Yoko Taro
Yoko Taro | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Japanese |
Alma mater | Kobe Design University |
Occupation(s) | Video game director, writer |
Years active | 1994–present |
Notable work | |
Title | President and CEO of Bukkoro |
Spouse | Yoko Yukiko[1] |
Website | bukkoro.com |
Yoko Taro (
Critics have noted Yoko's unconventional game design and writing style. One of the main aspects of his work is exploring the darker aspects of humanity, such as why they are motivated to kill each other, although he typically does not share a common opinion on his story's dark natures. His writing technique, described as "backwards scriptwriting", involves outlining the ending of the story first and building the narrative backward from that point. Due to his disdain for being photographed, he generally wears a mask when giving interviews or presenting games.
Early life and education
Yoko Taro was born in Nagoya, Aichi, on June 6, 1970.[2] Taro's parents were often absent from home due to their jobs, so he was mostly raised by his grandmother, who left a strong impression on him.[3] During his youth, he heard about an incident that would influence his later work as a scenario writer: while an acquaintance was in a shopping street with a group of friends, one of them who was walking along a high building roof slipped and died from the fall. The scene as Yoko heard it was initially "horrifying", but included a humorous element as well.[4] He studied at Kobe Design University and graduated in March 1994.[2][5] He is married to Yukiko Yoko, an illustrator who worked on Taiko no Tatsujin series and also did work on Drakengard 3.[1][2]
Career
Initially not intending to pursue a career in video games, his first job a month after graduating was as a 3D CGI designer for Namco.[2][6][7] In 1999, he joined Sugar & Rockets Inc., a now-defunct in-house developer owned by Sony Computer Entertainment. In 2001, a year after Sugar & Rockets' consolidation by Sony, Yoko got a job at Cavia.[2] While working at Cavia, he became involved in the creation of Drakengard. While the game's co-producer Takuya Iwasaki intended to take the director's role, he was busy with other projects, so Yoko was asked to take up director's duties.[8] He also helped create the scenario and characters, as well as co-writing the script with Sawako Natori.[9][10][11] During its production, Yoko was unhappy with the amount of changes asked for by the game's advisory board. It got to the point where he decided he would not work on another Drakengard.[12] He was later involved in the production of Drakengard 2, being credited as a video editor while also remaining as one of the game's creative staff.[2][13] Mostly tied up with another project during production, his original concept for the game as an arcade-style game with dragons in space was vetoed and he had creative clashes with the game's new director Akira Yasui.[13]
After Drakengard 2 was completed, Yoko started work on a third entry in the series. As the game developed, the initial concept was developed to the point where the game was rebranded as Nier, a spin-off from the series. Despite this, Yoko continued to consider it the third entry in the series.[14] After Nier was released and Cavia was absorbed into AQ Interactive, Yoko left the company and pursued an independent career.[15] During this period, he took an unknown role in the development of Square Enix's social game Monster × Dragon.[16] The majority of his freelancer work involved social mobile games.[17] Many years later, Yoko teamed back up with multiple staff from the production of Drakengard and Nier to create a true second sequel to Drakengard, determining through questionnaires that the main appeal to the fanbase was the dark stories.[14] After the completion of Drakengard 3, Yoko "went back into unemployment".[18] After that, he began writing a short-term special column for Famitsu titled "Taro Yoko's Circle of No Good Thinking".[19] In 2015, Yoko announced that he had started his own company called Bukkoro, staffed by Yoko, his wife Yukiko, and Hana Kikuchi, novelist and scenario writer for Nier and Drakengard 3.[1] His other works include the 2023 anime television series based on Nier: Automata titled Nier: Automata Ver1.1a, co-writing the script with the anime's director Ryouji Masuyama.[20]
Yoko has stated his intense dislike of interviews. His reason, according to his Famitsu column, was that he feels video game developers are not entertainers or commentators on their work and that he thinks the subjects they talk about in interviews would be overly boring to those reading or listening.[21] When he does give interviews, he prefers to wear a mask to avoid being photographed, and in a video interview concerning Drakengard 3, he used a glove puppet.[22] He has also stated that he likes to be blunt when stating his opinions, as he feels that video game fans deserve truth and honesty.[11]
Writing
