In the broadcast that celebrated the tenth anniversary of NieR, we saw Yoko Taro, Saki Ito (the director of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…), Yosuke Saito, and other seiyuu (voice actors) have shown up.

Square Enix held the broadcast on December 24, and you can find it below. In it, the NieR team confirmed that NieR Replicant ver. 1.22 will not be a simple remaster, as it will be more of a different game due to additional voice acting, a new battle system (significantly different from the original), and many more.

Nobuhiko Okamoto, the actor behind the young protagonist of NieR Replicant, explained his voice acting changed a lot in ten years, and this is why the protagonist sounds a bit different in Nier Replicant Ver 1.22. Mai Kadowaki (who voiced Emil in NieR Automata) will likely not have a similar issue. Yoko Taro had a joke, mentioning that those who only played NieR Automata might think Emil is an idiot and if they played Replicant ver. 1.22 would be highly surprised. Hiroki Yasumoto, Grimoire Weiss’ voice in Replicant’s new version, likes Cyberpunk 2077.

The background music in NieR Replicant ver. 1.22 will be twice as long as in the original version, and it will be fully voiced. A lot of retakes had to be done, but when it came to the original lines, almost none were required. The original NieR games didn’t sell well, and the team thinks it’s ironic how the series are in high regard now. The poor reputation of the original gave them a chance to create an enhanced version.

Square Enix, the publisher, told them when the original released that the macho and dad version of the protagonist would sell more than the brother version. This is the reason why only NieR Gestalt released in the West. They did, however, know that a lot of people outside Japan are into the anime culture, and they’d have preferred the young protagonist. However, in Japan, people prefer the dad protagonist, but they got both versions. The problem is that the dad protagonist isn’t in NieR Replicant Ver 1.22. Let’s quote a relevant dialogue here:

Yosuke Saito: „Maybe we’ll do a version with the dad protagonist if NieR Replicant Ver 1.22 sells a whole lot. Like maybe half as Automata.”

Yoko Taro: „So, 2.5 million copies? That’s impossible. Dad protag fans, don’t get your hopes up, it’ll never happen.”

Yosuke Saito: „Maybe it is possible. Since this is technically the first time the game releases in the West. And if every buyer in Japan gets three copies.”

Taro explained that the protagonist isn’t called Nier, but he’s sometimes referenced as such – it’s a reference to the Dragon Quest games, and you can pick the name. Saki Ito explained that staff did its best to reproduce the original game’s feel and graphics while bringing it up to today’s standards. In the end, a lot of things were changed since the PS3 original.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… (you can see why we shortened it…) will launch on April 23 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. The stream’s relevant portion is from 46:05 to 1:37:50.

Source: DualShockers