Yoko Taro says Stellar Blade is “much better” than NieR: Automata, but Hyung-Tae Kim thinks it can’t compete

The acclaimed NieR:Automata and the hotly anticipated Stellar Blade. Their developers, Yoko Taro and Hyung-Tae Kim respectively, are known to be on friendly terms and openly talk about being influenced by each other. Leading up to its release, Stellar Blade is often talked about in terms of how it will compare to NierR: Automata among fans, but recently, the developers themselves gave interesting opinions on the topic.

Yoko Taro and Shift Up’s Hyung-Tae Kim recently gave a joint interview for IGN Japan, discussing their representative titles in detail. The NieR: Automata director was full of praise for Kim, mentioning that he has held him in high regard ever since Magna Carta: Tears of Blood and considers Kim to be his senior professionally, even though the Stellar Blade developer is younger in age. Commenting on Kim’s upcoming title, Yoko Taro says, “Stellar Blade is such an amazing game, I think it’s much better than NieR: Automata.”

He specifically praises Stellar Blade’s graphics and overall concept as a game, even mentioning that he feels envious of how “the product shows that you have your own company and are working with like-minded people.” As Yoko Taro is used to collaborating with other development studios as an “outsider,” he seems to admire Shift-Up’s close-knit development process.

On the other hand, Kim seems to believe NieR: Automata is superior, as he emphasizes NieR: Automata’s distinct identity. He comments in a light-hearted tone, “The more we talk about it, the more I feel like Stellar Blade can’t compete.” The developer also talks about what he envies Yoko Taro for – his prowess as a storyteller. “I consider myself a visualist, not a storyteller. I’ve been creating visuals all my life, so I can’t quite match Yoko Taro when it comes to storytelling. I try to make up for this with gameplay,” Kim elaborates.

Although it seems to have a rich dystopian sci-fi setting, perhaps Stellar Blade can be expected to be less story-driven, at least in comparison to NieR. The recently released demo also attests to this, prompting many comparisons to Sekiro.

Shift Up’s Stellar Blade is scheduled to be released on April 26 for the PS5. Pre-orders are currently open, and a demo is available.

Check out Hyung-Tae Kim’s comments about “fetishistic elements” in Stellar Blade and how they elevate character design.