For fans of the original NieR, we’ve got some bad news — farming is going to take a whole lot longer. In the early parts of NieR Replicant, you unlock a garden where you can grow a variety of crops. These crops grow in real-time, meaning they’ll continue to grow even when you’re not playing. Some crops can take hours or even days to grow fully.
To get around this, players for the original game on 360 / PS3 could change the system clock to speed things up. That no longer works in NieR Replcant (2021) as the game seems to use the PS4’s internal clock to determine cultivation rate. But, there’s still a trick we can use to get around those long growing time — you can use timezones to speed up growth by 12 or even 24 hours. It just takes a little prep time.
More NieR Replicant guides:
How To Access The New Story Content | All Endings Guide | All 30 Weapon Locations | Fishing For Gold & Upgrades | How To Ride Wild Boars
How To Grow Crops Faster
Crops in your garden grow according to the internal timer of the PS4. Changing the clock will not speed up growing — but manipulating time zones will allow you to save time.
By setting your Timezones, you can skip a full 24 hours. Start by setting your time zone to the earliest time possible, then plant the seeds you want in your garden. After planting, save your game then swap to the latest possible time zone.
- Step #1: Set your time to UTC-11:00 American Samoa.
- Step #2: Set your time to UTC+13:00 Independent State of Samoa.
By swapping these time zones before planting, you can skip a full 24 hour period and cultivate much faster. It’s the only way to cheat gardening in this version of the game — and you need to remember to set the time earlier (UTC-11:00) before planting. Otherwise, you’ll skip less time after swapping to the latest time (UTC+13:00). If you’re on standard American time (UTC-4:00) you’ll only gain about 17~ hours instead of the full 24.
Some plants STILL require more time to cultivate. Certain plants will only grow after 48 hours, so you’ll still need to wait another full day to check your planting. It’s completely absurd and unreasonable, but that’s the only way to do some of the annoying cultivation trophies / side-quests. At least this method will help save you a full day’s time.
