Nier: Automata creator Yoko Taro says Stellar Blade is "much better" than the beloved RPG: "Stellar Blade actually makes me quite jealous"

gamesradar.com:

Nier director Yoko Taro says that the upcoming action RPG Stellar Blade makes him "quite jealous" as he reckons it's "much better" than Automata itself – strong words of praise, if not a tad self-deprecating from Taro. 

Speaking to IGN Japan alongside Stellar Blade director Hyung-Tae Kim, Taro isn't shy of throwing a few compliments the way of the soon-to-release game. It's the sort of courtesy many give their peers, though Taro approaches it with his signature humor, as you might expect. 

After Kim answers a question about which elements of Nier: Automata inspired him the most, Taro takes the opportunity to reveal that he's been a fan of Kim's work for ages - to the point that he suggests that Kim is his senior rather than the other way around.

"Stellar Blade is a really amazing game," Taro says. "I'd say that it's much better than Nier: Automata. I have been acquainted with Mr. Kim's works since Magna Carta: Tears of Blood. Your illustrations are of a very high quality. Magna Carta: Tears of Blood came out before Drakengard, the first game I directed. So while I'm the older one, to me, in this industry you're my senior."

It's a compliment Kim takes jokingly, pondering if he should act more superior if that's the case. To that, Taro tells him that he's known among gamers in Japan as a "legendary developer." 

"When Blade & Soul came out, I remember being amazed by its 3D graphics," he says. "I think you directed the game's art. Not just the illustrations, but also the 3D models were very well done. I was surprised by the quality of Korean games when I saw it."

That's not the first time Taro compliments Kim, either. The Nier veteran also says that Stellar Blade's graphics are "completely next-gen quality" and that the character design's direction is "amazing" – the "cool male characters and cute female characters" that Taro finds "appealing," to be more precise.

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