Yoko Taro is a Japanese creator best known for his NieR series, which consists of the original NieR, NieR: Replicant, and NieR: Automata. However, long before that series, the Japanese developer worked on the Drakengard series (called Drag-on Dragoon in Japan). The first Drakengard was released in 2003 for the PS2 and was quite a strange game, to put it mildly. There wasn't much fun to be had there, most elements of the game were subordinated to the narrative (which is often the case with him), but many fanatics (including myself) found plenty to love there.
As reported by Denfaminicogamer, Yoko Taro was asked whether he had any plans to make a new game, to which he replied with “nothing really,” and confessed that “I’m done with working. I don’t want to do it anymore.” A bit later, he looked back on Drakengard and said: “With Drakengard, the first game I was given the opportunity to direct, I was actually able to do almost everything the way I wanted.”
“As a game otaku, I think the dream is to release something you’ve always wanted to create into the world. Having achieved that dream, I view everything after that as the remainder of my life,” he continued.
The most interesting part of the story is that Taro said he had recently thought about retirement, since he believes he has earned enough for the rest of his life. His decision was changed by the fear of developing dementia in old age, as he has already heard of such cases. That exact fear is turning into motivation for him to keep working and to overcome every difficult situation at work by telling himself that it is all to prevent dementia.
Another interesting part of the interview is related to AI and the future of the Japanese gaming industry, where he said: “I’m going to die soon, so I really don’t care what happens to Japan’s game industry. However, I think that recently AI and various technologies have created a breeding ground where creators in their teens and 20s, who are even younger than Mr. Okabe, can freely create things.”
“I’m 56 now, but when people my age were young, we only had two options if we wanted to make a game: either ‘join a game company’ or ‘make a niche game for PC.’ If you wanted to make a 3D game you had no choice but to join a game company.”
“I think this competition will gradually spread like fire from the younger generations to the older generations of developers,” he commented. “As I’m already on the older side, I’m simply filled with fear and trepidation, hoping that these flames don’t reach me before I die.”
The reason he previously motivated himself to make games wasn't jealousy; rather, as he says himself, he liked filling gaps in the industry. He said: “I don’t really get jealous of other games. When I come across something good, I end up viewing it from a fan’s perspective. This triggers my collector trait, and I just want to buy them all.”
“I’ve always worked in the games industry with the mindset of ‘filling in the gaps,’” he explained. “For example, I really like games like ICO and (Treasure’s bullet hell shooter) Ikaruga, but when I played them they were so perfect that I thought, ‘I don’t need to make games in these genres.’ That’s not jealousy, it’s the feeling of, ‘This gap has already been filled, so I need to fill a different one.’ I think the reason that my games are crude games full of terrible things is because the pioneers have already seized all the beautiful aspects.”
Yoko Taro previously stated that he is still working on projects, only they keep getting canceled, so apart from the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, for now we have no information on whether he is working on any single-player game.
Discussion(0)