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They say that art is never finished, only abandoned—but that doesn’t seem to be the case for Yoko Taro, creator of Nier and Drakengard, who you might recognize by the round, smiley Emil mask he wears. According to a report from Denfaminicogamer (via IGN), Taro said at the Tokyo French Institute last month that he’s already more or less realized his vision and has considered retiring.
“With Drakengard, the first game I was given the opportunity to direct, I was actually able to do almost everything the way I wanted,” Taro said. “As a game otaku, I think the dream is to release something you’ve always wanted to create into the world. Having achieved that dream, I view everything after that as the remainder of my life.”
As for why he continues to work in gamedev if he’s already achieved his dreams, well, he said the money doesn’t hurt—and that he has a fear of how his mental health might degrade should he grow idle. “This is good for preventing dementia,” he said.
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It’s worth noting that Taro is, to put it in technical terms, a bit of a silly goose, if the mask didn’t tip you off. As the IGN report notes, it’s possible he doesn’t literally mean that he only works in gamedev to stave off dementia. But that sentiment, as well as his saying that he hopes he can dodge the “flames” of competition from younger, AI-assisted generations before he dies, speak to how Taro views his place in the games industry.
“I’ve always worked in the games industry with the mindset of ‘filling in the gaps.’ I really like games like Ico and Ikaruga, but when I played them they were so perfect that I thought, ‘I don’t need to make games in these genres,'” he said.
“That’s not jealousy, it’s the feeling of, ‘This gap has already been filled, so I need to fill a different one.’ I think the reason that my games are crude games full of terrible things is because the pioneers have already seized all the beautiful aspects.”
