PRODUCTS REVIEW - PANDORA
1. Pandora Silver Blue Sparkling Crown Solitaire Ring
💡DETAILS: 925 sterling silver. Mixed stones and Cubic Zirconia. Crystal.
2. Pandora Exotic Stones & Stripes Ring
💡DETAILS: Let the cool blues rule your style with this sparkling ring in Pandora Shine. The ring detailed with alternating lines of hand-applied blue enamel and cubic zirconia and engraved on the inside with a single heart. The ring is hand-finished in 18k gold-plated unique metal blend and looks equally good worn alone or together with other band styles as part of a personal ring stack.
3. Pandora Moments Snake Chain Bracelet [Metal Color: Pandora Rose]
💡DETAILS: Start your very own Pandora story with this sleek snake chain bracelet in Pandora Rose, a 14k rose gold-plated unique metal blend. The perfect canvas for your creativity, this hand-finished bracelet can be styled in countless ways. Fill it with your desired charms and clips, wear it on its own for a simple, understated look, or stack it with contrasting bracelets for a fun play on textures – the only limit is your imagination!
4. Pandora Moments Snake Chain Bracelet [Metal Color: Silver]
💡DETAILS: This bestselling charm bracelet is the perfect foundation for your Pandora collection. Crafted in sleek sterling silver, this snake chain bracelet features Pandora's iconic barrel clasp for a secure fit while the innovative threading system makes it easy to screw charms onto your bracelet. Simply add a couple of clips to divide the bracelet into three sections, then choose your favourite Pandora charms to express your unique style.
5. Pandora Moments Winged Heart Bangle
💡DETAILS: Present your loved one with the Pandora Moments Winged Heart Bangle. Hand-finished in sterling silver, this design features a heart-shaped clasp. The engraving on the front reads “Always by your side” with a small indented heart beneath it. Two moving angel wings feature on the back of the clasp. Gift this piece to your family member alongside a pair of heart-shaped sterling silver earrings to make them feel extra special.
6. Pandora Pavé Modern LovePods Bracelet
💡DETAILS: This timeless bracelet is hand-finished from radiant PANDORA Shine, 18k gold-plated sterling silver. Its three pods are encrusted with pavé-set stones that lend subtle sparkle to day or night looks.
7. Pandora Heart of Infinity Charm
💡DETAILS: This refined dangle is exquisitely detailed with a 14k gold heart and a sterling silver infinity sign, evoking feelings of endless love. Wear it on bracelets or necklaces, and style it in many ways.
8. Pandora Sparkling Beehive Dangle Charm
💡DETAILS: Show you are sweet as honey with this PANDORA Shine dangle in 18k gold-plated sterling silver. The beehive design holds a tiger eye stone and is adorned with glittering stones and a buzzing bee.
9. Pandora Oversized Sparkling Bow Charm
💡DETAILS: This sterling silver bow charm is designed to make a statement. With its larger-than-life appearance and sparkling stone embellishments, it ties stylings together with sophistication.
10. Pandora Red Pavé Tilted Heart Dangle Charm
💡DETAILS: Add a pop of colour to your look with the Red Pavé Tilted Heart Dangle Charm. Hand-finished in Pandora Rose (14k rose gold-plated unique metal blend), this titled heart-shaped design is decorated with different-sized red cubic zirconia on the front. The polished back side includes cut-out circles and hearts. Style with sterling silver charms on your favourite bracelet to make this piece stand out or team with other colourful symbols for a vibrant finish.
11. Pandora Stellar Blue Pavé Tilted Heart Dangle Charm
💡DETAILS: Add a pop of colour to your look with the Stellar Blue Pavé Tilted Heart Dangle Charm. Hand-finished in sterling silver, this titled heart-shaped design is decorated with different-sized blue crystals on the front. The polished back side includes cut-out circles and hearts. Style with sterling silver charms on your favourite bracelet to make this piece stand out or team with other colourful symbols for a vibrant finish.
12. Pandora Curb Chain Necklace [Metal: Rose gold plated]
💡DETAILS: No jewellery collection is complete without a simple versatile necklace that can be worn by itself or accessorised with your favourite pendants. One of the most essential pieces for any wardrobe, Pandora Rose necklace features a sliding clasp, flat interlocking chain links and a dangling curb chain. Wear the slider necklace on its own or layer it for a fashion-forward look and adjust to suit your desired length.
13. Pandora Rolo Chain Necklace
💡DETAILS: Discover a new way to wear your go-to charms with the Rolo Chain Necklace. Hand-finished in sterling silver, this simple design is adjustable to three different lengths. This piece can only be worn with small and medium-sized Pandora O Pendants. Attach a pendant with a sparkling ball clasp to make a statement. Team with sterling silver earrings decorated with stones for a uniform look with added shine.
14. Pandora Moments Small O Pendant [Metal: Rose gold plated]
💡DETAILS: There’s nothing like the feeling of adding a new charm to a collection, except maybe adding two! Discover a whole new way of collecting, displaying and showing off your new charms with this Pandora Moments O pendant. Hand-crafted in Pandora Rose (14ct rose gold-plated unique metal blend), the design is inspired by the Pandora crown O and features a snake chain look. You can elevate your look by adding up to five charms, dangles or pendants to your O Pendant.
15. Pandora Moments Heart Charm Pendant
💡DETAILS: Switch up your style with the Pandora Moments Heart Charm Pendant. Hand-finished in sterling silver, this design features our popular snake chain texture. The heart-shaped pendant hangs at an angle on the bail and includes a ball-shaped clasp featuring the Pandora logo. Press the heart-shaped button on the clasp to open. Style this piece with up to three charms, dangles or pendants on a thick cable chain necklace and go for designs in contrasting metal tones for a varied look. Please note, select wide charm styles cannot be worn on this Heart Charm Pendant.
✅OVERALL RATING: 10/10
🔴MY REVIEW: I like the brand PANDORA derived from the brand's positioning as an "affordable luxury brand". The original intention of this brand was to encourage girls to be themselves and show their true self in their own way. How interesting! The advantage of PANDORA is that you can buy it according to your own budget. Even if you only buy a necklace, you can wear it with a simple and elegant unique style. Another special feature of PANDORA is that each bracelet can be matched and interchanged with a variety of gold or silver charms. Everyone's collocation is unique. Speaking of my favorite, it is none other than the Pandora Moments Snake Chain Bracelet. The material is soft and fits the curvature of the wrist better. It is also one of the most classic styles in the brand. I especially like PANDORA charms. Each charm represents a memory and has a special meaning. And you can mix and match according to your own preferences. In my opinion, Pandora is a very story-telling brand, allowing consumers to wear a unique bracelet based on their imagination, and let the bracelet tell our own story. What an incredible thing this is.
