Play as the 'other' Nier in this week's DLC, 'The World of Recycled Vessel'

by JC Fletcher on May 11th 2010 5:30AM

New DLC for Nier, expected to be available tomorrow, adds 15 new stages, new costumes for Kaine, Emil, and Nier, and new Shades, as part of a new time-traveling scenario. Perhaps more importantly, it also enables players to control the young version of Nier from the Japan-only, PS3-only Nier Replicant, effectively removing the single difference between the two versions.

The character model change is included as a bonus in the "World of Recycled Vessel" pack, whose main component is a world unlocked by a hidden diary, in which Nier and his companions find themselves in a "dreamscape" that combines the past and present of the game.

Square Enix didn't announce pricing for North America, but the price in Europe, where the release date is May 12, is €6.99 or 560

Nier: The World of Recycled Vessel DLC

Tags: cavia, dlc, Microsoft, nier, nier-replicant, square-enix, the-world-of-recycled-vessel, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (37)

Now I might consider getting this in a few months.. NIER's western design really put me off the game.

Why? Both protagonists are hideous, just in different ways.

The western design put you off the game?

Not the fact that Joystiq's great and mighty Justin (Oh praise the giver of reviews and let him bless our games) gave this game a zero?

so... does this mean that in all instances throughout the story where we're supposed to see an old man, instead we'll see the young man in all aspects which include voice?

I was never really interested in the game, but I do prefer anime-sque character designs than the old-man-deadbeat style. Shoot me.
The fact that the game got a "zero" and some negative reviews has some meaning to me, but it's not completely significant since I know of many people that enjoyed the game. It's all a matter of personal taste.

Justin didn't give it a zero. Joystiq doesn't assign numerical scores, because they know that people put too much stock into them.

Well, at the end of his video he did say, "I give Nier a zero". Perhaps not their official score, but he did say it.

Did any of you actually play the game? Nier is actually pretty good.

Much better than that god-awful disappointment FF13 was, at least.

This might help you guys understand the "I give Nier a zero" comment even though Joystiq has, thankfully, not implemented a numerical rating system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke

GAME UK has this on sale for £15 at the moment, well worth it for that price.

I won't buy this unless Joystiq's very own, Justin McElroy, would be kind enough to do a commentary on it.

He captured my magical shaman fish heart.

so i'm confused.....is the only difference between the ps3 and xbox niers the character model? everything else is exactly the same?

if so, what a rip off.

I'm not sure how that's a "rip-off".....most (if not, all) games that are multi - platform have no differences at all.

Well no, it's not the only difference. The Japanese version ...is in Japanese. :\

Nier is actually a really good game........I caught the shaman fish on my second try....and did'nt have to fish for the rest of the game. I'm over 40 hours in and this game .is pretty damn good.

Yeah, A LOT of people and sites are making fun of Joystiq because of the whole failed review of Nier. Makes me sad.

A lot people are saying it's a decent game and I'm willing to give it a shot if not for the fact I am neck deep into Street Fighter/Resonance of Fate/Alan Wake and soon Alpha Protocol.

I've heard a lot of good things. I think it looks great personally, and might get it when it drops in price. I never buy at full price tho.

"A LOT of people and sites are making fun of Joystiq because of the whole failed review of Nier."

And why shouldn't they? The topic of fishing, especially the shaman fish quest, had been addressed in multiple threads on both the 360 and PS3 boards at GameFAQs by the time Joystiq's review was posted.

Besides, there's a great big red X to show you where you need to go on your active "main" quest. (Side quests don't have red Xs.) The shaman fish quest is a main quest -- go where the X is.

The fishing mechanic is still f*cked. Even if he was in the wrong spot, that doesn't mean it should take 10 minutes reel in a bream.

can someone help me out and send me some squeenix points...

btw is neir related to raiden?

Perhaps if you put it in the form of a question and included a "please".

