Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds pledges support for Able Gamers charity

The remaster of the prequel to Nier: Automata is the Japanese version unseen in the West. (And yes, that is its full title.)

2017’s wildly popular and critically lauded Nier: Automata is getting its prequel remastered for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One on April 23, 2021. No word on next-gen consoles for the moment.

Complete with a risible subtitle, Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139… is the “modern re-telling” of one of the Japanese versions of Nier, which originally released on the PlayStation 3 in 2010 and was never released in the West.

You might be more familiar with Nier, which was the Xbox 360 version of Nier in Japan – called Nier Gestalt – and featured entirely different protagonists. Nier is itself a spin-off and sequel of the Drakengard series. Confused yet?

Whilst Nier Gestalt featured a father in his 40s and his daughter, Yonah, Replicant has Yonah repositioned as the sister to a teenage Nier. Apparently, despite some dialogue accommodations, the versions were more or less entirely the same. A baffling example of game localisation and console platform distinctions for sure.

Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139… is due to be a significant overhaul with visuals and designs from Nier: Automata character designer, Akihiko Yoshida, gameplay, and even the plot due a remaster treatment. Or as the studio itself refers to it, “more than a remaster,” but not quite a remake. More of a “version up,” apparently.

You can also expect a newly recorded soundtrack from the original composer, Keiichi Okabe. It fits my definition of a remake.

Although the action perfectionist studio PlatinumGames – known for the Bayonetta series, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Astral Chain among others – isn’t fully involved this time, a senior game designer at Platinum will be “overseeing the action sequences,” at least.

Square Enix also confirmed Nier Reincarnation, a mobile game for both Android and Apple iOS devices, is coming to North America and Europe. No release date has been announced yet.

If you’re mad for everything Nier, you can also invest in the White Snow Edition, which sells for a mighty £149.99. Along with a pin set, two-disc collection of the soundtrack, steelbook case and a collectors box, you also get seven books of the complete spoken script of the game complete with cover art. That might just clinch it for you, eh?

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Two Mafia titles debut in the UK video games chart top ten, but Super Mario 3D All-Stars holds on to No.1.

The Mafia franchise’s spirited attempt to bring down Super Mario might have failed, but publisher 2K Games will surely be pleased with two top ten entries. The well-received Mafia: Definitive Edition enters the chart at No.3, and Mafia Trilogy lands at No.6. Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Marvel’s Avengers remain in first and second place.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe continues its impressive run by holding steady at No.5, but the excellent Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake slips four places to No.8.

Further down the chart, WWK 2K Battlegrounds tumbles from No.6 to No.11 and the eFootball PES 2021 season update drops from ninth to No.34.

Next week should bring some significant changes at the top with new releases including Star Wars Squadrons and Crash Bandicoot 4 expected to do well.

Here’s this week’s full GfK video games chart top ten.

GfK Entertainment Software Charts – WE Sept 26, 2020

1. Super Mario 3D All-Stars
2. Marvel’s Avengers
3. Mafia: Definitive Edition (NE)
4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
5. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
6. Mafia Trilogy (NE)
7. Minecraft Dungeons
8. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
9. Minecraft (Switch)
10. Grand Theft Auto V

Visit the Thumbsticks new releases page for more on the latest video games coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. You can also follow us on Facebook, Google News, Twitter, and Flipboard for daily gaming news updates.

Crash Bandicoot, Star Wars and FIFA (sort of) headline this week’s list of upcoming Xbox One releases.

Do you know which Star Wars games are the absolute best? No, it’s not that new one with Archie Andrews off Riverdale as a Jedi, nor is it Episode I: Racer, or even Knights of the Old Republic. It’s the classic PC flight sims, the ones that came on half a dozen floppy disks: X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and X-Wing vs Tie Fighter.

With that in mind, we are perhaps most excited about Star Wars: Squadrons, a Star Wars space combat flight sim with all the pew! pew! you’d expect. Squadrons has pedigree, too; it’s developed by EA’s Motive Studios, the crew behind the brilliant Star Wars Battlefront II. (That’s the modern, multiplayer Battlefront II with lots of cool ships to fly, not the middling shooter from 2005.)

The other big name on the Xbox One Releases this week is Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. Developed by Toys for Bob, the company behind the excellent remasters, publisher Activision hopes that the return of its mascot platformer will emulate the successful return of its other late-90s icon, Tony Hawk.

There’s one other big game this week, but it’s not for everyone. Literally. If you don’t have EA Play, you won’t get to play FIFA 21 on October 2; you’ll have to wait until October 9 like everyone else. But if you do have EA Play – and remember, it’s now included with Xbox Game Pass – you’ll get to try out EA’s big footie sim, FIFA 21, a week before your mates.

Other games of note include Feather, a zen exploration game with beautiful flight, Commander ’85, an intriguing cold war mystery, and Inertial Drift, a racing game with an innovative twin-stick control scheme.

Each new game can be purchased from the Xbox One digital games store or the Microsoft web store. We’ll update this post throughout the week with any late additions to the lineup.

New Xbox One releases: September 28-October 2, 2020

Monday, September 28, 2020

• No games for you!

