Nier: Replicant ver.1.22474487139...

[Shadow5YA]

The Black Scrawl (and the Gestalt Project in general) aren't really explained unless you manage to acquire the (optional) Gestalt Project reports found in Automata.

But also to be fair, the game doesn't expect you to know the background either, since it's not like Nier really ever explains its connection to Drakengard.

Spoiler for Gestalt Report:

The Grimoires, Noir specifically, were created to turn all the humans into Gestalts. In the prologue, everyone in 2053 was given a copy of Grimoire Noir in order to turn themselves into Gestalts, but they all lost their sanity instantly.

This is why Nier was reluctant to use his book, and why he told Yonah not to touch it either.
But she did anyway, and they were all cornered, so Nier finally gave in and touched his. He was the first Gestalt to maintain his sanity after turning into a Gestalt, and had the ability to keep the others sane as well. This is when they formally recruited him to be a part of the project, and of course he complied, with the stipulation that he gets to turn Yonah back to normal first.

[Shadow5YA]

By the way,

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for Ending A to E spoilers:

Kainé and Emil's entire backstories are just incredibly sad. I'm glad this remaster threw Kainé a bone by adding ending E and allowing her to reunite with Nier after he sacrificed himself. It was fun playing her too, shame that route is so short. As for Emil, sadly we already knew from Automata that he never got his body back and spent thousand of years alone.
.

Ending E was already available back then as post-launch DLC. It's just packaged together with the game this time.

[shmaster]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I had to hit the wiki to even understand the origin of the Black Scrawl.

Spoiler for spoilers:

Since Weiss notices Kainé has the same markings as Yonah, I thought it meant Yonah was possessed by her Gestalt and the Black Scrawl was a result of her resisting the merging process.

The game really doesn't tell you much about the background. We're not even told how and why the Grimoires were created (since the story told by Popola was obviously bullshit), or why original Nier had Noir in the prologue.

I seem to recall Automata doing a way better job at explaining stuff.

Because they not only want you to buy the material books but Drama CDs too!
Especially you want to know about the original Kaine or the Grimoire Experiments!

Oh, and don't trsut the wiki too much. Most of it are transcribed by people who didn't even notice that Yokotaro had laid traps on the official time table.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

By the way,



Ending E was already available back then as post-launch DLC. It's just packaged together with the game this time.

I didn't know that. I was told it was originally from a book or something.

[shmaster]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I didn't know that. I was told it was originally from a book or something.

No, it's different. The ending E here is different from the DLC or the material book.
For the worse too.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by shmaster

No, it's different. The ending E here is different from the DLC or the material book.
For the worse too.

Obviously, since it's full of Automata references. But I assume the general plot is the same.

I think I'm going to replay Automata to get all the Replicant references I didn't get the first time. Might see the game differently.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by shmaster

No, it's different. The ending E here is different from the DLC or the material book.
For the worse too.

Eh... you can argue it's worse because of nuances like...

Spoiler for ending D, E:

Your erased save file coming back and the Replicant system being more vague and what it actually does, which in turn invalidates the impact ending D had, but...

honestly the end result is the same.

[shmaster]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Obviously, since it's full of Automata references. But I assume the general plot is the same.

I think I'm going to replay Automata to get all the Replicant references I didn't get the first time. Might see the game differently.

No, Automatab is not what I meant.
It is the "flower", that's bothersome.
What had came out of the "guillotine" in FF14 was giving me bad feelings already. Now that "flower" basically confirms the worst case scenario.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by shmaster

No, Automatab is not what I meant.
It is the "flower", that's bothersome.
What had came out of the "guillotine" in FF14 was giving me bad feelings already. Now that "flower" basically confirms the worst case scenario.

Haven't Lunar Tears always looked similar to DoD3's Flower?

[shmaster]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

Haven't Lunar Tears always looked similar to DoD3's Flower?

The point is that the very data base of the whole project itself built upon has been a "toy" of the Nameless all along.
In other words everything was doomed to fail since day one.

Even the Fire of Prometheus, that appears to be a last hope scenario is now a disaster that's no different from the rest upon this revelation.

[Kanon]

Finished replaying Automata. It was even better the second time around, especially now that I can catch the references. The game is a massive improvement on the first game in every single way.

I've got one question after this though. How come there are so many modern buildings in Automata? In Replicant, society had regressed to medieval level and "humanity" is dying. So how did the Replicants build all that stuff?

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Finished replaying Automata. It was even better the second time around, especially now that I can catch the references. The game is a massive improvement on the first game in every single way.

