Nier Replicant/ Nier Gestult
(SquareEnix)(2011)
The Nier games are two separate games set in
the same world and setting, originally only one Nier game was announced and the game wouldn’t be coming out in
Japan, then it as announced there would be two of them, one called Nier Gestalt and one Nier Replicant. Gestalt was to be
released on the Xbox 360 in Europe while Replicant was only being released in
Japan on the PlayStation 3.
The two games were
based around the same story; the main character (Nier) sets out on a quest to
find a cure for an illness his only living relative has caught. In Gestalt,
Nier is an older man who is trying to save his daughter Yonah from this
mysterious illness. In Replicant, Nier appears significantly younger, and Yonah
is his younger sister.
The top image is of
“Brother Nier”, as the developers dubbed him; he was the protagonist for the
Japanese version of the game, Replicant. The lower image is “Father Nier” and
is the protagonist from Gestalt.
These games are an
example of games companies changing their products to suit different consumers.
The Younger more effeminate looking lead character would appeal more to the
Japanese market as it reflects Anime/ Manga characters and character types from
other RPGs of its kind such as Final Fantasy characters which more often then
not are very pretty no matter gender. The male lead in Gestalt is tailored to
suit western RPG aesthetics; it fits in with games such as Dragon Age, Oblivion and Skyrim all examples of western RPGs.
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