If a guy makes bad games and hit a big winner once, does he really have potential

[YUPPIE]

I won't deny Nier Automata is a fantastic game, personally, among GOTY contenders even, but I've always been wary of Yoko Taro if only because he's behind the Drakengard games. For those that don't follow probably because they're beyond niche, Drakengard is a series of abominable, barely functioning technical disasters. The original Nier itself wasn't even remotely a "good" game, it just had some great ideas.

Now it's nothing to hate someone for, but it's been sort of nagging at me there are people so won over by Automata they claim Yoko Taro is a genius, even the more savvy fans aware of Drakengard claiming he's just been held back by limited budget until now.

[ro9ue]

I agree it makes sense to look at someone's body of work to really declare them a genius. I'm sure there are people who thought Vanilla Ice was a genius when he released Ice, Ice, Baby.

[Ragingheadache]

No, just luck.

[Veyne]

I don't care who makes a game or what games they've done in the past. The only thing I care about is if the game is enjoyable on its own merit.

[Arewn]

Drakengard released in 2003, and his newest game other then Nier Automata is 5 years old.
It could be that they've simply improved over the last 14 years. Or, as has been pointed out, there was a bigger budget to work with this time around.
And big games are made by teams, not individuals. So it could be that there were changes made there.

I'm not sure about any of these genius claims though. Bad games don't preclude you from future greatness, but I'd want to see him consistently release quality pieces before that kind of praise can be given.

[Hobb]

Could just be his M. Night Shyamalan moment.....

[RohanV]

My understanding is that Platinum Games were very good technically with high action games. They made Bayonetta and one of the Metal Gear Rising games. Combining those skills with Yoko Taro's direction and writing proved to be an excellent decision. Nier: Automata is better than Yoko Taro's other games, but it's also better than Platinum's other games.

[Shanden]

So this Yoko Taro is a programmer, 3d designer, sound technican, writer and what not in one person solely responsible for those games? He obviously is not, so why blame or praise him alone for anything? Never heard of him and couldnt care less. Just playing games I like, not giving a fuck which genius is behind it.

[barackopala]

My understanding is that Platinum Games were very good technically with high action games. They made Bayonetta and one of the Metal Gear Rising games. Combining those skills with Yoko Taro's direction and writing proved to be an excellent decision. Nier: Automata is better than Yoko Taro's other games, but it's also better than Platinum's other games.

Nope, sorry but nope, platinum has such fucking amazing gems, nier is amazing but i wouldnt rank it over the other ones.
Yoko taro is an amazing director, not an amazing developer.

[Talsar]

He clearly has potential. The fact that he failed that potential in previous games doesn't change that. Will be interested in seeing what he does going forward.

[Tech614]

The problem with the Drakengaurd series and the original Nier was not a fault of his game design, but the boring gameplay from the dev team who put it together. The story and character design was always solid in them. It was the gameplay that was ass.

It's no surprise when square went out and got him a very talented dev team it was a shining example of what happens when you combine a great creative mind with a good development team.

Please stop with the budget talk. Nier Automata was made on an extremely low budget by AAA standards, I'm not even sure you can call it AAA. It's the fact square got him Platinum to make his game instead of using the janky ass C team internal devs like with the previous games.

- - - Updated - - -

Nope, sorry but nope, platinum has such fucking amazing gems, nier is amazing but i wouldnt rank it over the other ones.
Yoko taro is an amazing director, not an amazing developer.

The only game better then Nier Automata they have made is Bayonetta 2. Honorable mentions to Bayonetta 1 and MGR but Nier Automata is better then both.

Bayonetta 2 is a masterpiece but it had a lot more time to cook in the oven then Nier Automata did, with a longer dev cycle it might have even surpassed it.

[oplawlz]

His writing and game direction are what people like about him. If you didn't play the drakenguard games you should really watch a recap of them or something, they're fucking insane.

[Gaidax]

I won't deny Nier Automata is a fantastic game, personally, among GOTY contenders even, but I've always been wary of Yoko Taro if only because he's behind the Drakengard games. For those that don't follow probably because they're beyond niche, Drakengard is a series of abominable, barely functioning technical disasters. The original Nier itself wasn't even remotely a "good" game, it just had some great ideas.

Now it's nothing to hate someone for, but it's been sort of nagging at me there are people so won over by Automata they claim Yoko Taro is a genius, even the more savvy fans aware of Drakengard claiming he's just been held back by limited budget until now.

I think you don't exactly understand his position in the whole thing. He is not a developer, he is a writer, you know the "it just had some great ideas" part.

"Technical abominations" part is issue with development studio, hardly a fault of his.