Category Archives: Platinum Games

Countdown to NieR:Automata – 12 Days

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I was really busy yesterday at Tokaigi and exhausted from being my usual socially awkward self (lol), so I wasn’t able to comment on the new illustrations that are coming out of the official NieR:Automata Twitter among other places. I thought this was a good chance to start covering this since I did something similar leading up to the release of Drag-on Dragoon 3 when it came out here in Japan. So, let’s start the countdown!!

12…

▲ This illustration is by Platinum Games character modeler, Funahashi Eiji (舟橋英志).

  • He has been working on character modeling artist at Platinum Games for about 8 years since 2009.
  • He has participated in special seminars at various locations such as the Osaka Information And Computer Science College (OIC).
  • He worked on titles such as Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101.

Sources: NieR Official Twitter | Funahashi’s Twitter | PG Inside | Game Business | OIC

Famitsu Issue No.1468

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Yesterday in the new issue of Famitsu magazine, we were treated to 6 new pages of NieR:Automata goodness introducing the Amusement Park area with their clownish Bio-machines and the Submerged City.

Below are my own [bad] scans of the pages. I also included some other images that I got from the Famitsu App. I edited and cleaned them up more, so those few images ought to look the nicest.

Could the ruins of a dreamland be but a nightmare awaiting 2B!?

 

We’re down to about a month left before the release of NieR:Automata. This time, we take a closer look at two locations that have not yet been announced: the Amusement Park Ruins and the Submerged City. We’ll also take another look at the mounts in the field and areas near water where you can fish!

NieR:Automata meets amazarashi Collaboration Project

The joint collaboration between NieR:Automata and the rock band amazarashi was just announced during the 2nd Live Broadcast. The first edition release of their new single “Inch ni Fusawashii” comes with an original picture book directed by Yoko Taro. There will also be a cool music video to show off more of Automata’s world view.

A dreamland that people once enjoyed. There is a special community of Bio-machines in this area, many of which are dressed in flamboyant costumes.

 

Amusement Park Ruins

Clown-type Bio-machines appear. Perhaps they’ll give 2B a warm welcome?

Production Notes:
I’m the sound designer, Shindo. I work on the sound effects and everything besides the BGM, stuff like “pew-pew” and “booom” and “uh-huh”. I’m from Kansai, so I always explain stuff with sounds.

The sound effects are subtle and don’t stand out all that much, but I made a ton of them! Even after a deadline had passed, I kept getting requests for more SFX from the game designer: this happened at least 30 times! They’d always come with a note that said, “By Order of Yoko, the Director~~” But I’m losing so much sleep, my skin’s going to be a mess…… That’s about when Yoko brought in his favorite donuts. They taste way better than eating them at the normal time. He, on the other hand, had seconds… Yoko, you’re so unfair…… —Platinum Games Lead Sound Designer, Shindo Masato

The Submerged City

This is a large city devastated by an all-out war that left it submerged by rising sea level. All that’s left are skyscrapers peeking out of the water, a remainder of the world’s past splendor.

2B attacks a Bio-machine in the Submerged City with her bare hands. This type of attack has its own visual effects. Although this attack is rather fast since no weapon is necessary, it hardly packs any significant punch.

Wild Animals

 

You can ride on a large moose! You can’t drift, but they have an amazing ability to jump!

You can bash into enemies while on the boar or even fire simultaneously with Pod.

Just like in the previous game, you can drift on the boar, an irreplaceable aspect of “NieR”.

Production Notes:
I’m in charge of the BGM and the implementation of environment sounds. The BGM seamlessly switches as you progress through the game, but “how long should it continue” or “what about in this situation?” I have to be sure of all of this. Then based on the instructions from Mr. Director Yoko, I can keep working, filling in the gaps in the crossroads. This is often the most difficult thing to work out, but it can also be fun. In the end I feel like “Man, this ain’t gonna work (seriously)” and then the desperation hits, but I suppose everything worked out well anyway! I just hope he isn’t hiding any additional areas from me… Well, maybe it’ll be alright! —Platinum Games Implementation, Ueda Masami

  • This issue of Famitsu also corrected a mistake printed in an earlier issue stating the voice actress for Anemone. It was originally printed as Kanou Chiaki, however this is incorrect. The same actress who plays Operator 21O, Hatsumi Meari, will voice Anemone.

Fishing

Anywhere there’s water, you can toss Pod in to have fun fishing. You can catch fish, Bio-machine type of fish, and a bunch of other interesting things. Just what exactly can the the stuff you catch be used for……!?

Create your own musical arrangements at the jukebox!

There is a handy little jukebox within the Resistance Camp where you can play some tunes from the Automata soundtrack. You can even change the lyrics, turn on or off the vocals and chorus among other things to make your own arrangements. Look forward to creating your own soundtrack just the way you like it for a little change in atmosphere.

Just like any other program, you mix around the rhythm and vocal tracks in the game to create your own musical settings here at the funky jukebox!

Regarding the Submerged or Sunken City, we first got a glimpse of this area at the NieR Music Concert & Talk Live back in April of last year. They had a really nice display of design images, concept art, and more at the show, including these shots of the Submerged City:

Lastly, I wanted to mention something about that red-headed character that seems to be hanging around the jukebox.

