal. Although the main character changes, the story plays out identically in both games, so them going the extra mile and adding new content to this version of Replicant will be a good thing.

It's exciting news and I can't wait to see how the game turns out. Really hoping the combat will be just like Automata's. One of the good things about this being more of a remake than a remaster is that they have the opportunity to get in there and change that dull combat from the original NieR.

[Moonface]

NieR Re[in]carnation In-Game Trailer
Square Enix released a new trailer today that shows off some in-game footage of the NieR Re[in]carnation smartphone game:

[Moonface]

Really hoping the combat will be just like Automata's. One of the good things about this being more of a remake than a remaster is that they have the opportunity to get in there and change that dull combat from the original NieR.

A new interview that got published today says that Takahisa Taura from PlatinumGames is overseeing the overhauled combat that aims to appeal to Automata fans without alienating fans of Replicant:

[Moonface]

TGS 2020 - NieR Special Programming
Here is all the news from today's stream of the "We Have a Decent Amount of New Info" Special for the NieR series, which includes new gameplay footage of NieR Replicant and a NieR Automata statue!

Due to the lack of individual videos of moments from the stream, everything notable that has video footage will be time stamped below:

• 2:08 | NieR Replicant - TGS 2020 Trailer
  
• The end of the above trailer revealed that NieR Replicant will be released on April 23, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
  

• 7:12 | NieR Replicant Box Art
  
• All territories will feature a reversible cover that has the alternate box art on it, so no one has to worry about missing out on their preferred box art.
  
• There is also a White Snow Edition of the game (8:48), which includes the following: a copy of NieR Replicant, a set of three pins (Grimoire Weiss, Grimoire Noir, Grimoire Rubrum), a set of Japanese voice-over scripts, and a book containing two discs with selected tracks from NieR Replicant and an arrangement of tracks from other artists. This edition is exclusive to Japan, but North America and Europe are intended to receive similar special editions.
  

• 21:00 | NieR Replicant Battle Gameplay
  
• Magic and weapon attacks have been interweaved to make combat more exhilarating and punchy compared to the original game.
  
• You can now strike with Dark Lance and charge attacks while moving and in midair.
  

• 25:06 | Japanese Pre-Order Bonuses for NieR Replicant
  
• PS4 physical edition pre-order bonuses are dependent on retailer and exclusive to Japan: the Square Enix store is offering a steelbook case, Amazon is offering tarot cards, and Lawson is offering a rubber strap.
  
• Digital edition pre-order bonuses are dependent on platform and are available globally: PS4 copies come with a mini soundtrack, dynamic theme, and avatar set, Xbox One copies come with the mini soundtrack, and the Steam version comes with a mini soundtrack and wallpaper set.
  

• 28:12 | NieR Re[in]carnation Explanation
  If you aren't aware, this is the first smartphone game in the NieR series.
  
• You are lead by a character called "Mama", and you traverse around an area called "The Cage" and collect pieces of "weapon memory" scattered throughout the area. The Cage is depicted in 3D whilst weapon's memory is in 2D.
  
• 29:30 | NieR Re[in]carnation - TGS 2020 Trailer
  

• 35:23 | NieR Automata has reached 4,850,000 total sales.
  
• NieR Automata is currently 50% off on various platforms, so maybe the game will hit the 5,000,000 total sales that Square Enix mistakenly thought the game had achieved before being corrected by the games lead designer.
  
• 36:42 | NieR Automata Statue
  
• A statue featuring 2B, 9S, and A2 from NieR Automata is being produced for around Winter 2021. It is apparently very heavy and will be available in as many territories as possible.
  

• 40:28 | NieR: Theatrical Orchestra Blu-Ray
  
• The Blu-Ray contains footage from a concert that was held on March 29, 2020 without an audience to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the NieR series.
  
• 41:45 | Song Preview from the Blu-Ray performance.
  