📌Disclaimer: The above review is purely personal opinion. Not everyone likes what I like. Please note that what may work for me, may not work for anyone else. Results may vary from person to person, so please take this into consideration if you decide to try those products.
🔎UK WEBSITE - https://uk.pandora.net/en/
🔎UK FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/PandoraUK
🔎HK WEBSITE - https://hk.pandora.net
🔎HK FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/PandoraHongKong/
🔎IG - @theofficialpandora
#pandora #momentswithpandora #pandoranecklace #pandoracharm #pandorabracelet #pandoraring #pandorastyle #jewellery #pandorauk #pandorahk #lovekakalovefashion #hkfashion #fashionblogger #kakablogs #kakalovekakalovelife #productreview #shoponline
同時也有10000部Youtube影片,追蹤數超過2,910的網紅コバにゃんチャンネル,也在其Youtube影片中提到,...
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shine take that meaning 在 趙德胤 Midi Z Facebook 的最佳貼文
#尋人啟事
#胡湘荷妳在哪裡
我的母親已八十歲,
疫情期間,
母親常在電話跟我聊一些過去的事情,
母親的記憶力非常好,
從她十歲開始到現在,
她幾乎能記得所有的事情。
當然,
她記的幾乎都是些令人心碎的事。
就像她的妹妹_
我的小阿姨,
跟她失聯了四十三年的事,
一直讓母親忘不了。
小阿姨屬猴,
64歲、
1956年出生。
大約1977年離開緬甸,
去到泰國投靠大舅,
又輾轉在1978年左右去了加拿大。
之後,
就失去了聯絡。
自從有網路以來,
我就幫忙母親在各種尋人版上刊登過尋人啟事,
但都沒有下文。
可能是刊登的資訊不齊全。
四十三年前,
小阿姨從緬甸到泰國又到加拿大,
可能證件、姓名等都跟原本的不一樣了。
近期,
與我母親通話,
母親又提到失聯的小阿姨。
她叮嚀我們是否能幫忙她再找找看。
母親今年八十歲,
她很想知道她的小妹,
是否還活在這世界上?
附上母親說的話,
她讓我公佈在網路上。
希望有緣,
我的小阿姨能看到。
Midi 於永和
2020 April 12
#胡湘荷
#尋人
胡湘荷,妳在哪裡?
阿湘,
我是妳的二姐胡明珠。
我們分別有好長一段時間了。
妳離開緬甸時,
我二兒子才剛出生,
都還不滿一個月,
妳來看他時,
還說:
「他的臉白白的,
是不是我給他擦粉?」
現在,
我二兒子四十三歲,
我呢,
已經快滿八十二歲,
八十多歲,
是老人了。
人家說,
人愈老記性愈差,
我是相反,
我的記性反倒是愈老愈好。
但是,我能記住的,
都是些傷心的事情。
也許,
我們這代人,
也沒有什麼快樂的事情可以記住。
就像妳的離開,
我們從此失去聯絡,
想起妳,
就讓我難過。
妳還活著嗎?
我想妳會活得好好的。
妳有幾個小娃了?
過得怎麼樣呢?
四十三年前,
妳離開腊戌時,
妳還在腊戌漢人學校唸書。
有天放學,
我去攔住妳,
跟妳說:
「妳以後每天下課後就來我家吃飯,
別去大姐家吃了…」
妳說:「好」。
妳也就跟著我到我家吃飯了。
我還記得,
妳才剛坐下,
我不知怎麼搞的,
就說了那些話。
我說:
「大姐讓妳以後來我這裡吃飯,
別去她家吃了,
讓妳三姐去她家吃,
妳三姐不挑嘴,
妳比較挑嘴…」。
這些話,
是大姐跟我說的,
我當時太懵,
太老實,
我也不曉得,
為什麼要說這些大姐講的話?
為什麼要講給妳聽?
我完全,
沒有擔待不了妳的意思呀。
不管多窮,
姐妹間互相照顧都是應該的,
我轉述大姐說妳的那些話,
是沒有任何理由的,
就是我以為是姐妹之間的聊天,
講出來而已。
我那時候過得很困難,
養著六個小娃,
病死了兩個。
但是,
照顧自己的妹妹是天經地義的。
那天,
我邊說就邊到廚房去炒菜,
難得妳來這裡吃飯,
總要多一樣什麼菜才行。
我炒完菜端著出來,
妳就不見了。
當時,
房東許老嬤嬤還在場,
她說,
「我轉進廚房,
妳就站起來走了…」
我那時才發覺;
我講錯話了。
妳這麼敏感的人呀!
我一路追著妳,
追到大水塘路上_
到妳跟妳三姐住的地方,
妳正在哭。
妳正在哭著跟妳三姐吵架,
妳跟妳三姐說:
「二哥寄來的錢分來…」
妳三姐不敢應妳,
在旁沉默著。
這筆妳要的錢,
確實是妳二哥寄來給妳們兩姐妹的生活費。
那時,
媽媽剛去世不久,
大哥人去了泰國;
在泰國北部滿堂安了家,
家裡所有的兄弟陸續去了泰國。
而爸爸因為沒身份證在貴概被移民局抓住,
送到仰光坐滿九年牢,
緬甸政府正打算著把他送到台灣去的時候…
那天,
我看著妳哭,
我就明白了妳的心情。
妳三姐在準備跟她愛人私奔,
在腊戌妳也只有大姐、我和妳三姐了。
我和大姐早結婚,
各自已有有家庭。
如今妳三姐又要嫁人,
大哥他們又遠在泰國,
母親去世,
父親坐牢。
妳接下來就要孤苦零丁的一個人生存了。
一個十八歲的女孩。
我知道妳的害怕和難過。
那天,
看著妳哭,
我很後悔把大姐說的話講出來。
妳應該了解我的。
我一直都盡力照顧我的家人,
當時從雲南背著妳逃難到緬甸邊境,
背了一天一夜。
我都是自願的。
妳記得嗎?
妳到腊戌讀書時,
很想要一條件仔褲,
那時許多人都買不起,
我還是費盡力氣買給妳。
妳知道我是心疼妳的。
妳離開腊戌的那天,
妳說妳要去泰國了。
臨走時,
我拿了300塊錢給妳,
妳知道嗎?
