Yoko Taro (above), the Director of NieR: Automata, is the latest person to be included in Sony’s Discover the Creators PlayStation Store curation program, where developers pick their favorite PlayStation 4 games.
As you can see below, and on his specialized PlayStation Store page, Taro’s eight favorite PS4 games are Danganronpa 1&2 Reload, Final Fantasy XV, Gravity Rush Remastered, Gravity Rush 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Life is Strange, Resogun, and The Last Guardian.
Taro was asked to write one to two lines about each game, “but ended up writing quite a bit. But oh well. It’s okay right?” We’ve placed some of his explanations below, where you’ll learn that he’s looking forward to Matterfall, felt trapped by Final Fantasy Versus XIII for 10 years, almost died because of Horizon Zero Dawn’s close proximity to NieR: Automata, and he goes out to drink with the Director of Gravity Rush:
Resogun
A crazy developer who throws in a side-scrolling shooter at the PS4 launch window, and a monster born in Finland… that is Housemarque senpai. I thought about listing one of their more recent titles, Alienation, but I will recommend Resogun here instead as that was memorable for me. I always keep an eye out on the games that senpai creates, but the playability of their game that hits the spot as a shooting game, and the way the graphical effects are flashy but not gaudy is striking. I’m very much looking forward to their next title, Matterfall.
Final Fantasy XV
I was creating a title called NIER Gestalt/Replicant when this title was called Versus XIII but because it was very likely that our games would release around the same time, I was thinking “oh man, Versus is an action RPG right? It would suck if the release dates were close to each other.” NIER ended up releasing without having to worry about Versus XIII but then, when I was creating Drakengard 3 I thought ‘it would suck if they release close to our release,’ and it was the same again when we were creating NieR: Automata this time too. Looking back, I feel like I was trapped by the curse of Versus for about 10 years. This game and its content created over the course of 10 years is unparalleled and unique, and I enjoyed it a lot. The one thing that surprised me the most is their incomprehensible passion towards food and beverage. FF is amazing.
Horizon Zero Dawn
The thought that came to my mind at first glance was ‘this world view is amazing.’ I had thought that big-title Western games have a strong directionality towards realism, and on the other hand does not often venture into artistic exploration, and so I was stunned that a world filled with such imagination like this title would be created. I immediately pre-ordered the game. Well, having said that, Guerilla Games’ art has been really cool ever since Killzone don’t you think..? By the way, the release date of this game was only one week apart from NieR: Automata, the game I created. I thought I was going to die. Well, I did die. (I just noticed that I keep on talking about release dates…)
Gravity Rush / Gravity Rush 2
This game was released for Vita, but occupies a slightly weird place as it is made in Japan, with unique controls and in a toon art style, but it is not a ‘moe’ game. I feel like recent Western titles are polarized into super AAA titles and indie games, but the Gravity Rush series is a game right around the middle of the two. By the way, I go out to drink with the director Keiichiro Toyama once in a while but the only image I have of him is him being drunk, and I can’t help but think ‘how can a title like this come from a person like him?’
He did get serious when it came to The Last Guardian, saying, “The finished game was beautiful to the very last detail and the content was like a gem. This is a game that I ended up feeling happy to have been able to play while I was still alive.”
What do you think of Taro’s choices? Which creator do you hope gets featured next?
[Source: PlayStation Blog, PlayStation, PlayStation Store]
