Drakengard spin-off
NieR was released as two separate versions:
NeiR Gestalt, where the protagonist is Yonah’s father, and
NieR Replicant, with a much younger protagonist being Yonah’s brother. Aside from the character model, relationship to Yonah and minor dialogue differences, the two games are essentially the same. The player is free to name the protagonist whatever they want, but for the review he shall be called Nier.
NieR Gestalt was released outside of Japan as
NieR to lukewarm critical reception, but developed a decent-sized cult following. After the huge success of
NieR Automata interest in the original title increased and for the first time ever