NieR Re[in]carnation is a free-to-play mobile game supported by microtransactions and marks one of the many projects commemorating the tenth anniversary of the NieR series. It was first announced during the March 29, 2020 Niconico livestream along with NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139....[1]
Kazuma Koda is the main concept artist (Replicant v1.22) while Akihiko Yoshida is the main character designer (NieR:Automata).
The closed beta ended on August 5, 2020.
Contents
Story
The world takes place in an area simply known as "The Cage" (檻)—a series of towers and dungeons, sometime in the future. A girl awakens on a stone floor with no voice and no memories. She is greeted by a strange being calling itself Mama. In order to restore what she has lost and to redeem herself from a past sin, the girl and Mama travel to reawaken fragments of a forgotten world.[2]
The first arc, The Girl and the Monster, follows the Girl of Light and the Dark Monster.
The second arc, The Sun and the Moon, follows high school students Hina Akagi and Yuzuki Kurezome.
Characters
Variations of characters and weapons can be unlocked through the in-game gacha system.
Main Characters
| Name | Description | Voice | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Girl of Light
Fio |
A kind, amnesic girl who awakens within The Cage. Suffers from mysterious nightmares every night. | [JP] Rika Nagae
[EN] Cassandra Lee Morris |
|
Mama | The Girl of Light's companion. Mother figure who appears to be familiar with The Cage. | [JP] Yumi Hara
[EN] Emily O'Brien |
|
Dark Monster
Levania |
A being that appears to be a black armored knight with insect-like traits. Driven by unknown motives. | [JP] Motoyuki Kawahara
[EN] Jason Nuzzo |
|
Carrier | The Dark Monster's companion. While he has a similar shape to Mama, his personality and appearance are different. | [JP] Ichitaro Ai
[EN] Ian James Corlett |
| Hina Akagi
(明城 陽那) |
A high school honor student that was transported into The Cage. | [JP] Kana Ichinose
[EN] Allegra Clark | |
| Yuzuki Kurezome
(暮染 佑月) |
An ordinary high school student that was transported into The Cage. | [JP] Kōki Uchiyama
[EN] Aleks Le |
Memory Characters
| Name | Description | Voice | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wanderer
Rion |
A gentle and wise vagrant who travels with a mechanical Clockwork Soldier. He travels from country to country to fulfill a particular oath. | [JP] Junko Minagawa
[EN] Zeno Robinson |
|
Prosthetic Hunter
Gayle |
A recluse hunter who hails from a forest country. Her prosthetic arm and leg carry a tale of profound anger and sorrow. | [JP] Ayaka Fukuhara
[EN] Dana Powers |
|
Clockwork Soldier
Dimos |
An ancient warrior found slumbering underneath castle ruins. Thanks to the Wanderer, his dormant will is activated once more. | [JP] Takuya Satou
[EN] Alejandro Saab |
|
Assassin
Akeha |
A talented member of a renowned assassin's guild. She has the favor of its current leader, to whom she is deeply loyal. | [JP] Eri Kitamura
[EN] Laura Post |
|
One Who Continues to Challenge the Mountains
Argo |
An adventurer who has conquered many famous peaks. Throws himself head-first into danger with no regard for the family he leaves behind. | [JP] Kazuhiro Yamaji
[EN] Andrew Morgado |
|
Man in White
063y |
A quiet man who is forced to fight alongside his wife against monstrous flowers who claimed the life of their son. Lives for revenge. | [JP] Kenyū Horiuchi
[EN] Emerson Brooks |
|
Woman in White
F66x |
A kind, calm woman who is forced to fight alongside her husband against monstrous flowers who claimed the life of their son. | [JP] Satomi Satō
[EN] Suzie Yeung |
|
Vengeful Boy Soldier
Lars |
A boy involved in an endless war since he was a child. More than anything wants to become strong and exact revenge as a soldier. | [JP] Kenshō Ono
[EN] Griffin Puatu |
|
Regretful Young Soldier
Griff |
A young man who leads a unit as a captain. Is called a coward by his comrades in arms due to his fearful personality. | [JP] Shirai Yūsuke
[EN] Conrad Haynes |
|
Sealed Girl
Noelle |
A girl who awakens in a collapsed research facility. Not knowing who or where she is, she wanders forward following a voice in her head. | [JP] Yukana
[EN] Faye Mata |
|
Avowed Witch
Saryu |
A young girl who's started her education in a wizarding school to become a full-fledged witch. | [JP] Himika Akaneya
[EN] Alejandra Reynoso |
|
Verboten Werebeast
Priyet |
A strange beast clothed in a white sheet. Wishes to become human. | [JP] Hitomi Ōwada
[EN] Tessa Netting |
| Praying Songstress
Marie |
A young singer who does virtual performances amidst an unending war. | [JP] Azusa Tadokoro
[EN] Baraka May |
Event Characters
These characters are tie-in characters from other games obtainable through limited time events.