Is it just me, or does she appear to be a YoRHa android with a typical visor obscuring her eyes? I couldn’t help be feel excited to see this because…

This was my YoRHa cosplay from Halloween 2014 as the Destroyer Type “YoRHa No34”. I doubt this character in Automata is anyone important, but… now I feel like I should make a new cosplay for her, too. xD

Edit: According to the new updates by Famitsu, this particular NPC does in fact appear to be a YoRHa Android like I had suspected.

Square Enix Presents 2nd Live Broadcast – Recap

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Here’s a recap of the Square Enix Presents 2nd Live Broadcast featuring NieR:Automata. I’m mostly going to translate some of the funny banter that they had throughout the broadcast, but I’ll also try to cover some of the new material that we learned about the game in this broadcast. You can view the broadcast in its entirety below!

Now, there’s not too much meat to this post as much as there is translations for the fun and interesting bits that the guys said during the broadcast, so this will be pretty bare bones. First of all, let’s introduce the MCs for this broadcast!

             ▲ Saito Yosuke                                                  ▲ Taura Takahisa


▲ Yoko Taro ー “People kept telling me that you can’t hear me when I’ve got the mask on, so I’ve decided to stop wearing it for all eternity.”

             
▲ Isobe Keiko                                                   ▲ Negishi Isao

Yoko: I haven’t cleared the Very Hard mode yet, either. It’s impossible.


▲ Yoko: If I remember right, Operator 6O is the one on the bottom right of this image.

Saito: It’s a rule for these androids to not express emotion, but Operator 6O is a relatively emotional character.

Isobe: I thought I had many lines that sounded pretty human in terms of emotion.

Taura: The section of the game that I worked on included a lot of her lines (Operator 6O), so from the beginning of the day as I worked and listened to those lines, I thought, “Alright! I can do this!”

Saito: What lines were they, for example?

Yoko: “I will destroy you!”

Isobe: I never said that!

Taura: Whoever would get off listening to that is a freak.

Saito: So, what was the actual line?

Taura: It was a line where she says, “Hang in there!” Just the nuance or intonation of that line felt really good to me.

Yoko: Okay, I’ll be sure to delete those lines, then. I’ll change it to something like, “I’ll fucking kill you!”

Saito: Everybody keeps saying “Pants! Pants! They’re PANTS!!” But they’re not.

Taura: It’s a leotard…

Saito: But who really cares if they were pants? It’s alright.

Taura: No, it’s a leotard…

Isobe: Wow, it’s like… You [Taura] really know how to play!

Saito: Of course.

Yoko: I’d be really surprised if he didn’t…

Taura: Okay, I’m going to take out some of these enemies.

Isobe (in Operator 6O’s voice): “Taura, hang in there!”

Taura: Stop that! Stop it! I’m going to die…!

Yoko (in a deep voice): “Taura, I will make you wish you had never been born!”

Taura: Okay, now I’m back to normal…

Yoko: I’ve seen it here and there on YouTube, but some people have made it to some weird location that I’ve never seen by dashing and jumping and stuff.

Saito: It’s really something.

Yoko: Who at PG was responsible for that?

Taura: That was me.

Saito: That’s different from the script that I’ve got here… It was you? You made that blunder?

Taura: Well, not me exactly. There was another guy who did it. And we’ve called him in today: Platinum Games, game designer, Negishi.

Negishi: Hello, everyone, I’m Negishi. I just stopped by after working out a couple bugs.

■ Sub Quests

Saito: We’re progressing a little fast here, so you can totally go through this part slowly.

Yoko (talks slowly): Sssssssssuuuuuuuuuubbbbbbbb Qqqqqqquuuuuueeeessssssttttttttt.


▲The above conversation with Anemone, who is a returning character from the YoRHa stage play, is HUGE in giving us more information to prove who A2 really is. You can view my speculation on that here. But beware of potential spoilers!!

???:  You people…… No2……

9S:  Huh? Do you know 2B?

???:  ……No, I got word from the Bunker. My name is Anemone. This area is a safe haven for those in the Android Resistance. I’ve heard everything from the Bunker. It seems as though you are in charge of investigating this area. I’m sure there are others around with more knowledge than me. You don’t need my permission to come through here, so ask whomever you like.

Weapon Shop: Ah…… You’re the YoRHa Squad, huh? I’ve heard about you. I collect weapons. What would you like to sell? I also like to tinker with old weapons and make them shiny and new. Just right now, some of my tools are broken. If this one tool in my tool box could be fixed, I’d be able to open my shop to you guys, but……

Look in the tool box…

9S: Yeah…… This is pretty well broken.

Weapon Shop: I know, right? As you can probably tell, I’m not great at fixing complex devices like this.

　Help.
→Ignore.

Weapon Shop: Hmm… If I can’t fix this device, there’s no way I can stay in business.

→Help.
Ignore.

Weapon Shop: Wha-what…… Are you serious? Man, that’d really help me out!

