It has been a little more than a year since the release of Nier: Automata, one of last year's greatest games--we awarded it the #10 spot in our Best Games Of 2017 list. It's also part of the recent resurgence of Japanese games, and having sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, it represents the largest success for eccentric series creator Yoko Taro. This collaboration between Yoko-san and developer Platinum Games performed so well that it exceeded expectations of publisher Square Enix and captured a newfound interest in a series that was once relegated to cult classic status at best.
In celebration of Nier: Automata, the creative minds behind the game--Yoko Taro (director) and Takahisa Taura (designer, Platinum Games)--visited the GameSpot office during the 2018 Game Developers' Conference. In the video above, Yoko-san and Taura-san joined us to look back at the game as we played through the early Amusement Park chapter that leads into Pascal's Village with plenty of revealing commentary.
How does Yoko-san define player freedom? Did Taura-san have trouble designing a combat system that switches between third-person, side-scrolling, and top-down views? How did they incorporate story elements that only made sense after plot twists that happened later in the game? What's their favorite fishing game of all time? Kick back and watch our let's play with Nier: Automata's creators!
If you haven't played this great action-RPG yet, be sure to check out our Nier: Automata review or read why we considered it one of the best games of 2017. The game also has a wacky DLC where you get to fight the Square Enix CEO; take a look at what a true "boss" battle looks like. Yoko-san shared what his favorite PlayStation 4 games earlier last year, so be sure to check that out.
