Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Japan gets a NieR RepliCant (aka 'that game with the hermaphrodite') release date

The seemingly random capitalizations in the game's name drive the editor in me batty, by the way.

Anyway, enough about me and my analities. You clicked on this post to read about the release date for NieR RepliCant, right?

Actually, the folks at Square-Enix announced a Japanese release date for both NieR RepliCant and NieR Gestalt yesterday: April 22.

Kaine prepares to kick the crap out of a rather curious- and freaky-looking foe.

In case the only thing you know about either of these games is that one (or maybe both) of them features an intersex character (Kaine's her name, in case you're wondering): Both are action-adventure titles that were developed by Cavia and will be published by Square-Enix.

NieR RepliCant
, a PS3 exclusive in Japan, focuses on the titular Nier and his quest to find a cure for the "Black Scrawl virus" that has infected his little sister, Yonah. NieR Gestalt, on the other hand, is an Xbox 360 exclusive in Japan and focuses on Yonah's father--who also appears to be named Nier.

To make things more confusing: Only NieR Gestalt will be brought to North America (no word yet on whether it'll hit Europe, too), though it's title will be shortened to NIER and it'll be released for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

See also: 'Square-Enix releases NieR RepliCant trailer'

4 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Again...seemingly arbitrary localization news. I just don't get it.

And the name change as well...BAH! It drives me a little crazy, honestly.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Well, it's not nearly as arbitrary as it may seem -- Gestalt features an older, manlier main character, while RepliCant features a young, somewhat asexual one. Of course Square-Enix went with the manly one for the American market (he says as he rolls his eyes).

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Yeah...but why not BOTH? I just think it's really odd.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, I hear ya. The answer, I think, is that most US game companies are cowardly. I mean, why else would Nintendo of America avoid Tingle DS or Captain Rainbow, etc.?