NieR New Project (NieR: Automata)

I’ve been so busy, I have not had the time nor the energy to make an official post here about the recent news at E3 about a new NieR game. I’ve heard and seen people be very shocked at this news, but… I dunno. I sort of felt it coming for a while. Here are a couple things that made me wonder whether or not a new instalment in the series was coming:

Theatrhythm – Many songs from NieR appeared in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call.
Lord of Vermilion – The cards of Kaine and Emil/No7 were updated for LoV3.
YoRHa – Multiple songs from the NieR soundtrack were used in the YoRHa play.

I don’t really know whether or not these are clear indications pointing to a new NieR title, but the fact remains that NieR, although it’s been five years since its release, has been out there, reminding people that it exists.

So, anyway, about the latest news regarding the title from an article on Dengeki Online.

( Updates made on October 21, 2016 are displayed in red. )

The new game will take place into the future, after Ending D of NieR.
This has been confirmed. The YoRHa timeline is connected back to the original NieR Ending D and its continuation “Ending E” in the novella “The Lost World”.
Neither Gestalts nor Replicants will make an appearance.
It is unclear how humans have apparently survived at the time of Automata, but we know that the Gestalt Project *did* manage to succeed. Simply, in what shape or form did humanity manage to survive in is currently unknown.
Name drops of the previous NieR characters such as Nier, Yonah, and Kaine are likely, but that is all; however, Yoko Taro said that Emil will make an appearance. Likewise, Accord will also make an appearance in name only. He also said that a certain ******* character(s) will appear. Could this be Devola & Popola (DE-VO-LA-&-PO-PO-LA) or maybe even the Red Dragon (RE-D-DO DO-RA-GO-N)? The Dengeki Online interviewer seemed quite shocked by this news and wondered how it could be possible.
They were more than likely referring to Devola & Popola here since both of them have been confirmed to be returning in Automata. That being said, they are *not* the same androids from the original NieR, but rather “sister” androids, aka same model and designation.
Yoko Taro stated that those who never played the first NieR can play the new one without a problem; however, he went on to say that it might be more confusing for those who have played the first one. He fears that fans may not see or even accept this new game as a true sequel. The fans might even be pissed by it.
Yoko Taro thinks the game has a “happy ending” but this statement startles both the Square Enix producer Saito Yosuke and Platinum Games game designer Taura when he says it. Yoko Taro is notorious for claiming a particular ending is “happy” when the general consensus calls it more tragic and sad than anything else. Saito goes on to say that he can’t see how there could possibly be a happy ending from the scripts he read. Yoko Taro then repeats, “I said it will be a happy ending! You don’t have to look so suspicious!”
The Junk Heap will be revisited. It is unclear, however, if it will be the exact same location as in the first title.
It is unlikely that this is the same Junk Heap location as in the original NieR, however, there will probably be many similar locations.
The concept art seemly does *not* depict Shinjuku but possibly other famous locations around the globe.

ーThat’s a very curious term. Speaking of locations that will appear in the game, this concept art looks like a ruined Shinjuku…

Yoko: I see.

ーIs this not Shinjuku?

Yoko: That’s right. It is a city that had been destroyed, but it’s not Shinjuku. By the way, the story is connected to Ending D of “NieR” but I don’t know if there was a ruined Shinjuku during that time.

There appears to be a robot standing within the ruins of an old shopping mall. Besides this, there are many other shots of ruins including something that looks like the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and a huge, rundown amusement park.
The image depicting a large building deep within a forest is called the “Forest Castle”.
The Celestial writing at the end of the trailer reads literally “NINGIOU HITO KIKAI” but ought to be romanized as “NINGYOU HITO KIKAI”, which again literally translates to “DOLL HITO KIKAI”. However, given the usage of the word “ningyou” in the previous games, especially Zero calling Accord a “doll” from the Old World, we can also assume that this is meant to refer to the ANDROIDS.
An alternative reading of the Celestial writing in the teaser trailer translates instead to “ANGEL HUMAN ROBOT”. This is hugely curious why the word “ningyou” would be used to refer to the angels… But if you imagine them as mere tools used by the Utautai…and others later on…they only sought after for their power. They could be a very accurate metaphor for marionettes on strings, God’s playthings.
Reading the seraphic script as “angel” here is likely an incorrect interpretation.
Even those who are not very apt toward Action games will be able to complete this game because of the balance between the action and fun moments. Taura says this is the crux of the project.
There are many fans of the previous game who work at Platinum Games, so they will be sure to treat it with diligent care. Without getting into details, they feel this new game is very much like a “NieR” title. The feeling of the previous title is still intact while increasing the enjoyment of the action.
Since Yoko Taro is such a huge fan of the shooting genre, there will also be shooting segments in the game. Simply, there won’t be multiple genres shoved into a single game like the last one.
There will be a myriad of weapons with Weapon Stories.
There will be multiple playable characters that you can switch between. As far as the E3 announcement, it was stated that there will be 3 playable characters.
You cannot freely switch between the playable characters until you unlock them through multiple play-throughs. This seems like a call-back to the first Drakengard where more characters became playable after each ending.
The parameters for multiple play-throughs is different from previous games.
Action sequences will vary between characters even when they use the same weapon. Connecting combos will be quite fluid.
Besides the wild boar, there will be other types of vehicles as well.
This is probably referring to the YoRHa F15 mobile suits. They appeared in the YoRHa stage play and can finally be seen in newer photos and trailers. Of course, there could be other vehicles besides this as well.
CyDesignation offered to do the design of the game since the president was a huge fan of Nier, not to mention many female fans in the company as well.
Somewhere in the game, a rather disappointing but good-looking male character will make an appearance (this was the same way Cent was described in DOD3: “disappointing good-looking guy”).
Could they be referring to Adam & Eve here?
Emi Evans will be back to sing for the game!!
News that Emi would be back originated from this article but there was no definitive word about it until Producer Saito Yosuke mentioned it at the NieR Music Concert & Talk Live on April 16, 2016.
There were ideas of making the next NieR game for smartphones or the PS Vita…but they decided to take things seriously–to really do it right–and make a great game for the PS4.
The majority of the plot and dialogue has already been decided, and the new game will delve deeper within the “World of Yoko Taro”.

Aside from commenting too much on this latest breaking news, let me first add some other important links that everyone should be aware of by now.

And here are some other interesting quotes that I translated from an article on Dengeki Online:

—Does this game have any connection to the previous games?
Yoko: As far as the story goes, no; but they both essentially share the same world.

—Does the girl in the trailer have any connection to the previous games?
Yoko: Absolutely none.

—What is the meaning of the Celestial Alphabet at the end of the trailer?
Yoko: That’s a secret for now.

There is a ton of other information and things that I want to talk about… but I’ll try to do so sparingly. xD

So, what are your thoughts on this awesome news? Perhaps your reaction was much like the fans in this video?

Disclaimers: Please note that the contents of this blog are my own words and translations from various articles with my own opinions splashed within. If you like any of the information here, before you simply copy and paste the content elsewhere, please consider citing your source by linking me back here. Thank you!

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NieR New Project (NieR: Automata)