那時候我拿出300塊錢緬幣是到處借來的錢呀。
阿湘,
我知道妳一直都在受苦,
去到泰國,
大嫂可能待不得妳,
妳二哥、三哥他們當時也沒能力照顧妳,
妳在泰國又沒有合法的身份;
哪可能有其它去處。
最後妳選擇結婚,
我想也只是為了解脫這些難過的生活罷了。
之後,
就聽說妳嫁了人,
跟著丈夫家去了加拿大。
之後,
我就再也就打聽不到妳的下落了。
我們最後的連繫,
停留在泰國北部滿堂,
或是停留在泰緬邊境美賽,
我都有些記不得了。
那時,
聽說妳從大哥家跑出來了?
又聽說妳去暫住在一對老年夫妻的家裡?
這些,
都是後來傳到腊戌的消息了。
妳去加拿大前,
還寄來給我和大姐和妳三姐每個人一件衣裳布、
一條籠基。
三份禮物裡夾著三張白紙,
寫著:「大姐的、二姐的、三姐的…」。
我還記得,
那是託「義號佛堂」楊前人帶來的禮物。
那條籠基到現在我還留著_
孔雀花紋的。
阿湘,
我這個作二姐的也羞愧妳了。
當時,
聽到這些關於妳的困難的消息,
只能每天想念著,
想到傷心,
我沒有任何能力。
那時,
我是,
連從緬甸腊戌到泰國邊境的車票都買不起呀。
當時我養著這麼多小娃,
吃一口飯都難。
阿湘,
現在講這些都只是回憶了,
都是我們老人家的回憶,
都不重要了。
那為什麼還要講這些呢?
就是,
為了,
想讓妳看到,
看到這些我說的話,
證實,
我是妳的二姐而已。
想讓妳知道,
我一直在找妳。
我活到八十歲,
夠了,
人活這麼老沒什麼意思,
都盡是傷心的事情。
我不知哪天會死去。
但如果可能的話,
在死去之前,
能讓我知道一下妳的消息。
我想知道,
妳在哪裡?
我想知道,
妳還活著嗎?
阿湘,
爸爸十幾年前已經去世,
大哥六年前去世,
連大姐,
前年也不在世上了。
妳二哥;
他住在泰國山邊荒地裡,
幫人家看田地,
過得不是很好,
但也不用擔心,
我在泰國的二兒子和大姑娘時常會去照顧他。
妳三哥,
講到也是讓我難過呀。
他大前年腦出血,
去醫院醫好了,
但醫好後,
很奇怪,
突然忘記了漢人話,
只會講泰國話。
後來不久,
他就偷偷上吊自殺了。
你說,
我們兄弟姐妹這是什麼樣的命運呢?
阿湘,
我們家沒剩下什麼人了,
妳三姐、妳四哥還在泰國。
還有我,
我還活著。
我還在緬甸,在腊戌。
除了妳,
我們一家人也就剩下這三個人了。
阿湘,
我們已經分別已四十三年,
妳也有六十多歲了吧?
我很想知道,
妳在哪裡?
妳還活著嗎?
如果有緣,
妳看到這信,
就回我一下吧。
妳的二姐胡明珠,
日日夜夜,
在等妳的消息。
二姐胡明珠 於緬甸腊戌
2020 年4月11日
姪Midi代筆
找人信箱:humingju1638@gmail.com
**************
#notice for a missing person
translated by Jane Lin
****************
Where are you, Hu Shine-Ho?
Ah-Shine,
This is your 2nd sister, Hu Ming-Ju. It has been a long time since we last saw each other. When you left Burma, my 2nd son was not even one-month-old. You asked why he was so fair-skinned? Had I put powder on his face? Now, he is 43 and I am almost 82.
Eighty something...I am indeed an old woman! People say that you lose your memory as you age. I am quite the opposite. The older I get, the better I remember! But, what I remember is nothing but sadness. Perhaps, our generation just doesn't have much happiness. Like you leaving home, we losing contact forever…. The thought of you puts me in such despair. Are you still alive? I imagine you living a good life?!! How many children? How are you?
Forty-three years ago, you were still a student at Chinese High School in Lashio. One day after school, I went to intercept you, "From now on, come to my home after school. Don't go to 1st sister's for dinner anymore." You said, "OK" and followed me home.
I still remember clearly that you had just sat down and I said, "The first sister asks that you come to me for dinner. She will take 3rd sister who's easy-going, not like you, a picky eater." I don't know what possessed me that day? Why I had to tell you what 1st sister had to say? Was I too naive? Too honest? Too stupid? I had absolutely no intension not to take care of you - we are sisters!!!! We have to care for each other, no matter how poor we are!!! The first sister's words just came out as a casual chat between sisters. Nothing more!
Life was tough for me at the time. Diseases took away two of my six children. But that didn't mean I would ignore my God-given responsibility as your elder sister. Without realizing the impact of my "casual chat", I went into the kitchen wondering what additional dish I could come up with for your first dinner with us. When I came out with the dishes, you were already gone! According to our landlady, Granny Hsu, you just got up and left as soon as I was out of sight. Only then did I realize my stupid mistake and how sensitive you were! Immediately, I ran after you, all the way to Big Pond Road where you and 3rd sister stayed. You were crying, asking 3rd sister for the money that 2nd brother sent. 3rd sister just kept quiet.
Indeed! The money that you demanded from 3rd sister was to cover living expenses for both of you. At that time, Mother had already passed away. The first brother went to Thailand, had already settled his own family in Pong Ngam. All the brothers followed suit. Father got caught in Kutkai by the immigration for not having an I.D. and had been in prison in Rangoon for 9 years. The Burmese government was just about to send him to Taiwan…. That day, while watching you cry, I understood how you felt. The third sister was getting ready to run away with her lover and both 1st sister and I were married young with our own families to deal with. As an 18-year-old with no mother, a father in prison, you must have felt all alone, sad and very scared.
I was filled with regrets watching you that day. But, please understand that I have always tried my best to take care of my family. When we escaped from Yunnan to Burma as refugees, I carried you on my back all day and all night without any complaints. When you went to Lashio for school, you wanted a pair of jeans so badly, remember? It was such a luxury that most people could not afford. Yet, I gathered all my might to get you a pair. You know I always have a soft spot for you, don't you? The day you were leaving Lashio for Thailand, do you know how many places I had to try to gather 300 Burmese kyats for you???
