The Nier Replicant remaster will come to Europe and North America on April 23, 2021, Square Enix announced today.
The Replicant release date was part of the publisher's Tokyo Game Show presentation. Described as an "upgraded version" of the original game, Nier Replicant features more voice acting, a freshly recorded soundtrack, faster and more dynamic combat more in line with Nier: Automata, and technological improvements owing to modern platforms. It's coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC (Steam) simultaneously on April 23.
The release date was released alongside a new trailer showing off the game's environments, as well as a short live gameplay demo recorded in a PC debug build. Based on the footage shown today, the revamped version of Nier Replicant has greatly expanded the protagonist's range of attacks, with mid-air, magic, and dash attacks put front and center. Attack animations have also been sharpened, and compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, it naturally looks a lot better in motion.
Square Enix also showed off the fancy edition that will be available in April. Mirroring the Black Box edition for Nier: Automata, Replicant will receive a White Snow edition that comes with collectible pins, seven books worth of voice script, a lovely game box, and a two-disc soundtrack featuring exclusive arrangements. For those who're happy with just the regular edition, have a look at the reversible cover art:
A mini soundtrack will also be included with all pre-orders, and digital purchases on PS4 and PC will respectively come with bonus themes and wallpapers. Finally, to celebrate the news, Nier: Automata and its impossibly named 3C3C1D119440927 DLC have been discounted by 50% on all platforms until October 7 (or October 8 on PS4).
Nier Replicant was originally announced earlier this year alongside the mobile game Nier Reincarnation, which will open for pre-registration soon.