I've got one question after this though. How come there are so many modern buildings in Automata? In Replicant, society had regressed to medieval level and "humanity" is dying. So how did the Replicants build all that stuff?

Technically it didn't. The research lab under Emil's manor was pretty high-tech.

The Replicants were just kept in the dark.

Even when the original humans and researchers died out, the androids still had their knowledge, and YoRHa aren't the only androids.

There's also the fact that even without the androids, the Replicants and "humanity" didn't completely go extinct until a millenia after the events of Nier Replicant, so even their civilization still had plenty of time to progress naturally afterwards.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

Technically it didn't. The research lab under Emil's manor was pretty high-tech.

The Replicants were just kept in the dark.

Even when the original humans and researchers died out, the androids still had their knowledge, and YoRHa aren't the only androids.

There's also the fact that even without the androids, the Replicants and "humanity" didn't completely go extinct until a millenia after the events of Nier Replicant, so even their civilization still had plenty of time to progress naturally afterwards.

Although it is mentioned the last Gestalt died in year 4000 something, humanity was already dying out by the time of Nier Replicant. It's doubtful a small population would have managed to progress this much and build all this. Unless the Androids decided to help the Replicants after the Devola and Popola fiasco.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Although it is mentioned the last Gestalt died in year 4000 something, humanity was already dying out by the time of Nier Replicant. It's doubtful a small population would have managed to progress this much and build all this. Unless the Androids decided to help the Replicants after the Devola and Popola fiasco.

But the modern buildings were still there. If you didn't notice, after Emil self-destructs and takes Popola (and a giant chunk of spherical mass) with him, you can see that the surrounding area is a multi-story skyscraper and nothing like the medieval buildings in the rest of the game.

It's implied that Devola and Popola, Gestalt Nier, and anyone else on Project Gestalt have been residing in modern civilization buildings the entire time and the area was just sealed off by magic. That's what the stone tablet key is for.

Also other than the dilapidated city buildings, factories are a special exception since not only do the Androids need them to produce more of their own and prepare for war, but the invading machine lifeforms could take advantage of them as well.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

But the modern buildings were still there. If you didn't notice, after Emil self-destructs and takes Popola (and a giant chunk of spherical mass) with him, you can see that the surrounding area is a multi-story skyscraper and nothing like the medieval buildings in the rest of the game.

It's implied that Devola and Popola, Gestalt Nier, and anyone else on Project Gestalt have been residing in modern civilization buildings the entire time and the area was just sealed off by magic. That's what the stone tablet key is for.

Also other than the dilapidated city buildings, factories are a special exception since not only do the Androids need them to produce more of their own and prepare for war, but the invading machine lifeforms could take advantage of them as well.

I know that. That doesn't explain the buildings in the desert, or the shopping mall above Kainé's shack.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I know that. That doesn't explain the buildings in the desert, or the shopping mall above Kainé's shack.

What do you mean? The desert would be the easiest to explain considering there's direct references to the kingdom of Facade wouldn't it?

And the shopping mall is generic enough to be the remains of the pre-White Chlorination Disease era.

As for Kaine's shack, there's no evidence that it's the original article given how rare Lunar Tears were. For all we know Emil could have built a replica.

[Kanon]

Turns out I just needed to google a bit to get my answer. Yoko Taro stated the modern facilities were built by androids to prepare for the return of humans from the moon, and they were locked in a cycle of the machines destroying them and androids rebuilding.

Sorry for wasting your time

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I'm kind of curious about the differences between this and Gestalt, because Nier's personality completely reflects his age and I can't imagine a father acting the same. I feel like the romance with Kainé and ending D must have felt pretty out of place in Gestalt too (Kainé is only 17).

A little late, but they did do some minor rewriting to fit papa Nier's age better.

For example, in Replicant, Nier tells Yonah that Lunar Tears will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams because they're poor and need money.

In Gestalt, papa Nier tells Yonah that the flower grants wishes.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

After seeing videos of the old game, it might have been for the best because this version made some major improvements.

A little late, but I do recommend checking the original version's soundtrack at least once since the Remaster doesn't give the option.

While it might not be worth playing through, the original has some tracks that are just better than the Remaster's arrangements IMO, like Gods Bound by Rules and the Shadowlord theme.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

A little late, but I do recommend checking the original version's soundtrack at least once since the Remaster doesn't give the option.

While it might not be worth playing through, the original has some tracks that are just better than the Remaster's arrangements IMO, like Gods Bound by Rules and the Shadowlord theme.

It's never too late! Will do. In fact, I'm listening to the Shadowlord theme right now.