NieR: Automata helped Yoko Taro’s eccentric series achieve mainstream fame and success, and as many of us expected, it’s serving as a springboard for a bigger and better future for the franchise as well. But before we step forward with new releases, Square Enix is pausing and taking a step back, and bringing back 2010’s NieR with significant additions and improvements. And if you’re going to be jumping in with both feet soon, you might need a few handy pointers to help you on your journey. Here, we’ve compiled a few tips and tricks to keep in mind as you play NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139….
DO ALL THE ENDINGS
Let’s start with something very, very basic. Rolling credits might be your goal in most games you play, but in NieR, that’s just the beginning. There are five total endings in NieR Replicant, and though this will be obvious to anyone who’s played the original game or Automata, for newcomers, this cannot be stressed enough- only after having seen all five endings will you get the full story. Only collectively do they make up the game’s core narrative- they’re not alternatives to each other as much as they are additive. Also remember that there’s an auto-battle feature in the game, so if you want to save yourself some time as you replay through sections while trying to get all the endings, auto-battle comes in very handy.
GET ALL THE WEAPONS
There’s a lot of weapons scattered throughout the entirety of NieR Replicant, and if you want to see all the endings, you’re going to have to collect all of them. Specifically, you can only see ending C if you have all 33 weapons in the game, so when you’re doing endings A and B, make sure you hunt down as many of those weapons as you can. If you do that, by the time you start working toward ending C, you won’t have too many left to collect.
SAVE OFTEN
This one seems weird to say for a game coming out in 2021- but here we are. NieR Replicant doesn’t have an auto save feature, which means you can often be in danger of losing a fair bit of progress if you die and haven’t save in a while. So make sure to save often- save every chance you get, in fact. Every time you find yourself close to a save point, go ahead and save your game.
EXPERIMENT WITH MAGIC
There’s multiple layers to NieR Replicant’s combat, and using magical abilities is one of them. You are, however, limited to having only two magical abilities equipped at any given time. As such, it’s recommended that every time you get a new magical ability, you equip it and try it out for a while. Certain magical abilities can be very useful in specific situations or against specific enemies, so make sure you keep experimenting rather than just sticking to a chosen few favourite ones.
ARMOURED ENEMIES
Speaking of magical abilities- one of the situations where they’re most useful is when you find yourself coming up against armoured enemies. As their name suggests, armoured enemies are generally a little harder to take down than many other foes, but using the right magic attack at the right time can trip them up enough to give you a great offensive window of opportunity. Any time you face off an armoured enemy, then, don’t be afraid to whip out your magic attacks.
WORDS
Words are another one of the mechanics that form the core of NieR Replicant’s combat. These are acquired regularly as you kill enemies, and when equipped, provide various buffs for your weapons, magic, and abilities. Make sure you keep checking in to see your growing collection, and ensure that you’re mixing and matching them properly for the best results. Of course, the game also has a handy auto equip option that automatically equips the best Words from your entire collection, so if you’re looking to save some time, you can go ahead and use that as well. It’s pretty reliable, by and large.
EMIL’S MANSION
Emil’s Mansion is one of several ways NieR Replicant showcases its off-beat nature, owing to its Resident Evil-inspired trappings, which makes it worth visiting in and of itself, but the place is useful in other ways as well. For instance, certain rare item drops, such as Rainbow Spider Silk from spiders, can be found here, and they usually go for a pretty decent sum of money. So if you ever find yourself in need of cash, this is one of several great ways to get your hands on a tidy sum.
FISHING AND FARMING
Like any self respecting role playing game, NieR Replicant also lets you partake in fishing and farming minigames. And on top of just being chill, relaxing, enjoyable exercises, they have other uses as well. More specifically, by selling the fish you, well, fish, and the crops you yield by doing some farming, you can make quite a bit of money. Sure, it can be a bit of a time sink, but it’s a great way to farm (get it?) money if you’re ever in need of it.
SIDE QUESTS
“Do all the side quests you can” is a pretty generic tip that can be applied to pretty much any game that has side quests, but it’s particularly useful in NieR Replicant. For starters, the rewards you get from side quests are quite useful, with some of them even rewarding you with sums as high as 30,000 gold upon completion. On top of that, certain side quests unlock other permanent boosts as well. For example, if you finish the Boar Hunt quest, you’ll unlock the ability to ride boars anywhere outside of settlements, making traversal significantly faster.
LOCAL MAPS
NieR Replicant is a pretty old school game in how it handles its maps- every time you enter a new area, their maps are completely blacked out, which can be a bit of a hurdle during exploration and traversal at times. Some maps are acquired automatically as you progress in the story, but many aren’t- for these, you need to make purchases for regional maps from item vendors. As such, any time you enter a new area, make sure you make it a priority to buy the map for the region. It might not seem like a big deal, but it really does help out with exploration.