Some new information about NieR:Automata’s release has just come out of Gamescom in Cologne, Germany today.
According to Nova Crystallis, the game will be released on both the PS4 as well as on Steam:
“In a surprise announcement, NieR Automata is coming to Steam in addition to PlayStation 4 in early 2017. News comes from a video message from director Yoko Taro during a special IGN live stream.”
One of the main hang-ups connecting the ending of NieR with NieR:Automata, its distant sequel, has been the fact that… Well, humanity should be extinct. Completely and utterly gone. Dead.
Whether he realized it or not, by offing the Shadowlord, Nier essentially doomed all of humanity. Or did he…?
Just recently, the official NieR Twitter account asked fans an interesting question regarding the up-coming release of NieR:Automata:
Everybody, please let us ask a quick question: What are your current plans on purchasing the up-coming “NieR:Automata”?
The poll is now closed. Here’s the final results:
皆さんに質問させてください。PS4『NieR: Automata』ご購入の予定は？ #NieR #ニーア
— NieR公式PRアカウント (@NieR_JPN) July 21, 2016
I’m pretty sure we’ll see an English version of this tweet in the coming days, but if you’d like to have your voice heard, please feel free to cast your vote and comment! 😀
During a little bit of a lull in new information regarding NieR:Automata after the events at E3 and the subsequent magazine articles regarding it, we’re left with just whatever crumbs the development team can feed us through social media. Of course, I am a little getting to this anyway… 😛
Here is just one interesting moment from Yoko Taro’s Twitter on June 22:
Ｅ３インタビューで回答したけど出てこない話。
Ｑ：どうやって物語を考えるんですか？
Ａ：酒飲む。ちょっとバカになった方がイイ気がするから。Ｑ：世界観の発想は？
Ａ：カネ。予算から作れるステージ数を決めて、そこからゲーム内容を決めて、余りの時間で物語と世界観を考える。— yokotaro (@yokotaro) June 22, 2016
Q: What do you usually do to come up with a story?
A: I drink. It’s easier to think when I’m a little tipsy.
Q: What about ideas for the world view?
A: Money. From the budget, we decide how many stages we can make, then we decide the content of the game. Whatever time is left over after that, we’ll think about the story and world view.
A new issue of Dengeki PlayStation came out today, and they printed 6 pages on NieR:Automata, which is only a fraction of their complete article that’s available on their site here.
Just like the article in Famitsu, there are a lot of comments from the various members at Platinum Games and very little new information on the game itself. That being said, there was a cute exchange between the interviewer, Yoko Taro, and Saito Yosuke, which I translated below:
ーOne of the questions that many NieR fans have been asking is… why does this game have “NieR” in the title?
Saito: I’d like to know as well.
ーHuh? You don’t even know?
Saito: I’d love to hear this from Yoko-san’s own mouth. What do you say, Yoko-san?
ーNier was the main protagonist of the previous NieR title, but he doesn’t have anything to do with this story, right?
Yoko: Of course not. He disappeared, remember?
ーThen why did you decide to call this a NieR title? What exactly does “NieR” mean?
Yoko: What does “NieR” mean…… You’re really putting me on the spot, but there’s one thing I can say: It’s a curse.
ーA curse? Not a “prayer” or “hope”!?
Yoko: It’s a curse. Maybe I’ll elaborate on that another time.
ーAnother time……!? I feel like you’re avoiding the subject!
Saito: He’s sticking with his favorite line, I guess. But anyway, I think you’ll understand how everything fits together once you get a chance to play. ……Isn’t that right, Yoko-san?
Yoko: It’s a curse.
Source: Dengeki PlayStation Vol. 617 | Fire Sanctuary