The NieR Re[in]carnation live broadcast #2 is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 8:00 PM (JST).
Those scheduled to be in attendance are Hara Yumi (voice of Mama), NieR series producer, Saito Yosuke, and NieR Re[in]carnation director, Matsukawa Daichi (others not announced may also appear).
More information is available on the event page.
Yesterday was the pre-release live broadcast for the next installment in Yoko Taro’s NieR saga, NieR Re[in]carnation. There were several segments of the broadcast, one of which gathered up a bunch of questions from fans who posted them on Twitter with the appropriate hashtags. The video below shows the moment a question similar to mine was read live:
We’ll get back to that in a little bit, but first the DETAILS in the question..
[QUESTION]
How much is NieR Re[in]carnation related to the previous games in the NieR Series? As long as it doesn’t spoil anything, I’d appreciate it if you could tell us!
[ANSWER]
Yoko: If I were to say whether it’s connected or not, I’d have to say that it is, but…
Saito: There’s not much you can say…
Yoko: Well, if you think about how NieR has its roots in the real world, I would say that it’s connected like today’s morning dramas are connected to NieR Replicant. It’s sort of connected to NieR like that.
So, basically…
NieR is to Asadora* as
NieR Re[in]carnation is to NieR.
* Japanese morning dramas/soaps
PLEASE NOTE:
This gets into some pretty heavy-duty speculation, so please keep that in mind. I have also not played the CBT of Re[in]carnation, so there may be things that are explained there that I don’t know about.
I’m not exactly sure what we can take away from this answer, but it could be something along the lines as my old speculation regarding Accord and the Dragons.
Basically, my idea is that Fio, the little girl character, is the Original Accord who exists to “set things right” within something similar to the Gestalt Terminal. Of course, if you’ve played OG NieR, you’ll know what that is, but I’ll try to be discrete and leave out the spoilers.
Simply, the Cage is actually the Gestalt Terminal that houses all the Gestalt data of humanity. It’s not just their DNA biological data but also copies of their soul and/or memories. So, by interacting with the Cage, Fio is able to access the “slumbering” memories inside. What becomes the main conflict is that even though the memories are not physical and yet they continue to exist within the Cage. It’s sort of like a living hell, where there is never salvation and they keep repeating their same mistakes over and over and horrible things keep happening. That’s where Fio steps in to try and change that for them…
Maybe.
But, in the end, that would make the Cage a sort of “limbo world”, one that doesn’t necessarily exist on the physical plain; it’s sort of separate to the real world. It can copy and make it seem like you’re in the real world, but they’re all just memories. They’re not real… Much like typical dramas or soaps are not real and yet they try to mimic real life. I think that’s what Yoko was trying to say in his answer. That the story is indirectly connected to the NieR series as a whole, but in bits and pieces, like the roots of a tree or the nerves stemming from your brain to connect to various areas of your body.
Now, going back to the live broadcast and the fan questions that were picked up to be answered during the program…
As you can see in the video above, I was visibly excited that a question close to mine was read aloud, but I knew the wording was different but the content was close to identical. Sometimes for events like this where fan comments and such are used, the presenter can and do make edits to make the wording more clear or to fit the context of the show better. This is what I imagined happened with my question.
As it turns out, it wasn’t necessarily my question that was used, and was actually posted by the following user about a day or two after mine:
So, sorry about that! It wasn’t my intention to “claim” the question as mine, I was just super excited to hear its answer more than anything else, but of course, we didn’t really get a clear answer out of Yoko anyway, so… xD
We have 15 more days until the Japanese release of the game, so be sure to check out the official NieR Re[in]carnation Twitter, who will be posting countdown illustrations until the release on February 18!
Starting today, the official NieR Re[in]carnation Twitter account will be sharing character introduction videos with us, starting with the Girl in White today.
Please note that the video itself is not currently available on YouTube, so I will edit this post later when it is. In the meantime, you can take a look from their tweet.
I will continue to edit this post to add any additional character introductions.
Girl in White
Translation:
“Do you know a spell to have sweet dreams?”
An awakened girl, closed-off hopes.
Sacrifice.
What I saw in the “Cage” were nightmares, faded dreams.
“But why do I always have such nightmares, even though I’m doing this?”
The Black Monster
Translation:
“I do not understand human emotion.”
What is their true identity? Their purpose?
Their emotions? Their desires? Their mind?
UNKNOWN.
Hidden words, lost dreams.
The black monsters*.
“I don’t care who you are. Just shut up and give me dreams. I don’t care if it’s a nightmare or whatever else.“**
Vagabond Boy
Translation:
“I couldn’t stop the chief… my father.”
An unbreakable light.
Obtainable at the end of this journey you’ve prepared for.
Citizens, resist.
With a noble wish.
An unbreakable will, a noble oath.
“I have little time left...“
Hunter with Prosthetics
Translation:
“I will get stronger and stronger, and one day…”
A nation in the turmoil of war.
Two sisters living modestly.
Hatred…
Weapons…
Gear…
Annihilation…
Solitude…
The flame of revenge…
The pain…
Cruel hope, stopped time.
“Thus, I have nothing more to lose…”
Mechanical Soldier
Translation:
“I just kept waiting for the time my body would rust…”
Made as a weapon,
A boy and the wilderness.
Forgotten emotion,
Wells up in my chest.
I must protect it no matter what,
The light of animus.
“I don’t need to obey anyone’s orders anymore…”
A machine’s prayer, constraints of loyalty.
Assassin
Translation:
“This tattoo I’ve inherited is proof of the role I bear…”
A bloody swordsman.
A blooming May flower.
Hold your breath.
Slay the heart.
Who is afraid, of butterflies dancing in the rain?
“Only with a sword does my existence make sense.”
