Eccentric video game director Yoko Taro of Nier  and Drakengard  fame, opened up about his career, his time spent at Platinum Games and the future, in a talk with media outlet, GameInformer.

Yoko Taro In Essence

The interview opens with an inquiry into Taro’s decision to start a career in the video game industry. With the director responding that “as a child, [he] knew that computer graphics would continue to evolve, so the reason [he] decided to get into the gaming industry was because [he] was certain that games would surpass films and overshadow all other video mediums.”  Which is an experience that all stemmed from his time at his local arcades with the old-school shooter, Gradius.

the title that made me want to make games myself was Gradius. I still remember how shocking it was to see a game where the stages “change” at a time when repetitive stages were popular.

And interestingly, that arcade experience was a frightening one as during his time as a child “video games were considered to be something that delinquents played.”  and “being an otaku, felt terrified while [he] played games.”

They then spoke about the shuttering of its original studio, Cavia in 2010 and the resurrection of the Nier  franchise that followed years later, resulting in Automata.  Which seems to have happened casually leaving Taro slightly perplexed by saying: “I’m still not sure how that happened.“

After we released Drakengard 3, I think everyone was well sick of all the games I made by then, and I really didn’t really want to work anymore. I was thinking I’d probably just go and hide in the mountains and live out the rest of my life as a hermit or something. It just so happens at that time Mr. Yosuke Saito, [who] was obviously a bit tired after his work on Dragon Quest and was not thinking straight, decided to give me another chance with something like Nier. That’s how you saw a new Nier

The interview also touched on how Nier: Automata  was a factor in saving Platinum Games after their years of setbacks with previous titles. With Taro commenting and praising the studio’s passion and skill that helped pull themselves out with the given opportunity. Below is an excerpt.

What I think of Platinum [is that] they are a very talented, very unique kind of studio in their own way. There’s a lot of really passionate, really skilled young staff directors. And obviously, they go off the line, they give their opinion about what they want to do and how they view games to the top, and then it’s those guys at the top who manage that. It’s a great company. It’s quite a rare thing to see something managed [as a] kind of bottom-up company.

The other part of your question there about Mr. Kamiya’s announcement that Nier: Automata saved Platinum, I think in part, that’s just him being nice to us and talking us up. I think we’ve got a lot to thank them for as well — certainly all the young development staff I talked about. It really was a great opportunity for them to show what they’ve got and it brought them up two or three levels higher. And as a whole, I think that’s something [the whole Nier team], myself included, really have to thank them for. I think they did a really brilliant job on that.

Since Nier: Automata‘s  creation and success banked on the two entities, the obvious questions of a future collaboration was brought up. And the director provided an optimistic answer stating that after “discuss[ing] a lot with the young staff on the Platinum team”, ” it would be really great to work with them again in the future.”  And as in a previous interview, Taro states that “if Square-Enix provides the money, [he’ll] always make anything they ask for.”

NieR: Automata  is currently available on PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam.

The team behind NieR: Automata  is currently busy working on their new project and its director Yoko Taro, is open about creating a Final Fantasy  game.

Apart from making leaps in sales, NieR: Automata  is doing exceedingly well, grabbing an “Award for Excellence” at the Japan Game Awards during TGS 2017 and being nominated for more at the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards.

Visit the NieR: Automata Wiki and the complete NieR: Automata Trophy Guide

You can check out our review on NieR: Automata to see what you’re missing out on.

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