They say that brilliance is always one step away from madness and no game exhibitions that better than NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... with its grotesque title and arguably even more grotesque game mechanics. Through 60 hours of gameplay, I continuously teetered on the brink of a steep cliff that would send me plummeting down a proverbial rocky ravine. I absolutely despised 80% of my time playing this game and while I would like to say that positives outweigh the negatives, I think they did not for me.

Let us begin with the good. This is a one-of-a-kind experience. Yoko Taro is a designer that is unparalleled when it comes to implementing wacky game ideas. He's the kind of guy who thinks it's a fun idea to put a quest in that rewards you with absolutely nothing, just to demonstrate how banal his game is. This predilection to not taking his work too seriously allows him to explore facets that not many game designers do - at this point I would say he's famous for playing with UI elements (the MENU META game?) and when those moments come, they're nothing short of delightful because they're always executed with a ton of flair and taste. When this is complimented with a relatively satisfying gameplay loop, an interesting world and well-executed climaxes, it's not hard to see why this game is so widely loved.

However, Yoko Taro apparently also believes that in order to enjoy things in life, first, one must suffer, and while using grind to deliver a more climactic ending is a common practice, this game executes it with absolutely zero respect for the player. For the majority of the game, you will be running up and down the same 3 central locations, fighting the same 3 types of enemies while replaying several hour long sections of the game on REPEAT, multiple times. The game also does nothing to make these sections enjoyable on your repeat playthroughs as the combat system is not particularly inspired, and even if it was, foes you encounter do not really utilise it to its full potential. Hard mode is a fabricated mess, hiding its difficulty behind inflated enemy health and reducing your stagger effectiveness. Interesting set pieces and bosses turn into vapid button mashing as you play the game again, and again, just to see what else it can offer. The biggest insult is that the game, for whatever reason, requires you to collect all of its weapons in order to see the true final ending(s) and while you could opt to stop at the first go-through, you will be missing crucial details that you can only get on subsequent playthroughs which will reduce its emotional impact significantly.

The writing also suffers and while I commended the game's lore, the characters and the way they express themselves is one-dimensional. With the game finished, I do not feel like I have managed to bond, or really care about, any of its cast, and for a game that seems to drive a point about empathy, this feels like a glaring misstep on the side of the creators. The information is not presented well and after some deliberate research outside of the game, it seems like most of the issues could have been resolved with a simple conversation. As a result, the story feels more like a pretentious snob withholding information instead of an interesting narrative piece, which is a shame, because as I've said, I think the world is genuinely interesting, but the game does little to support that.

All in all, if you're a Nier fan and if you want to see how it all started, Replicant is probably the definitive version to play. My recommendation is to play on easy, put on your favourite podcast for the grindy bits, and search for a guide to see which side quests are worth completing. Do not go with an expectation that this game is as polished as Automata (or any game of its caliber, frankly), because you will be sorely disappointed. However, if you can temper your expectations, there's some value to be extracted here. But it's not a lot, and it's certainly not worth the 60 hours I decided to put in. Still, I don't regret it.

They say that brilliance is always one step away from madness and no game exhibitions that better than NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... with its grotesque title and arguably even more grotesque game mechanics. Through 60 hours of gameplay, I continuously teetered on the brink of a steep cliff that would send me plummeting down a proverbial rocky ravine. I absolutely despised 80% of my time playing this game and while I would like to say that positives outweigh the negatives, I think they did not for me. Let us begin with the good. This is a one-of-a-kind experience. Yoko Taro is a designer that is unparalleled when it comes to implementing wacky game ideas. He's the kind of guy who thinks it's a fun idea to put a quest in that rewards you with absolutely nothing, just to demonstrate how banal his game is. This predilection to not taking his work too seriously allows him to explore facets that not many game designers do - at this point I would say he's famous for playing with UI elements (the MENU META game?) and when those moments come, they're nothing short of delightful because they're always executed with a ton of flair and taste. When this is complimented with a relatively satisfying gameplay loop, an interesting world and well-executed climaxes, it's not hard to see why this game is so widely loved. However, Yoko Taro apparently also believes that in order to enjoy things in life, first, one must suffer, and while using grind to deliver a more climactic ending is a common practice, this game executes it with absolutely zero respect for the player. For the majority of the game, you will be running up and down the same 3 central locations, fighting the same 3 types of enemies while replaying several hour long sections of the game on REPEAT, multiple times. The game also does nothing to make these sections enjoyable on your repeat playthroughs as the combat system is not particularly inspired, and even if it was, foes you encounter do not really utilise it to its full potential. Hard mode is a fabricated mess, hiding its difficulty behind inflated enemy health and reducing your stagger effectiveness. Interesting set pieces and bosses turn into vapid button mashing as you play the game again, and again, just to see what else it can offer. The biggest insult is that the game, for whatever reason, requires you to collect all of its weapons in order to see the true final ending(s) and while you could opt to stop at the first go-through, you will be missing crucial details that you can only get on subsequent playthroughs which will reduce its emotional impact significantly. The writing also suffers and while I commended the game's lore, the characters and the way they express themselves is one-dimensional. With the game finished, I do not feel like I have managed to bond, or really care about, any of its cast, and for a game that seems to drive a point about empathy, this feels like a glaring misstep on the side of the creators. The information is not presented well and after some deliberate research outside of the game, it seems like most of the issues could have been resolved with a simple conversation. As a result, the story feels more like a pretentious snob withholding information instead of an interesting narrative piece, which is a shame, because as I've said, I think the world is genuinely interesting, but the game does little to support that. All in all, if you're a Nier fan and if you want to see how it all started, Replicant is probably the definitive version to play. My recommendation is to play on easy, put on your favourite podcast for the grindy bits, and search for a guide to see which side quests are worth completing. Do not go with an expectation that this game is as polished as Automata (or any game of its caliber, frankly), because you will be sorely disappointed. However, if you can temper your expectations, there's some value to be extracted here. But it's not a lot, and it's certainly not worth the 60 hours I decided to put in. Still, I don't regret it.