Category Archives: NieR:Automata

News and updates for the next instalment in the NieR franchise.

NieR Replicant Coming Back to Life on PS4, Steam, and Xbox! Plus Yoko Taro’s New Game Announced!

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There are lots of announcements from the beginning hour or so of the NieR 10th Anniversary, so let’s take a quick look at everything!

NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… will be released on PS4, Steam, and Xbox. This is neither a remaster or a remake, but rather a “Version Up”, according to Yoko-san. But if you were to choose one or the other, it may be appropriate to call this a remaster. It will include complete FULL VOICE that has been newly recorded and with additional new scenes. This time, the role of Weiss, originally portrayed by PETER, will be performed by Yasumoto Hiroki, aka Pod042.

And we have new concept art by Koda Kazuma! Look at this gorgeous stuff!! He is amazing!

  • The new NieR Replicant is neither a remaster or a remake, but rather a “version up”. This is the same sort of thing that they’ve been doing for all the newer versions of the YoRHa stage plays as well. Generally speaking, the story remains the same, but little bits here and there are touched up and maybe fleshed out with additional scenes. If you need to call it one or the other, then perhaps “remaster” would be the closest thing.
  • All dialogue will be spoken by the voice cast.
  • Yasumoto Hiroki, voice of Pod042, will be portraying Weiss instead of Peter since he is currently “on break”.
  • Various aspects from the original game will be added in the new version.
  • The soundtrack will be re-recorded, plus there will be some new tracks as well.
  • There will be a new character.
  • Ishikawa Yui (2B), Hanae Natsuki (9S), and Suwa Ayaka (A2) will appear in the game, but not as their respective characters from Automata.
  • There may be a new ending…? We know the novella “The Lost World” is generally considered Ending E, so it’s also possible for this to appear in some shape or form.
  • That being said, I can’t help but be reminded of the blurb in Grimoire NIER in which Yoko discusses the possibility of a second Original Gestalt. You can read more about that here.

Below is an example of some of the new NieR merch that is currently available from the SQEX e-STORE!

Next up is Yoko’s New Project, “NieR Reincarnation,” which will be a smartphone game developed by Applibot with character designs by the great CyDesignation, who collaborated with Automata, such as the lead character designer, Yoshida Akihiko, and sub character designer Nagai Yuya.

And here are some more juicy bits that we learned in the very final Premium section of the livestream:

  • Accord is ALWAYS a female android. He is male in the YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aa stage plays because the cast is all male; she is actually female.
  • Accord’s origins begin in the Kingdom of Night during the war with aliens. If you’re curious about this, I wrote a bunch about this here.
  • Accord was created by humans.
  • Since her creation, Accord has been multiplying, but Yoko won’t reveal why or for what purpose. For example, Emil creates many copies of himself to fight the aliens, but Yoko wouldn’t say why Accord is basically doing the same thing. Which means, like Emil, there must be an Original Accord as well. Saito asked for more information about this, but Yoko refused to answer because it would be bad. Perhaps we WILL get some sort of story that takes place during this time/location.
  • All androids were installed with false memories, but A2 was the final android to have false memories. All other YoRHa after her were not installed with these memories because they often caused problems.
  • The planet became tidally locked sometime after the 6.12 and before the time of Replicant.

This is all breaking news, so more information will likely become known later. Please expect this page to be further updated once more information is released.

NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 – Tokyo & Osaka Completely Cancelled

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We had high hopes that the Osaka concerts would go on as scheduled, but alas… they also fell victim to the bouts of cancellations due to the Coronavirus pandemic. All of these cancellations are for the best, but that doesn’t make the disappointment sting any less.

Here’s the official announcement by SQEX on Twitter:

This also came on the heels of Falcom announcing that the jdk BAND concert scheduled on April 29 would also be cancelled.

So everybody, please hang in there. Even though so many of these awesome events are getting the axe, it really is for the best. Please stay vigilant and take precautions to avoid the virus. The best way to do this is to STAY HOME, avoid crowds, wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, and maybe even wear gloves for places of high traffic. These events will likely be rescheduled again in the near future, but until then, let’s try to keep our spirits up… We’re definitely not out of the woods yet!

NieR 10th Anniversary Livestream Details

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Additional information has just been released regarding the up-coming livestreams for the NieR 10th Anniversary scheduled for March 29.

Please note that all times are listed in Japan Standard Time (JST).

View the Schedule in Google Docs.

NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 Concert – Talk Corner

  • Page Open: 3:00pm
  • Time: 3:30〜5:00pm
  • Free to Watch: Yes

NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 Concert

  • Time: 5:00〜7:30pm
  • Free to Watch: No
  • View on Demand: Only the beginning of the concert will be accessible to those without a Net Ticket:
    • Premium Members: 4500pts
    • Standard Members: 5000pts
  • The concert will include vocals by Emi Evans and J’Nique Nicole with new recitation dramas by the following voice cast members:
    • Yusa Kouji – Older Brother Nier
    • Nonaka Ai – Yonah
    • Ishikawa Yui – 2B
    • Hanae Natsuki – 9S
    • Akiyama Kaoru – Pod153
    • Yasumoto Hiroki – Pod042, Beepy

YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ Stage Play – Talk Corner

  • Page Open: 7:30pm
  • Time: 7:40〜8:00pm
  • Free to Watch: Yes

YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ Stage Play

  • Time: 8:00〜11:00pm
  • Free to Watch: No
  • View on Demand: Only the beginning of the concert will be accessible to those without a Net Ticket:
    • Premium Members: 2500pts
    • Standard Members: 3000pts
  • Will include an “after talk” segment after the performance
  • Watch on NicoNico Douga

YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ Stage Play – After Talk

  • Time: 11:00pm〜11:55pm
  • Free to Watch: No
  • This segment is only available to those who purchased a Net Ticket for the Stage Play.

