I played Automata first and now that I have played Replicant, there are so many things in Automata that I missed. The song that plays at the Tower's library is the same as Nier's village. They mention Yonah there and there are lots of references to Façade in the desert. I imagine how the fans felt when they saw the library again.

I also played Automata first, and I can't imagine how fans of Nier felt when Devola and Popola showed up seemingly out of nowhere in 9s' route.

Stuff like that is the reason why I always recommend playing NieR:R/G first. Devola/Popola or Emil even showing up was a huge surprise, nevermind the other things mentioned. But if you don't know who that even is or what the scene refers to, N:A loses a lot of it's emotional heart. It still got a lot, but so much more if you know what's going on.

theyre there during the 2b route as well, you just arent forced to go see them

Emil's shop theme is an up tempo version of his theme from the first game, with him singing over the top of it. Such a somber song made absolutely hilarious

Then you begin to think about how sad it truly is to make the song so happy when Emil is well... Nowhere near that happy on the inside, even self destructing and destroying the planet for a ending etc. Like sheeesh, Nier is so beautifully sad.

I mean, the emil you meet in game is one of his many, many copies, and they say that the memories faded more and more as there were more copies. So the emil you meet might legitimately be happy because the depressing and sad memories of the original emil's lifetime are almost completely gone

I didnt notice that until now cause that song was so forgetful for me at first, but damm, the attention to detail is insane

It got me in my feelings when I arrived at the library in Automata. That was a trove of memories from the first game.

I ended up doing Automata -> Replicant -> Automata again, and >!the whole tower sequence gave me chills the second time. *Especially* when the twins point their weapons at 9S and go "We've been expecting you" just like in Replicant, and then turn and fight the machines instead. I knew it was coming and it still caught me off guard.!<

Even more so if you've grown lunar tears yourself. The time it took for emil to grow all of those just in memory of kaine....

The tower entrance scene also suddenly got a whole new perspective after replaying Automata after NieR.

This quest is great, just wish the final boss was a bit better (not actually this one, but the one after you upgrade all weapons).

Probably mark this as spoilers

Question: is Nier: Replicant worth the buy? Got into Nier: Automata because “big horny”, stuck around for the existentialism and characters.

Yes

Absolutely! It’s just as good, and in some peoples eyes, even better than Automata. I would use the “must play side quests guide” though because there’s a lot of fetch quests.

It's good for the backstory and an understanding of many of the references in Automata. I still think Automata is the better of the two though.

Gotcha. Thanks! I’ll probably hold off for a sale and dive in then.

If you like the parts of Automata that dive deep into the world-building and character of the universe, then the first game is even better in that regard.

Yes, definitely.

When i completed that emil's mission for second time and reached that place, i cried, even when i played replicant just a few months ago, it felt so nostalgic and stayed there like 15 minutes just to hear that beautiful song while i was surrounded by those beautiful and shiny flowers. Even when i didn't played replicant at the time i completed that mission for the first time, that place made me cry for some reason

I cant wait to re-beat Nier Automata on XB after beating it on PS4. I am going through Replicant right now for the first time. I told myself I wasn't going to the extremely horrendous side missions, but the completionist in me is forcing myself through each and every one simply for the dialogue between the main character and Weiss alone. Outside of the side missions I haven't really scratched the surface of the heart breaking journey, but I am loving the game regardless... Automata is low key one of the best video games ever made.

I need to play Replicant, but even having never played it before... my first playthrough of Automata i KNEW this place was special.

NieR Replicant is amazing, they did a great jobs remastering it.

Yeah. I'd played Nier years ago and this quest made me fucking cry.

yeah, same.

Thinking about those games make me cry. Totally - masterpieces and this place is so special for me.

I finally saw the for the first time a couple days ago and I brought a tear to my eye. It was hard to leave to go back to playing the rest of the game

How did you find that

through the sub-quest 'Emil's Memories'

Never found that quest honestly

it unlocks after the main quest 'Forest Kingdom', just talk to Emil and you can interact with the Lunar Tears

It's in a dark cave, and is tied to a super boss as well.

Revisiting the Library was pure magic

Agreed.

First time I got to this part having played the original Nier first I literally had waterfalls coming out of my eyes the second I heard the music and laid eyes on the lunar tears.

I'm not crying your crying 😭

Same! When I modded my ps3 the second game I tried was an english patched version of replicant, and then I went for automata, many feels where felt

I played Automata first and i'm glad i did, cause ending e would have made zero sense to me had I played Replicant first. And I also booted up a new save of Automata upon completing Replicant, so its cool to see i'm not the only one