E3 2015: NieR New Project

Hello, everyone. This is Yosuke Saito, the producer of NieR New Project.

Looking back, it was five years ago that NieR was released worldwide. Prior to releasing the game, I never imagined it would become a title that would be loved for such a long time. I remember creating the game thinking, "it would be nice if it becomes a title that remains in people's hearts."

Of course, many people reading this blog may not have played NieR to this day, or may have played it, but felt it "wasn't for them." I think this title is just that edgy.

In any case, when we finished developing and releasing the game, we started to see numerous points we needed to reflect on. I don't think this is limited to NieR, but… based on our reflections on the past game, we started developing this title with the following points in mind:

• Some aspects of the character design were not good (the depiction of the male protagonist was ordinary and lacked originality)- Many who purchased the game didn't like the design of "NieR Gestalt" and desired that of "NieR Replicant" As all of you know, Akihiko Yoshida is on board for creating and supervising the character designs. It's turning out quite well, including the characters we have yet to announce.
• Low graphical quality, such as gameplay not being smooth and horizontal lines appearing on the screen- There were areas in the gameplay where the level of refinement and finish was not complete-  Gameplay was repetitive and felt monotonous Just like the previous game, Yoko Taro will be directing the game alongside the development team that consists of NieR fans at PlatinumGames Inc. We've created a structure in which we can confidently say that the quality of the game will be excellent.  
• We were too conscious about creating a game for the West This time, rather than becoming too conscious about releasing the game worldwide, we are developing the game with the goal of creating a "high quality J/ARPG!" 

Of course, it doesn't do us much good if we focus solely on pointing out the areas that needed improvement, so we'd like to shed light on some of the points that were well-received last time.

• The quality, tone, and depth of the story and scenario- A non-linear story with multiple endings- A mature universe that makes players think

I'm going to repeat this, but Yoko will be directing and writing the scenario for this title, as he did for the previous game, so I believe we will be able to deliver a world that everyone will fully enjoy. This is one of the aspects we'd like people to look forward to the most.

•   Soundtrack – the best of the games that were released on that generation's hardware Same as Yoko, carrying over his role from the last game, Keiichi Okabe will be composing the music for this title, and new melodies will once again be born in the world of NieR. This is another point we'd love for people to look forward to. (The concerts in Japan have been extremely well-received,so it would be nice to do a concert in North America as well…)

And now, I'd like to ask our director, Yoko Taro, for a couple of words!

Hello, this is Yoko. For the upcoming NieR, we have PlatinumGames developing the game, Akihiko Yoshida creating the character designs, and continue to have Keiichi Okabe comprising the music, so we have nothing to worry about with a fabulous line-up that would make anyone faint. But I think everyone will need to be forewarned because, I, Yoko, will be taking on the most essential role as director. I hope nothing goes wrong... I'm very worried. Alright then.

Yoko speaks that way because he's very modest, but the best part of NieR is none other than the all-out "world of Yoko Taro" so we hope everyone longingly awaits and looks forward to the next announcements to be made around next fall!

Alright, let's meet again soon! Please look forward to things to come!

Saito

P.S.

Oh yes. We'll need to lock-in the official title...