The Former PlayStation chief Shuhei Yoshida is also believed Nier: Automata saved the Japanese video games industry. According to Yoshida, the game was so well received and was so uniquely Japanese that it let other Japanese game developers know that they didn't need to chase Western gaming trends and could focus on what made them unique.
I am not going to argue with Yoshida. Having been the president of Sony Interactive Entertainment for 11 years he is certainly more familiar with the minutiae of the Japanese game industry than I am, and he makes some great points about Automata's impact on the industry as a whole.
His statement leaves me with a question for the rest of the class. If Nier: Automata was so important, why wasn't a follow-up made?
A gacha game is not a sequel
Carefully Listen I know about Nier Reincarnation and I have played it so many times that it was not the perfect sequel I was expecting.
The Nier series has two mainline console entries: Nier (remastered in 2021 as Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139 yes that's its actual name) and Nier: Automata. In 2021, a mobile gacha game called Nier Reincarnation was released and, despite many people trying to tell me it was a worthy successor to Nier: Automata, the game left a lot to be desired.
I am not trying to say that Nier Reincarnation is bad or not worth playing (if you can still access it while the servers are down), but come on. Be so real with me: a mobile gacha game is not a proper follow-up to the absolute masterpiece Nier: Automata.
So I am on my hands and knees begging
Nier Replicant and Nier: Automata have some of the best work I have ever seen in this medium. They are deep as the ocean but don't overwhelm you with their philosophical themes, and they feature deeply flawed characters who, through their personal journey have something to say that you can't help but be moved by. They both play extremely well and it wouldn't be wrong to say that both games have some of the best soundtracks ever.
Nier is truly the complete package. I can not think of a series that's as fun to play and as well written, while using games as a medium as Nier does. The storylines in these games can be a little complex and often require playing through multiple different times to fully understand them (I mean the entire game not just the multiple campaigns that start over every time the credits roll.)
These are games that are beyond the understanding of those who don’t want to engage with their message and meaning, and we need more experiences these days that ask players to look beyond the surface.
Creative director Yoko Taro (who is also the mastermind behind prequel series Drakengard) took a break from Nier after the launch of Replicant and Reincarnation in 2021 to focus on a series called Voice of Cards and has been secretive about what he’s been working on ever since, as he says in his typical snobbishness that whatever he’s working on may be Nier may not be Nier.
Yoko Taro So please I am really begging you for more. I understand how risky the Nier series is for publishers, since these games are weird and gimmicky and not as easily digestible as other mainstream RPGs. I know that games by Square Enix are not made solely based on their artistic ability, but luckily Nier has sold well.
If everyone thinks Nier is great it is a financially profitable and it even saved the Japanese game industry and then it is a time to make a sequel that does not a require me to enter my credit card number in a menu to get to the end. Please, I am begging I wanted sequel.
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