Oh my god. This is one of the best games I’ve ever played. I knew going into that it’s considered to be one of the best of the best, but I had no idea just how right that sentiment was. The characters, the story, the gameplay, the soundtrack, everything is just so beautifully done. Everything is leagues better than replicant imo. Except maybe the characters, I still love the main cast of replicant very dearly, but man, the tragic story of 2B, 9S and A2 is just, so well done. The combat is so much more engaging and fun, you have more weapon options and more combos so you aren’t just doing the same moves over and over. Your pod has more magic attacks than Weiss did, and they’re all unique and viable in some way. The open world is so fun to explore, instead of just having small sectioned off areas, you have a whole sandbox to explore, and it’s all interconnected without loading screens, it’s amazing. The side quest, which was one of my biggest gripes with the first, are vastly improved. I did about 45% of them in replicant, and in this I did 90%, and that’s only because I really wanted to see the true ending, so I went ahead and finished it. The 3 main characters are all engaging and fleshed out, tho, some more than others, in the context of the game A2 doesn’t get a lot, but I know she has her backstory in a book. 2B and 9S tho, god. Their story is such a tragic one, and one that came out of left field for me, I never would’ve thought that was the truth about them. The main story itself, endings A and B, aren’t super long, and neither is C/D, maybe a couple hours at most, but having the whole scope of the story, it’s a decent length. I put around 40 hours in it and I feel like it was well worth it. Speaking of multiple playthrough, it was a much easier task than the first game. You only have to replay the first half of the game once, and then everything after that is new. You don’t have to play the same parts over and over again, and even when you do have to replay it as 9S, it’s so different gameplay wise that it’s not even a problem, and for a lot of his parts, he’s doing other stuff without 2B anyway, so you get his side of the story on what was happening. I absolutely adore this game and I’m so glad I played it, everything in this game is perfect, especially the soundtrack, that shit made me feel like I was ascending sometimes. I really really really need a third NieR game that isn’t some mobile title.