Saito teases that we’ll be hearing news about Yoko’s new game soon!

Game kaiwai idobata kaigi: Gaming Neighborhood Idle Gossip

In the latest edition of the V Jump / Famitsu “idobata kaigi, Saito Yosuke, Yoko Taro, and Taura Takahisa all joined others to discuss various topics about the gaming industry. They talked a little bit about Dragon Quest XI, Taura tried to plug his new game Astral Chains, which will be coming out next Friday, August 30th, and two girls from Saito’s idol group GEMSCOMPANY also appeared off camera.

Not too much of any concern was discussed as usual, but during the last couple minutes of the Premium portion of the broadcast (they always have two segments, one that regular free and Premium members can view, and another for Premium members only), Saito suddenly brought up the topic of Yoko’s new game (paraphrased):

Saito:
“So, what’s your new game all about?”

Yoko:
“Uh, it’s not really for me to say…”

Saito:
“Well, I think you can talk a little about it the next time we do this.”

Just to be clear, we’ve known that Yoko’s been working on a new game besides FFXIV for roughly two years, so this isn’t any shocking news. What’s exciting about this is that it seems like they’re getting ready to announce it soon.

If this was you’re first time hearing of a new Yoko Taro game, be sure to read here:


Whether Saito meant the next V Jump / Famitsu idobata kaigi or perhaps we should expect something to be announced at this year’s TGS, which is just a couple weeks away, is currently unknown. He could have been merely teasing when he suggested it be announced on the next idobata kaigi. I find it highly unlikely that this will be the case, but it’s not unrealistic to think that Yoko won’t discuss the new title on the program; just that it won’t be the where the initial announcement is made.

Whatever he meant, it’s clear that we should be hearing word about Yoko’s new game soon!


And it seems as though Hanana Mio (No21 from the YoRHa Ver.1.2 Musical) was also present during the livestream… which is very curious. There was a segment of the broadcast where they were mentioning her name but for whatever reason couldn’t actually say her name. The whole chat, however, was flooded with people writing her name, so it was pretty obvious who they were talking about.

I’m not exactly sure why she would be present for this event… As far as I’m aware, she has nothing to do with Platinum Games or Taura’s Astral Chain directorial debut for the Nintendo Switch, so it makes me think that there’s something going on behind the scenes that they haven’t let drop yet.

NieR:Automata 2nd Anniversary and GOTY Release Livestream Event from the STORIA Cafe

There will be a special event held at the Square Enix Cafe STORIA to commemorate the 2nd Anniversary of the release of NieR:Automata plus the up-coming release of the GOTY version on February 23rd! The event will be held on Wednesday, February 20th at 8:00-10:00pm (JST).

Those in attendance will include:

  • Saito Yosuke (Producer)
  • Yoko Taro (Director)
  • Okabe Keiichi (Composer)
  • Taura Takahisa (Game Designer, Platinum Games)
  • Yoshida Naoki (FFXIV Producer/Director)

A special guest(s) is also planned to be in attendance!

It looks like only 40 people will be able to attend the event live, but if you’re in the area, here’s the reservation form, although it looks like it may be a lottery drawing in the end (your asked to give your comments and questions regarding NieR (etc.) in the final textbox). The attendance fee is 2,500yen, which includes one drink plus a dinner meal.

So, here’s to good luck to everyone who tries to make a reservation, and more importantly, here’s to the 2nd Anniversary of NieR:Automata!

SQEX STORIA – NieR:Automata 2nd Anniversary / GOTY Event


Source: Twitter

YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse


Announced at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Paris, it was just announced that there will be a new NieR:Automata themed alliance raid penned by Yoko Taro.

According to PC Gamer, it is planned for the new Shadowbringers expansion of FFXIV! It is a raid that will encompass three teams of 24 members and is said to take place after the events of NieR:Automata.

The new FFXIV expansion will be helmed by SQEX Producer Saito Yosuke, who is affectionately nicknamed “Yosu-P,” and, of course, Yoko Taro. Very little about their individual roles has been stated at this time, but I believe Yoko will be penning the scenario for the YoRHa collaboration. This does not necessarily make him the director, which I believe will still remain in the hands of Yoshida Naoki (Yoshi-P), the FFXIV director and producer. More about their specific roles for this collaboration should become known in the coming weeks.

Yoko Taro has also been quoted from this pre-recorded video of him talking with Yosu-P.

Saito: What was the last Final Fantasy you played?
Yoko: The last Final Fantasy I played… FFXII.
Saito: Ah, you played FFXII?
Yoko: Yes, I did.
Saito: That’s pretty recent. I was thinking maybe it’d be around FFVI or so.
Yoko: But the Final Fantasy I played before XII was II.
Saito: (haha) So, I guess you don’t really like the series.
Yoko: I play it!
Saito: Sounds like you don’t really like it.
Yoko: I love Final Fantasy!

Yoko Taro is notorious for his chronic tongue-in-cheek comments, and him saying that the FF game he played before FFXII was II… just screams Yoko cheekiness to me. I don’t believe those are the only FF titles he’s played, so it might be better not to entirely take everything he says as 100% truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBsU2XAUcA0

Very little of this is currently known, so additional details should become known later this year. The presenter suggested that they only have five more months to work on it, so they may be thinking of a release around July or August (I’m not sure if this would be released along with Shadowbringers or not, though). He also made the comment that just the look of this promotional illustration by Koda Kazuma makes it seem like a straight-up NieR:Automata sequel…

Lastly, the next Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival will be in Tokyo on the weekend of March 23-24. I would bet that we will hear much more details on this topic then.


Source: Twitch | Twitter | PC Gamer | FFXIV Fan Festival Tokyo

Ishikawa Yui (2B) and Kadowaki Mai (Emil) to Act as MCs at the NieR:Orchestra Concert Evening Show!

According to the official concert Twitter account (as shown below), voices of 2B (Ishikawa Yui) and Emil (Kadowaki Mai) will act as MCs at the concert’s evening show!

Also, the evening show is available to watch online via NicoNico for 2,500yen.