Bluntly, he really is just a better main character for this story in my opinion, and what ended up clinching that for me is that Weiss and Yonah, the two characters I felt absolutely sure would be lesser in their relationship with Bro Nier in comparison to Papa Nier, feel more alive than ever. I love Papa Nier but over the years reading up on NieR I started to believe that the game really was Bro Nier's story, and finally getting to play Replicant for myself really solidified that. IIRC the decision was early enough that the script was written and localized pretty much simultaneously, which probably explains the incredible level of the game's original localization.
Papa Nier came about through some US marketing execs asking for him to market the game to Western tastes in a way we straight up haven't seen since like 1994 and it's a testament to the quality of NieR's writing and storytelling that something as drastic as a shift in who the main character is and how we see the world through his eyes has a direct impact on the total experience even though it's still ultimately the same story that hits the same notes. I don't know if the team were trying to match Yoshida's concept art or reusing part of 2B/A2's rig and character model (Nier has some booty now), but it's a surreal Frankenstein combinations of body parts.īro Nier is "canon" as far as the rest of the DrakeNieR verse is concerned, Papa Nier has had exactly one mention since the original release back in 2010 until his reappearance here for the challenge maps, but yeah pretty much. His new face is fantastic, but came at the terrible cost. One thing that's unintentionally distracting in Part 2 - particularly in some emotional scenes! - is Brother Nier's updated character model from the face down. As a bonus, Dark Execution is even more horrifying in the remaster. ETA: Forgot to say that weapon switching is also amazing, along with really feeling the different weight differences between each weapon. Reeeallly not the appropriate time, buddy, lol. I have had a repeated problem, though, where Nier and Weiss are having an emotional talk just after finishing a side-quest, and Nier starts doing squats and stretches mid-convo. I've also gotten to see more of Nier's idle animations, and there are some really great ones that I won't spoil for those who haven't seen them. I love the little Nier/Weiss character interactions from the side quests, but maybe I should come back to them later. I've been caught up with work, so I haven't gotten through all the endings like I'd hoped - meanwhile, so many people have finished Ending E! I'm so far behind, lol. I'm really enjoying Part 2 for the most part (see below), and Ray Chase gives a superb performance as Brother Nier. (I think I've remembered the details correctly, it's been a few days since I've listened to the podcast. Regarding COVID musings I made earlier in the thread possibly effecting the soundtrack/sound mixing, Emi Evans talks about how she got a call from Okabe as they came out of lockdown in Japan, and recorded 17 songs over 5 days.