I feel like talking about my criticisms regarding the game design and gameplay of this game would be beating a dead horse at this point, so I'll just talk about how I feel about its narrative.

I've played countless JRPGs in the past, and I have to say NieR RepliCant was by far one of the most unique. Its somber, melancholic atmosphere, the dynamic within the main party, it felt very different compared to what I'm used to. I've played many games that depict characters' inner struggles and mental issues, and those games tended to have more lighthearted moments sprinkled within their narratives to alleviate the bleakness brought forth by the characters' internal struggles. This game has those too, but they are usually limited to banter that they exchange in the overworld. The game allocates a lot less time to wholesome moments between the characters in general, and most cutscenes that depict a form of happy outcome usually come at the cost of another tragedy.

Being offered glimpses of the shades' thoughts in a replay playthrough is simply genius. It is the perfect way of highlighting the different perspectives of NieR and Kainé, and is also an incredible way of making a commentary on the video game as a medium overall. From seeing shades as mere obstacles, objectives within a video game, to victims of the party's actions really shook me to the core. This is clearly the intention behind this decision, as the game makes meta commentary on other common video game design tropes such as tedious fetch quests and prolonged mandatory backtracking in general.

By far, the aspect I found the most interesting regarding the narrative, however, has got to be how this is a rare case of a JRPG where the party doesn't have a noble goal such as saving the entire world, or eradicating all evil. The party has smaller, more personal goals instead. Despite the clear decay of the world, the struggles of the townspeople, the imminent catastrophe that awaits the residents of this world, the main character isn't called to action to bring an end to the problems of their world. Instead, he is simply concerned with saving his family and protecting Weiss, Kainé and Emil. I really like this decision, as it makes the party seem a lot more modest and human. Their more human traits allow the narrative to contrast the replicant/weaponized party with their gestalt enemies in a convincing way. Had NieR's goal been to save the world, would his parallels with the Shadowlord been has effective? The scale of their goals also make the story a lot more tragic. To achieve a desire as simple as being with their family member, or find the purpose of their existence, these characters end up sacrificing an insane amount of people and lives.

This isn't really a comprehensive review, but I just wanted to highlight the aspects of the game that stood out to me. If you like sci-fi themes, character exploration and seeing creative uses of the video game medium, this game is definitely worth giving a shot. Oh and, its score is as noted by everyone is fantastic.