Quiet wrath, a proud, blooming flower.
During the 4.5 hour-long livestream tonight, Yoko Taro and Saito Yosuke dropped the news that they’re currently working on not only one new game but two!
Generally, this is a program where various members of the video game industry get together and just chit-chat about this and that, directed by general themes throughout. This time, when Saito was given the topic to discuss something he regrets, this is what happened…
(Around 2:23:00)
Saito: There are many things I still can’t talk about, but… I mean, we’re doing NieR— Replicant and Re[in]carnation— then there’s Babylon (Babylon’s Fall) as well. There’s also talk about doing the next Automata, so when I was talking with Yoko about what we should do next, Yoko talked about something he really wants to do, but I told him I absolutely don’t want to do it. I was like, if you really want to do it, then you put up the money for it! But he presented it to me like I had never seen him do before. So, then he was like, “Okay, I have time tomorrow.” But that was a Sunday. Oh, wait. We talked on a Friday evening, so he was like, “Let’s talk tomorrow,” but I told him I couldn’t. So, he ended up showing me an hour-long presentation on Sunday. After that, we went out to eat and 3 bottles of wine later, I told him “let’s do it.” So, that’s what I regret, even now. He won me over with wine. I want to quit right now if I could.
Yoko: This was the first time that I actually said what I wanted to do.
Saito: If it’s something Yoko wants to do, then I want to let him do it, to try out various different things. But I was entirely against it when he first brought it up.
Saito V: Is it a ways off yet?
Saito: Yes, it’ll be a while, but I hope you look forward to it.
Harada: About how long ago did you have this discussion?
Saito: It’s about a year or so ago.
Yoko: It was more than a year ago. It was quite a while ago.
Harada: Oh, then it’s proceeding pretty well.
Yoko: Not so much…
Saito: It’s progressing gradually.
Saito V: The comments are asking if it’s a game or something else.
Saito: It’s a game.
Yoko: Are we really announcing something like this on Idobata Kaigi??
Saito: It’s an absolutely INSANE game.
Saito: I see this in the comments, but it’s not a rhythm/music game.
Yoko: I dunno, man, maybe we’ll make it into one.
Saito: It’s not a casual game.
Yoko: Ahh, I don’t know about that… Maybe it’ll become casual…
(Around 2:26:40)
Saito: But don’t misunderstand. I don’t know if this is good to bring up or not, but… Before this thing that Yoko wants to do that I’m against, there’s one more thing that I both of us wanted to do.
Yoko: Yes, so there are two games that Saito and I am working on.
Saito V: You’re actually going to announce this on Idobata Kaigi?? Not just one, but two!?
So, yes. Yoko is working on two new titles unrelated to the upcoming NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… or NieR Re[in]carnation, but it sounds like it will be awhile yet before we hear anything of much substance about either of them. The title they both want to do sounds like it will be coming before the one Saito’s not too keen on, however.
This year marks the 3rd Annual Yosupi Santa special livestream in which Saito Yosuke is joined by many big names in the game industry for a fun sit-down talk show. This year, however, was entirely dedicated to NieR as part of its 10th Anniversary, organizing the show into multiple “corner” segments.
Here’s a quick run-down of each segment including the guests who appeared:
The program also featured question and answer segments in which users submitted their questions via Twitter. A handful were selected to be answered during the show.
It was in this Q & A segment for the new Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… where we learned a couple new, interesting facts.
Q: Won’t Papa Nier be in this? I think many of us international fans like the story of father/daughter.
Yoko: If I were to say why Papa isn’t in this one, it’s because he didn’t sell the last time…
Yasumoto says that since he’s older now, he sort of understands how difficult it was for Papa Nier, but it’s an entirely different feeling from the brother/sister story. Saito says that if the relationship between Nier and Yonah is changed, it becomes an entirely different story.
Yoko says that he was told that a “macho” character would sell better overseas.
Yoko: Apparently international fans wanted a macho character but SQEX didn’t. When does that ever happen…?
Saito says that if Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… sells “a ton”, they’ll think about making Papa Nier.
Yoko: How much is “a ton?”
Saito: About half of Automata would be good.
Yoko: 2.5 million units! I’m sorry, but please forget about a Father version.
Q: What is the reason for the official site listing Nier as “Protagonist”?
Yoko: It’s because “Nier” isn’t his name.
Saito: Well, you’re able to name him yourself.
Yoko: Yes, NieR is the name of the title, it’s not his name. I keep telling people this, but nobody listens to me.
Saito: But Emil is always saying, “Nier! Nier!!”
Yoko: Well, actually it’s never said during the game.
Saito: Ah, because you can choose his name.
Yoko: Yes, that’s right. You can give him any name, so Emil doesn’t actually say his name anywhere in the game.
Yasumoto: Even this time (Ver.1.22…), too?
Yoko: Yes, it’s never said this time either.
Yasumoto: Oh, actually in Automata, it refers to him as “that person.”
Kadowaki: What about the Drama CD? Replicant High?
Yoko: Well, I gave up then.
Saito: So, you’re saying that someone along the way started calling the protagonist “Nier” and it just stuck, right?
Yoko: Yes, fans started calling him Nier and it kept on from there.
Yoko: Actually, naming him this way was an homage to Dragon Quest.
Yasumoto: I don’t think anyone understood that…
Yoko: When I was writing the novellas, I was told I had to give him a name, so I grudgingly used that name. But as far as the game goes, he’s simply the protagonist. Nier isn’t his name.
Yoko: Yeah, so when people played NieR:Automata and were like, “Why is this called NieR if Nier isn’t even in it!?” …I kept thinking, “But it’s NOT his name!!” and rage quit.
Everyone: It (NieR) is a concept, a general idea.
Yoko: Yes, the name of the title.