 Nier ( romanized as NieR in the Japanese version ) is an action role @-@ playing video game developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix . It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Australia , Europe , Japan and North America in April 2010 . In Japan , the game was released as Nier Gestalt ( Japanese : ニーア ゲシュタルト , Hepburn : Nīa Geshutaruto ) for the Xbox 360 , while an alternate version entitled Nier Replicant ( Japanese : ニーア レプリカント , Hepburn : Nīa Repuricanto ) was released for PlayStation 3 with a younger main character . A version that combined elements from both releases was in development for PlayStation Vita , but was cancelled in March 2011 due to Dragon Quest X taking precedence . 
