Link.
Full interview at the link. It's two pages.
What attracted you to becoming a video game creator?
I used to play at arcades every day from a young age. At that time, video games were considered to be something that delinquents played. So I, being an otaku, felt terrified while I played games. I could go on forever if I started to list the games that I liked, but the title that made me want to make games myself was Gradius. I still remember how shocking it was to see a game where the stages "change" at a time when repetitive stages were popular. Even as a child, I knew that computer graphics would continue to evolve, so the reason I decided to get into the gaming industry was because I was certain that games would surpass films and overshadow all other video mediums.
Who are your creative influences?
I have been influenced by the products themselves that I felt were spectacular, rather than "who." Ico (PS2) and Ikaruga (Dreamcast) are some representative titles, and I've also copie… er, received inspiration from the great features in many other great titles when creating my own game.
After Cavia disbanded, it seemed like the Nier series was dead. How does it feel to be able to go back to a series after thinking it wasn't going to live on?
After we released Drakengard 3, I think everyone was well sick of all the games I made by then, and I really didn't really want to work anymore. I was thinking I'd probably just go and hide in the mountains and live out the rest of my life as a hermit or something. It just so happens at that time Mr. Yosuke Saito, [who] was obviously a bit tired after his work on Dragon Quest and was not thinking straight, decided to give me another chance with something like Nier. That's how you saw a new Nier; I'm still not sure how that happened.
Considering the time off between it and the original, were you surprised by the success of Automata?
Certainly from my perspective and from the fan's perspective, I think everyone thought Nier was a very dead IP at that point, so I was very surprised when they started talking about doing another one. I [thought] it would be very interesting when I heard that Platinum would be developing another one. I didn't think it'd be a hit, though; I [thought] probably it'd be a very niche game. But no, there was certainly potential there. Looking back on it, I think the kind of games that Platinum makes are very much for those action-game maniacs, and it's a very closed-off area, but it seemed like an excellent fit with the kind of really geeky worlds that Square-Enix makes. I think overall, they became a great combination together.
What are your thoughts on Platinum as a studio and Hideki Kamiya's statement recently about how Automata saved the studio?
What I think of Platinum [is that] they are a very talented, very unique kind of studio in their own way. People looking at Platinum from the outside often get the image that it's just Mr. Kamiya and a number of the top-level veterans [running] everything in a very top-down way. If you look inside the company, it really isn't like that at all. There's a lot of really passionate, really skilled young staff directors. And obviously, they go off the line, they give their opinion about what they want to do and how they view games to the top, and then it's those guys at the top who manage that. It's a great company. It's quite a rare thing to see something managed [as a] kind of bottom-up company. The other part of your question there about Mr. Kamiya's announcement that Nier: Automata saved Platinum, I think in part, that's just him being nice to us and talking us up. I think we've got a lot to thank them for as well — certainly all the young development staff I talked about. It really was a great opportunity for them to show what they've got and it brought them up two or three levels higher. And as a whole, I think that's something [the whole Nier team], myself included, really have to thank them for. I think they did a really brilliant job on that.
Do you plan to continue working with Platinum?
It's not that we've got anything lined up immediately, but certainly. I discussed a lot with the young staff on the Platinum team and it would be really great to work with them again in the future. I spoke with our producer at Square-Enix, Mr. [Yosuke] Saito as well about doing that in the future. Of course, the other thing is that if Square-Enix provides the money, I'll always make anything they ask for.
Full interview at the link. It's two pages.
