Play Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 6 playedRelease order, which is also the recommended play order. The branch logic only makes sense in the order it was revealed.
Drakengard
- 1 Drakengard The fifth ending (Ending E) leads to NieR. PS2 original with no modern port.
- 2 Drakengard 2 Separate branch made without Yoko Taro. Optional.
- 4 Drakengard 3 Prequel set generations before Drakengard. PS3 only.
NieR
- 3 NieR Gestalt / NieR Replicant 2010 originals: Gestalt (father) in the west, Replicant (brother) in Japan. Play ver.1.22474487139 (2021) instead.
- 5 NieR:Automata Recommended entry point. The End of YoRHa Edition (2022) is the Switch port.
- 6 NieR Reincarnation Mobile sequel. Service ended April 29, 2024; no longer playable.
About NieR
NieR grew out of the darkest branch of Drakengard. The 2010 NieR (released as Gestalt on Xbox 360 with an older father, and as Replicant on PS3 in Japan with a teenage brother) follows the fifth ending of the 2003 Drakengard, in which a dragon and a giant fall into modern Tokyo and seed a plague. Drakengard 3 (2013) is a prequel set generations earlier, and Drakengard 2 (2005) sits on a separate branch made without Yoko Taro.
Release order is the recommended play order. Start with NieR:Automata (2017), the breakout entry, then go back to NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (2021) if the world hooks you. The Drakengard games are slow PS2-era action titles, worth it only for lore hunters. Reincarnation (2021), the mobile sequel, shut down in April 2024 and can no longer be played.
Good to know
Automata continues from NieR Ending D (extended by the Grimoire NieR novella material), not directly from Drakengard 3; some guides compress this chain, so the items above keep each game separate. ver.1.22474487139 adds new Ending E content pointing toward Automata. The Automata Ver1.1a anime (2023-2024) retells the game and sits outside the game order. Square Enix teased "NieR:Automata to be continued" in a Feb 2026 sales video, but no new game has been announced; a Mar 2026 "Cosmic Horror" teaser was an April Fools joke.