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

• Bartlow’s Dread Machine
• Projection: First Light
• Re:Turn – One Way Trip

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

• Birthday of Midnight
• Commander ’85
• Feather
• Inertial Drift
• Swordbreaker

Thursday, October 1, 2020

• FIFA 21 (EA Play First Trial)
• Orangeblood

Friday, October 2, 2020

• Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
• Star Wars: Squadrons
• Dragon Lapis
• Warsaw

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Super Mario Bros. 35 headlines a jam-packed week of new games released on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

Super Mario’s 35th Anniversary hasn’t been quite as celebratory as the Nintendo might have hoped. Much of the criticism has been directed at Super Mario 3D All-Stars, but the three-game collection has still sold like hotcakes and is an excellent – albeit bonus light – package.

Next up is Super Mario Bros. 35, a new battle-royale twist on the 1985 platforming classic. If it can match the pleasures of Tetris 99, we’re in for a treat. The game is free to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, but only until March next year.

Also coming to Nintendo Switch this week is cult classic action RPG, Ys Origin. Nihon Falcom’s 2006 adventure is the ultimate dungeon crawl and blends a galloping story with excellent combat mechanics. As the game’s PS Vita release proved, its structure makes it the perfect handheld experience.

Of the 30-plus other titles release on the eShop, we recommend taking a look at MindSeize, the ambitious Metroidvania from Kamina Dimension, and Orangeblood, a frenetic hot mess of an RPG from Grayfax Software.

Here’s the full lineup of confirmed new Nintendo Switch releases. We’ll keep this post updated throughout the week with any late additions.

New Nintendo Switch releases: Sept 28-Oct 3, 2020

Monday, September 28, 2020

• Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

• Alwa’s Legacy
• Bacon Man: An Adventure
• Projection: First Light
• Re:Turn – One Way Trip
• Umihara Kawase BaZooKa!

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

• Detective Case and Clown Bot in: Murder in The Hotel Lisbon
• Mindseize
• Murder in The Hotel Lisbon

Thursday, October 1, 2020

• Candy Raid: The Factory
• Electronic Super Joy 2
• Farm Builder
• Filament
• Hot Shot Burn
• The Last Days
• Liege Dragon
• Little Big Workshop
• Macbat 64
• Nubarron: The adventure of an unlucky gnome
• Orangeblood
• Powertris
• Shmubedi Boo
• Smoots World Cup Tennis
• Super Mario Bros. 35 [Switch Online]
• Warsaw
• Ys Origin

Friday, October 2, 2020

• 103
• Birthday of Midnight
• Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan
• Logic Puzzle Collection: Sudoku – Permudoku – Nonodoku
• Let’s Sing presents Queen
• Make a Killing

Saturday, October 3, 2020

• Quell

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More Nintendo from Thumbsticks

For more Nintendo content, read about the new Final Fantasy eShop sale, the incoming Switch port of Doom Eternal, and our review of RPG Maker MV. You can also bookmark the Thumbsticks new releases page and follow us on Google News, Twitter, and Flipboard.

You’ll find big discounts on classic Final Fantasy games – including 7 through 10 – in a sale on the Nintendo Switch.

The Nintendo Switch does feature new games – every week! Bookmark our new releases page to stay up to date on that front – but it’s the console’s credibility as a retro machine that gets people excited.

Everything is getting ported to Nintendo Switch. Everything. Even PC games at both ends of the joke – Doom at the low-end, to Crysis at the high – are getting a run-out on Nintendo’s little handheld that could.

It’s a combination of that lovely form factor and the ease of portability, with a little help from a lovely 720p screen, that makes the Switch feel so good as a remaster-wielding retro machine. (And of course, Nintendo’s stellar back catalogue, from a raft of NES and SNES games with Nintendo Switch Online to the recently-released Super Mario 3D All-Stars.)

At the top of my list of things I wanted to see on the Nintendo Switch was “every Final Fantasy game ever, please,” and, sure enough, Square Enix and Nintendo are obliging. But they’re rarely cheap. You’d think for all the times I’ve bought and re-bought Final Fantasy VI, VII or IX over the years, I might get some sort of loyalty discount. Maybe a Final Fantasy equivalent of Nectar points? But no. They cost quite a lot, even if Square’s ports aren’t always that hot.

Which is why a Square Enix sale on the Nintendo eShop – featuring a bunch of Final Fantasy games, but also, more! – at discounted prices is so exciting. There’s up to 50% off, as well, which is a cracking discount.

Here’s everything included in the Square Enix Nintendo Switch publisher sale.

Square Enix Nintendo Switch publisher sale

• Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
• Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD
• Final Fantasy Explorers (Nintendo 3DS)
• I Am Setsuna
• Lost Sphear
• Oninaki
• Romancing SaGa 2
• SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions
• Spelunker Party!
• Star Ocean: First Departure R
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call (Nintendo 3DS)
• World of Final Fantasy Maxima

The picks of the litter are obviously the mainline Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy VII is obviously brilliant; the remaster of Final Fantasy VIII is splendid; Final Fantasy IX is secretly the best one; Final Fantasy X/X-2 is another excellent remaster; Final Fantasy XII isn’t great (but the Zodiac Age remaster makes it much more bearable); and Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition is… also on sale. There’s a reason the Final Fantasy VII Remake is so great, and it’s because it steals its best ideas from these earlier iterations.

The recent remake of Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon – subtitled EVERY BUDDY!, their emphasis, not ours – is also well worth checking out, even if it is a bit of a peculiar curio. Romancing SaGa 2 is also well worth checking out, while I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear are modern-developed indie games published by Square Enix.

These deals are only available until September 30, so you’d better get on that.

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