Stellar Blade's Biggest Fan? NieR Creator Yoko Taro

There's something endearing about the creator of NieR: Automata being the loudest cheerleader for the game most openly inspired by it. Yoko Taro has been singing Stellar Blade's praises since before it launched, once arguing that Shift Up's action RPG was "much better" than his own game. Now, with Stellar Blade: Blood Rain officially announced, he's back at it.

In a recent post on X sharing a Famitsu article covering Blood Rain, Taro wrote (via machine translation): "I really feel like I have to buy this one, too." Shift Up CEO and Stellar Blade director Hyung-Tae Kim replied by wishing Taro a belated happy birthday (he turned 56 on June 6) and thanking him in advance for the purchase. Taro responded by congratulating Kim on the Blood Rain announcement. The whole exchange reads like two people who are actually friends, not executives performing goodwill for the timeline.

The mutual admiration between these two has been building for years. NieR: Automata was a clear guiding star for Stellar Blade's development, something Shift Up never tried to hide. In an old interview with IGN Japan, Taro said he "was surprised by the quality of Korean games" when he first saw Stellar Blade. Earlier this year, he went further, saying that developers openly admitting they copied NieR: Automata is "a form of respect," though he joked that publisher Square Enix might not share that view. Stellar Blade eventually received a full NieR: Automata DLC collaboration, which surprised absolutely nobody.

I love this dynamic because it's so rare. Most creators would be at least slightly territorial about a game that wears its influences this openly. Taro not only doesn't mind, he actively promotes the competition. It helps that both games are strong in similar ways; sharp combat, excellent soundtracks, and stylish android protagonists with big swords. I'd still put NieR: Automata ahead on story and characters, but Stellar Blade laid a strong enough foundation that Blood Rain could close that gap if Shift Up builds out its world.

Blood Rain introduces a new protagonist, Evie, and shifts the setting toward a special squad hunting terrorists in a city environment. No release date has been confirmed yet.