Anyone want to confirm if it just changes the player model but the voice acting stays the same? If the dialogue doesn't make any sense with the other model, what's the point? I haven't played it yet... Is this dude's daughter young enough to be the younger dude's daughter too?

They went through all that trouble and marketing only to realize that people that DO buy Japanese games are the ones that don't care about the differences in Western and Eastern design.

I don't go out and buy a Japanese game expecting it to be similar to Western design. Stop that Square, just be yourself and try to innovate that way instead of randomly imitating what you see others do.

I feel this question has been beaten to death, but most of the japanophiles seem to live in their own fantasy world.

Old Man = original design

Younger Nier = redesigned for Japanese audience because older Nier failed the panel, hence the name REPLICANT, as in replica.

However, congrats on finally getting your way

I'm not interested in Nier at all. I have seen enough footage of the game to know that I won't get much from it that I haven't already gotten from Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden.

I was just expressing my point of view on the East vs West design. Even if the old guy was the original design, Square should have known better considering the popularity of youthful protagonists in Japanese media.

It wasn't developed by Square. They just published it. Besides, not all of the people who buy Japanese games need pretty boy protagonists.

BTW Frank West is probably the favorite Japanese character of the West, so there you go.

LITERALLY

Some people seem to be confused about whether Nier Gestalt and RepliCant are sequels/prequels, entirely different games, etc.

The ONLY difference between Gestalt and RepliCant are:
- Nier appears younger and less muscular in RepliCant
- Yonah is Nier "sister" instead of daughter in RepliCant

Otherwise, it's the same exact game. For the record, Gestalt was the original version, even in Japan. But the character design failed a Japanese test panel, hence the RepliCant version.

Oddly enough, Japan still got Gestalt, but on the Xbox 360 only. Square Enix probably figured that any Japanese who owned a 360 would probably enjoy western design, much like the otaku/weaboos of North America go ape-shit over anime girly-boy designs (the ones whining over Nier RepliCant).

Wait...they made two versions of the game just to redesign Nier? How bizarre. Does that usually happen with Japanese games?

Not all Japanese games need pretty boys, yes, I agree. BUT, if you were to ever look at all the media that is exported from Japan the main thing you will see is young and pretty protagonists, so I still don't see where you are coming from.

Frank West is also popular because of the amount of memes that originated from his lines in Dead Rising. If it weren't for those memes he'd be as popular as Wayne from Lost Planet.

Square may not have developed it, but they put money behind it, and that is usually a reason to be able to influence some of the things that get put into the game. I can't name anything recent from Square that isn't led by a young pretty protagonist.

I still don't see where you are coming from, in most video games the pretty boy character is far and few between, except in the jrpg style where they dominate. Not all of gamers who play a majority of japanese games are anime obsessed japanophiles. I don't know what a meme is, but since LP was not nearly as popular or critically received as DR, you really cannot make that comparison.

If you are going there, then Just Cause 2. Published by Square.

I never said that anyone had to be an "anime obsessed Japanophile" to enjoy Japanese games. Half of my gaming collection is Japanese and if you look at my avatar, you will notice that it is of an obscure Japanese rhythm game called Gitarooman.

One common theme among all of the Japanese games that I buy is an attractive young (often too young) protagonist. I've not saying that's a bad thing, I am just saying that when it comes to marketing you should stick with what you know and innovate within that knowledge. Clearly, the devs of Nier were experimenting with the main character for Nier, but overall, I don't think it was necessary to release the game in 2 versions with such a minor difference

The Frank West meme is "I've covered wars." I think a lot of people are aware of that.

For "Westerngamer"

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=meme

Don't forget to tell McElroy, I hear he LOVED this game.

Why would a 70 year old man have a young kid anyway? Frankly, I find it irresponsible.

..so then why develop two similar, yet slightly different games, i n the first place. o.O

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Play as the 'other' Nier in this week's DLC, 'The World of Recycled Vessel'

Nier: The World of Recycled Vessel DLC

Reader Comments (37)

Posted: May 11th 2010 6:27AM Dumbapple said

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