Ah-Shine, I know it was a huge struggle for you in Thailand. It's impossible that 1st sister-in-law would put you up. Second and 3rd brothers were in no position to help you….. I suppose you were pushed into marriage, just to end this desperate situation. Last I heard, you moved to Canada with your husband. From that point onward, in spite of all the efforts, I just couldn't find any trace of your whereabouts.
Our last contact stopped at Pong Ngam, Thailand. Or, was it MaeSai? I can't quite remember now. The news came to Lashio that you had run away from 1st brother's home. Later, you were temporarily staying with an older couple….
Before leaving for Canada, you sent, via Abbott Yang of the Yi Buddhist Hall, a package for us - each gift had a piece of dress fabric and a longyi, clearly labeled on a piece of white paper: "for 1st sister," "for 2nd sister," "for 3rd sister." I still have that longyi, with a peacock pattern, after all these years!
Ah-Shine, I feel deeply embarrassed to be your elder sister. Upon hearing the challenges that you had to face at the time, I could do nothing but worrying and feeling sad. I couldn't even afford the bus fare from Lashio to the Thai border. I barely managed to feed my own children!
Ah-Shine, What's the use of talking about these old memories? These sad memories of us old people have no importance but to serve to show you that I am indeed your 2nd sister.… that I have been looking for you all these years.
To live in my eighties is more than enough for me. It's not much fun to live this long - just a lifetime of sadness. I have no idea when I will die and I don't really care. I just wish that I could hear from/about you before I leave this world. I want to know where you are. I want to know if you are still alive.
Ah-Shine, Father passed away more than a decade ago. The first brother left us 6 years ago, so did the first sister 3 years ago. The second brother works as a field caretaker in a remote Thai mountainside. It's not a good life, but both my 2nd son and first daughter are also in Thailand; can visit and take care of him often. The saddest is our 3rd brother. He had a stroke 3 years ago. After recovery, he suddenly forgot his Chinese, could only speak in Thai. Not long after, he hanged himself! Please tell me what kind of fate has been bestowed on our siblings??? What is the meaning of life???
Ah-Shine, There aren't that many of us left, only 3rd sister and 4th brother in Thailand and me still in Burma. In Lashio.
Ah-Shine, We have been apart for 43 years. You should be in your 60s by now. I really would like to know if you are still alive and where you live. God willing, you will see this letter and reply!!! (humingju1638@gmail.com)
Waiting to hear from you, day and night!
Second sister, Hu Ming-Ju
Lashio, Myanmar
April 11. 2020
shine take that meaning 在 半瓶醋 Facebook 的最佳解答
"橫尾先生你傾向於在你的遊戲中有個悲傷的結局(除了《尼爾 自動人形》),這是為什麼呢?
橫尾:我想啊,玩家在遊戲中的旅程中殺了那麼多的敵人,但自己卻迎來了一個Happy Ending,這很奇怪,所以我之前遊戲的主角都有著不幸的結局,我覺得對他們來說有個Happy Ending是不對的。
不過對《尼爾 自動人形》來說,對2B和9S來說,從被給予生命,他們殺了很多人,但也被自己殺了很多,很多次,有著無數次的輪迴。我認為這已經把他們殺死敵人的罪給贖了,幸福結局對他們兩個來說更合適一些。"
【尼爾:自動人形】是好遊戲,2B很可愛~
Talking To Yoko Taro, PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura, And Composer Keiichi Okabe About Life, Death, And Opportunity
This interview with《Nier: Automata》director Yoko Taro and PlatinumGames' designer Takahisa Taura was first conducted in March of this year. Square Enix then offered gameinformer another chance to talk with Taro again, this time with Keiichi Okabe to speak more about the game's creation, music, and design philosophies and we are taking this opportunity to combine both until-now unpublished interviews together.
At the start of the first interview, Taro Yoko, whose pen name is appropriately Yoko Taro, was surprisingly quiet. He took a gulp from a bottle of Diet Pepsi and looked me straight in the eye to say something. I myself looked to the translator, who laughed at whatever Yoko said. She began "Yoko-san wants you to write about how expensive the food and drinks are here, if you can. He says it's way too much."
[The following interview contains some spoilers for Nier: Automata, including the game's final ending.]
With Nier: Automata, you guys won a Game Developer Conference award. How do you feel about that?
Yoko: We heard it was a user's choice award where the players themselves select the winners, so I'm just really happy that the players have selected our game for winning the award.
How did PlatinumGames and Yoko-san first meet on Nier? Why did you decide on that project versus something like another Drakengard or a new IP as a whole?
Taura: I loved the previous Nier title, I was actually went to Square Enix saying "Please let us create a Nier sequel, because you haven't done anything with it for a long time." At the same time, there was coincidentally Saito-san, the producer for Nier: Automata, talking with Yoko-san that they wanted to do something together. It just so happened that it was the right time, right place and we met for the first time when we started this project.
When you started working on the Automata, did you know what it was going to be? Did you have an idea in your head of what a Nier sequel would look like after the first game?
Yoko: Not at all, I had no ideas for a sequel in mind. When I first heard that we might do a collaboration with PlatinumGames, the image I had of them is that they only create Sci-Fi action games. When I thought of that, I thought of what part of the Nier storyline might fit in with that Sci-Fi action gaming sequence, I selected the themes for Automata because I felt it just fits in with the PlatinumGames style.
PlatinumGames has a reputation for fast, often-challenging action games, but Nier: Automata is a lot easier. Was that intentional to keep it closer to the first Nier or perhaps a consequence of trying to make PlatinumGames action more mainstream?
Taura: That's actually exactly the reason why. Saito-san from Square Enix told us when the project started that, since the original Nier has a lot of female fans and a lot of non-action gamer fans, to make the game as fun and accessible as possible to people who aren't accustomed to playing difficult action games. We always thought of making the game into something that's fun to play for newcomers to the action game field, but also to the more experienced players as well.
One of the usual tropes of PlatinumGames is that, as the game goes on, it tends to escalate more and more to an explosive finale. Nier: Automata kind of messes with that formula a little bit by Ending A being a little bit more subdued and low-key and then goes up again and again until it finishes with endings D and E. Is that something you had to work with Yoko-san about, where the escalation and pacing would best fit the gameplay?
