Stellar Blade is superior to NieR: Automata, says Yoko Taro

eurogamer.net:

Stellar Blade is better than NieR: Automata, according to the latter's esteemed director Yoko Taro.

Shift Up's forthcoming action game has been compared to Taro's work since its reveal and now IGN Japan has put the two together in an interview between Taro and Stellar Blade creative director Hyung-Tae Kim.

So why does Taro think Stellar Blade is superior? The «next-gen quality» graphics and «cute female characters», among other reasons as the pair pat each other on the back.

«Stellar Blade is a really amazing game. I'd say that it's much better than NieR:Automata,» said Taro, before giving more detail.

«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.»

Taro continued: «Actually, I kind of knew that Stellar Blade was going to be compared with NieR: Automata, and I told Mr. Kim when we first met. If you actually play it, you'll instantly realise that it's a very different game, but a delicate female character doing cool action is bound to draw comparisons. If Stellar Blade would have been the same game with a macho male character, I think people wouldn't have pointed out the similarities. It just happens to be that there are not many games with a similar style.»

The pair also discussed the difference in difficulty between the two games. Taro described the combat in Stellar Blade as «very deep» but admitted he struggled to get past the first boss. NieR: Automata, by comparison, was made for Square Enix's RPG audience who weren't as