The games in the NieR series are known for having multiple convoluted endings, and the remaster of NieR Replicant is no different. While it features the four endings that were present in the original version of the game, there is actually now a fifth ending called Ending E. This ending was actually originally featured in a book published exclusively in Japan that was based on the game, but until now it has never actually been included in the game itself.
Ending E is pretty fascinating actually in that it starts a chain of events that lead to NieR Automata, but also the player will take control of Kaine rather than NieR during this ending. In order to see the final cutscene of the game though players will first need to defeat the final boss of NieR Replicant: Hook. This enemy has returned once again to be a nuisance, so this is how players defeat Hook at the Memory Server.
NieR Replicant: How to Beat Hook in Memory Server
This becomes the third time that players will face off against Hook, but this time the being is stronger than ever and has picked up a few new attacks. Players will need to remember as well that since they are playing as Kaine they will not have access to any of NieR's magical abilities, so they must attack Hook using physical abilities only. Luckily for the player though, Kaine is much faster and more nimble than NieR and her attacks are actually very strong against the Shades that she encounters. Here are all of the attacks that Hook will have access to:
- Charge: The boss will rush forward towards the player to deal damage upon contact.
- Stomp: Hook will lift its leg up in the air and slam it down to create a shockwave that can deal damage.
- Summon Shadows: Humanoid shapes will be summoned on the battlefield that can launch projectiles at the player.
- Summon Shades: Hook can also summon different Shades that will dot the battlefield and cause damage if the player runs into them.
- Teleport: Hook can now teleport at will and reappear wherever it wants in the area.
Since Hook has picked up a couple of new abilities, players will want to be pretty cautious when fighting the boss. The teleporting ability for one is extremely annoying as the player can easily lose track of where the boss is located. Once it teleports players will want to quickly look around the area to find Hook again so that they can lock back on. The Charge attack as well can deal a huge amount of damage to the player if they aren't paying attention, so a good idea is to dodge left or right when this attack is being used. If Hook tries to use the Stomp ability all the player has to do is jump in the air to get over the shockwave and they won't take any damage. After Hook uses any of these three abilities the player will have a few moments to rush in and deal damage to the boss' legs and start whittling away at its health bar.
Eventually, Hook will start summoning both Shadows and Shades that the player will need to take care of as well. Both of these can be attacked to eliminate them, but players will also need to worry about dodging or jumping over the Shadows' projectiles. Avoid these wherever possible and keep on looking out for Hook's other attacks. From here they can continue damaging the legs until Hook fires a laser from its tail to "kill" Kaine. Luckily, this is actually a scripted game over that triggers a short cutscene. Once over the player will have to fight Hook again, but this time the boss has picked up a couple more new abilities again:
- Multi-Stomp: Hook will now slam several legs on the ground consecutively in order to create several shockwaves to damage the player.
- Projectiles: Hook will teleport away and then launch a huge number of projectiles right at the player. This is difficult to avoid.
When Hook uses the Multi-Stomp ability the player can once again just jump right over it, but they will need to time it differently due to the multiple shockwaves. the Projectiles attack though can cause a lot of trouble. The player can jump over them or run away, but it is fairly likely that they will be hit. One of the best ways to avoid taking damage from this attack is to attack the projectiles as they come towards the player to destroy. From here the player will just need to continue hitting Hook until the boss goes down for good.
NieR Replicant can be played on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.