Taura: In terms of like a climax or increasing the difficulty level toward the end, it's not that different from our other titles, or at least we didn't feel like it was that different. The one major difference was that this was the first game that I've at least worked that had the leveling up element in it. So as long as you level up your character, the boss would be easier to defeat, but if you don't, then some of the enemies toward the end of the game would be very difficult. For me, the balancing between the difficulty level of stages and bosses versus the levels the player might be was the difficult part in creating this game.
One thing that we really had it easy with in this game is that Yoko-san's scenario and Okabe-san's music, once it's mixed into the battle, makes a really menial and indifferent battle sequence suddenly becomes this dramatic and grandiose battle with everything at stake, so I felt like that really helped elevate our battle sequences as well. We did have an easy time thanks to that!
With Automata, you started appearing at press conferences and as part of the marketing of the game, whereas previously you never did that. When you appear in public, you have been wearing a mask of Emil from the first Nier title. Why Emil specifically?
Yoko: Hmm. One of the answers I can give is that, and I do have a little more that I want to elaborate on, is that for one Emil in the previous title is just a strong character on its own, so it's more like an iconic image or character for Nier as a series. Another part of the answer is that Emil actually holds a great secret of the part of the Nier world and it's not all revealed with the games I've created so far. I'm not sure if I'll have an opportunity to disclose that secret, but if I do, I might one day create a game that delves more into why it's Emil and why I continue to wear Emil's mask.
I don't know if either of you can speak to this, but the trailers for Nier: Automata were a little misleading. They showed A2, who you play as late in the game, but with short hair, so she looked like 2B. Was that something you decided, to show those scenes but not make it clear who it was?
Yoko: There were trailers like that?
There was one specifically showing A2 fighting Hegel like that.
Yoko: Ahh, yeah. There's no reason! We weren't trying to hide A2 or mislead anyone, it just happened to work out that way.
Taura: We made so many trailers at some point we kind of didn't care what we showed.
Oh, wow, that's going to shock a lot of fans in the Nier community. People really believed in the theory that you were hiding A2 in plain sight the marketing.
Yoko: Haha, but it might not be the correct answer. Like Taura-san said, we made so many trailers that we can't remember them all, so I'm definitely happy to take the credit without remembering why.
Taura: Yeah, let's say we intentionally did that. For the fans. It might be true.
Yoko: But I can say, in one of the trailers is A2 fighting one of the Engels, one of the big robots. She actually has long hair in the trailer, but in the actual game, it's after she cut her, so she would have had shorter hair. That one was actually intentional, because we did not reveal before the game that A2 would cut her hair, so we actually made a scene specifically with long-haired A2 to take that trailer. So that's that shot was kind of a lie.
In the Automata DLC, the CEO of Square Enix Yosuke Matsuda, as well as PlatinumGames boss Kenichi Sato, are boss fights. Where did that idea come from and how did you get them to approve it? How did they react when you asked them?
Yoko: Haha, oh yeah.
Taura: The development team went to Square Enix and said "Please let us use him in our game!" Their reaction was initially saying "Uhm, are you sure you want to?"
We were thinking for a while of what we could do with the DLC, because we didn't have a lot of time to develop it, so we wanted to do something fun with it. When we were thinking about it, we saw that Final Fantasy XV used a character model of president Matsuda in one of their marketing assets. When Yoko-san saw that, he reached out and asked if maybe we could use that in the game at Platinum. We said that, if we get the character models, we could definitely use them for something in the game. We reached out to Square Enix and they gave us the model and we were able to use that character model for a boss fight.
If it was just that you were able to fight the CEO of Square Enix, then it would have just been the same as what Final Fantasy XV did, so we had to think of ways to spice that up even more. So we had PlatinumGames' CEO Sato-san appear in the fight as well. We also included background music that arranged their voices, we included their voices in the music, just to add a little bit more and beat out Final Fantasy XV. That BGM track is Matsuda-san and Sato-san's debut single. We didn't even get permission from them, so it's an unofficial debut single, and those are much rarer.
Speaking of crossovers, did you know that Nier fans have been trying get Katsuhiro Harada of Bandai Namco to put 2B in Tekken? Is that something you guys would want to do? [Note: This interview was conducted before 2B was announced as a Soulcalibur guest character.]
Yoko: For us, if we were asked, we would gladly say yes to anything for money. We're open to any kind of opportunities for anything, ever. Even if it's Candy Crush, if they want to use 2B, we will say yes, please go ahead and use her.
Actually, speaking of doing anything for money, you've never created a direct story sequel before, they've all been loosely tied together and many years apart. Saito-san has already said there will be another Nier game, if the characters are popular enough, would you create a direct sequel to Automata or would you change the characters and location again?
Yoko: I haven't thought about it once! Taura-san, where would you want to create a new game?
Taura: Actually, when I brought my concept document to Square Enix about a Nier sequel, I wanted to write a story about that prologue portion in the first Nier game. You know the beginning of the game, where you're kind of in Tokyo, in an area that's more modern? I kind of want to delve into that storyline a little bit more. So if I'm allowed to create a new Nier title, that's what I want to create. But that's just me speaking as a fan of the series, so I don't think that will actually happen officially.
Yoko: When I actually heard about that idea from Taura-san when we first started this project, I felt that it would be very difficult to make a modern recreation of Tokyo because it's the city that we constantly see every day. You just notice differences in the lies that we put in there, so I felt it would be very difficult to do to recreate a city that we know and see so much. But now that I know that PlatinumGames is such a good studio that they most likely will have that power and talent to be able to create that kind of video game world, I think that might be an option. Whether or not we'll do that is a different question, but it is a viable option.
One of the things you said before the release of Drakengard 3 was that you wanted to call it Drakengard 4 and just let people figure out what the theoretical Drakengard 3 was supposed to be. That's similar to what you did with Automata where the game takes place 10,000 years after Nier and people who played the first game were more confused than new players. Was that an intentional idea or something you've wanted to do for a while?
Yoko: It's not that I brought over that idea to Nier: Automata, the greatest reasoning why I did this is because I wanted players who haven't played the original title to enjoy Nier: Automata so you can enjoy the game without knowing anything about the previous game. That's the biggest reason why we took a storyline that's so far in the future that it really didn't have anything to do with the previous title.
A common through-line for Yoko-san's games is flowers: the lunar tear in the Nier series, the flower in Zero's eye in Drakengard 3, is that symbolizing anything in your games or is it just visual imagery you like?
Yoko: Well, I do like flowers in general, but yes, there is a greater meaning to it that I have with these flowers. It's the same as Emil like I talked about earlier, I just haven't revealed it anywhere. There is a meaning, which is why they keep on coming back in my games, but I haven't revealed it anywhere yet.
