NieR: Automata Will Have Multiple Protagonists, Costume Breaks, And A “Happy Ending”

Square Enix recently revealed some of the latest on NieR: Automata, and director Taro Yoko and producer Yosuke Saito shared more details on the upcoming PlayStation 4 action RPG in interviews with Famitsu and Dengeki. [Thanks, Game Jouhou.]

Q: How many protagonists are there?

Saito: “By ‘actual protagonists’ then two characters.”

Yoko: “I kind of feel like there are three.”

Q: What is 2B’s gender?

Saito: “a girl… type?”

Yoko: “It’s a secret.”

Q: Why did you guys make her a female?

Yoko: “Because I like girls.”

Saito: “We requested Akihiko Yoshida to make ‘an outfit that’d be good for cosplay’.”

Q: Are there androids of other genders?

Yoko: “The genders are a secret, but there are ‘girl/boy-types.”

Q: What’s the meaning behind “YoRHa?” Yoko: “Nothing in particular. Its kanji is ‘寄葉’but it’s nothing of deep significance.”

Q: There was something like a warthog, but will we get to ride it?

Yoko: “I’ve told the folks at PlatinumGames that I’d like for people to be able to ride them.”

The following are more details put together from the interviews:

• The androids are the ones fighting in order to recapture Earth, but the humans don’t participate in the actual fighting itself.

• There are plenty of weapons that we’ve yet to see. Q: About how many? Yoko: “Quite a lot.”

• The “Pods” will help with ranged attacks while the player can focus on close-ranged attacks. Again, you’ll be able to use it to glide and also for getting your way across the maps. The Pod can speak, but it isn’t much of a chatterbox, so think of it as more of navigational system for cars. It does not have any emotions.

• There are ideas for Pod customizations, but they’re not sure how it’ll end up.

• There are possibilities of DLC costumes for 2B.

• 2B’s skirt will begin to break after she takes a certain amount of damage. Beneath the skirt she wears a white leotard.

• The base of the Living Machines are the same but they’ll come in varieties of parts, colors, texture, and ones that ride on different obstacles.

• The giant Living Machine shown in the trailer isn’t a boss, but a ‘kind of strong small-fry.” That one was relatively on the smaller side, but you’ll see some gigantic Living Machines.

• There’s also a living creature that is similar to a deer, and there’s a chance that you’ll be able to ride it, too.

• The game takes place in the same world in a different era, but story-wise they’re not connected much. They wanted to prevent having things that only those who played the first game would be able to enjoy. If anything, there will be characters or events that will bring a smile to those who are familiar with them.

• Yoko: “PlatinumGames’ action might seem a little high-end, but they’re working on adjusting it so that just about anyone can enjoy it and feel that they can play it.”

• Saito: “When looking at Yoko-san’s plot, it has some very happy ending-like content. On the contrary, the story is so good to the point where you’d like to ask him ‘is it okay for it to be this much of a happy ending?’ I really hope you look forward to that.”

• Yoko: “The development is going favorably, but there’s so much to it that we don’t know what will happen.” Saito: “We’re entrusting the young development team’s passionate ‘we can do this!’ attitude, so us older folks are excited. And also praying for nothing to go wrong. Yoko: “Although if it does go wrong somewhere, I think it’d still be NieR-like in its own way. It wouldn’t be bad to have a NieR that will makew you go ‘Huh!” It ends here!?’”

• The next update of information will be sometime around this spring. They’re hoping to be able to make some announcements in Japan next time.

NieR: Automata is in development for PlayStation 4.