Ever since the immense success of NieR Automata, fans have been hungry for more content from Yoko Taro's dreary, complex universe. Not only is a remaster of 2010's NieR: Replicant releasing in April, but a mobile game within the NieR universe is also on the way, with NieR Reincarnation. However, despite soon launching in Japan on February 18th, English-speaking fans will still need to wait for their chance to play.

On Twitter, NieR Reincarnation director Daichi Matsukawa released a statement regarding the game's English localization. In this Tweet, he confirms that English localization is underway, including the recording of English voices for each character. Unfortunately, this process will not be complete by the time that the game launches in Japan next week, so English fans will need to wait a bit longer.

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Reincarnation is a free-to-play turn-based RPG that utilizes gacha elements to unlock new characters, similar to many recent mobile hits such as Genshin Impact. While this is a shift in genre from the previous two NieR games, much of the same talent is returning nonetheless; character designer Akihiko Yoshida and composer Keiichi Okabe are contributing to the project, and while Yoko Taro is not directly involved, he is still overseeing and assisting in the story.

This delay is completely understandable, especially considering the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on game development. A game like this is bound to have a lot of story and characters, leaving the localization team and voice actors with a tall order.

In some respects, a mobile gacha game is an odd direction for the NieR series. Unlike the expansive casts of games like Fire Emblem Heroes, NieR only has two previous titles under its belt, with relatively small casts in each of them. This mobile title seems to be focusing on its own unique cast instead, so hopefully this new take on the series will still resonate with fans once the English localization finally does arrive.

NieR: Reincarnation will release for mobile on February 18th in Japan and at a later date for the rest of the world.

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