With the last Nier game, you had said that you built the game on the concept of people being okay with murdering people who are different. With Nier: Automata, the games actually became more fun to play and control and touch, do you think there's a danger in giving people that sense of ease in killing enemies in the narrative?
Yoko: In the previous title, I actually feel like I overdid that a bit. I did want to portray that enemies have a reason to live and a reason to fight on their own as well, but I feel like I forced that idea that I had in my mind a little bit too much on the players. So for Nier: Automata, I did not want to focus on it, I didn't want to impose my feelings and thoughts. I actually feel that it's fine if some people feel it's fun to kill in our games. If that's all that they feel from the game, then it's fine, because its their freedom to feel what they want from the game. To answer your question, I think that it's fine to have that happen.
Taura: I actually have the same answer, too. I feel like if it's fun to fight, that's great as a game designer. But if you feel bad to kill these cute little robots, that's fine with me as well. I feel like different people will have different reactions to the game and they will feel differently when they play the game, so I'm actually happy to create a game that creates those kind of differences within the players as well.
Yoko: That's a really good question for us, because if players felt that it was way too fun to kill these enemies that it started making them feel guilty, that's something we didn't really aim to do. Just as we mentioned earlier, I'm really happy that players were able to take it on their own and experience it on their own, then we didn't just provide something for people to take it as-is on face value. I feel like it's great that the players are now taking the game and experiencing it on their own and trying to figure things out on their own.
There was a time after 2B was revealed that people were asking you about her design on Twitter and you answered that you just like sexy ladies. That quote has become pretty famous and attached to you and a lot of people are reading into it. Is that a thing you still believe, would you ever take the quote back, or would you have ever changed 2B's design?
Yoko: [laughs] Don't straight men like cute girls? Isn't that common knowledge? I didn't realize that was a quote.
A lot of people use you as an example as a developer that just says what is on their mind.
Yoko: Before we released the game, on Twitter, because so many people were sending me 2B fan art, I said that "Send me a zip file of all your erotic fan art!" When I tweeted that out, my number of Twitter followers jump from 20,000 to 60,000 just with that one Tweet. I actually think it's because I did something that's more of a taboo in the western world where I talked about sexuality or gender that openly on Twitter, but that's actually...so, I do know that what I said did not just creative positive buzz and there's some negative buzz around it as well, but I feel like it kind of has to do with the Japanese culture where we're not too strict about gender and sexuality and being more open about talking about those things.
I think it's the same thing as reading manga as an adult, it's a little bit different when you think about it because in Japan that's more common, it's not considered something weird or something outlandish. With that kind of feedback that I get from fans, I just feel like it's the difference in culture between Japan and the rest of the world.
That is something you tend to tackle fairly often. Drakengard 3 was partly about sex and sexuality treated casually within the game's universe, is that something you feel doesn't translate across all regions?
Yoko: I actually don't think [translating across regions] has a lot to do with sexuality. I don't think it would have sold more copies of Drakengard 3 if I took away aspects of sexuality or added more in there. I feel that Nier: Automata sold well because we worked with PlatinumGames, so I don't think that has anything to do with a sexual nature.
For the original Nier, there was a lot of information on the periphery of the game like books with background information and short stories that answer questions raised in the game. Automata even had a stage play predating the game. Do you think it's harder for western fans to grasp the whole stories of these games when there's Japanese-exclusive media about it expanding the lore?
Yoko: Of course we can't localize everything because we have limitations in budget, so it's really difficult to do all of that, but I actually think there really isn't a need to know everything, either. The meaning I have behind Emil's mask or the flowers you asked about, like I said it's not revealed in the game at all or anywhere else yet, but no one really needs to know that to enjoy the game or enjoy the world or enjoy the game. More than gaining knowledge, I want players to cherish the experience they have when playing the game. It's more about that instead of the knowledge they could have for every question. Of course the theatrical stage play was more of like a YoRHa spinoff, but you don't need to know that to enjoy the game. Every piece, like the books and the stage play, is made in a way so that you can enjoy it by yourself, so you don't need that extra knowledge to enjoy it.
It may add a little bit depth to the knowledge that you have, but you don't necessarily need to have it. I do understand the otaku mentality that you want to know everything, you want to have everything answered, you want to collect everything, but I don't see the value in knowing everything. For example, just in real life, you might not know everything about the politics that surrounds the world or even in your own country, and there's really no point in knowing everything that happens in the world. Maybe a lot things, but not everything, right? What's more important is how you interact with people around you, immediately around you, and I think that's the same with video games. You don't really need to know everything that happens in the world to enjoy it.
Of course I do respect the freedom that the players feel as well, so if you do get mad that we can't localize everything in America, or America never gets everything, that's also something to be respected and I do understand the frustrations surrounding that as well.
When Nier: Automata released, it did so in a three-month timeframe that several other big Japanese games came out in the U.S., like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Yakuza 0. A lot of people started heralding those games as a return of Japanese development in the west. What do you think about going from fairly niche games to what some people consider the tip of the spear of modern Japanese development?
Yoko: First and foremost, just to speak about having so many good titles in that timeframe, my thought was "Are you people trying to kill me with this?!" In Japan, Horizon came out first, then it was Nier, then Zelda, and I think in the west, it was Horizon, Zelda, then Nier in North America. So we're literally sandwiched between those two with a two-week window in between each and they were all very similar to us in the futuristic setting. Especially for Zelda, it was one of the titles we copied in the first place, so I really felt like they were trying to kill us at the time.
Personally, not even thinking about Nier: Automata during that time frame, I was running around excited about all the fun-looking games coming as a gamer myself.
Hideki Kamiya [PlatinumGames] has once said that Nier: Automata saved Platinum. Is that something you agree with and how has the relationship been between PlatinumGames and Square Enix?
Yoko: Speaking from my perspective, of course Taura-san will likely know more about it internally at PlatinumGames...Kamiya-san, he's very laid back on Twitter, but when you actually really talk to him, he's a very serious person and very sincere. I guess Nier: Automata did generate sales for them, because I received a direct letter of gratitude from him saying "Thank you very much for creating a great game." I don't even know if we saved them or not in that sense, but just receiving that kind of message from was just very heartwarming and I was just really happy that I was able to provide such a game for them.
Taura: You could make the headline of your article "Yoko Taro Saved PlatinumGames" and that's definitely true.