Yoko is noted for creating games with a dark, disturbing or unusual atmosphere. This was stated as the main reason he was brought in to work on Monster × Dragon.[16] His writing method, which he has not seen in other works of fiction, is called "backwards scriptwriting".[7] He described it as starting with the ending first, then working backwards from there.[7] He then creates central plot points that form emotional peaks in the narrative, adds details, then scatters them through the narrative so the player can build a suitable emotional connection.[7] He uses a secondary method called "photo thinking" in conjunction with his scriptwriting method.[23] Yoko describes it as a method of visualizing and keeping in order events and emotional peaks throughout the story.[23] He cited his inspiration for this method as The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan Spence.[23] He is keen in experimenting with the video game format, feeling that many conventions of the video game market inhibit developers' creative freedom.[7][22] Many of his games reflect his own feelings about death and his socratic questioning of the concept.[4] Yoko also considers food an important tool in creating a game, stating that he thinks that types of food from across the world can help him get a feel for the people the game is being aimed at.[24]
Yoko was influenced in his style for the Drakengard series by many games of the day: a commonality he noted was that the player got gradings for their performance after killing dozens or hundreds of enemy units in a "gloating" manner.[22] Because the concept of enjoying killing seemed insane to him, he designed the first game's main protagonists to be insane. He also wished to explore what drove people to kill each other.[22] Later, for Nier and Drakengard 3, Yoko explored the idea of a terrible event where both sides believed they were doing the right thing. For Nier, he took direct inspiration from the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror.[22][25] Another direct influence on Nier was of the gameplay of the God of War series, which both he and the game's producer Yosuke Saito admired.[26] He has stated his dislike for the "plain and forgettable" type of female video game character: he demonstrated his dislike for this and the stereotypical role-playing video game romance in Furiae, an important character in Drakengard.[8] Another character he has been greatly involved in creating is Zero, Drakengard 3's protagonist: while creating her, he felt it would be interesting to create a character who was formerly a prostitute as it was a character type that was fairly rare in video games.[27] In general, Yoko does not consider his writing to be as dark as others see it, while admitting that he deliberately incorporates dark elements.[4][28] A notable influence on the gameplay of his titles was the classic shoot 'em up Ikaruga; it directly inspired the dragon flight sequences of Drakengard and bullet hell sections in Nier; and informed Yoko on the synchronization of gameplay with the music.[29] A biography of him drawn Keiji Yoshida and based on Yoko Taro's own words was released in the Game Creators of Biography web manga series, under the title "ヨコオタロウ
Works
Video games
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1996 | Alpine Racer 2 | Background designer |
1998 | Time Crisis II | |
2000 | Chase the Express | Planner |
2001 | Phase Paradox | Game designer, visual design |
2003 | Drakengard | Director, scenario writer |
2005 | Drakengard 2[2] | Video editor |
2010 | Nier[7][31] | Director, scenario writer |
2011 | Monster × Dragon[32] | Scenario supervisor |
2012 | Demons' Score[33][34] | Support planner |
2013 | Drakengard 3 | Creative director, scenario writer |
2017 | Nier: Automata[35][36] | Director, scenario writer |
SINoALICE[37] | Creative director | |
2019 | Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers[38] | YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse scenario writer |
2021 | Nier Reincarnation[39] | Creative director, scenario writer |
Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139... | ||
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars | ||
2022 | Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden | |
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden[40] | ||
2023 | 404 Game Re:set[41] |
Books and manga
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2013 | Drag-on Dragoon: Utahime Five | Supervisor |
Drag-on Dragoon: Shi ni Itaru Aka[42] | ||
2014 | Drag-on Dragoon 3: Story Side[43] | |
Thou Shalt Not Die[44] | Creator, writer | |
2017 | NieR:Automata: Short Story Long | Writer |
2018 | NieR:Automata - YoRHa Boys | Supervisor |
2020 | YoRHa: Pearl Harbor Descent record – A NieR:Automata Story[45] | Writer |
2021 | Nier Replicant Ver 1.22474487139… Project Gestalt Recollections –File01 | |
Nier Replicant Ver 1.22474487139… Project Gestalt Recollections –File02 | ||
Game Creators of Biography (Yoko Taro-hen)[30] | Writer, himself |
Television
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2023 | Nier: Automata Ver1.1a | Creator, writer[20] |
KamiErabi God.app | Creator, planner[46] |
Stage plays
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2014 | YoRHa Stage Play, Ver. 1.0 | Creator, writer |
2015 | YoRHa Stage Play, Ver. 1.1[47] | Writer |
2016 | Thou Shalt Not Die Zero[48] | Creator |
2018 | YoRHa Musical Ver. 1.2 | Writer |
YoRHa Boys Ver. 1.0 | ||
2019 | Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI | |
YoRHa Ver. 1.3a | ||
2020 | YoRHa Ver. 1.3aa | |
YoRHa Girls Ver. 1.1a | ||
2021 | Bakuken |
Music videos
Year | Title | Artist | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | "Antinomy" | Amazarashi | Writer | Ending theme of Nier: Automata Ver1.1a[49] |
Further reading
- Taro, Yoko (2021). "Yoko Taro-hen". Game Creators of Biography (in Japanese). Tokyo: Cycomi.
