Having played Automata and not even having known about the existence of the old NieR Geschtalt/RepliCant until this game's release, I had relatively high expectations for this game and, though I wasn't expecting a game at Automata's level, said expectations were absolutely crushed by this game. Replicant ver.1.2247...whateverthehell has great music, art and graphics, fluid gameplay paired with satisfying combat and the game itself, together with Automata, both NieR games as a whole are what I would call the absolute peak of video game storytelling. The characters, worldbuilding, plot, plot twists, atmosphere, dialogue, voice acting and even some of the side stories are superb, only empowered by all the aforementioned points as well as the most important aspect, which makes NieR stand out from the crowd as a story driven game, the presentation.
They say that a bad joke told well will still get more laughs than a good joke told poorly. Well, the same is true for storytelling, however in this case it would be a great joke told exceptionally. NieR does not hesitate to use both show-don't-tell and simple white text on a black screen. It is as dynamic in its storytelling as it is in its camera angles and ways of controlling the character (, which are used almost to an extreme in Automata). In this way this game uses all the advantages there are to being a modern 3D video game just for strengthening it's storytelling by presenting its material in many different ways appropriate to the story's current plot point and mood with the aforementioned camera angles being part of this presentational diversity, though it's not all they are used for. Entering a building looking in from a side view allows you to see the whole room at once without having to look around is an advantage of 2D games, which Replicant, a 3D game, has and uses not only for the purpose of making the game more interesting to play but to allow the player to see things which they would otherwise miss, as well as to see the game from the best perspective possible in certain scenarios. Having the game take control of the otherwise player operated camera from time to time is a useful tool for game developers for many more reasons than the ones listed here, but NieR seems to be one of few games to make heavy use of it, when you look at modern games. The more dynamic cameras became a possibility in video games (especially 3D ones), the more they moved away from using static cameras, which nevertheless kept their advantages and the creators of NieR realized this and not just Replicant. NieR:Automata uses this in practically every little nook and cranny of the game and the open-world where it's applicable and it just works.
For me things like this give the Nier games their identity: unique ideas blended with literally godlike storytelling, solid gameplay, breathtaking visuals and a beautiful score as the cherry on the cake. I have still got 3 endings to go as of right now, but I can say with relative certainty that if my opinion changes, it will only get better and even though Automata is better in just about every regard I advise you, reader, that if you've gotten this far, you don't turn a blind eye to "NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139...", because you WILL absolutely, most certainly, without a shred of doubt regret it, if you do.

Edit (after ending E):
I must say, this game blew me out of the water. The final three endings were absolutely beautiful and made me appreciate this game as well as it's forefathers even more. The sheer amount of depth that the NieR games have in their writing is astonishing to me, as no matter how deep and intricate the story already is, the writers just seem to find some crack to slip through and make the game world even richer without having to rely on any sort of cheap, plot-twist filled lazy storytelling. This exactly is what endings C, D and E accomplish and it's stupid great! The relatively (and I do mean RELATIVELY compared to the other endings) bland ending A gets fleshed out more and more, the farther you go, and by the time you've arrived a the end of your journey it feels like you were the one who filled the gaps and completed the incomplete story, which, without getting into any spoilers, is an absolute roller coaster. The endings develop from basic to in-depth to sad to happy and I can hardly believe that ending E wasn't part of the original. It concludes the plot in a way that I haven't seen in any other game and in a way that fits perfectly into the story. Moreover, similarly to the rest of the game, it is a piece of storytelling which would have been impossible using any other medium, be that films, books, animations, visual novels, or anything else. NieR is an experience that is and should be exclusive to video games and I will stand by that no matter what.
Overall, having experienced the rest of the game has pushed my rating of it up by a whole 0.3 points and that is not being generous! Nier Replicant ver.1.22... is a must-buy, damn near masterpiece, worth the price it has. Thank you to the developers for making it...

9.4/10