| Name | Description | Voice | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2B
Praying Battler
|
A standard YoRHa combat android. This model uses swords to engage machine lifeforms at close range. Relatively cool and collected. | [JP] Yui Ishikawa
[EN] Kira Buckland |
|
9S
Isolated Scanner
|
A YoRHa scanner-type android. Scanners specialize in survey missions, and can gather information and intel via hacking. | [JP] Natsuki Hanae
[EN] Kyle McCarley |
|
A2
Vengeful Attacker
|
An attacker-type android that deserted YoRHa. Mainly specializes in close-quarters combat. | [JP] Ayaka Suwa
[EN] Cherami Leigh |
|
The World Ender
Soulful Lad
|
A young man on a journey to save his sister, Yonah. He cares deeply for his friends and would do anything to save those he cherishes. | [JP] Kōji Yusa
[EN] Ray Chase |
|
Kainé
The Aerie Warrior
|
A silver-haired woman who lives in a remote village called The Aerie. The left side of her body is possessed by a Shade. | [JP] Atsuko Tanaka
[EN] Laura Bailey |
|
Emil
Puzzling Oddity
|
A strange creature that looks like a floating skeleton. He used to be a handsome young boy who lived in a manor. | [JP] Mai Kadowaki
[EN] Julie Ann Taylor |
|
Zero
Progenitor Sister
|
A beautiful white-haired woman with a flower growing from her eye. Her elegant appearance hides superhuman power and violent temper. An intoner. | [JP] Maaya Uchida
[EN] Tara Platt |
Gameplay
Gameplay is broken up into three main categories: exploration within the 3D environment of The Cage, 2D story quests that are explored with memory characters, and a 3D battle system.
World exploration is similar to other mobile games; tap or hold on the touch screen to move and tap to interact with various objects. The Cage is linear, the player character's objective being restoring memories within "Dark Scarecrows," black statues that block the player's path. While wandering, character dialogue may occur, and there are collectables that can be found in the forms of black birds and white orbs. In-game cinematics retain the letter box effect from previous titles.
2D story quests and certain pre-rendered cutscenes have a 2D style reminiscent of Automata's picture books.
Battles can be manual or automated. Its visual set up resembles many JRPG games, with player characters and enemies lined in parallel rows on the screen. Fast-forward and skip functions are also included.
Players can assemble an up to three-man party whose actions are dictated by cool down timers. Characters may attack, use a unique character skill, or use a skill from their currently equipped weapon. Each character has their own stats and health points, which can be customized by equipment earned through the story or gacha. Strategy is reliant on the player's command input timing and the player characters' equipment setup, represented by an in-game power level called force. There is also an element system that factors in resistances and weaknesses. Additional support can come from Companions, tiny creatures that can be individually leveled up from the main party. Each Companion has distinct buffs and effects that may be used only once per battle. They must be equipped on a character prior to combat.
Individual character equipment includes their main weapon, two sub weapons, three Memoirs, and one Companion, assembled in the game's Loadout menu. Auto-building is available. Each character specializes in a unique weapon type, but can also equip non-compatible weapons.
Characters, weapons and other equipment can be leveled up from the game's Enhance menu. New characters and weapons can be obtained from quests, in-game events, and the gacha system.
Exploration
Exploration is a set of two minigames that can be played to regain stamina, found under the Quests menu. It can be played once for free every eight hours or paid for with an Explorer's Ticket. Both minigames are played by Mama.
Shooting
A shoot 'em up Exploration minigame resembling games such as Space Invaders and Asteroids, similar to the shmup sections found in NieR: Automata. The player must avoid magic orbs also seen in many Automata and NieR boss fights. Score is determined by how many enemies are defeated within the time limit.
Flying Mama
An Exploration minigame resembling Flappy Bird. Score is determined by distance traveled as well as collectable coins obtained within the time limit. Other items, including Emil heads, can be collected to move faster and gain invincibility for a short time.
Arena
The Arena is a separate in-game system where a party can be assembled to face other player's teams for rewards.
Side Stories
By playing the game, you unlock different side stories connected to the characters and in-game lore.
- Character Stories: Learn more about the characters through short anecdotes. Unlocked by ranking up with each character.
- EX Character Stories: Stories about the characters ranging from backstories to afterstories. Unlocked by evolving each character's dark weapon.
- Event Stories (Records): Time-limited events with stories revolving around specific characters.
- Card Stories: Time-limited short texts unlocked by completing specified quests (panel missions).
- Hidden Stories: Excerpts based on the characters ranging from trivial lore to short stories. Unlocked by doing specified quests found on the map.
Development
Re[in]carnation is being written by Yoko Taro and Saito Yosuke. Saito remarked that this NieR entry will be "story heavy" with more text than other social games in the market. Yoko remarked that it's tied to its predecessors, yet is "definitely its own title, not a spin-off of Gestalt/Replicant or Automata." As the story unfolds, its ties to NieR will become more apparent.[3]
In response to fans being uneasy about playing a new series entry on smartphones, Yoko commented that it's his aspiration to have this title appeal to anyone who likes smartphone games, not just NieR fans. Saito chimed his hopes that "Yoko World" and NieR fans will appreciate this new entry. They plan to keep the story alive with ongoing updates, so long as game sales allow.
When asked if Re[in]carnation will share any ties to SINoALICE, Yoko stated that the only similarities they share is the gacha found in social games as a whole.[4]
Saito and Yoko have faith that the young, active team of developers will surprise players; the "elders' roles" aren't as involved as older titles. Continuing his ongoing joke in interviews of Yoko disdaining "good looking, popular guys," he notes it's impossible for him to get along with Applibot's director.
Koda noted that stone-built and unified towers form the world's aesthetic. His goal is to capture a particular ethnic theme for the setting, which was censored by Dengeki post interview.
Okabe composed a new soundtrack. Out of the decade or so working with his colleague, Yoko particularly praised him for Re[in]carnation's main theme. Keeping in tone with Yoko's requests to include a feeling close to NieR with vocals in the songs, Okabe also played around with several music genres. He hopes to leave listeners with a different resonance than previous entries.
Trivia
- According to Yoko's commentary, he stated "to begin with, I don't think you can even call it a RPG," and "we tried to do our own thing with the gacha, but thinking about it now, it's a gacha that's pretty much like Puzzle & Dragons."
Gallery
See Also
External Links
- Official Website (JP)
- Official Website (EN)
- Official Twitter (JP)
- Official Twitter (EN)
- Nier Blog
- NieR Re[in] Guide
