NieR has held a very special place in my heart since I first played it when it released on PlayStation 3 in 2010. A whole decade later and I am still absolutely in awe whenever I so much as think about the game. It is so amazing that an alternate ending of a previous game can be taken and turned into something so depressingly magical. Yet, here we are! So, with the high regard that I hold NieR in I was incredibly excited when NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 was announced.

During the Tokyo Game Show’s NieR special program “we have a decent amount of new info” show we were treated with new information about NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139. Firstly, the game is releasing in Japan on April 22nd, 2021 and in Europe and North America on April 23rd, 2021. Luckily we only have to wait one extra day; I do not know how I would cope otherwise!

The cover was shown for both the Japanese and Western versions. The Japanese cover is delightful and has the three protagonists sitting side by side equally. The Western cover is a little different with NieR standing up in the middle taking center stage whilst the other two sit by his side. The artwork is still nice but I prefer the nuance in the Japanese version. Luckily, it was revealed that you will have the option of both covers which is fantastic.

The collectors edition was also revealed for NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139. Known as the White Snow Edition. It comes with the following:

• NieR Replicant ver. 1.2247448713
• A rather heavy three piece pin set featuring Grimoire Weiss, Grimoire Noir, and Grimoire Rubrum
• A two-disc sound track with packaging inspired by Grimoire Weiss; one disc included edited tracks from the game and the second second arrangements lead by Keiichi Okabe
• A seven book script set of all of the spoken dialogue in the game packed in a special hard case
• A steel book case
• Lunar Tear collectors box

Special pre-order bonuses were also announced for the game and are as follows:

• PlayStation 4 – Dynamic theme, avatar set and mini soundtrack
• Xbox One – Mini soundtrack
• Steam – Wallpaper and mini soundtrack

They also gave us a look at combat in NieR Replicant ver. 1.2247448713. It looks so much smoother and fast paced. The original was a bit clunky in regards to not being able to move when doing certain attacks but now you are able to intertwine magic and melee combat whilst on the go. It looks more fluid which is very welcome. Graphically it looks rather cleaned up and they have definitely done the original release justice.

NieR Re[in]carnation was also showed off during the event. With a fast paced trailer that gave us a look at what game play and combat would be like, characters and the mix of 3D and 2D environments. It looks like it came straight from a story book. It would not be a NieR game without a dark, engaging story and it looks that NieR Re[in]carnation will be providing exactly that. What exactly is Mama and The Cage? Collecting ‘weapon’s memory’ pieces seems to be the main goal of the game and there are sure to be some interesting stories attached to them. I do wonder how much of this will be linked to gacha elements. There was no confirmed release date but director Daichi Matsukawa did confirm that the game would release in Europe and North America.

Lastly a NieR: Automata Masterline Statue Featuring 2B, 9S, and A2 was announced. Created by the new brand ‘Square Enix Masterline’ the statue is 1/4 size and highly detailed. There was no mention of pricing but it was eluded to that it would be ‘pricey’ which considering the sheer scale and details is not at all surprising.