Yoko Taro Talked About NieR: Automata Inspiration and Endings

As part of the NieR series’ 15th anniversary, Square Enix released an interview with Creative Director Yoko Taro and Producer Yosuke Saito about the games, and that involved details about both the NieR and NieR: Automata inspiration and endings. In addition to citing Evangelionas an influence for the second game, the two talked about certain choices and endings for both the first and second titles.

First, the Evangelion element came up when Square Enix specifically brought up NieR: Automata inspirations. Yoko Taro mentioned that anime. He then also said, “But then, everything I make is influenced by Evangelion.”

As for the NieR and NieR: Automata endings, those came up twice. First, Saito brought it up. He mentioned how he wasn’t “supposed” to know about NieR and its Ending D deleting save data. However, he brought up how he did find out ahead of time. 

Here’s Yosuke Saito’s statement about that:

“Mr. Yoko kept the fact that the game deletes your save file a secret from me, but some other members of the team revealed this to me in secret. My favorite memory is probably choosing to let this slide. “It’s fine!” I said. “It’s probably just an homage to Dragon Quest!”

Although apparently it wasn’t an homage to Dragon Quest (laughs).”

Finally, Yoko Taro discussed the multiple endings in NieR: Automata. He cited how his past games and Square Enix’s requests affect design decisions. He noted, “That’s an idea that we brought over from Drakengard. And the reason we did it is that Square Enix told us to ‘add more content!’”

As a reminder, we may hear about NieR Reincarnation again soon. The anniversary site included a teaser referencing the now-closed mobile game. An update will appear there on May 2, 2025.

NieR is available on the PS3 and Xbox 360, NieR Replicant is available on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and NieR: Automata is on the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.