Review by Matt S. In some ways, the success of NieR: Automata has cursed Yoko Taro. Following the profound success of that game, people now expect him to be subversive and deep, sharply funny and wildly creative with everything that he touches. Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is not…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. At its core, NieR is a story about identity. In creating it, director, Yoko Taro, who loves to joke about philosophy being nonsense but is clearly very cognizant of the big names in the field, took the infamous “I think therefore I am” from René Descartes…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. You know of Yoko Taro, right? The auteur who went from arthouse game director to mainstream hit maker thanks to NieR: Automata? He’s been busy with other projects since, of course, and we’re about to get one of those in the west; the mobile title, SINoALICE.…
Read MoreInterview by Matt S. Yoko Taro is a challenging person to interview. He’s the pre-eminent video game auteur going around; a creative that approaches his work with a healthy dose of reflection and transgression, and with an equally healthy taste for the surreal and sublime. His approach to game design…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. One year ago today Yoko Taro’s NieR: Automata was unleashed on the world. I was a huge fan of the original, because despite its rough edges, the story it told was so deep, and so compelling, that nothing else really mattered to me. Moreso than even…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. So, there’s a new NieR in development, according to the producer at PlatinumGames, Yosuke Saito. Given that NieR: Automata is the game I called “the greatest game of all time” back when I wrote my longest review about a game, ever (and, yes, I still stand…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. To read the official product description of NieR: Automata’s first major DLC, you might expect a fairly straightforward arena mode and a few unlockable costumes. That’s an accurate description, but also a very incomplete one; just as NieR: Automata is so much more than a “fresh…
Read MoreNews by Britta S., Matt C., and Trent P. Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s regular catch-up news feature. With each issue we will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and…
Read MoreRetro reflections by Davis A. With NieR: Automata now in the open and receiving critical acclaim (you did it Yoko Taro, you finally did it!); I thought to myself, what better time to write about what makes Taro’s games so special, and specifically my favorite (for now) of them all,…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The opening line of dialogue in NieR: Automata could have been pulled directly from Nietzsche or Kierkegaard, if those men were militant androids about to go to war with an army of genocidal robots. Related reading: On why NieR: Automata’s predecessor was the best game of…
Read More