Popular NieR: Automata Creator Yoko Taro recently commented that Stellar Blade is a ‘really amazing game and it’s much better than NieR: Automata’. These surprising comments came during an IGN Japan interview for which Yoko Taro travelled to South Korea. IGN Japan interviewed both Yoko Taro and Hyung-Tae Kim at the latter’s Shift Up studio based in Seoul.
As IGN noted, the interview was mostly frank with both developers showing ‘mutual respect towards each other through self-deprecating humour’; so the comments should be taken as fellow acquaintances showing respect for each other.
Stellar Blade is a AAA action-adventure game in development at Shift Up and is being made in partnership with PlayStation with the game being exclusive to the PlayStation 5 platform. Since its first reveal in 2021, fans have hotly anticipated the game with comparisons to NieR: Automata being made.
Later, Hyung-Tae Kim confirmed that NieR: Automata was a big inspiration for the game and it helped him rediscover the type of game he wanted to make and shared in the IGN interview that the game inspired him in many ways including gameplay and he loved the game so much that he completed all endings (which is not an easy task).
When Hyung-Tae Kim asked Yoko Taro if he approved of a game so heavily inspired by his own, Yoko Taro replied; “Stellar Blade is a really amazing game. I’d say that it’s much better than NieR: Automata”. Later, IGN Japan asked him why he thought so and he shared that;
“The graphics are completely next-gen quality and the character design’s direction is amazing. The cool male characters and cute female characters unique to Mr. Kim’s style are really appealing. Shops in RPGs often have a close-up shot of the shopkeeper, which I don’t like because I think it feels unnatural. Stellar Blade has a shot like that too, but the shopkeeper was so cute that I didn’t mind! Her cuteness felt more important than any design choices.”
You can check out the full interview by IGN Japan here in which the developers have an interesting conversation regarding their lives and games with each other.
As Shift Up gears up for the imminent release of Stellar Blade on April 26, the developers released a demo recently that received praise from fans for its deep mechanics and combat that reminded them of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The game has also been part of online controversy for its alleged unrealistic portrayal of women’s bodies.
Stay tuned to EsportsNext as we cover the game post-release!
