The second half of the track is where the arrangement becomes impressive, as it ramps up the energy with added percussion and jabbing strings that create a rhythmic profile completely different from the original. The other instruments dance around with various ornamentations and counterpoints, this time providing texture instead of harmonic complexity. The first half of the track is very lush and light with the melody largely handled by the strings. The album continues with “Hills of Radiant Winds,” the first arrangement on the album not to feature the choir at all. All of these elements together result in a sprawling track that feels like a journey, very different from the original but more than able to stand on its own. Since a choir cannot match the beautiful simplicity of Emi Evans’ original vocal, the arrangement instead uses the choir for power and texture. Solo instruments get time to shine before bringing in the wider orchestra and choir. The track first focuses on the orchestra, creating a lush soundscape with some new counterpoint that gives the track more harmonic color and sophistication over the original. The track is not molded from any of the original soundtrack versions and instead opts for a Romantic arrangement. The next track, “Song of the Ancients,” departs much more heavily from its source.

This coupled with some other minor changes (like different percussion) causes the track to lose some of its original otherworldliness, but is by no means made bad by this.

It also sounds more mature, utilizing a mixed adult chorus rather than the original children’s chorus. This serves to emphasize the difference that having a full orchestra and choir can make, as that the arrangement feels much more weighty than the original. The album starts with the original soundtrack opener, “Snow in Summer” and it essentially preserves the original arrangement and orchestration. The arrangements are often straightforward, but there are a few inventive arrangements and orchestrations that bring new life to the beloved score of NieR. Although the tracks that were chosen for this album all originally featured vocals, only half of them have a choir here. The album has separate arrangements for individual songs, rather than medleys or suites. It comes eight years after the release of the original soundtrack, released simultaneously with the orchestral arrangement album for the sequel game, NieR: Automata. NieR Gestalt and Replicant Orchestral Arrangement Album is the first fully orchestral arrangement album for the original NieR games. NieR Gestalt and Replicant Orchestral Arrangement Album

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