Fans of the NieR franchise finally got their first look at gameplay from the upcoming remaster of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... From the official gameplay that was released, it appears that two main voice actors will be returning to this version of the original to reprise their roles. The gameplay showed interactions with both Kainé and Grimoire Weiss, played by Critical Role stars Laura Bailey and Liam O’Brien.
NieR Replicant was a success when it first released back in 2010. The game’s sequel, NieR: Automata is what finally pushed the franchise into a worldwide spotlight. This lead to the eventual announcement that the original game was getting a remaster that is due out in April, now called NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... Since this footage is only the second video that fans have been able to see, there is no telling if other voice actors have returned to their roles as well.
Kainé, the cold yet shy companion of Nier, will once again be voiced by Laura Bailey. Bailey has become something of a household name is recent years. She took on the protagonist mantle as Kait Diaz in Gears 5 and voices Jaina Proudmoore in World of Warcraft. More recently, she voiced Abby, the second protagonist of The Last of Us 2. In Critical Role — the podcast show where voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons – she played the Half-Elf Hunter Vex’ahlia in campaign one and the Tiefling Cleric Jester Lavorre currently in campaign two.
Grimoire, Nier’s powerful book companion, is voiced by Liam O’Brien. Known for his anime voices—such as Naruto’s Gaara or Doctor Strange in most things Marvel—he has also given life to War in Darksiders. Most notably, however, O’Brien voices one the most legendary World of Warcraft characters, Illidan Stormrage. He played the Half-Elf Rogue Vax’ildan in Critical Role campaign one and is currently playing the Human Wizard Caleb Widowgast in campaign two.
Fans of these two voice actors can also watch them during BlizzCon 2021 for a special Dungeons & Dragons Diablo story. This Critical Role one-shot will be run by Matthew Mercer. Bailey and O’Brien will play alongside Mica Burton and Carlos Luna as the players explore the ruins beneath Tristram in D&D format.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... isn’t the only new NieR game releasing this year. There will also be a special mobile game called NieR: Reincarnation. There is no specific release date set for this, but it will expand the NieR story outside of the two main entries. The game itself will be a game of chance, so players will need luck to gather the best weapons and items as they adventure through.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... will release on April 23 2021 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.