NieR 10th Anniversary – Talk Corner

  • Time: 11:59pm〜1:30am
  • Free to Watch: Yes

NieR 10th Anniversary Late Night Talk

  • Time: 1:30am〜
  • Free to Watch: No
  • This segment is only available to NicoNico Premium Members.
    There is no Net Ticket for this segment.

The final free-to-watch segment of the Anniversary livestream will likely be around 5 hours and function as a typical talk show like we’ve seen the crew do in the past. It’s currently unknown exactly what will be discussed during this segment, but there’s always a possibility they will drop something important on us (perhaps something about Yoko’s New Project?) We shall see…!

NieR 10th Anniversary – Cancellations and Reparations

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April 22, 2020 marks the 10th Anniversary of the NieR series.

The year 2020 was supposed to be an amazing 10th Anniversary year for the NieR series, but it’s turning out to be much more of the “curse” Yoko originally said it was.

First the Tokyo performances of the NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 (March 28-29) were cancelled. Then the YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ performances (March 12-15) were cancelled. Now we’re left with very little to celebrate about…

Because of this, Saito has stated an interest in doing something on March 29 to sort of smooth things over and still manage to celebrate something for the 10th anniversary, which actually later on April 22.

“We’re going to do something on March 29. Worse comes to worst, just me and Yoko will do something. It’s the 10th Anniversary after all, so let’s go 10 hours.”

Of course, he is likely joking about the 10 hour thing, but it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for long livestreams that they’ve done in the past.

Here was Yoko’s response:

“Let’s do it!”

Other members related to NieR and the YoRHa stage plays also voiced interest in doing something.

“I’m coming!!! (haha)”
Akiyama Kaoru performs the voice of Pod153 in NieR:Automata and the voice of SS in the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play.
“Shall I bring my acoustic guitar and a beer…?”
Takanori Goto has performed the guitar for multiple NieR related series, including the most recent YoRHa Ver.1.3a with violist Shirasu Kon and drummer Takashi Fukuoka.
“I’ll bring a cajón and a beer!”
Fukuoka Takashi did the percussion at the YoRHa Ver.1.3a stage play.
“If you do Mahjong, I can play!”
Inko (Rita Jay) played the role of Cactus in the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play.

Regarding the cancellation of the YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ stage play, the cast and crew are still going to practice. Plans are currently being considered to livestream the show. The whole point of having this “rerun” version of the play was because the Blu-ray recording fell through at the previous show, so this was their “comeback” second chance at getting a physical release of the play. It’s likely that since the play has been cancelled, they are still practicing if just to complete a recording to later release on Blu-ray.

The cast has already had their character photo shoots, so plans are also under way to still release new Ver.1.3aᵃ merch.

Also something somewhat amusing regarding the actual announcement stating the cancellation of the YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ from the YoRHa Stage official twitter, managed by Sekiya Makoto, apparently the announcement was made at roughly 3:30am (JST). Sekiya later apologized for it, but at the time, it was unclear what he was apologizing for.

“I guess I shouldn’t use the schedule function if I’m not used to it. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

But then Yoko commented, stating the real reason for the weird timing of that tweet.

“Anyway, according to Sekiya-P, his reason for making the announcement at the weird time of 3:30am was “I scheduled it to post at 10am but it blew up.”

So, it’s super sad that so many of these events have been cancelled, but there’s really nothing anyone can do about it. We just need to be sure to return our tickets & get our money back!

NieR Orchestral Arrangement Album – Addendum

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The NieR Orchestral Arrangement Album – Addendum will be released on March 25. This album features all-new arrangements for a handful of carefully selected tracks from both NieR Gestalt/Replicant and NieR:Automata. The Addendum arrangements will likely be featured at the NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 next month.

Track List

  1. Ashes of Dreams (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
  2. Emil (Addendum Version)
  3. Deep Crimson Foe
  4. Song of the Ancients (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
  5. Kaine (Addendum Version)
  6. City Ruins (Addendum Version)
  7. A Beautiful Song (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
  8. Copied City
  9. Crumbling Lies
  10. Weight of the World (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)

NieR Orchestral Arrangement Album
Addendum Special Disc (Pre-order Bonus)

  1. Alien Manifestation (J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
  2. Peaceful Sleep
  3. Vague Hope (Emi Evans Vocals)

* The tracks that are listed as “Addendum Version” have already appeared on the NieR Orchestral Arrangement soundtrack, so these will be completely new arrangements specifically for the Addendum release.

** The NieR Orchestra Concert 12018 Blu-ray included two digital audio tracks: Kaine with vocals by Emi Evans and Weight of the World with vocals by J’Nique Nicole.