- Turcev, Nicolas (2019). The Strange Works of Taro Yoko: From Drakengard to Nier: Automata. Foreword by Yoko Taro. Toulouse: Third Éditions. ISBN 978-23-7784-048-9.
References
- ^ a b c Sato (June 28, 2015). "Nier Creator Taro Yoko Started His Own Company". Siliconera. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g "BUKKORO / ABOUT". Bukkoro.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- ^ Yoko, Taro (April 2, 2013). "【
日記 】おばあちゃんが死 んだ。". Diary of Taro Yoko (blog). Retrieved July 26, 2014. - ^ a b c "「
見 えない壁 」に取 り囲 まれたゲーム業界 への想 い。ヨコオタロウ氏 が「ドラッグ オン ドラグーン3」やゲームの未来 を語 ったインタビューを掲載 ". 4Gamer. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014. - ^ "Yoko, Taro / GDC 2014 Session Scheduler". Game Developers Conference Website. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- ^ Yoko, Taro (December 8, 2011). ヨコオタロウのインタビュー (in Japanese). TheInterviews.jp. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Cork, Jeff (March 20, 2014). "Drakengard, Nier Director Talks About Making Weird Games For Weird People". Game Informer. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- ^ a b "『ドラッグ オン ドラグーン』シリーズ
座談 会 でヨコオタロウから飛 び出 す過去 作 の衝撃 的 真実 …『DOD1』のアレは神様 じゃない!?". Dengeki Online. April 18, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2014. - ^ "ドラッグ オン ドラグーン』シリーズ
居酒屋 座談 会 with ヨコオタロウ on仏滅 。聖地 ・新宿 で語 られる『DOD』ぶっちゃけトーク". Dengeki Online. April 15, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013. - ^ "『DOD3』ジョシカイ、
開幕 。女性 視点 (映 島 ×名取 ×白 本 ×サガコ)で語 られる『ドラッグ オン ドラグーン3』の狂気 の深淵 とは?【電撃 DOD3】". Dengeki Online. December 27, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2014. - ^ a b Sato (May 16, 2013). "Why Drakengard Had Forbidden Love Between Siblings And Other Insights". Siliconera. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ^ Corriea, Alexa Ray (June 16, 2015). "New Nier Will Stay Weird, But This Time With Platinum's Combat". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ a b "『ドラッグ オン ドラグーン』シリーズ
座談 会 、佳境 へ。ヨコオタロウが暴 く『DOD2』安井 ディレクターの心 の闇 &『ニーア』反省 話 ". Dengeki Online. April 22, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2014. - ^ a b Sato (April 5, 2013). "Drakengard 3 Producer And Creative Director Explain How The Game Came To Be". Siliconera. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop (November 4, 2010). "NieR Director Quits Cavia/AQi". IGN. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ a b Spencer, Yip (December 12, 2011). "Nier Director Yoko Taro Steps Out Of Retirement To Help Square Enix Social Game". Siliconera. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- ^ Yoko, Taro (April 2, 2013). "【
仕事 】モンスター×ドラゴンの話 。". Diary of Taro Yoko (blog). Retrieved December 30, 2012. - ^ Ashcraft, Brian (January 6, 2014). "Drakengard 3's Director Is Keen for Drakengard 4". Kotaku. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
- ^ 【
週刊 ファミ通 2014年 1月 9発売 号 】『ドラッグ オン ドラグーン』シリーズを手掛 けたヨコオタロウ氏 の短期 連載 コラムがスタート! (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. January 8, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2014. - ^ a b Romano, Sal (September 24, 2022). "NieR: Automata Ver1.1a TV anime to begin airing in January 2023; 2B and 9S teaser trailers". Gematsu. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
- ^ ""Yoko Taro's Circle of No Good Thinking" (3 of 4)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 1312. Enterbrain. February 6, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Corriae, Alexa Ray (May 20, 2014). "Drakengard 3 director discuss finding beauty in a bloody story". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 26, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
- ^ a b c Corriea, Alexa Ray (March 20, 2014). "Drakengard, Nier director discusses methods for telling powerful, strange stories". Polygon. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- ^ Yip, Spencer (June 18, 2014). "Drakengard 3 Downloadable Stories Made Over Ramen". Siliconera. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
- ^ Ward, Robert (March 20, 2014). "NieR and Drakengard Creator Says NieR Was Inspired By 9-11". Siliconera. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (March 17, 2010). "NIER Preview". Video Gamer. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ Spencer (May 29, 2014). "Drakengard Had Multiple Endings Because Taro Yoko Was Told There Wouldn't Be A Sequel". Siliconera. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
- ^ 『NieR』の