Yoko: It's a very true headline.
Why do both of you think that Nier: Automata was more successful than Yoko-san's previous games or most other PlatinumGames titles?
Taura: Mainly because PlatinumGames' sensibilities were much better than Yoko Taro's.
Yoko: I actually think it's the Square Enix brand, the name Square Enix gives a more reliable feeling to an otaku type of title. PlatinumGames' strong name being known for making really good action games and I think the combination of the two really helped. This time with Nier: Automata, we sold about 2.5 million copies and the previous title we sold around 500,000. For the last game, we weren't really in the red, but it wasn't exactly a success either. We have these passionate fans that really supported the time from announcement and the series as a whole. Of course for Automata, too, we had a very passionate fan base including the media and including yourself that gave impressions and articles that helped make the game into a success, so I'm just really grateful for the fans and media alike that really supported the title and were passionate about it.
[The remainder of this interview took place a few weeks later with Taro Yoko and Nier: Automata composer Keiichi Okabe. Okabe is also known for his work on both Nier titles, Drakengard 3, Tekken, and contributing some tracks to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Before we started recording, Yoko said it will be okay if I asked Okabe most of the questions and I remarked that I wouldn’t want to make him jealous. He paused for a moment and then said it doesn’t matter because he would get paid either way.]
You two have been working together for a long time, I was curious how much the music composition is tied in with the writing. One of the city themes in Nier: Automata uses similar composition to a track in Nier. Does that come from the writing or the musical identity of the series?
Okabe: Since Yoko-san is I feel the type of person that doesn't want to do the same thing over and over again, even if he did receive praise for what he did previously, I kept that in mind while I was composing music for Nier: Automata. I also wanted to have some kind of connection that you would feel as a player between the previous title and this one, so I used similar tones from previous titles or from the previous game. It might not be exactly the same, but I used some similar types of music lines from the previous title so that you might feel that kind of connection.
But we do have tracks that are arrangements of previous tracks from older titles, but that was mostly for fan service.
I kind of wanted to drill down a little bit this time and get to the core of your philosophy of why and how you make games. If you had to pick a reason to hold up and say "This is why I make video games," what would that be?
Yoko: I feel that video games, amongst all the different entertainment mediums, have the most freedom in what you can do as a creator. For example, in a film, if you are able to control movement, then that's no longer a film in my eyes. In video games, you could have film-like cutscenes and videos, you could have them going on forever as much as you would like as a creator. That kind of freedom to do that is what I really wanted to do and I feel like video games are what provide me that option, even if I never do it.
Is there any kind of message you use games for that you want to convey to your audience or anything you want them to hear from you? Or do you prefer to let them take whatever interpretation they get from your games?
Yoko: It's the latter. I would want our players to freely interpret what I've created just on their own, to grasp something for their own. I feel that's one of the interesting aspects of video games is that you are able to freely interpret what's being shown to you. I also feel like the players make the game whole by playing it. The action of playing the game I feel has meaning in itself and because of that I want the players to find something from the game, feel something from the game, for themselves.
Nier: Automata won a number of awards, Okabe-san you won best music at The Game Awards, Automata won the audience award at GDC. Is there any pressure to appeal a more mainstream audience with your next game?
Okabe: For a popular title that will be played by many, it doesn't really matter what kind of genre you put out musically. I will still be interested to compose music for those if possible. I would have to take a different approaches to those kind of mainline titles, whereas for Nier, I felt that the music can be more geared toward a core audience where only those who would understand the music would play it. But at the same time, once you understand, I want you to be deeply affected by it. That's what I aim for with Nier. If I am to work on a way more mainstream title next time, I will have to change that mindset I have as a composer, but that would be something I'd like to challenge myself more. To answer your question, yes, I'd like to try that, but I'd also do whatever kind of jobs I'm assigned to.
Yoko: For me, my games I actually think are really niche. How Nier: Automata was so successful was actually just a coincidence. To make a successful game is something that I can't really aim to do, so I think that I'll probably return to my small and dark corner, my niche corner, with my successive titles.
Who would you both consider your inspirations for writing and composing?
Okabe: For me, it's obviously more of a composer than a writer, but I don't really focus on one person. I tend to just try to get music here and there and have a wide net. I am greatly affected by people who I've listened to in my youth, like Japanese composer Ryuchi Sakamoto, Ennio Morricone who creates film music, and also pop music like Michael Jackson and Madonna. I am affected by those as well.
Yoko: I have received inspiration from a lot of things, but I think personally expressions in film or any like visual production is something I'm deeply affected by. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, that was really a strong influence on me. Also, the drama series 24, the way that they incorporate speedy and complicated constructions of storylines was something that was very new at the time. Just throughout the timeline of visual production, I think there's a sudden burst of evolution, and I think that "that" moment in a title that does that just greatly affects me and becomes an inspiration for me. But I feel that can be said for the rest of the world.
Lately, anything that Christopher Nolan creates I think is very intriguing where he tries to include deep knowledge and thoughtfulness into what he creates. I'm very interested in this new wave of evolution.
Last year, with the release of Animal Crossing on mobile, you talked on social media about how it was your favorite game of the year because you created a narrative where the characters were all unwillingly imprisoned in the camp. Do you often create your own narratives for games?
Yoko: I do that for some games and I don't for others. Off and on, I guess. It's a lot easier to create my own storyline per se for a more primitive game. For example, in Zelda: Wind Waker, you start off with a grandma and your sister living on an island and it's really happy and joyful and there's really no reason for Link to get out of there and fight Ganondorf because you're already living happily. You don't need to get out of that happiness. As a gamer, I felt the kind of sadness to have to leave that happy island life.
In Dragon Quest [V], you have to choose who you want to wed, and I felt that I couldn't really get into liking either of the characters. I also couldn't find the point of having to decide who I want to marry, so I just at that instant I turned off the game and said "My journey ends here!" My mind narrated "The three of them went on the journey and lived happily ever after, the end." That was my ending for Dragon Quest V.
Around the release of Drakengard 3, you spoke about how it's not possible in this industry to make a six-minute game and sell it for $60, no matter how good those six minutes are. Is this something you still think?
Yoko: That analogy was given to explain that, no matter how much you try to make a game really good, there's a limit to what you can do. If you are to create a six-minute game, because you can't go through a lot of different stages, you would have to create one stage. Which means that you could really refine the quality of that one stage without having to put in a lot of money into it and a lot of manpower into it. Also, because it's only six minutes, you can't really have too many characters in it, so you could focus on one or two characters at max. By doing that, you could refine the quality of those two characters. But because you're time-limited, no matter how much you refine the quality of the world around you or the characters, if you're limited to six minutes there's just so much you could do that the game won't become good at all. That was an example for me to say that there's a limit to what you can do in video games.
