Never played any NieR, so...?

[der.dida83]

is it better to start with this or NieR Automata?

As I understand Automata is the better game but this is chronologically the first, right?

I literally know nothing else about this series, other than characters look weird :-D

[Wismo898]

you can start with this one or Automata don't worry about anything, no matter the order you will enjoy it the same,

Automata is lowkey more polished but just in gameplay, and that's because they wanted to keep the Replicant remake 1:1.

So enjoy. :)

[]"]]

Chronologically in-game, this is before Automata.

In terms of original release date (not remaster), this is also before Automata.

But I played Automata first, and I don't regret it. It's definitely the better game by a large margin.

I also think that the story works better in some ways. The feeling of discovery "oh, this is <that thing> in the past" when I played Replicant.

Of course, I don't really know what it's like to play Replicant first, but I think I would have enjoyed it less. Depending on my mood I might have given up because of the gameplay and never played Automata.

[inkus]

Lorewise you should play three games of Drakengard series and only then Replicant and Automata. But storywise you can start from either. Since each instance of the franchise is a self-contained scenario, there is a significant time-gap between scenarios and some of those even hapen in the different timelines/"parallel worlds".
You will not understand all "easter eggs" and referincies, though, if you play games in a random order.

[PmcD]

Originally posted by inkus:

Lorewise you should play three games of Drakengard series and only then Replicant and Automata. But storywise you can start from either. Since each instance of the franchise is a self-contained scenario, there is a significant time-gap between scenarios and some of those even hapen in the different timelines/"parallel worlds".
You will not understand all "easter eggs" and referincies, though, if you play games in a random order.

drakengard 3 then 1 timeline wise. 2 doesnt exist cannonically since it was done by a complete diff group and didnt involve yoko taro

[easylife]

My personal recommendation would be NieR: Automata. But you will get some minor spoiler Files about the Story of Replicant/Gestalt.

NieR Reincarnation isn't as good as the full PC/Console games, so you won't miss a thing story wise by skipping the Mobile Game which has terminated its service.

The Drakengrad Games are from the PS2/3 era. So, a bit old. They also play not an important role, to understand the story of NieR. If you are interested, instead of playing those games, you can read a wikia about them or watch a YouTube explanation video about these. But it is not necessary for the Story of NieR.

[Alt0153]

this came first but its grindy and boring if you try to do side quests, you retread the same areas again and again in each playthrough, also its more expensive than the better game