The NieR franchise certainly seems to be going through a bit of a renaissance ever since the release of NieR: Automata in 2017. While the recent remaster of NieR: Replicant has dominated the headlines and gamers’ attention, mobile spinoff NieR Reincarnation is also making news.
Publisher Square Enix and developer Applibot have just opened up pre-registration on Google Play and the App Store. The studios accompanied the announcement with a new English-language story trailer for NieR Reincarnation.
The development team for NieR Reincarnation includes many series veterans who worked on NieR: Gestalt, NieR: Automata, and both versions of Replicant. This includes director Yoko Taro, producer Yosuke Saito, and composer Keiichi Okabe. Considering that Yoko Taro is also the series creator, it’s more than likely that the mobile spinoff will remain faithful to the melancholy spirit of the main series.
The new trailer, released Tuesday, seems to support that interpretation. The game stars an amnesiac Girl in White who wakes up in a mysterious realm called Cage. Aided by a ghost-like entity called Mama, she explores the strange world in search of her memories. The game also features storybook-inspired segments in addition to its highly atmospheric 3D graphics. These seem to represent the Girl in White’s recovered memories and serve as a framing device for the game’s combat encounters. NieR Reincarnation utilizes a turn-based combat system similar to some installments of Final Fantasy. That makes it a substantial departure from the series’ more action-oriented design. However, such a change would be understandable given the limitations imposed by gaming on a mobile device.
NieR Reincarnation is already out in Japan but is still making its way to North America and Europe. Interested players can pre-register for the iOS version on the App Store or for the Android version through the Google Play Store. Android users also have a chance of being selected for NieR Re[in]carnation’s upcoming closed beta. To further incentivize pre-registration, Square Enix and Applibot are offering a special sign-up promotion. If 300,000 people pre-register, all players will receive 3,000 free gems for use on summons.
The mention of gems and summons suggests that NieR Reincarnation will likely contain some degree of gacha mechanics. This might be a turn-off for some players, as such systems are often functionally identical to the much-maligned loot boxes. Fans will have to hope the system resembles the relatively benign gacha mechanic in Genshin Impact. Intrusive ads might not mesh well with NieR’s style of atmospheric gameplay and philosophical storytelling.
NieR Reincarnation is in development for Android and iOS.
Source: IGN