[Dragon Lord]

The gameplay is looking SO much better than the original. I've been saying since Automata came out that I wanted a remaster/remake of the original NieR with Automata's combat. While this isn't as good looking at Automata's, it still looks very good compared to the original and I'm excited for it even more now.

The mobile game coming west isn't a surprise. With how successful Automata was, I knew it'd be a matter of when, not if. I'm pretty happy to finally know when it's coming though. I like having a third mobile game to mess around with when I don't really have much to do on Azur Lane and Arknights, and I've tried multiple games in the last year (War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, SinoAlice and Tales of Crestoria) and none of them impressed me enough to stick with them for more than a week or two. Really hoping the NieR mobile game can do what they didn't and stick with me as my third game.

Pre-ordered the White Snow Edition of Replicant as soon as I could, and I'm going to be very happy to have it next to my NieR Automata: Black Box Edition. After tax and shipping, it came out to $185.31, which is a pretty hefty price tag, but NieR is worth every single penny.

[Moonface]

NieR Replicant TGA 2020 Gameplay Trailer
A new gameplay trailer for NieR Replicant was just shown during tonight's pre-show for The Game Awards 2020:

[ShiraNoMai]

Looks so dope. I was watching someone blind-play Automata today and god damn, that game is still so good. I forget how they weave the story-telling into all the encounters through combat and music. That OST is nothing short of brilliant, also.

[Dragon Lord]

Yesssss Automata is still absolute perfection. I don't think the first game is as good as Automata (one of those rare situations where the sequel was actually better), but I'm still super stoked to play the first game with a much improved combat system.

The music in the first NieR is godlike too, so expect more of the same out of that. The story is also just... hnngggg. I don't want to spoil anything obviously, but if you play it, just prepare your feels, because the game is an absolute rollercoaster.

[Moonface]

I don't think the first game is as good as Automata (one of those rare situations where the sequel was actually better)...

What would you say was weaker about the first one that won't likely be fixed in the remake?

[Dragon Lord]

The only thing that was weaker in the first game than Automata was really the combat. But obviously that'll be fixed in the remake, although I don't expect the combat to be as good as Automata still. The story is also not as good in my opinion, but it's still really good.

I also like the characters in Automata bit more, but it's definitely not something I'd subtract the original game for. The characters in the first game are still really great. I think I'm going to personally like the different main character for Replicant than I did the main character for Gestalt as well, so that should boost my overall enjoyment of the game.

[Moonface]

One thing I hope this game doesn't do that Automata did is having the multiple routes where some are basically the same things but from a different character perspective. I found Route B in Automata really underwhelming going into the game blind because it didn't really add anything notably new, and up front it made me think the games multiple routes weren't going to actually give me more story. Anyone who's played the game knows that's not the case but even then it still felt a bit of a time waster and it was hard to care for anything happening when a lot of it wasn't really new. Although for all I know Replicant doesn't even have multiple routes like Automata does.

[Dragon Lord]

I'll put it in a spoiler, in case you don't want to know, but if you do want to know the answer to that:

The game does not have multiple story routes, however there are multiple endings that you can achieve, one of which requires you to fully upgrade every weapon to its max (requires quite a bit of grinding, at least in the original. We'll see if they ease the grind in the remake or not).

[Moonface]

Taking what you hid into consideration, I'm guessing this game is a lot shorter than the total of Automata?

[Dragon Lord]

Depends. I'd say if you were going just to complete the story, and only get one ending, then us, it's shorter. Though if you're going for 100%, then it's probably about the same length, or maybe even longer, because the grind for weapon upgrade materials is pretty brutal. Unless they increase the drop rates in the remake, it takes a long time to get all of the high-tier materials for weapon upgrades, and one of the endings is locked behind upgrading all weapons to their maximum level.

I don't remember the exact time, but I think I had to grind for a good 20-30 extra hours to finish off the weapons, which was after getting the other endings and already having weapons upgraded from the play through normally.