9S: It looks like a mechanism inside the devise has shorted out. We’ll just need to scavenge four “Complex Robotics” to fix it. Is there a place around here where we can find the necessary parts?

Weapon Shop: Yeah…… I think I’ve often seen them around the inner area of the Factory Ruins, but there are all sorts of crazy machines running around in there…… It’s dangerous in there, so you can’t get very close.

■ Sub Quest Status
Sub Quests have been updated.
For more information, access the Quest tab from the System Menu.

＊ “Weapon Shop’s Request” has been updated.

▲ Weapon Shop’s Request

The Weapon Shop in the Resistance Camp is having a rough time since their maintenance device is broken. If they could gather the necessary parts to fix it from the inner area of the Factory Ruins, it could be fixed, but… Due to an infestation of dangerous Bio-machines in that area, no one can go near it.

Gather the following items in the inner area of the Factory Ruins for the Weapon Shop:
― Complex Robotics:  0/4

             
▲ These screens show you where to go to complete your quest.

▲ 9S: This area is overrun by vegetation now, but at one time this used to be a sprawling city, huh? This is the area the Weapon Shop told us to check out, but… I’m only registering Bio-machines here. In fact, it looks like they’re preparing to attack.

               
▲ 9S: That’s all of them. Let’s get these back to the Weapon Shop.

― Deliver the gathered items to the Weapon Shop.

9S: ……Great, you can fix your tools with this, right?

Weapon Shop: Oh! Thank you! I can finally open shop with this!

9S: That’s great to hear. We look forward to it.

Weapon Shop: Leave it up to me! I will make the best weapons to protect my friends! But, you know…… I get to thinking sometimes.

■ The Cypress Stick from Dragon Quest!

             
▲ With the Cypress Stick equipped, it will change the design of all the treasure chests to resemble those in Dragon Quest. This color scheme may be handy to help you spot hidden treasure chests in hard-to-see areas, too!

Negishi: Why is it that when you equip the Cypress Stick that the treasure boxes change?

All: ……

Saito: It has a mysterious power.

Yoko: Did you make 2B kick the treasure chests open them because that’s what you like?

Taura: …not exactly.

Saito: It’s just the particular movement.

Taura: It’s nothing that strange, so…

Yoko: It seems like she’s a little on the violent side.

■ The Engine Blade from Final Fantasy XV!

■ The NieR Novel Included in the Japanese Black Box Edition

The Boy’s Chapter ー Page 36

The first time he was called to work at the Seafront was about half a year ago. He helped deliver urgent letters, tulip bulbs to the flower shop, and buy natural rubber for the material shop.

With the thought of leaving Yonah alone at home weighing heavily on his mind, he quickly slipped passed a large Shade visible in the distance. The first time he set eyes upon the ocean he thought it was such a beautiful sight, but he was utterly dumbfounded how the entire town reeked of fish so putrid. Just by walking around for a short while, his hair and skin grew sticky from the fishy air that it often made him feel ill. It was the girl at the flower shop that told him this was because of the salty sea breeze.

After purchasing the bulbs and materials he was asked to fetch, he set upon a large house that spanned an entire city block. The path leading there was always packed with pedestrians, making it difficult to reach the house itself. Finally succeeding in the task he set out to do―to deliver the letter―he hardly had the energy left to find his way back.

Maybe it was due to the time of day, or maybe it was the people who lived in that area who didn’t particularly care to have discussions with strangers walking through town, but he felt like he couldn’t even ask for directions. He was so completely lost, with no inclination on how to get anywhere, that he didn’t even know what to do. With fatigue setting in, he decided to rest near the front gate of a nearby house.

“Hey, what are you doing over there?”

Entirely startled by the voice, Nier jumped to his feet and moved slightly away from the front gate.

“You’re not from around here, are you? Are you lost?”

 

▲ As it turns out, a portion after the segment that I translated above had to be cut from the novel due to…reasons. If you have read the novella “The Red and the Black” you will know that brother Nier was selling his body to someone in Seafront in order to get money to care for Yonah. It is highly probable that this is what the publisher wanted to remove from the novel.

■ New NieR Merchandise!


▲ Presenting the new Emil head pillow! It’s apparently really soft and squishy! The actual design may change a little for the final product.

Yoko: This is a great item for your to throw when you’re pissed off girls in order to feel better.

Taura (to Negishi who’s apparently doing something on his phone): What do you think you’re doing on your cell phone at a time like this? We’re live, you know?

Negishi: Yeah, you’re right… But have a look at this!

 

How to obtain Plug-in Chips
● Buy them at shops
● Find them in treasure chests
● Defeat enemies that drop them
● Complete certain Quests

Create Plug-in Chip
● You can create chips that will be given a random cost value. You can have fun trying to create your own chips for the perfect total cost value.

Miscellaneous Info
● There are lots of hidden items and areas all around. You may discover some stronger enemies in these areas.
● There’s a Plug-in Chip to automatically pick up items on the field when you walk near them.
● When you leave and come back to an area, enemies will respawn.

Sources:
● All translations were the product of Fire Sanctuary.
● Photos were taken from the live broadcast on YouTube.