If you have already finished the game and want to read the complete breakdown of the story I would really appreciate it if you checked my analysis on the game[docs.google.com].

After the surprising success of Nier Automata and the sudden increase of public interest in Nier and Drakengard, Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito decided to celebrate the series tenth anniversary by making a modern remake of the original Nier, particularly the Japanese exclusive version titled Replicant, which had a different protagonist in comparison to the Gestalt version that was released worldwide in 2010. The remaster got very positive reviews and sold even better than Nier Automata, so we will likely see another Nier game in a couple of years, but should particularly you play the remaster, especially if you finished the original game back in the day?

Well, despite the great graphics overhaul and reworked combat, the game still has the 2010’s core in terms of game design. The locations are small, most sidequests are the usual "go, take, collect, leave me be" and the amount of grind required to finish the game properly is pretty large, especially if you want to do 100% achievements. Just like Automata, the game requires several playthroughs to get all the endings, one of which was previously just a novel in Grimoire Nier – a sort of artbook\dev diaries containing a lot of story information and plot-related novels. However, unlike Automata, where each new playthrough provides new gameplay, here you replay the same second act of the game with a bunch of additional cutscenes, and a really impactful playthrough is only the second one. All other routes could be shortened twice and the game would only get better, except route E, which has a very tricky way to get to it and I won't spoil it for you.

Nevertheless, despite all the above problems, the gameplay is actually good. The combat was tweaked to fit Automata standards and it turned out quite pleasant and varied. The surprising feature of this combat is that the game barely explains you how to properly use spells and moves, so it's really interesting to experiment with them and find powerful combos. However, the weapon and upgrade systems themselves are mediocre: most of the time you will just use the most damaging short sword\long sword\spear, automatically apply "words" (a sort of buffing amulets here), and do not bother about material grind until the very end of the game. Nier also has a very unbalanced difficulty system based on your current level and one fight can be both very hard and very easy depending on whether you did sidequests or not.

However, the main aspect of Nier is, no doubt, its story; and in terms of that, the game can easily become one of your favorites despite all its issues. I won't spoil anything here and will just say it like that. If you play it one time to ending A – you will get a nice interesting story; if you play it to the final ending E – you will get a deep controversial story; if you finish the game and read all side materials – you will discover a great tragic centuries-long story; if you play\read through all Drakengard-Nier series – you will find a magnificent universe and understand why Yoko Taro is so praised by the community.

All in all, if you are looking for some slasher and gameplay-oriented title, you better skip this one but if you want to dive into the story and are ready to work for it – this one is definitely for you. And if you liked Nier Automata not only for 2B’s visual features but also for its story, Nier Replicant is undoubtedly a must-play.

I also prepared a bunch of useful tips for first-time players, especially for those, who are willing to get all the achievements but they didn't fit into the review, so I decided to post them separately.