Okabe-san, in the music for a lot of Yoko-san's game, you use constructed or uncommon languages, is there a specific reason for that?
Okabe: [laughs] Yeah, for one, because it is Nier: Automata, Replicant, and Gestalt, they all take place in a unique world, even though they're in the timeline of our current world, it's so much in the future that it should feel kind of foreign. That's one of the reasons why I went for language we can't understand, but another is that, in games in the past, game directors actually got mad at many occasions for including vocals into the soundtrack. They were saying that it would become too distracting from the gameplay and would distract the player. It was considered more of a taboo, so for Nier, I included vocals in there without a language you could understand more for the sound that you get from the words. It wasn't to convey any meaning of what was being said, but more for a sound impact.
Yoko-san, you tend to have very sad endings in your games, with the exception of Nier: Automata which is as happy an ending as you can get with most characters dying. Why do you tend to write toward more sad endings and do you feel like Automata's happy ending fit the game better?
Yoko: The reason why I created endings that end on a death is because, until now I was creating games where you would kill a lot of enemies, but I've always felt that it doesn't feel right when the protagonist has a happy after they've killed so many enemies during the course of their journey. That's why in Replicant and Gestalt, or my previous titles, the protagonist pretty much ended up dying because I didn't feel like it was right for them to have a happy ending. But for Nier: Automata, 2B and 9S, from the time that they were given life, they've been killing a lot of enemies, but they've also been killed by them many, many times, and regenerated many times. They've actually been killing each other, which you find out at the very end, many, many times as well. So I felt that kind of cleansed them of their sins for killing so many enemies, which made me feel that a happy ending was more fitting for those two.
Do you feel like that cycle of violence and death and the consequences of that are human nature?
Yoko: I think the reasons why we kill in video games do kind of shine light on what's kind of broken within humanity or humans in general. We want peace in the world, but we also enjoy killing others in video games, like shooting guns in video games. I think that's karma in a sense for humans, the way that video games grasp the true essence of humanity, whether or not that's what they were aiming to do.
Is there a series that you know, like Persona or Yakuza or anything like that, that either of you would want to work on?
Yoko: A series or anything?
It can be anything.
Yoko: Personally, it's not a Japanese title. I'd actually love to see how western titles are developed, because I have no insight into how they're made. There was a moment in time where I felt that it might be fun join a western development to see how things run. Of course there's the language barrier that would make it difficult for me to do that, but generally speaking I feel that western storytelling follows kind of a similar route for all the stories that western mediums create. I would feel it fascinating to find out why western games use certain flows and storyline arcs.
Okabe: I'm kind of a fanboy myself, so there is a part of me that wants to work on major titles like Dragon Quest. I feel that if I do work on those titles, the pressure of working such a known title would be just too big and because there is a part of me that really loves that series, I feel like I would try to skew my music in a way that would fit into that series instead of trying to create music that I think is good. I don't feel like I would be able to bring out the best quality in my music if I worked on those big titles, because of that pressure and because of the image I have of those titles in my mind. Currently, my want to work on those major titles and the part of me that's telling me I shouldn't do it are about equal.
Were either of you surprised by Nier: Automata's success?
Yoko: [in English] Oh yes.
Okabe: For me, I live in Tokyo and developer PlatinumGames live in Osaka, so we did have quite a distance in-between, like literal physical distance between us. From the moment that I created the music to when I was able to see it next, there was a big gap in time, so when I was able to my music in the game for the first time, the game was pretty close to finished, they were almost done with development. At that moment, I thought "Maybe this one might sell?" But at the same time, I didn't think it would become this big of a success, I always thought it might do better than the previous titles, but it was like a hunch that I didn't feel until this time in Yoko-san's titles. I did have some kind of a gut feeling that it might do well.
The last song of Automata, Weight of the World, had a chorus with the entire game's development staff at PlatinumGames and Square Enix singing along to encourage the player. Why did you decide on that for the final song of the game?
Okabe: I didn't remember this, I actually forgot about it for a while, but Yoko-san actually came to me telling me that he wanted a chorus at the end of the game pretty early on in the development process. I apparently made disgruntled face at him and did not remember why I even made that face or even that I made that face. After a while, I actually remember why I had such a reaction with the disgruntled face, because there's a couple of different types of choirs, but Yoko-san likes the more classical choir, so when he requested that he wanted a choir, I thought he wanted that classical type of choir at the last part of the game. At that moment, I thought "Well, that doesn't really fit in with the game plan, I don't really want to do that," which is why I had that expression on my face. After we talked about it, Yoko-san mentioned that wasn't really what he was going for, he said that because that last scene is all about all these different people helping you, he wanted everyone to sing, he wanted it to feel like everyone is singing there with you as you play.
When I thought about doing that, and I actually agreed that might be a good idea, because in Nier: Automata all the choir vocals that you hear in the game, it's actually recorded by a small group of singers, I just overlapped their voice so it sounds like a big choir. Because that last part of the game is more about you playing amongst a lot of people, I felt that taking that approach again of overlapping voices again would not really work. So I reached out to the dev teams because they were working on that part and I thought it would be a good idea to have them put themselves in the game as well. I also thought that they don't need to have a good voice, it's just to give that feeling that you're playing with all these developers.
Development teams from Square Enix, PlatinumGames, and also some composers from my company who didn't work on Nier: Automata are singing in it as well. There's also children of PlatinumGames developers and their family actually singing in it as well. That was the reasoning behind why we decided to do that at the end.
Has there ever been, in all your games you've made, an idea you had that you had to be talked out of?
Yoko: For the first Drakengard, I had an idea of [Japanese pop-star] Ayumi Hamasaki, like her character model, wearing all-silver spandex, like a giant version of her descending from the sky and you would fight against her by music. Everyone else on the staff shut it down. It does still leave that kind of music game essence kind of in there, but the part Ayumi Hamasaki comes out in silver spandex has been taken out.
Isn't that kind of similar to Drakengard 3's actual ending?
Yoko: Similar, but I actually wanted to go for something funny, or shockingly stupid. But no one would let me.
Source:
https://www.gameinformer.com/…/talking-to-yoko-taro-platinu…