Drakengard Spin-Off Nier Getting a Sequel

Square Enix has formally announced the development of a sequel to their cult 2010 hit, Nier. It does not have an official title with the exception of using the 'Nier' name. The developer/publisher plans to share more information this fall.

Platinum Games, a studio that has already made a substantial mark at E3 2015, will be developing this Nier sequel with staff talents that worked on Anarchy Reigns and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The spokesmen from Platinum were not shy about their enthusiasm for the project, given that they are fans of the original game.

The very brief teaser trailer showed the game's prospective art direction. It looks similar to the lush, yet pale colors from the prior Nier, and even shares the stylistic look of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. The trailer ended with a hint of the game's protagonist, a short-haired female warrior.

Nier was released in 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The narrative follows titular character Nier on his quest to save his daughter Yonah from a terminal illness caused by shadowy creatures called Shades. On his journey, Nier teams up with a talking magical tome called Grimoire Weiss, an angry young woman named Kaine, and a blind boy called Emil to take down the Shades and ultimately save what remains of humanity.

Camera angles and gameplay segments would frequently switch perspectives; for most the game players controlled Nier from a third-person perspective, but some scenes were top-down shoot-em-up or side-scrolling platformer segments.

In Japan, two versions of Nier were released. The PlayStation 3 version, called Nier Replicant, featured a teenaged version of protagonist Nier as Yonah's brother, while the Xbox 360 Nier Gestalt version featured the older protagonist featured in the North American and European versions. This was because developers believed that a more mature protagonist would resonate more with Western audiences than the younger version preferred in Japan.