As the 4^th Anniversary of NieR:Automata approaches on February 23, we have an entirely new installation into the NieR franchise to look forward to: NieR Re[in]carnation (henceforth referred to as "Rein") , which is a single player RPG due to release exclusively in Japan on February 18 for iOS and Android. This game was announced nearly a year ago, during the NieR 10^th Anniversary livestream.

For those who are familiar with the NieR series, you might be wondering how this fits into the overall timeline of the previous games, but since it hasn’t been released yet, there's not much we know at this time.

That being said, the NieR series creative director Yoko Taro and producer Yosuke Saito have commented lightly about this in the past, but Saito most recently spoke about this during an Internet radio show hosted by veteran NieR voice actor, Hiroki Yasumoto (Pod042, Zinnia, Beepy), stating that this game is a completely new installment in the overall ”Yoko World," but he says it’s “probably” connected to NieR somehow. That much should be obvious since NieR in the title, but... So, at this point, it is unclear how it will tie into the current Yokoverse timeline that encompass games like Drakengard, NieR Gestalt/Replicant, or even SINoALICE.

From what we currently know about the story, it revolves around a sort of in between hub world called the “Cage.” This is where the main character, who is simply dubbed the “Girl in White*,” awakens and finds herself largely alone, save for a strange floating ghost named Mama. Through exploring the Cage, you eventually gain access to weapons from which you can enter the other main portion of the game that resembles a child’s picture book to explore the memories of various characters.

* All characters have specific names in the game, and some were revealed during the Closed Beta Test last year, but these have been omitted in this piece due to potential spoilers.

Now, since this is a mobile game, it will utilize a gacha system. Many people shrug off mobile games for this very reason, but not every gacha game is created equally. There are some that utilize this system better than others, and I don’t see this as much of an issue for this particular game... but time will tell. Additionally, since this is a single player game, it will not have a coop function, so you can enjoy the game at your own pace.

The game will also feature periodic collaboration events, the first of which will be with NieR:Automata, featuring 2B, 9S, and A2.

The official Rein Twitter account has been counting down to the release by sharing a string of gorgeous illustrations. See below for a taste of some of the best ones!

A couple days ago, the first pre-release live broadcast was held to discuss more about the game, and a livestream was held on February 16th 20:00 (JST)! Please be aware that there are no official English subtitles, but there will likely be many international fans watching who can help translate in the comments.

Staff:

• Producer: Yosuke Saito
• Creative Director: Yoko Taro
• Director: Daichi Matsukawa
• Main Character Design: Akihiro Yoshida (CyDesignation)
• Concept Art: Kazuma Koda
• Music: Keiichi Okabe (MONACA)
• Developer: Applibot
• Planning/Production: Square Enix
• Official Site: https://nierreincarnation.jp/

---

Here's the opening movie:

You can read more about Rein in my previous article here.