新作 は前作 を遊 んだファンほど混乱 する!? ヨコオタロウ氏 ら開発 スタッフに直撃 インタビュー (in Japanese). Dengeki Online. June 19, 2015. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2015. - ^ Wong, Alistair (June 30, 2018). "Yoko Taro Talks About How His Favorite Shmup Ikaruga Has Influenced His Games". Siliconera. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ a b Cygames [@cycomi] (February 16, 2021). "
稀代 のゲームクリエイター「ヨコオタロウ」の人生 がマンガ化 !!2月 21日 より、真 説 ゲームクリエイター伝 新 章 「ヨコオタロウ編 」連載 開始 !!" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retweeted by Yoko Taro. Retrieved April 19, 2022 – via Twitter. - ^ 『ドラッグ オン ドラグーン』のスタッフが
再 集結 !PS3とXbox360で異 なる主人公 を描 いた『ニーア レプリカント/ニーア ゲシュタルト』に迫 る (in Japanese). Inside Games. May 18, 2010. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011. - ^ Kawasaki, Masaichirō (August 4, 2012). 8
月 末 から大型 アップデートが順次 実装 。ハンゲームのチャネリングも始 まる「MONSTER×DRAGON」開発 ・運営 インタビュー. 4Gamer.net. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2015. - ^ 【GDC 2014】ヨコオタロウ
氏 が語 るゲームシナリオの書 き方 。変 わった人 のための変 わったゲーム. GameBusiness.jp. March 27, 2014. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015. - ^ "Demons' Score (2012) iPhone credits". MobyGames. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (June 16, 2015). "Square Enix is making a new Nier with Platinum Games". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 16, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Saito, Yosuke (June 18, 2015). "E3 2015: NieR New Project". Square Enix. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Romano, Sal (February 16, 2017). "Square Enix and Yoko Taro announce SINoALICE for smartphones". Gematsu. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- ^ Final Fantasy XIV Twitter (February 2, 2019). "Presenting the next alliance raid series: YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse–from the minds of renowned NieR creators YOSUKE SAITO and YOKO TARO!". Square-Enix. Archived from the original on February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
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has generic name (help) - ^ Romano, Sal (March 29, 2020). "NieR Re[in]carnation announced for iOS, Android". Gematsu. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ Romano, Sal (September 1, 2022). "Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden announced for PS4, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
- ^ Romano, Sal (February 5, 2023). "SEGA and Yoko Taro to announce RPG 404 GAME RE:SET for iOS, Android on February 10". Gematsu.
- ^ Yoko, Taro (March 2, 2013). "【
仕事 】コミック「ドラッグ オンドラグーン死 ニ至 ル赤 」の監修 " [Supervision work of the comic Shi ni Itaru Aka]. Diary of Tarō Yoko (blog). Retrieved March 16, 2014. - ^ "Square Enix e-Store: Drag-on Dragoon 3 Side Story". Square Enix e-Store. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- ^ "
君 死 ニタマフ事 ナカレ / ビッグガンガン". Square Enix. Archived from the original on March 24, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015. - ^ "ヨルハ
真珠湾 降下 作戦 記録 | マンガUP! | SQUARE ENIX". Manga UP! (in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022. - ^ Cardine, Kyle. "Fuji TV Reveals New Upcoming Anime Metallic Rouge, Undead Murder Farce and More". Crunchyroll. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
Airdate: October 2023
- ^ "ヨルハ" [Yorha Official Site]. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "
君 死 ニタマフ事 ナカレ零 " [Thou Shalt Not Die Zero Official Site]. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2017. - ^ Egan, Toussaint (February 3, 2023). "Nier: Automata's Yoko Taro made a new 15-minute music video based on the game". Polygon.
External links
- "Diary of Tarō Yoko" online blog (in Japanese)
- Dengeki Online interview series about Drakengard and Nier (in Japanese)
- Bukkoro home page (in Japanese)
- Yoko Taro on X
- CS1 uses Japanese-language script (ja)
- CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
- CS1 errors: generic name
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Use mdy dates from August 2020
- Articles with hCards
- Articles containing Japanese-language text
- Articles with Japanese-language sources (ja)
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with WorldCat Entities identifiers
- Articles with GND identifiers
- Articles with LCCN identifiers
- Articles with MusicBrainz identifiers
- Articles with SUDOC identifiers
- 1970 births
- Creative directors
- Japanese chief executives
- Japanese video game directors
- Living people
- People from Nagoya
- Video game writers